UW Football Notebook | Three linemen stay with second team

Huskies football coach Tyrone Willingham has said since Day One of his tenure at Washington that he believes the most important position on a football team is the offensive line.

That may be why he's taking such a, uh, hard-line stance with that unit, with three starters remaining demoted as the Huskies hit the field for their second practice of the season Monday.

Joining returning starting center Juan Garcia and right tackle Chad Macklin with the starting unit are redshirt freshmen guards Matt Sedillo and Ryan Tolar and redshirt freshman left tackle Cody Habben. The former starters now working with the second unit are left tackle Ben Ossai and guards Casey Bulyca and Morgan Rosborough. Jordan White-Frisbee, who was also in the running for a starting guard spot in the spring, has also been demoted.

Willingham vaguely said the demotions were made because "some things were not completed coming into camp."

(The line wasn't the only unit hit; linebacker E.J. Savannah also apparently falls into the group, currently running with the second team behind Chris Stevens).

White-Frisbee said Monday that as far as he knows, the demotions are a result of not meeting a prescribed weight coming into camp.

"Obviously we are being punished for that," said White-Frisbee, who said the players were told of the lineup changes Saturday.

Interestingly, offensive coordinator Tim Lappano had praised the summer work of Ossai during media day Sunday before reporters learned of the demotions.

But White-Frisbee admitted his demotion is for being overweight, saying he tips the scales at about 350 pounds, about 20 more than his preferred weight (and 30 more than he's listed on the roster).

"The freshmen, they put in the work during the summer and were more committed," said White-Frisbee, adding minor personal issues kept him from devoting as much time as he would have liked.

White-Frisbee, who said his oft-troublesome foot is no longer an issue, said he passed the conditioning test held Sunday and thinks he can get to his goal weight by the start of the season. As for his goal of starting this season, he said, "This will make it a little harder, but I'm fine with it."

Offensive-line coach Mike Denbrock said that there's no guarantee the former starters will get their jobs back.

"Our conversation [with the new starters] is that once you get named the starter, regardless of whether it's in fall camp or any other time, it is your job to lose," Denbrock said.

As for the deposed starters, "This gives those guys an opportunity to understand that we are serious about doing things the right way," Denbrock said. "We want to make sure that they know they are not out of mix and we are still hoping that they do the things necessary to get themselves back in position for a starting job. The door is certainly not closed on anybody. But we wanted to make sure they understand we are serious about what we are trying to accomplish."