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

Comments
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I hate to say it, but whoever they hired would have had to answer to Jimmy's dumb ass hat, too.
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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. -
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 -
People are upset about a hat
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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
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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?
WoodDoog_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?
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What if we kept Sark?
Doogs -
At least would be fun dumpster fireRaceBannon said:What if we kept Sark?
Doogs -
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.
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Wow. You’ve taken on an almost @MikeDamone-esque quality in some of your posts @RaceBannon. Not sure how I feel about that.RaceBannon said:What if we kept Sark?
Doogs
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.






