By Danny Waldo
As the most heralded high school football recruit to come out of the state of Montana, former Bozeman Hawk Will Dissly had high expectations for himself when he stepped on campus at the University of Washington in 2014. “I came in with high expectations for myself, high goals of starting and even making honorable mention Pac-12, but the way it unfolded, our defense was successful and that’s all you can ask for,” Dissly said.
Dissly, originally a Boise State commit who switched to UW when former Boise State head coach Chris Petersen took over in Seattle, impressed his coaches enough early on that they scrapped his red-shirt and placed him on the two-deep on the defensive line his freshman year. Dissly saw action in six of the Huskies’ games in 2014, earning an ESPN highlight reel stop against Cal on a fourth-and-goal tackle, keeping the Bears from scoring.
Things were looking bright for Dissly on the defensive side of the ball coming into his sophomore year, but while he saw action in all 13 of UW’s contests, he was still buried on the depth chart and searching for more playing time. The coaches responded by adding some tight end duties to his plate in preparation for their bowl game last season, and the wheels began to turn from there.
Dissly was an all-state tight end at Bozeman High, and while he was recruited primarily as a defensive player, his abilities on the offensive side of the ball did not go unnoticed. So this season, as Dissly searched for more opportunities to get on the field, the chance to return to offense was too good to pass up. “Working on special teams as much as I could, trying to be on (kickoff return) and punt and PAT, and they were like, ‘Do you want to be on offense too?’, and I was like, ‘the more the merrier. Let’s do it.’”
The defensive lineman turned tight end picked up right where his high school career left off. In Washington’s third game versus Portland State, Dissly hauled in his first reception, a 27-yarder, that also resulted in his first career touchdown for the ‘Dawgs. And in their most recent game at Arizona, Dissly earned his first career start at tight end.
Danny Waldo is a local freelance writer covering Bozeman Hawk and Montana State Bobcat athletics. •
