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Jimmy Lake Fired... “I separated him. I didn’t strike him. I separated him.”
ChillyDawg
Member Posts: 1,469
Jimmy Lake proved to be incompetent leading the UW as soon as he hired Jon Donovan to be his OC. Hire the best people. A power 5 head coaching job is a dream job to most coaches and for an African American head coach even that much more harder to come by thus when a coach earns a job at a power 5 school it is their job to surround themselves with the best people to ensure that they have the best chance at success. Jimmy failed big time with that particular. He will most likely never be a head coach again but will get a job as a DB coach and/or DC somewhere. No mention in the article on if he was bought out or straight up fired with cause.
UWDawgPound https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2021/11/14/22780958/breaking-washington-fires-head-coach-jimmy-lake-uw-huskies-football
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/report-uw-huskies-head-coach-jimmy-lake-to-be-fired-after-just-14-games/
Jimmy Lake was fired Sunday after just 13 games as the Washington Huskies’ head coach. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will likely continue to serve as the program’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season, and a national search for the program’s next head coach will begin immediately.
But less than two years ago, Chris Petersen stood at a podium inside the Don James Center on the north side of Husky Stadium on Dec. 3, 2019, decked out in a purple shirt and tie. The day before, UW announced that Petersen would step down after six seasons as the Huskies’ head coach, and Lake — his defensive coordinator — would serve as his chosen successor. Lake and athletics director Jen Cohen both sat to his left, facing rows of cameras and media members and donors and alums.
On the video board beyond the field at Petersen’s back, three words were printed in bold white type — between smiling photos of Petersen on the left, and Lake on the right:
A NEW REIGN
“This is interesting. It’s like a combination between a funeral and a wedding … but it’s more of a wedding,” Petersen said with a smile.
Less than two years later, the marriage has ended in divorce.
“Making a head coaching change in any sport is difficult, recognizing that the decision impacts coaches, staff, student-athletes and their families,” UW athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement. “However, as the steward of UW Athletics, I must always act in the best interests of our student-athletes, our department and our university.
“No one wanted Jimmy to succeed more than I when I hired him in 2019, but ultimately, this change is necessary for a variety of reasons, both on the field and off. I am grateful for Jimmy’s service to Washington, and we wish him the very best of luck moving forward.”
Lake — who arrived in Seattle as Petersen’s defensive backs coach in 2014, before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator (2016-17) and then defensive coordinator (2018-19) — went 7-6 in less than two full seasons at the helm. It was his first head coaching position in any capacity.
Lake’s contract runs through the 2024 season. The 44-year-old coach — who attended North Central High School in Spokane, before playing defensive back at Eastern Washington — was scheduled to make $3.2 million in 2022, $3.3 million in 2023 and $3.4 million in 2024. Lake was not fired for cause, and his $9.9 million buyout will be paid in monthly installments, with that number reduced by any new compensation Lake earns at another job between now and 2024.
The decision comes just six days after Lake was suspended for one week without pay for contacting UW linebacker Ruperake Fuavai during last Saturday’s 26-16 loss to rival Oregon. UW’s second-year head coach was shown on national TV attempting to separate Fuavai from a sideline scrum by hitting him in the facemask, then shoving him in the back when he turned to walk away.
“President [Ana Mari] Cauce, our Faculty Athletics Representative, Alexes Harris, and members of our executive staff are in agreement that while we do not believe that his actions were intentional or deliberate, we can have no tolerance for a coach interacting with a student in the manner Coach Lake did,” Cohen said in a statement after investigating the matter. “We have high expectations of conduct for our coaches, and we will not shy away from those expectations.”
Immediately after the Oregon game, when asked if he regretted striking Fuavai, Lake responded: “I separated him. I didn’t strike him. I separated him.”
It’s the last time Lake addressed the media in person as the Huskies’ head coach.
Lake’s chosen offensive coordinator, John Donovan, was also fired last Sunday — less than 24 hours after the 26-16 loss to Oregon.
Moreover, five eyewitnesses allege that Lake forcefully shoved a player during halftime of a game at Arizona in 2019, The Times reported Sunday. When reached by phone on Friday, Lake said in a prepared statement that “I absolutely deny anything improper went on at halftime of the University of Arizona game in 2019.”
UW’s athletic department confirmed Friday that, while investigating the Fuavai incident, “one individual mentioned an alleged incident involving Coach Lake during the 2019 football game at Arizona. This is the first time (the) athletic department administration had been made aware of the alleged 2019 incident and we began to review that allegation; that work is ongoing.”
Washington went 3-1 and technically won the Pac-12 North in 2020, though its season abruptly ended due to a coronavirus outbreak within the program. After being ranked No. 20 nationally in the preseason, the Huskies dropped their 2021 opener at home to FCS Montana and are currently 4-6 — needing to win their final two games to avoid missing the postseason for the first time since 2009.
Of equal or greater concern, UW’s 2021 signing class ranked just sixth in the Pac-12 and 36th in the nation by the 247Sports Composite, while the 2022 class sits eighth in the conference and 54th in the country. A cavalcade of in-state blue-chip recruits — including five-star defensive lineman J.T. Tuimoloau (Ohio State), five-star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (Ohio State), four-star linebacker Julien Simon (USC) and four-star wide receiver Junior Alexander (Arizona State) — signed elsewhere in the 2021 cycle.
On that subject: Lake made unwelcome waves on Nov. 1, when he said he doesn’t consider Oregon a recruiting rival because of the university’s lack of “academic prowess.”
“The schools we go against are way more … have academic prowess — like the University of Washington, Notre Dame, Stanford, USC,” Lake said. “We go with a lot of battles toe-to-toe all the way to the end with those schools. So, I think that’s made up in your [media/recruiting service] world. In our world, we battle more academically prowess teams.”
UWDawgPound https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2021/11/14/22780958/breaking-washington-fires-head-coach-jimmy-lake-uw-huskies-football
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-football/report-uw-huskies-head-coach-jimmy-lake-to-be-fired-after-just-14-games/
Jimmy Lake was fired Sunday after just 13 games as the Washington Huskies’ head coach. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will likely continue to serve as the program’s interim head coach for the remainder of the season, and a national search for the program’s next head coach will begin immediately.
But less than two years ago, Chris Petersen stood at a podium inside the Don James Center on the north side of Husky Stadium on Dec. 3, 2019, decked out in a purple shirt and tie. The day before, UW announced that Petersen would step down after six seasons as the Huskies’ head coach, and Lake — his defensive coordinator — would serve as his chosen successor. Lake and athletics director Jen Cohen both sat to his left, facing rows of cameras and media members and donors and alums.
On the video board beyond the field at Petersen’s back, three words were printed in bold white type — between smiling photos of Petersen on the left, and Lake on the right:
A NEW REIGN
“This is interesting. It’s like a combination between a funeral and a wedding … but it’s more of a wedding,” Petersen said with a smile.
Less than two years later, the marriage has ended in divorce.
“Making a head coaching change in any sport is difficult, recognizing that the decision impacts coaches, staff, student-athletes and their families,” UW athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement. “However, as the steward of UW Athletics, I must always act in the best interests of our student-athletes, our department and our university.
“No one wanted Jimmy to succeed more than I when I hired him in 2019, but ultimately, this change is necessary for a variety of reasons, both on the field and off. I am grateful for Jimmy’s service to Washington, and we wish him the very best of luck moving forward.”
Lake — who arrived in Seattle as Petersen’s defensive backs coach in 2014, before being promoted to co-defensive coordinator (2016-17) and then defensive coordinator (2018-19) — went 7-6 in less than two full seasons at the helm. It was his first head coaching position in any capacity.
Lake’s contract runs through the 2024 season. The 44-year-old coach — who attended North Central High School in Spokane, before playing defensive back at Eastern Washington — was scheduled to make $3.2 million in 2022, $3.3 million in 2023 and $3.4 million in 2024. Lake was not fired for cause, and his $9.9 million buyout will be paid in monthly installments, with that number reduced by any new compensation Lake earns at another job between now and 2024.
The decision comes just six days after Lake was suspended for one week without pay for contacting UW linebacker Ruperake Fuavai during last Saturday’s 26-16 loss to rival Oregon. UW’s second-year head coach was shown on national TV attempting to separate Fuavai from a sideline scrum by hitting him in the facemask, then shoving him in the back when he turned to walk away.
“President [Ana Mari] Cauce, our Faculty Athletics Representative, Alexes Harris, and members of our executive staff are in agreement that while we do not believe that his actions were intentional or deliberate, we can have no tolerance for a coach interacting with a student in the manner Coach Lake did,” Cohen said in a statement after investigating the matter. “We have high expectations of conduct for our coaches, and we will not shy away from those expectations.”
Immediately after the Oregon game, when asked if he regretted striking Fuavai, Lake responded: “I separated him. I didn’t strike him. I separated him.”
It’s the last time Lake addressed the media in person as the Huskies’ head coach.
Lake’s chosen offensive coordinator, John Donovan, was also fired last Sunday — less than 24 hours after the 26-16 loss to Oregon.
Moreover, five eyewitnesses allege that Lake forcefully shoved a player during halftime of a game at Arizona in 2019, The Times reported Sunday. When reached by phone on Friday, Lake said in a prepared statement that “I absolutely deny anything improper went on at halftime of the University of Arizona game in 2019.”
UW’s athletic department confirmed Friday that, while investigating the Fuavai incident, “one individual mentioned an alleged incident involving Coach Lake during the 2019 football game at Arizona. This is the first time (the) athletic department administration had been made aware of the alleged 2019 incident and we began to review that allegation; that work is ongoing.”
Washington went 3-1 and technically won the Pac-12 North in 2020, though its season abruptly ended due to a coronavirus outbreak within the program. After being ranked No. 20 nationally in the preseason, the Huskies dropped their 2021 opener at home to FCS Montana and are currently 4-6 — needing to win their final two games to avoid missing the postseason for the first time since 2009.
Of equal or greater concern, UW’s 2021 signing class ranked just sixth in the Pac-12 and 36th in the nation by the 247Sports Composite, while the 2022 class sits eighth in the conference and 54th in the country. A cavalcade of in-state blue-chip recruits — including five-star defensive lineman J.T. Tuimoloau (Ohio State), five-star wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (Ohio State), four-star linebacker Julien Simon (USC) and four-star wide receiver Junior Alexander (Arizona State) — signed elsewhere in the 2021 cycle.
On that subject: Lake made unwelcome waves on Nov. 1, when he said he doesn’t consider Oregon a recruiting rival because of the university’s lack of “academic prowess.”
“The schools we go against are way more … have academic prowess — like the University of Washington, Notre Dame, Stanford, USC,” Lake said. “We go with a lot of battles toe-to-toe all the way to the end with those schools. So, I think that’s made up in your [media/recruiting service] world. In our world, we battle more academically prowess teams.”
Comments
The school announced they would honor the remainder of Lake's contract. He is owed close to $10 million if fired without cause, minus any compensation he would get when hired by another program in the next three years.
Lake went 3-1 in 2020 and 4-5 in 2021 before agreeing to leave UW. The Huskies are currently 4-6 because of their loss Saturday to ASU without Lake.
Racism fears its ugly head once again.
SMH at you guys
This is bizarro world. Who the fuck does that?
And I have no doubt she really did use the word "Holistic"
Washington Coaching Target Big Board 1.0
All of the names you could reasonably think will be in UW’s crosshairs with reasons why they would or wouldn’t be a fit for the Huskies...
Justin Wilcox
Most Recent Role: Head Coach at California (since 2017), 24-27 record
Other Relevant Experience: Defensive Coordinator- Boise State (2006-2009), Defensive Coordinator- Tennessee (2010-2011), Defensive Coordinator- Washington (2012-2013), Defensive Coordinator- USC (2014-2015), Defensive Coordinator- Wisconsin (2016)
Kalen DeBoer
Most Recent Role: Head Coach at Fresno State (since 2020), 11-6 record
Other Relevant Experience: Offensive Coordinator/WR Coach- Southern Illinois (2010-13), Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Eastern Michigan (2014-16), Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Fresno State (2017-18), Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Indiana (2019)
Jay Norvell
Most Recent Role: Head Coach- Nevada (since 2017), 32-25 record
Other Relevant Experience: Co-Offensive Coordinator/WR Coach (2011-14), WR Coach- Texas (2015), Passing Game Coordinator/WR Coach- Arizona State (2016)
Bronco Mendenhall
Most Recent Role: Head Coach at Virginia (since 2016), 36-36 record
Other Relevant Experience: Defensive Coordinator/DB Coach- Oregon State (1996), Defensive Coordinator/DB Coach- New Mexico (1998-2002), Head Coach- BYU (2005-15)
Jonathan Smith
Most Recent Role: Head Coach- Oregon State (since 2018), 15-26 record
Other Relevant Experience: QB Coach- Boise State (2013), Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Washington (2014-17)
Tom Herman
Most Recent Role: Offensive Analyst- Chicago Bears (2021)
Other Relevant Experience: Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Iowa State (2009-11), Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Ohio State (2012-14), Head Coach- Houston (2015-16), Head Coach- Texas (2017-20)
Dave Clawson
Most Recent Role: Head Coach- Wake Forest (since 2014), 49-46 record
Other Relevant Experience: Head coach- Fordham (1999-2003), Head Coach- Richmond (2004-07), Offensive Coordinator- Tennessee (2008), Head Coach- Bowling Green (2009-13)
Kalani Sitake
Most Recent Role: Head Coach at BYU (since 2016), 46-28 record
Other Relevant Experience: Defensive Coordinator/LB Coach- Utah (2009-14), Defensive Coordinator- Oregon State (2015)
Joe Moorhead
Most Recent Role: Offensive Coordinator- Oregon/QB Coach (since 2020)
Other Relevant Experience: Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Penn State (2016-17), Head Coach Mississippi State (2018-19), 14-12 record
Billy Napier
Most Recent Role: Head Coach at Louisiana (since 2018), 37-12 record
Other Relevant Experience: Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Clemson (2009-10), QB Coach- Colorado State (2012), WR Coach- Alabama (2013-16), Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach- Arizona State (2017)
Bob Stoops
Most Recent Role: FOX Sports Television Analyst
Other Relevant Experience: Defensive Coordinator- Florida (1996-98), Head Coach- Oklahoma (1999-2016), 190-48 record
Matt Campbell
Most Recent Role: Head Coach- Iowa State (since 2016), 41-32 record
Other Relevant Experience: Offensive Coordinator/OL Coach- Toledo (2010-11), Head Coach- Toledo (2012-15)
Has any AD for a Power 5 completely whiffed on both their basketball and football hires costing the university tens of millions and retained their jobs??
Oh that's right....
Go Bob! Good for you! Squeeze that thought out!!!
Lake Becomes Tragic Figure in Husky Football Annals, Dismissed for Missteps
The Washington coach is the first to be removed from his job and not allowed to finish the season.
Jimmy Lake had us at hello.
He lost us at Montana.
He went past the point of no return against Oregon.
Thus this college football season turned into a precipitous nine-week slide for the charming yet unbridled University of Washington leader that culminated with his mad dash down the sideline on November 6 during the Ducks game — straight into a linebacker's face and unemployment.
Eight days later on Sunday, the school officially fired Lake for embarrassing the institution with his reckless manhandling of a UW player captured on a live national TV broadcast for all to see. Maybe even more pronounced for the administration, he was let go for not winning nearly enough with the extensive resources he was handed. The news came in a terse four-paragraph release. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will continue on as interim coach.
Lake, 44, became the first Husky football head coach to be removed from his job in every manner while a season was in progress. Tyrone Willingham previously was fired by the UW after seven games in 2008 but he was permitted to finish out the schedule with an 0-12 team. Lake's conduct — in which he ran over people to shove and strike out wildly at freshman walk-on Ruperake Fuavai — was considered far too egregious to be given a reprieve.
Other football coaches have been fired from the UW, Jim Lambright because his program had stagnated in 1998 and the athletic director gave in to donors' wishes, Rick Neuheisel in 2002 for participating in an office gambling pool, Keith Gilbertson in 2004 for going 1-10 and Willingham for sinking even lower with the school's only winless season in modern times.
Yet none of them fell out of favor so fast or in such shocking fashion as Lake, an energetic Spokane native who coached in all of 13 Husky games over two seasons because of pandemic limitations in 2020 and his recent one-week suspension. This was the equivalent of a normal regular season plus a bowl game. It wasn't long at all.
With his termination, Lake becomes the first UW football coach to be fired twice by the school, too. In 2004, he was a first-year, defensive-backs coach for Gilbertson who had to go, along with everyone else, when the team tanked.
Seventeen years later, as this in-house replacement for Chris Petersen, Lake was dismissed once more after serving his suspension, one presumably put in place to enable buyout negotiations to proceed. Lake is owed $10 million for the remaining three years of a five-year deal he signed, which the school is expected to pay to avoid any acrimony while pursuing a replacement coach.
Lake simply didn't last on the job after he was promoted from defensive coordinator to become the 27th UW football coach, hired after a suddenly disinterested Petersen stepped down and announced as the new leader just three days following the 2019 Apple Cup.
Flanked by the former coach and athletic director Jen Cohen in the Don James Center at Husky Stadium, Lake famously vowed to follow "the recipe" for success set by Petersen. His hiring received near unanimous support from the fan base, considering that he would keep so many things in place that were installed by his predecessor and the UW wouldn't have to conduct some long, drawn-out coaching search.
He had impeccable credentials, impressive personal endorsements, so much boundless energy.
The prevailing thought was the UW had carefully cultivated Lake for the top job and it needed to hand him a promotion before some other school swept this guy away and benefitted from his seemingly unlimited coaching potential.
Yet it wasn't long after that introduction that Lake made his first and most fateful coaching decision — he hired John Donovan, who had been cast away by Penn State in 2015 and was now in a lesser role with the Jacksonville Jaguars — as his offensive coordinator.
If not for the sideline incident against Oregon, this move had the potential to derail Lake all by itself.
Football fans everywhere, from Penn State to the Evergreen state, loudly snickered or groaned when the Huskies announced Donovan's hiring. Did Lake not look under the hood, they wanted to know? This engine just was never going to turn over. Lake seemed oblivious to Donovan's inability to enable the team to move the football, the predictable schemes, the lack of imagination. Donovan, of course, was fired after the Oregon game, lasting just 13 games at the UW, as well.
Lake and Donovan, for different reasons, went out together.
The head coach won three of four games in 2020, dealing with pandemic setbacks, including a COVID-19 outbreak among his offensive linemen that abruptly ended the season. His team was far from dominating, in one case forced to rally from a 21-0 halftime deficit to beat Utah 24-21 in the closing seconds.
Lake initially had 20 of 22 starters returning for this season, including several players who received All-Pac-12 honors and were considered NFL prospects. This led UW followers and media members alike to believe the 2021 season would be highly successful, with the Associated Press ranking the Huskies 20th on the eve of their opener.
Before this past spring practice began, which was his first because of the pandemic, Lake invited members of the local press corps to an unusual off-the-record meeting where reporters witnessed a totally different side to him. He was a little cocky, dismissive of his critics, even a little loose-lipped about the ability of a couple of players. He ran previous game footage to try and dissuade his media audience from believing the claim that Donovan's offense didn't work, as had been widely suggested.
No one came away convinced of anything except that Lake had a lot of moxie for trying to pull off this stunt.
In the spring, the Husky coach seemed under control at all times except for one morning practice. He went off on a surprising tirade directed at his team, in which he let loose with a string of expletives that echoed throughout the back practice field and seemed to go on forever. It was considered just frustrated coach stuff rather than anything abusive, yet coming from Lake as the head guy it seemed out of character.
The lack of an imaginative offensive scheme under Donovan's leadership made the Huskies half a football team, if not susceptible to a stunning 13-7 upset to an FCS team such as Montana to open the season.
The outcome sent shock waves throughout the college football world and was regarded as a setback widely considered the worst for the UW in its 132 seasons. Lake lost a lot supporters that day.
Amazingly, Lake avoided a leading question about Oregon, asked for one word to describe the school from radio personality Dave "Softy" Mahler, by smiling and responding, "Nice try," and "next question." Yet minutes later when asked about recruiting against the Ducks, the coach inexplicably slammed the Eugene school, denigrating its academic standing.
It became clear that Lake lacked those tedious but all so important organizational skills, thinking at times he could get by on pure emotion, which segues him to this disturbing trend.
The Huskies continued to hurt themselves this season with dumb plays. They've now been called for 10 personal fouls over 10 games, including two late hits in three plays on the second defensive series against Oregon. This would all be a direct reflection of the coach for a lack of discipline.
It was one of those moments, one that actually didn't get flagged by the officials, that ended it all for Lake.
Spotting Fuavai and Oregon wide receiver Jaylon Redd trading words and shoves on the Husky sideline — with the UW player later saying he was reacting to getting spit on by his unsavory Ducks opponent — Lake tore down the sideline like a wild man, shoving and crashing into people as he went, including some sort of game official.
Arriving after the players had separated, Lake appeared to strike out at his non-scholarship player and then forcibly shove him away from the field. It was all caught by an ABC-TV camera and immediately went viral on social media. Had this been a Pac-12 Networks broadcast, with fewer cameras and angles to show, this episode might have gone totally unnoticed.
Lake, in his Oregon postgame news conference, defiantly denied hitting Fuavai. Yet school administrators, likely disturbed by his hot-tempered physical display and lack of contriteness, set the wheels in motion for his ouster. It all seemed so unreal, that the demise of Lake, widely known as a players' coach, would be sparked by his negative actions toward one of his own.
The school waited a day to fire Donovan first, then handed Lake a one-week suspension. Yet similar to a coaching staff being strategic, the school was just milking the clock and putting everything in order to fire him.
Someone joked that Lake soon could be headed for the Nick Saban coaching "rehabilitation" program, where banished college football leaders such as Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian went to regain their reputations under the watchful eye of the Alabama coach and former James protege.
Most of all, what Lake does from here on out has to add up to winning. At the Power 5 level, you only get so many chances to pull that off. And the pressure to make it happen, with conferences realigning, will only get more intense.
This has been a painful lesson for Lake, who very will could re-emerge as a head coach again some day, far more wary of tying up loose ends, making better hires and doing due diligence on his protecting his image — such as maintaining his cool at all times.