Husky Leaders Aren't Winning Any Popularity Contests

Face it, if you're a college football coach or a quarterback, you're not always going to be universally loved by your fan base.

There will be plenty of times where those people will turn on you. Like after every defeat. Every blown lead. Every lull in the action.

Making matters far worse is whenever the coaching leader or the top signal-caller gets ambitious and looks to see if anyone else out there loves them more.

That said, The Big Ten Huddle had a data scientist recently examine all of the negative fan-base messages to see who might be the most reviled -- they used the word hated -- across the conference and the University of Washington's Demond Williams Jr. and Jedd Fisch turned up among the top 20 now being disparaged at a high rate.

Williams' is the Huskies' third-year quarterback, Fisch the third-year coach.

Ah, the Montlake honeymoon doesn't last long these days, does it?

Williams turned up fifth on this list, and as the second player singled out, no doubt feeling the lingering effects of his brief dalliance with the transfer portal last winter.

While the school tried to do significant damage control by trotting Williams out to explain himself during a February football news conference that involved Fisch and other teammates, some people will never forgive him for his temporary offseason farewell.

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood, who is No. 3 on the list, is the only Big Ten player who has heard more negative feedback than Williams. An 0-2 Big Ten start for the Wolverines, and 3-2 record overall, will make fans repeatedly say unkind things.

As for Fisch, he turns up No. 13 on this list.

After two seasons of progress, the Huskies (3-3, 0-3) have regressed this fall under his watch, and are currently dealing with a three-game losing streak going into Purdue for a Friday night encounter.

Fisch has been taken to task for his current UW team simply not coming together this season in any consistent manner, leaving it to barely beat lesser opponents while losing to all three conference opponents so far.

The voices of discontent have grown a little louder with each setback to Minnesota, USC and Iowa. Two of those losses came at Husky Stadium, negating the usual home-field advantage. Boos were evident shortly into the Hawkeyes game.

The only way to quiet the critics and remove themselves from The Big Ten Huddle's list of those being demeaned is for Fisch, Williams and the rest of the Huskies is to start winning.