Doog in the High Castle (UW Football Alternate History) - Jimmy Lake OC Hire

Doog_de_Jour

In honor of the launch of the Half Brains History bored (STOp LIVING IN THE PAST!) I wanted to start doing a fun little exercise...think about what would have happened if (fill in the blank) had played out a little differently.

So...

What if John Don had never been hired as our Offensive Coordinator?



(Yes, he still hasn’t changed his Twitter profile picture.)

Who would we? have gotten instead? Would it have changed anything in the COVID season? What about the impact on recruiting?

Emoterman

I hate to say it, but whoever they hired would have had to answer to Jimmy's dumb ass hat, too.

1to392831weretaken

My guess is little to zero difference. Dude wore a "run the damned ball" hat. I doubt whoever the OC hire could have been would have had the freedom to change all that much. I also doubt a different OC could have made footballs not bounce off of receivers' hands, a different OC could not have made the middle of the defense less Charmin-soft, and only an OC that UW would have no prayer of getting could have really made a difference with Egbuka.

I have a few issues with the four-game offense under Donovan in terms of scheme/play-calling, but no more than in any other year, and the QB play through at least eight of sixteen quarters, receiver play in three of four games, and run blocking in at least two of four seemed to be way bigger issues.

It's not Lake's fault that he's a first time head coach, but the buck always stops at the top, and Donovan's imprint on the program at this point is a tiny fraction of Lake's.

Here's a question, and I'm curious if the answer might support Donovan's impact being minimal: From Smith to Hamdan to Donovan, two different head coaches (although not fair to Lake at this early point), name an offensive player on this skwaad that got better over their career. I guess Ross, Pettis... Otton... There's not many, and definitely far fewer than those that were objectively far worse on their way out. Different coaches, same place, not at all a problem on the defensive side of the ball. Has Washington had a recent problem developing offensive players, and if so, does it even really matter whether Donovan is shitty or not? Smith's offense is shockingly good for what he has to work with at OSU, yet we all hated him at Washington.

Tequilla

Unfortunately @Doog_de_Jour I don’t think much of a difference ...

What’s pretty clear 12+ months after Jimmy got the job is he’s got a lot of sizzle to him but the steak is questionable

Frankly, my opinion based on circumstantial evidence is I don’t think he’s got a wide network and that limited not only his OC hire but also any staff changes.

As time has passed, I don’t think his reputation is getting better.

K leaving only plays more into my hypothesis

RaceBannon

People are upset about a hat

bananasnblondes

It would be interesting to go back to the "potential OC list" (that JonDon was not on) and compare how those guys did. I honestly think he was better than (or there wasn't much difference between he and) Moorhead. Don't know about the other guys

FireCohen

Doog_de_Jour said:

In honor of the launch of the Half Brains History bored (STOp LIVING IN THE PAST!) I wanted to start doing a fun little exercise...think about what would have happened if (fill in the blank) had played out a little differently.

So...

What if John Don had never been hired as our Offensive Coordinator?



(Yes, he still hasn’t changed his Twitter profile picture.)

Who would we? have gotten instead? Would it have changed anything in the COVID season? What about the impact on recruiting?

Doog_de_Jour said:

In honor of the launch of the Half Brains History bored (STOp LIVING IN THE PAST!) I wanted to start doing a fun little exercise...think about what would have happened if (fill in the blank) had played out a little differently.

So...

What if John Don had never been hired as our Offensive Coordinator?



(Yes, he still hasn’t changed his Twitter profile picture.)

Who would we? have gotten instead? Would it have changed anything in the COVID season? What about the impact on recruiting?

Wood

RaceBannon

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

FireCohen

RaceBannon said:

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

At least would be fun dumpster fire

Neighbor2972

Hiring a different OC wouldn't have changed anything in the long run. Because we would still have a head coach who thinks hiring John Donovan is a good idea.

Doog_de_Jour

RaceBannon said:

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

Wow. You’ve taken on an almost @MikeDamone-esque quality in some of your posts @RaceBannon. Not sure how I feel about that.

For the record, I don’t think hiring anybody else, except maybe Tedford, would’ve changed a goddamn thing on the field.

What I’m curious about is the potential change of perception of the UW football program and ultimately Lake. Maybe my memory is a bit fuzzy, but it does seem like the enthusiasm for Lake as HC sharply plummeted after the JohnDon hire. And I think that reverberated throughout the season, save for those few weeks before the Stanford game when things were going well.

RaceBannon

I could NOT care less about Donovan speaking of Damone

BowDownDeathRow

RaceBannon said:

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

I mean would probably be a shit show, but... for some reason I do miss the energy of that era. Now we are soyboys, even tho we win more and have more overall talent, we play like we are weaker and we don’t want to win as much. Plus, the OKG recruiting... our best seasons 2016-2017 were with a mix of Sark guys, as soon as that ratio changed, we became all Boise State OKGs and the heart and passion left. Is it too much to ask for players who want to just hurt people and talk shit? This program is BETA, and I blame Jen and the yuppies in charge who care more about acting “Nobel” than winning games. In my opinion west coast politics have had a large effect on UW and the Pac-12 in general, it’s not about winning, they want to be “different”, act more prestigious, forward thinking and honorable. The people running the show do not care about football, they still have Larry Scott in power, he has to be making somebody happy for him to have not been fired years ago. The leadership across the Pac-12 has ran it into the dirt and keeps digging further and further, and they don’t seem to care and still seems to think that this is all okay.

Joey

RaceBannon said:

People are upset about a hat

Some people spent four years of their life attacking people with hats

Doog_de_Jour

BowDownDeathRow said:

RaceBannon said:

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

I mean would probably be a shit show, but... for some reason I do miss the energy of that era. Now we are soyboys, even tho we win more and have more overall talent, we play like we are weaker and we don’t want to win as much. Plus, the OKG recruiting... our best seasons 2016-2017 were with a mix of Sark guys, as soon as that ratio changed, we became all Boise State OKGs and the heart and passion left. Is it too much to ask for players who want to just hurt people and talk shit? This program is BETA, and I blame Jen and the yuppies in charge who care more about acting “Nobel” than winning games. In my opinion west coast politics have had a large effect on UW and the Pac-12 in general, it’s not about winning, they want to be “different”, act more prestigious, forward thinking and honorable. The people running the show do not care about football, they still have Larry Scott in power, he has to be making somebody happy for him to have not been fired years ago. The leadership across the Pac-12 has ran it into the dirt and keeps digging further and further, and they don’t seem to care and still seems to think that this is all okay.

This is an excellent point that I know we’ve touched on it in various threads. UW is a reflection of Washington State and the PAC-12 mirrors the West Coast (even with the additions of Utah and Colorado).

I know this is veering too close to Tug territory, so I won’t expound upon it here but I’m curious if other conferences like the SEC and Big 12 won’t change as well as their schools’ state politics shift. Again, another day, another thread.

To return back to the OP, I think the ripple effects of the JohnDon hire will be more acutely felt now that we?re also going to have to shop around for a DC. Few have confidence that Lake will make the right hire.

RaceBannon

I don't think that politics were much of a consideration in 1993 when we dropped football. We had been a little slice of the SEC in Seattle and everyone was pretty happy about it until

The saying goes that all politics are local. That means the campus at UW. Walsh embarrassed them but they were thinking that anyway. Suzzallo thought the players were mercenaries.

UW has managed over thirty years to monetize mediocrity so why fix it if it isn't broken. There are less people willing to pay for it and that is when it will change

Football pays for it all. As I have said before and will say again a University has every right to be an academic power and to tell sports to fuck off.

Its the half stepping that annoys me

And demographics are changing in the south but football is immersed in the fabric for now. Huntsville has been building rockets in Alabama for decades. Rocket surgeons love football too

You can love football from any political persuasion in my opinion

Bread

If we are dealing in hypotheticals what if kawasaki and Smith told Petersen to fuck off with interfering in there schemes and be the okgbfl figurehead???? What if Kawasaki gave Jimmy the middle finger and sent him packing to Alabama??? Would Texas have hired Sark over Jimmy???? What if Deontea Cooper never tore his acl??? What if Don James refused to be fired and led a coup against upper campus reshaping the college football landscape by becoming the first Head Coach/school president at the only school whose official primary goal was winning at football??????? What if Gil Dobie did it instead, teddy Roosevelt might have never been president and we could be living in a world where football collapsed as a sport outside the pnw where it currently lives on as as a obscure local sport comparable to beach flags??????????

Tequilla

Doog_de_Jour said:

BowDownDeathRow said:

RaceBannon said:

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

I mean would probably be a shit show, but... for some reason I do miss the energy of that era. Now we are soyboys, even tho we win more and have more overall talent, we play like we are weaker and we don’t want to win as much. Plus, the OKG recruiting... our best seasons 2016-2017 were with a mix of Sark guys, as soon as that ratio changed, we became all Boise State OKGs and the heart and passion left. Is it too much to ask for players who want to just hurt people and talk shit? This program is BETA, and I blame Jen and the yuppies in charge who care more about acting “Nobel” than winning games. In my opinion west coast politics have had a large effect on UW and the Pac-12 in general, it’s not about winning, they want to be “different”, act more prestigious, forward thinking and honorable. The people running the show do not care about football, they still have Larry Scott in power, he has to be making somebody happy for him to have not been fired years ago. The leadership across the Pac-12 has ran it into the dirt and keeps digging further and further, and they don’t seem to care and still seems to think that this is all okay.

This is an excellent point that I know we’ve touched on it in various threads. UW is a reflection of Washington State and the PAC-12 mirrors the West Coast (even with the additions of Utah and Colorado).

I know this is veering too close to Tug territory, so I won’t expound upon it here but I’m curious if other conferences like the SEC and Big 12 won’t change as well as their schools’ state politics shift. Again, another day, another thread.

To return back to the OP, I think the ripple effects of the JohnDon hire will be more acutely felt now that we?re also going to have to shop around for a DC. Few have confidence that Lake will make the right hire.

TL, DR

We’re fucked

Doog_de_Jour

Tequilla said:

Doog_de_Jour said:

BowDownDeathRow said:

RaceBannon said:

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

I mean would probably be a shit show, but... for some reason I do miss the energy of that era. Now we are soyboys, even tho we win more and have more overall talent, we play like we are weaker and we don’t want to win as much. Plus, the OKG recruiting... our best seasons 2016-2017 were with a mix of Sark guys, as soon as that ratio changed, we became all Boise State OKGs and the heart and passion left. Is it too much to ask for players who want to just hurt people and talk shit? This program is BETA, and I blame Jen and the yuppies in charge who care more about acting “Nobel” than winning games. In my opinion west coast politics have had a large effect on UW and the Pac-12 in general, it’s not about winning, they want to be “different”, act more prestigious, forward thinking and honorable. The people running the show do not care about football, they still have Larry Scott in power, he has to be making somebody happy for him to have not been fired years ago. The leadership across the Pac-12 has ran it into the dirt and keeps digging further and further, and they don’t seem to care and still seems to think that this is all okay.

This is an excellent point that I know we’ve touched on it in various threads. UW is a reflection of Washington State and the PAC-12 mirrors the West Coast (even with the additions of Utah and Colorado).

I know this is veering too close to Tug territory, so I won’t expound upon it here but I’m curious if other conferences like the SEC and Big 12 won’t change as well as their schools’ state politics shift. Again, another day, another thread.

To return back to the OP, I think the ripple effects of the JohnDon hire will be more acutely felt now that we?re also going to have to shop around for a DC. Few have confidence that Lake will make the right hire.

TL, DR

We’re fucked

😅 That’s rich coming from you, @Tequilla.

Tequilla

Doog_de_Jour said:

Tequilla said:

Doog_de_Jour said:

BowDownDeathRow said:

RaceBannon said:

What if we kept Sark?

Doogs

I mean would probably be a shit show, but... for some reason I do miss the energy of that era. Now we are soyboys, even tho we win more and have more overall talent, we play like we are weaker and we don’t want to win as much. Plus, the OKG recruiting... our best seasons 2016-2017 were with a mix of Sark guys, as soon as that ratio changed, we became all Boise State OKGs and the heart and passion left. Is it too much to ask for players who want to just hurt people and talk shit? This program is BETA, and I blame Jen and the yuppies in charge who care more about acting “Nobel” than winning games. In my opinion west coast politics have had a large effect on UW and the Pac-12 in general, it’s not about winning, they want to be “different”, act more prestigious, forward thinking and honorable. The people running the show do not care about football, they still have Larry Scott in power, he has to be making somebody happy for him to have not been fired years ago. The leadership across the Pac-12 has ran it into the dirt and keeps digging further and further, and they don’t seem to care and still seems to think that this is all okay.

This is an excellent point that I know we’ve touched on it in various threads. UW is a reflection of Washington State and the PAC-12 mirrors the West Coast (even with the additions of Utah and Colorado).

I know this is veering too close to Tug territory, so I won’t expound upon it here but I’m curious if other conferences like the SEC and Big 12 won’t change as well as their schools’ state politics shift. Again, another day, another thread.

To return back to the OP, I think the ripple effects of the JohnDon hire will be more acutely felt now that we?re also going to have to shop around for a DC. Few have confidence that Lake will make the right hire.

TL, DR

We’re fucked

😅 That’s rich coming from you, @Tequilla.

Thought you’d appreciate that

Doog_de_Jour

RaceBannon said:

I don't think that politics were much of a consideration in 1993 when we dropped football. We had been a little slice of the SEC in Seattle and everyone was pretty happy about it until

The saying goes that all politics are local. That means the campus at UW. Walsh embarrassed them but they were thinking that anyway. Suzzallo thought the players were mercenaries.

UW has managed over thirty years to monetize mediocrity so why fix it if it isn't broken. There are less people willing to pay for it and that is when it will change

Football pays for it all. As I have said before and will say again a University has every right to be an academic power and to tell sports to fuck off.

Its the half stepping that annoys me

And demographics are changing in the south but football is immersed in the fabric for now. Huntsville has been building rockets in Alabama for decades. Rocket surgeons love football too

You can love football from any political persuasion in my opinion

Completely co-sign on this.

I do think it’s possible to have your cake and eat it though. Lots of schools have done the ABUNDANCE thing with being academis and football powerhouses, but that balance is TUFF to maintain.

I thought UW was starting to strike that equilibrium with Petersen, but I suspect as our? star starts to fall with football the powers that be will just push all their chips into playing school.