Former 5-star quarterback coming to Cal Poly — he’s the son of a 2-time Super Bowl champ

Cal Poly football announced its biggest signing of the offseason on Monday with the addition of Sam Huard, a former five-star quarterback and son of a two-time Super Bowl champion, who will transfer here from the University of Washington with three years of eligibility remaining.

“We are very excited adding Sam to our recruiting class and to our team,” Head Coach Paul Wulff said in a news release. “With Sam coming in the spring, he will add immediate competition and elevate the position as a whole.”

Huard reunites with Sheldon Cross, his former high school coach at Kennedy Catholic in Washington. Cross was hired on Jan. 18 as the new offensive coordinator.

After not seeing the field much for the Huskies, Huard “wanted a fresh start and a chance to compete to go play.”

Huard is Cal Poly’s first five-star signing in the team’s history, and he comes from a family with a rich football history at Washington.

His father and uncle both were standout quarterbacks for the Huskies. Damon Huard, Sam’s father, went on to have a 12-year NFL career and won two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots.

Huard joins a packed quarterback position that already has Jaden Jones, Spencer Brasch, Bo Kelly, Jackson Pavitt and Bryce Weiner. Jones was the starter to begin the season but went down with a season-ending knee injury. Brasch then took over and went on to set the school’s completion record with a season total of 206 passes.

Huard, the No. 1 pro-style quarterback and No. 23 overall prospect in his class according to 247Sports.com, is the latest addition to a star-studded group headed to San Luis Obispo.

Other recruits include two four-stars in linebacker Ethan Calvert from Utah and offensive lineman Thomas Cole from UCLA, along with three-star running back Aiden Ramos from Bishop Amat High School in Los Angeles.

At Washington, Huard played in four total games and had one start. Last season, he played in one game and completed two passes for 24 yards in a 52-6 win against Portland State.

During his time at Kennedy Catholic, Huard broke the Washington state record for career passing yards (13,214) and was named North Puget Sound League 4A Player and All-NPSL 4A first team as a senior in 2021.

It was a tough decision for Huard to leave the place he envisioned himself playing and continuing the trend of the Huards under center for the Huskies.

“What do I want more? Do I want to go play right now, or do I want to continue to stick it out, because this has been my dream?” Huard told the Seattle Times. “Do I really want to leave here like this, having really not played much? It was not how I expected to come in (to Washington), but sometimes that’s life.”

Huard will enroll at Cal Poly in the spring and compete for the starting job at camp starting on April 4.