What would Don James think of Husky Football Today?
Given that today’s the eighth anniversary of Don James’ passing, it got me to thinking. In the last decade of his life, I had the good fortune of talking with him and emailing him and his wife Carol often. When I was publicly taking heat for criticizing then-UW coach Steve Sarkisian in 2010, I asked Coach James his thoughts about Sark’s coaching staff.
“Well, they have a lot of energy,” he said. “I’ll say that much,”.
The 1990s are stretching further away into the deep recesses of memory, aren’t they? Back then we had the “Say Who” chant, when it actually intimidated opponents. Former linebacker Antowaine Richardson originated that chant. In an interview I did with him, he described the fear on the faces of opposing players when they had to pass by the chanting, frenzied Huskies inside the dimly-lit Husky Stadium tunnel.
In a book I co-wrote with All-American linebacker Dave Hoffmann, Hoff described the “Holy Shit Philosophy” that was taught by Don James. It was the idea that when a receiver went across the middle and got his head taken off by a UW linebacker or safety, he would think “Holy Shit! I don’t want to deal with that again!”
That was a bygone era of six Rose Bowls, an Orange Bowl title and a National Championship.
As time has passed, I reminisce less-and-less on those days. For starters, it’s kind of sad to see how far we’ve fallen. As a good friend of mine opined a decade ago, “You Husky fans are pitiful,” she said. “You guys are like the Republicans yearning for the days of Ronald Regan.”
But here we are on October 20, 2021. We are led by Jimmy Lake, a young hotshot coach who was hired to replace the outgoing Chris Petersen in December 2019. Athletic Director Jen Cohen hired Lake without conducting a thorough search for any other possible candidates. The most important decisions ADs make are the hiring of head football coaches and men’s basketball coaches, in terms of revenue and status.
The Huskies are now 1-2 in conference play and 2-4 overall. They became the first UW team to ever lose to an FCS team, when they got humiliated at home to Montana. (While scoring 7 points and rushing for 62 yards!!). They also lost to Beavlet, in bumbling fashion. (That’s Oregon State, for those of you living in Rio Linda, California). They got humbled on national TV against Michigan. And their loss to UCLA was just… bleh.
Jimmy Lake stated before the season that his expectation was to compete for the conference championship every year. Lake is a good-looking guy with energy and charisma. He looks the part of a football coach. Problem is, he has failed in every other aspect of the job. His hiring of John Donovan, a backup running backs coach for Jacksonville, was absolutely bizarre. His promotion of Bob Gregory to defensive coordinator was also a head-scratcher of epic proportions. His recruiting has been so poor that the Huskies have been ridiculed by Oregon fans and coaches. The top three Washington recruits from this past class all left the state. Lastly, Lake constantly brags about his team’s accomplishments, wherein you wonder what reality he’s inhabiting.
A poster on HardcoreHusky.com recently summed up the Jimmy Lake era like this:
“Recruiting: F
Developer: F
Staff Hires: F
In-Game Coaching: F
False Bravado: A
On track to pass Gilby (Keith Gilbertson) and Tyrone Willingham as the single-worst UW head football coach in the last 50 years while squandering the most favorable UW schedule in that time.”
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Ouch. As Kramer from Seinfeld would say, “Well that’s no good.”
Which brings us to athletic director Jen Cohen and her cringe-worthy interview she did last week with Christian Caple of The Athletic. Cohen sounded like an overweening mom defending her failing son. She did not sound like an athletic director.
Cohen stated that her deepest concern is not the failing football team nor the historically horrible men’s basketball team, headed by her hire Mike Hopkins. No, Cohen’s biggest concern is that negativity from so-called fans is hurting the confidence of the UW players. She fears the frustration from fans is ruining the college experience of her players.
Can you imagine Don James saying that fans were hurting the confidence of his players? Can you imagine former athletic director Mike Lude fearing that fans were ruining the college experience of his players?
Over at Hardcore Husky, posters are predicting the Dawgs will go 2-10 or 3-9 this year. That’s not going to happen. Washington will beat hapless Arizona this Saturday night (rather easily, say 34-17?). The Huskies are talented enough to win another couple games while playing in the feeble and flaccid Pac-12.
They will finish 4-8 or 5-7. It will be enough for Jen Cohen to announce that things aren’t where we want them but she sees signs of improvement. Offensive coordinator John Donovan and perhaps offensive line coach Scott Huff will be the fall guys and lose their jobs. And Jimmy Lake will pull out the ol’ Rolodex and contact the New York Jets to see if they have a groundskeeper who is football-savvy.
It makes you wonder what Don James would think of the current state of the Huskies. He was fond of Jen Cohen, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re addressing the state of the football program.
And right now, it’s a “Holy Shit!” of a different caliber.
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