Joseph Peko, a defensive lineman from the Class of 2026, has flipped his recruiting commitment from Colorado to Washington due to his father's coaching change from CU to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Joseph Peko is a defensive lineman from the Class of 2026 with far-ranging family football connections and, largely for that reason on Wednesday, he flipped his recruiting commitment from Colorado to Washington.
The 6-foot-3, 315-pound player from Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California, pledged to the Buffaloes in December, along with his older brother Domata, a junior-college edge rusher. They had every intention of playing for their father, Domata Sr., who was the defensive-line coach for the Deion Sanders-coached team. Yet in February, the older Peko, a former 15-year NFL player, took the same coaching role with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Joseph Peko, likely well aware his father was changing jobs, never signed any paperwork with Colorado, hence leaving him free to find another school without entering the transfer portal.
“I’m very excited to be a Dawg,” Peko told Rivals. “Colorado was great but when my pops left CU to coach in the NFL, I had to look around. I was still giving Colorado a hard look but when I visited Washington, I knew that was home. ” Westlake Village Oaks Christian DL Joseph Peko has flipped his commitment from Colorado to Washington and went in-depth on why he chose the HuskiesThe Huskies add Peko while they continue to build on the 15 commitments they're currently holding for 2027. He'll arrive at the UW next month along with three other defensive linemen from the 2026 class in JD Hill, David Schwerzel and Ta'a Malu.
In Peko, Jedd Fisch's team picks up a noted strongman who appeared in just five games for Oaks Christian last season and missed the entire 2025 campaign, according to Max Preps, presumably because of an injury. Still, he finished with 38 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss and 5 sacks, in his abbreviated senior season. As a sophomore, he had a 3-sack game and blocked a PAT kick in a 13-6 victory over Gardena.
His father, Domata Sr., played his college ball for Michigan State and was a 2006 fourth-round draft pick for the Cincinnati Bengals. He played 15 seasons, 11 with the Bengals, and later for the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals. An uncle, Tupe Peko, was an offensive lineman who likewise emerged from Michigan State and played two seasons for the Indianapolis Colts.
A cousin, Kyle Peko came out of Oregon State and spent seven years in the NFL as a defensive lineman with the Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders and Detroit Lions. Yet another uncle, Rey Maualuga, was a linebacker from USC who played nine seasons for the Bengals and Miami Dolphins.
While dad is off to Pittsburgh, which was one of that man's fiercest pro rivals, and Joseph Peko is Montlake bound, the older brother, Domata Jr., remains at Colorado. Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time.
In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.
Joseph Peko Colorado Buffaloes Washington Huskies Deion Sanders Pittsburgh Steelers
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