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)
Stoops, Herman, and Deboer are the only acceptable ones on that list. Which means it will probably not be any of them.
Campbell and Napier before Herman in my mind, and I wouldn't be pissed if it was Sitake.
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.
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)
Stoops, Herman, and Deboer are the only acceptable ones on that list. Which means it will probably not be any of them.
Campbell and Napier before Herman in my mind, and I wouldn't be pissed if it was Sitake.
My list
Stoops Pete Campbell Deboer Napier Herman Sitake
And from the years knowing you as a competent thinking poster, I can say with confidence, that Jen’s incompetent ass isn’t hiring anybody on this list.
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)
Stoops, Herman, and Deboer are the only acceptable ones on that list. Which means it will probably not be any of them.
Campbell and Napier before Herman in my mind, and I wouldn't be pissed if it was Sitake.
My list
Stoops Pete Campbell Deboer Napier Herman Sitake
And from the years knowing you as a competent thinking poster, I can say with confidence, that Jen’s incompetent ass isn’t hiring anybody on this list.
Which is why the first and most important step is #FireJen
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)
Stoops, Herman, and Deboer are the only acceptable ones on that list. Which means it will probably not be any of them.
Campbell and Napier before Herman in my mind, and I wouldn't be pissed if it was Sitake.
My list
Stoops Pete Campbell Deboer Napier Herman Sitake
And from the years knowing you as a competent thinking poster, I can say with confidence, that Jen’s incompetent ass isn’t hiring anybody on this list.
Which is why the first and most important step is #FireJen
An inspiring journey — in football and life — leads UW Football head coach to a stunning opportunity Before Jimmy Lake hit his teens, he’d already traveled the world. From the Western United States to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey to the Philippines and back again, he began learning skills that would inevitably lead to his coaching career.
“My dad was in the Air Force, so we moved around a lot,” the first-year head coach says. “After that experience, I felt like I could be dropped anywhere and be able to connect with people. That has helped me be a good recruiter and coworker and to communicate well with different people.”
After graduating from high school in Spokane, Jimmy attended Eastern Washington University on a football scholarship. A business major, he never set out to be a coach. Then, his EWU coaches recognized Jimmy’s leadership and strategic approach to the game and offered him an assistant coaching role his fifth year of college. His career had begun even before he earned his degree.
‘JUST FRIENDS’ NO MORE
Lake familyMeanwhile, Jimmy stayed in touch with a girl he’d met in a ninth grade “life choices” class. He and Michele never dated, but they remained good friends over the years. When they ran into each other in downtown Spokane after college graduation, “at that moment we knew we’d be together for the rest of our lives.”
Michele and Jimmy now have three children: Jimmy Jr., 20, an Arizona State student; Faith, 18, heading to Colorado State this fall; and Bronson, 13, a middle-schooler.
After five years at EWU, Jimmy spent the next several seasons in one- or two-year stints with the UW, Montana State, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions. He longed for more stability and wanted to drive his own destiny. So, he decided to thoughtfully chart a path toward a head coaching career.
‘THE BEST COACH I’VE EVER SEEN’
“Chris Petersen at Boise State was going to big bowl games season after season. I’d admired his career from afar for many years,” Jimmy relates. “I wanted to latch myself onto a very successful head coach and learn from the best head coach I’ve ever seen. He taught me team building and culture building at Boise State, and I helped him build our program at Washington.”
Then, the stunning phone call came from Athletic Director Jen Cohen the day after the Huskies’ seventh consecutive Apple Cup victory last November. Coach Pete was stepping down and Jimmy was the new head coach.
Within an hour of the public announcement the following Monday, Jimmy set off to visit every one of the 23 recruits across the nation who had committed to Coach Pete.
“Our job was to calm the waters and to tell them and their parents we were as committed as Coach Pete was to their development as young men.” Every recruit recommitted to Jimmy.
As football season approaches, he is focusing on training student-athletes to get bigger, stronger and faster. He’s implementing new schemes on offense and “adding wrinkles” to special teams and defense.
THANK YOU, TYEE CLUB!
Donors, Jimmy says, play a critical role in his vision for an even better Husky team. For example, thanks to donor support, Washington Football has revamped its nutrition program. Student-athletes enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks geared toward their unique physical needs.
“It’s a tremendous competitive advantage,” Jimmy notes. “It’s very comforting to know that our donors can help make our players better and healthier athletes. I love getting to know the donors and all our fans.”
He muses about what it means to attain such a coveted career goal.
“It’s a tremendous responsibility to be at Washington,” he concludes. “I know what this program means to fans who have followed it for decades, to football alumni who left their blood, sweat and tears on the field. My sole focus is making our guys better, not just in football but in life, so at the end of their experience they can be proud of what they gave to the University of Washington.”
Comments
But you’re fucked. If Jen is looking for a quick hire, she’s aiming low.
My list
Stoops
Pete
Campbell
Deboer
Napier
Herman
Sitake
The Tyee Club https://www.uwtyeeclub.com/article/the-jimmy-lake-era-begins/
The Jimmy Lake era begins!
An inspiring journey — in football and life — leads UW Football head coach to a stunning opportunity
Before Jimmy Lake hit his teens, he’d already traveled the world. From the Western United States to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey to the Philippines and back again, he began learning skills that would inevitably lead to his coaching career.
“My dad was in the Air Force, so we moved around a lot,” the first-year head coach says. “After that experience, I felt like I could be dropped anywhere and be able to connect with people. That has helped me be a good recruiter and coworker and to communicate well with different people.”
After graduating from high school in Spokane, Jimmy attended Eastern Washington University on a football scholarship. A business major, he never set out to be a coach. Then, his EWU coaches recognized Jimmy’s leadership and strategic approach to the game and offered him an assistant coaching role his fifth year of college. His career had begun even before he earned his degree.
‘JUST FRIENDS’ NO MORE
Lake familyMeanwhile, Jimmy stayed in touch with a girl he’d met in a ninth grade “life choices” class. He and Michele never dated, but they remained good friends over the years. When they ran into each other in downtown Spokane after college graduation, “at that moment we knew we’d be together for the rest of our lives.”
Michele and Jimmy now have three children: Jimmy Jr., 20, an Arizona State student; Faith, 18, heading to Colorado State this fall; and Bronson, 13, a middle-schooler.
After five years at EWU, Jimmy spent the next several seasons in one- or two-year stints with the UW, Montana State, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions. He longed for more stability and wanted to drive his own destiny. So, he decided to thoughtfully chart a path toward a head coaching career.
‘THE BEST COACH I’VE EVER SEEN’
“Chris Petersen at Boise State was going to big bowl games season after season. I’d admired his career from afar for many years,” Jimmy relates. “I wanted to latch myself onto a very successful head coach and learn from the best head coach I’ve ever seen. He taught me team building and culture building at Boise State, and I helped him build our program at Washington.”
Then, the stunning phone call came from Athletic Director Jen Cohen the day after the Huskies’ seventh consecutive Apple Cup victory last November. Coach Pete was stepping down and Jimmy was the new head coach.
Within an hour of the public announcement the following Monday, Jimmy set off to visit every one of the 23 recruits across the nation who had committed to Coach Pete.
“Our job was to calm the waters and to tell them and their parents we were as committed as Coach Pete was to their development as young men.” Every recruit recommitted to Jimmy.
As football season approaches, he is focusing on training student-athletes to get bigger, stronger and faster. He’s implementing new schemes on offense and “adding wrinkles” to special teams and defense.
THANK YOU, TYEE CLUB!
Donors, Jimmy says, play a critical role in his vision for an even better Husky team. For example, thanks to donor support, Washington Football has revamped its nutrition program. Student-athletes enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks geared toward their unique physical needs.
“It’s a tremendous competitive advantage,” Jimmy notes. “It’s very comforting to know that our donors can help make our players better and healthier athletes. I love getting to know the donors and all our fans.”
He muses about what it means to attain such a coveted career goal.
“It’s a tremendous responsibility to be at Washington,” he concludes. “I know what this program means to fans who have followed it for decades, to football alumni who left their blood, sweat and tears on the field. My sole focus is making our guys better, not just in football but in life, so at the end of their experience they can be proud of what they gave to the University of Washington.”