Azzopardi Becomes Husky O-Line Leader and He's Only a Sophomore

People like to describe the reconfiguring University of Washington offensive line as untested, unhealthy, unsteady, uncertain and maybe even a little undernourished.

Then you meet Drew Azzopardi, who is none of that.

Instead, the 6-foot-7, 315-pound sophomore literally is the Huskies' building block up front, the one beefy guy on offense with college starting experience and the player to be named later in the trade that sent former UW offensive lineman Myles Murao to San Diego State.

It was not widely known either that Azzopardi was such a popular transfer portal presence he had up to two-dozen offers to navigate

"It came for me that I was choosing between Arizona, Washington, UCLA and Tennessee," he said.

So here Azzopardi is in Montlake, carrying an extra-large frame that is as trim as any you will find on a 315-pounder and maybe the only guy who is a guaranteed Husky starter going forward, though sophomore center Landen Hatchett could achieve that status if he were healthy and cleared to play again.

"I just wanted to go where i felt the team had the best bonding and best brotherhood," he said. "That wins football games."

Azzopardi enrolled in the UW's winter quarter and wasn't with the Huskies for even two weeks when the unthinkable happened. After traveling with the team to the national championship game as a spectator, he watched in dismay as UW coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama and initially took offensive-line coach Scott Huff with him before Huff accepted an NFL job with the Seattle Seahawks.

What softened the blow was Azzopardi was well acquainted with Jedd Fisch's Arizona coaching staff, especially offensive coordinator and offensive-line coach Brennan Carroll, a group that stood to gain his services no matter what it did next, which was land in Seattle.

"It was, dang, a new staff," he said. "I didn't know what to do. Honestly, I had a pretty good relationship with coach Carroll out of high school when he recruted me and out of the portal. I was thinking of entering the portal again and i would have went to Arizona, but they came to me. So it was I might as well just stay."

Ironically, Azzopardi roomed last season with Murao, who left the UW after three injury-filled seasons and they started side by side for a couple of games for the Aztecs.

"Me and him were really close," Azzopardi said. "When I entered the transfer portal, I definitely went to him for advice about the area, the staff, like the team, the brotherhood and all that. He was super helpful about the whole process."

In two seasons played at San Diego State, he played 12 games at right tackle for San Diego State and started six, which makes him the Husky elder statesman, the graybeard and the O-line leader. At least that's the case until Fisch's staff combs the transfer portal for a few more veteran linemen and gets holdovers such as Hatchett and junior guard Gaard Memmelaar healthy again after dealing with their knee injuries.

"He's had time on task so there's a little more comfortability," Carroll said of Azzopardi. "But he's a young guy, too."

After all the coaching confusion and change in line personnel, Azzopardi is satisfied with the way things are going, with the strong NFL influence that comes with the instruction, even with him suddenly being thrust into the role of O-line leader.

"It's a little weird right now, but I'm getting used to it," he said. "We're all working to the same goal, which is to be the best offensive line."

For the latest in Husky football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington