UW Huskies outside linebacker medically retires due to neck injury
Washington outside linebacker Laiatu Latu appeared as a starter on the depth chart for most of the 2020 season, but he didn’t play in any of the Huskies’ four games.
After the first day of spring practice on Wednesday, UW head coach Jimmy Lake revealed why — Latu has been forced to medically retire due to a neck injury sustained last fall.
“We consulted I believe about five of the best specialists in the country, guys that work with different NFL clubs where different players have had the same injury,” Lake said. “Of course with our medical personnel, we exhausted every professional we could think of to make sure this was the proper decision. This decision came in the last couple months after consultation with all the medical professionals.
“It was a tough decision to make for sure, but it’s for the safety of our players first and foremost. We never want to put anybody in danger of possibly not being able to use his extremities the rest of his life. We’d never want that to happen to anybody.”
While Latu won’t be on the field this fall, he’ll remain with the program as a student assistant. Lake’s own career was disrupted by a knee injury when he was a senior in college. He said it helped him mentally to still be near his team, and he hopes the same will be true for Latu.
“It’s going to be good for him to be around his brothers and be around his coaching staff,” Lake said. “He was one of our smarter players and I know he’s going to add value to our team by being around our guys and helping these guys with their techniques and their fundamentals.
“You can hear it from the coach, but it’s always good when you hear from a player as well. You hear him speak the knowledge of what we’re trying to say at their level. He’ll add tremendous value to us.”
As a true freshman in 2019, Latu played in 12 games and recorded 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sack. A four-star recruit out of Jesuit High School, Latu was considered the No. 5 defensive end and the No. 98 player nationally by 247Sports.
The Huskies will return last season’s starting outside linebackers in junior Zion Tupuola-Fetui and senior Ryan Bowman. In Latu’s absence, Tupuola-Fetui became a breakout star in 2020. He finished with seven sacks and three forced fumbles in four games and was an All-Pac-12. first-team selection.
Sophomore Bralen Tice and redshirt freshmen Sav’ell Smalls, Cooper McDonald, Jordan Lolohea and Carson Bruener are also back at outside linebacker. The Huskies added senior Texas A&M transfer Jeremiah Martin. Three-star freshman Maurice Heims will arrive this summer.
“It’s a group that I believe had a lot of snaps last training camp and last fall in four games, and they played extremely well, and we’re adding to the room,” Lake said. “Of course we would love to have Laiatu back, though.”
Extra points
Lake also announced that tight end Jacob Kizer and defensive back Isaiah Gilchrist, who opted out of the 2020 season, have left the program ... Wide receiver Taj Davis, who also opted out, is back with the team. ... Running back Richard Newton wasn’t on the field for practice. Lake didn’t give a reason for his absence.
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 1:00 PM.
