The end of the Trufant era for the Huskies

By Kshell

This Saturday when the Washington Huskies(5-4,3-3) host the Utah Utes(4-5(2-4) it will be their final home game of the season. Which means we'll be saying goodbye to our seniors for the final time. This years senior class is unique as it is the last class who was ever coached by Tyrone Willingham. One senior in particular though was one of Steve Sarkisian's first recruits in his first recruiting class which is corner back Desmond Trufant. Trufant so far in his Husky career has played in all 47 games in his Husky career starting the final 44. Trufant was only a three star recruit from Wilson High School in Tacoma but is proving everyone he has what it takes to make it to the NFL like his brothers Marcus and Isiah are(coincidentally they'll be playing against each other this Sunday at Century Link). This will be an emotional game as the Huskies will say goodbye to their seniors.

 Trufant started as a true freshman in the fourth week of the season and never lost his spot. With the team being 0-12 the year before he was given a chance to start right away. Trufant had a good year as well playing in all 12 games while making nine starts. He recorded 47 tackles, had two interceptions and recovered a fumble for a 17 yard touchdown at Notre Dame. He earned honorable mention all-Pac-10 corner. As a sophomore Trufant slumped a little but still started all 13 games. That year Trufant recorded 48 tackles, had one interception with a sack. Trufant was starting to make a name for himself as he had already started 22 games his first two years with the program. Although to that point people viewed him as a name only. Which is why he is one of my favorite seniors to ever pass through this program. He got progressively better the next two seasons which is always nice to see.

Trufant started his 2011 season off with a bang. First week of the season he had 11 tackles, forced a fumble and had the game clinching interception in the end zone to preserve the win over Eastern Washington. For his efforts he was named Pac-12 defensive player of the week. The following week he had a key interception against Hawaii then returned a block PAT for a two point conversation. For the season Trufant returned to the all Pac-12 team as he was selected honorable mention. Trufant recorded 64 tackles, had a sack and had two interceptions. Once again Trufant started all 13 games his junior year as he started to become a reliable corner. There was some talks heading into his senior year that he might be an early NFL draft pick mostly cause of his name. Instead heading into his senior year with new defensive coaches Trufant has stepped his game up. Trufant is without a doubt the best corner in the conference.

The one main difference between Desmond and his older brother Marcus is the apple cup. Desmond is 3-0 in apple cups while his brother Marcus went 0-4. This year younger Trufant is having a great senior year making all nine starts he has recorded 29 tackles, 4.5 for loss, one sack and the game clinching interception to upset #8 Stanford at home. Trufant's stats are down simply because teams don't throw towards him. Against USC he went up against future first round pick Marquise Lee and Robert Woods. Both were shut down when facing Trufant. Trufant will be first team all conference this year and could be the highest drafted corner for the Huskies since Dana Hall went first round in the 1992 NFL draft. Trufant will be a big loss for this defense that on paper is expected to return nine starters next year. Trufant has turned out to be everything Husky fans wanted out of him and then some.

Another long-time starter that will be playing his final home is center Drew Schaefer. Schaeffer is a redshirt senior as he redshirt during Tyrone Willingham's final season at Montlake which saw the Huskies go 0-12.

Schaefer as a freshman in 2009 played in all 12 games including starting the final four games at left tackle. As a sophomore in 2010 he started all 13 games, 11 at center and two at right tackle. Last year as a junior Schaeffer started all 13 games at center. Now this year Schaeffer again has started all nine games at center with this Saturday being start #10. Overall Schaefer had played in 47 games making 39 career starts and 33 starts at the center position. He'll be the only senior offensive lineman and due to injuries the Huskies don't even have a junior offensive lineman.

The Huskies have relied on Schaefer heavily this year as he is the only upperclassmen who starts games for them on the offensive line. He along with Micah Hatchie are the only offensive lineman to have started every single game this year. The center position will be a big loss as the Huskies haven't had anyone other than Schaeffer play center since 2009.

The last senior I'll highlight is wide receiver Cody Bruns. Bruns came in as a four-star recruit in the heralded 2008 recruiting class that was ranked 12th in the nation. Bruns is also the only Husky on this roster to have actually played in a game during the 0-12 season. This year Bruns only has six receptions for 28 yards. He also has six punt returns for 72 yards(12.0 YPR). For his career he has been a bust so far only catching 16 passes for 170 yards. He has 22 punt returns for 135 yards. He is also three for four passing for 67 yards. This year the Huskies have desperately needed another receiver to step up and unfortunately Bruns hasn't been that guy. Still for him and the other seniors if the Huskies win this Saturday they'll clinch another bowl trip. Their first year on college campus they didn't win a single game now they could go bowling for the third straight year.

The Huskies this Saturday are saying goodbye to two prominent starters in their program since the Sarkisian era began. The good news for Sarkisian is he is only losing two full-time starters on defense, only two full-time starters on offense and losing no skill position players who start due to graduation. The Huskies will return a lot of talent next year but for this year hopefully the Huskies can send the seniors out right. Sarkisian is 3-0 in the seniors final home games a trend he hopes to continue this Saturday when the Huskies square off with the Utes. It will be bittersweet seeing Trufant and Schaefer playing in their final Husky home game as it will be an end of an era.

Huskies Polk and Kearse go undrafted

By Kshell

The big surprised on Montlake was the fact that Chris Polk who graded out to be a second or third round pick went undrafted. Another Washington Huskies player in Jermaine Kearse went undrafted as well. For Polk and Kearse both record setters at Washington this was tough to see. Both were brought in during Tyrone Willingham's last recruiting class which was ranked 14th in the nation. Both guys were part of the turnaround of Husky football leading them to back to back bowl games. Both running back Polk and wide receiver Kearse were signed immediately. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Polk while the hometown Seattle Seahawks signed Jermaine Kearse. Kearse most figured would go undrafted after a disappointing senior season while Polk was a huge shocker. Polk left after his junior year and apparantly teams were concerned with his injuries which is why he was undrafted. Still despite what the combines say the eye test has to show that Polk is a performer on the field. Polk can flat out get the job done when the Huskies needed him to the past three seasons as well as Kearse.

For Polk he is going to a good situation with the Eagles who were impressed with him during the draft process. Although Polk has had three surguries already in his career he has yet to miss a game the last three seasons. After getting hurt his true freshman year Polk as a redshirt freshman in 2009 rushed for 1,113 yards with five touchdowns. In 2010 Polk ran for 1,465 yards with nine touchdowns. He was also named Holiday Bowl MVP as the Huskies upset the Nebraska Cornhuskers 19-7. As a senior Polk ran for 1,488 yards(5.1 YPC) with 12 touchdowns. He also caught 31 passes for 332 yards with four touchdowns. For his Husky career he finished with 4,049 yards rushing(5.1 YPC) with 26 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 79 passes for for 683 yards with four touchdowns all in just 40 career games meaning he averaged over 100 yards rushing per game in his career.  Polk will leave behind a strong legacy as he and Kaufman are the only backs to ever rush for over 1,000 yards three straight seasons. Polk was first-team all freshman selection and honorable mention all Pac-10 in 2009, second team all pac-10 in 2010 and the first Husky offensive player to be on the first team all Pac-12 team since Reggie Williams in 2003 when he was selected in 2011. The Eagles are going to be getting a very fine player in Polk who has a major chip on his shoulder much like Arian Foster did.

The Seattle Seahawks signed the former Husky standout wide receiver Jermaine Kearse. Kearse was a big play receiver for the Huskies and Jake Locker's favorite target in 2009 and 2010. Kearse  as a true freshman, caught 20 passes for 301 yards (15.0 YPC) and two touchdowns. As a sophomore, he broke out with 50 receptions for 866 yards(17.3 YPC) with eight touchdowns. Then as a junior he continued his improvement with 63 receptions for 1,005 yards(16.0 YPC) with 12 touchdowns. He was  named to the second team all Pac-10 team those two years. He had plenty of big games his junior year in the Huskies 41-20 win over Syracuse, Kearse had nine receptions for 179 yards with three touchdowns. Later in the year, he set a Huskies record against Oregon State, catching four touchdown passes in the 35-34 double-overtime win. He had nine receptions for 146 yards with four touchdowns that game. Then in the Apple Cup he had six receptions for 178 yards with two touchdowns, including the game winning touchdown. As a senior with more talented receivers in the fold and a new quarterback in Keith Price his production fell off. Kearse finished the year with 47 receptions for 699 yards and seven touchdowns. He was named honorable mention all Pac-12 but a memorable game in his final game. In the 67-56 Alamo Bowl loss Kearse caught five passes for 198 yards with a touchdown which was an 80 yard bomb.  Kearse has big play ability and is hoping to pull a Doug Baldwin and make the Seahawks roster.

For these two the news of not getting picked had to be a disappointment as they left behind a legacy at the University of Washington. I think Polk will make the Eagles roster and actually become a key member on a very talented team. For Kearse his odds are long but the Seahawks receivers aren't exactly studs either. Last year Doug Baldwin who put up less numbers than Kearse did in college made the Seahawks roster as an undrafted rookie. Hopefully both Kearse and Polk make an impact on their teams. Either way they were both great Huskies and their names are at the top of the record books for a reason. They were a big reason why the Huskies went from 0-12 to back to back bowl appearances.

Huskies DT Ta'amu drafted in 4th by Steelers; OT Kelemete drafted in 5th by Cardinals

By Kshell

This year just like the last two years the Washington Huskies had two guys drafted in this years NFL draft. Steve Sarkisian saw two of his former players who were both recruited by Tyrone Willingham get drafted in Alameda Ta'amu in the fourth round and Senio Kelemete in the fifth round. For the Huskies to produce two lineman in the draft has shown just how far this program has come along. For Kelemete he was the first Husky offensive lineman taken since Joe Toledo in the 2006 draft. While Ta'amu is the first defensive tackle taken since Terry Johnson in the 2004 draft. Those stats right there shows you why the Huskies program has struggled in the last couple of years.

The Pittsburgh Steelers traded up to draft Ta'amu in the 4th round. Ta'mu who is 6'2" weighs 348 lbs is a perfect fit for the Steelers who run a 3-4 defense. In his career with the Huskies Ta'amu was a big time recruit for Tyrone Willingham out of Rainier Beach High School. Ta'amu started as a true freshman on the defensive line late as he played in all 12 games including the final five games as a starter. As a sophomore Ta'amu started 11 games. Then as a junior he started all 13 games was named Pac-10 honorable mention as well. He was also named Huskies defensive lineman of the year. He was a big force in the Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska and was due for a breakout year his senior year. Instead he stayed the same as a senior once again starting all 13 games and once again was only named honorable mention all Pac-12. He was also a team captain and at times the heart and soul of the defense. With the Steelers who run a 3-4 unlike the Huskies he'll be a big addition for them.

The other Huskies lineman who was drafted was Senio Kelemete another local product. He was picked by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round. As a true freshman who had his redshirt burned by Willingham Kelemete played eight games at defensive tackle making four starts. When Sarkisian took over the program he moved Kelemete to offensive line. Kelemete started as a true sophomore on the offensive line where started 11 of 12 games earning honorable mention. Then in 2010 Sarkisian moved him again to the blindside where Kelemete was the left tackle where he started 26 consecutive games and was a two year captain of the team. As a senior Kelemete was rock solid earning second-team all Pac-12. Kelemete is an athletic lineman who is 6'4" 307 lbs. The Cardinals can play him at tackle or guard and Kelemete will surely get the job done for the Seahawks divisional rivals.

This draft was a disappointment for the Huskies program as they expected to get four guys drafted instead they have just two. You know the program has arrived when the Huskies are getting multiple guys drafted not just two per year. Considering the Huskies did go back to back years in the 2008 and 2009 drafts with nobody selected at least they are getting some drafted. For Ta'amu and Kelemete they were both good Husky lineman and it was a shame there wasn't more players like these two on the lines for this program. I know both will do well in the NFL as they are going to teams where they fit their styles. For the Huskies program anytime you get guys drafted it can still be seen as a positive. I wish nothing but the best for Kelemete and Ta'amu!

What happened to the fence Sark?

By Kshell

When Steve Sarkisian became the head coach of the Washington Huskies he promised to keep a fence around the state of Washington. During the 2010 and 2011 recruiting seasons Sarkisian did a good job upholding that promise as he kept 9 of 11 blue chip recruits here at Washington. Last year he was a perfect six for six showing that he had put up a fence. Then this year happened and someone busted that fence down as this state produced five blue chip players. The Huskies will only land one of those five. Sarkisian's fence is no longer up anymore showing a changing of the times. Not even during the Tyrone Willingham days did the Huskies recruit this poorly in state. Sarkisian who is known for being a good recruiter struck out on this state and has his work cut out for him in the next 36 hours.

The state of Washington had five blue chip recruits with Joshua Garnett(5 star recruit, #3 guard in the nation) from Puyallup High School, Zach Banner(4 star recruit, #13 tackle in nation) from Lakes High School, Cedric Dozier(4 star recruit at either receiver or defensive back) also from Lakes High School, Keivarae Russell(4 star recruit, #24 running back in nation) from Mariner High School in Everett, and Jeff Lindquist(4 star recruit, #8 quarterback in nation) from Mercer Island. Sarkisian started off this recruiting season nicely landing Lindquist back in May. After that it was downhill as Dozier immediately eliminated the Huskies choosing the California Golden Bears(he has no considered going to in state rival Washington State Cougars). Then Russell chose Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the day the Huskies lost to the Baylor Bears in the Alamo Bowl. The Huskies then recently lost Garnett who eliminated the Huskies rather quickly to divisional rival Stanford Cardinal. Now today Zach Banner who is the bioligical son of the greatest Huskies offensive lineman in history Lincoln Kennedy. Banner is going to conference rival USC Trojans meaning Sarkisian went just one for five on the big in state recruits which is good for 20.0% which isn't going to get the job done at all. This recruiting year is bringing up memories of the "Lazy Recruiter" also known as Tyrone Willingham.

When Tyrone Willingham was the Huskies head coach he had a reputation as being a lazy recruiter who spent too much time on his golf game and not enough time recruiting. One of the main reasons Sarkisian was hired was his love for recruiting and supposedly being a great recruiter. During Willingham's career with the Huskies his recruiting classes were ranked 55th, 35th, 29th and 14th while at Washington. His average class was ranked 33.25 nationally and 5.7 in the Pac-10. Which isn't that good but still better than Sarkisian who has seen his classes ranked 66th, 11th, 22nd and currently 46th. Sarkisian's average class ranking is 35.75 and 6.5 in the conference. Sarkisian is actually recruiting at a slightly worse clip than the lazy recruiter did. Luckily for Sarkisian signing day is a day away meaning he still has time(be it very short) to salvage this recruiting class as he has his eyes set out on some major recruits from out of conference.

If you believe the reports the Huskies are trying to poach two California recruits with the recent hires of Tosh Lupoi and Justin Wilcox. Sarkisian is after Shaq Thompson from Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California. Thompson is the #1 overall safety in the nation and a five star recruit. In fact Thompson is the #3 player overall out of all positions in the nation. The Huskies are also in on Jordan Payton of Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California. Payton is a four star recruit and #15 wide receiver in the nation. The Huskies are also hoping to close the deal on Brandon Beaver from Dominguez High School in Compton, California. Beaver is a three star recruit #27 cornerback in the nation. If the Huskies can land those three to go along with Jeff Lindquist and quarterback Cyler Miles(4 star quarterback, #13th in the country) from Mullen High School in Denver Colorado that is a pretty solid class. The key is since Sarkisian let the fence get broken for the state is to steal from other opponents backyards like what had happened to him.

This is a big time for Sarkisian to steal other recruits as his own state has turned on him. If he can salvage this class with what just happened that would be huge. The state of Washington no longer has a fence around it like Sarkisian had promised. Perhaps he can make up for it with some big out of state recruits which would be nice. I haven't given up on Sarksian as a recruiter yet just this year far as this state is concerned was pretty bad.




As I finished this post Sarkisian did just land Shaq Thompson so feel free to mock this post as this post is really outdated.

Is Steve Sarkisian making enough progress?

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies have been in the news lately having fired defensive coordinator Nick Holt and hiring a new coordintor in Justin Wilcox. For Huskies head coach Steve Sarkisian who will now be entering his fourth season as head man at Montlake there seems to be some doubt whether he is the guy who can carry this program to a Rose Bowl title. In the Seattle Times recently there was an article how Sarkisian is losing out on the prime in state recruits and currently the Huskies recruiting class isn't very good. Neither is the fact that in year three the Huskies were still getting blown out and the defense has still been terrible. In this following post I'm going to compare Sarkisian with the previous Husky coaches Don James, Jim Lambright, Rick Neuheisel and Tyrone Willingham. What I'll do is post their W-L records, what the teams record was before they took over and what it was three years prior to take over. I'll also post how many times their teams allowed 30 points or more, 40 or more, 50 or more and yes even 60 or more. I'll also post how many times they lost by 20 points or more, 30 or more, 40 or more and 50 or more. I'm fully aware that offenses have evolved and each coach took over the program had a different time far as program strength. This is just to give everyone an idea of where the program is at with Sarkisian going forward.

Don James (1975-1992):

Previous three seasons prior to arrival: 15-18
Previous season prior to arrival: 5-6
First season record: 6-5(+1 win improvement)

Coaching W-L: 153-57-2(.728)

20+ losses: 8(3.7%)
30+ losses: 2(0.9%)
40+ losses: 1(0.4%)
50+ losses: 1(0.4%)

30+ PPG allowed: 25(11.7%)
40+ PPG allowed: 6(2.8%)
50+ PPG allowed: 1(0.4%)

You can see why Don James was such a legend. In his third year he took the Huskies to a Rose Bowl championship and in his fifth year he had the Huskies winning 10 games, sixth season another Rose Bowl and seventh season a Rose Bowl title. During his eighth and ninth season had the Huskies going for a Rose Bowl until being upset in the Apple Cup and in his 10th season had the Huskies ranked 2nd in the nation. He rarely if ever got blown out and his teams always played good defense. James set the bar very high for every coach who followed him as he won four Rose Bowls, an Orange Bowl and a National championship.

Jim Lambright (1993-1998):

Previous three seasons prior to arrival: 31-5
Previous season prior to arrival: 9-3
First season record: 7-4(-2 wins)

Coaching W-L record: 44-25-1(.637)

20+ losses: 6(8.5%)
30+ losses: 2(2.8%)
40+ losses: 1(1.4%)

30+ PPG allowed: 20(28.6%)
40+ PPG allowed: 7(10.0%)
50+ PPG allowed: 3(4.2%)

Jim Lambright of the coaches walked into the best situation far as talent having taken over the team after James suddenly retired two weeks prior to the 1993 season. Lambright took over a team who had gone to three straight Rose Bowls. He also took over a program facing two years bowl ban, plus other sanctions including loss of scholarships for two seasons. The biggest obstacle Lambright couldn't overcome was the shadow of Don James despite the fact as you'll see he was the second most successful coach for the Huskies although never going to a Rose Bowl in six seasons he could never live up to James. Lambright was shown the door after six seasons despite winning 63% of his games at the school he once played for and guiding the Huskies through those tough probation years.

Rick Neuheisel (1999-2002):

Previous three seasons prior to arrival: 23-13
Previous season prior to arrival: 6-6
First season: 7-5(+1 win improvement)

W-L record: 33-16(.673)

20+ losses: 5(10.2%)
30+ losses: 1(2.0%)
40+ losses: 1(2.0%)
50+ losses: 1(2.0%)

30+ PPG allowed: 15(30.6%)
40+ PPG allowed: 4 (8.1%)
50+ PPG allowed: 1( 2.0%)
60+ PPG allowed: 1(2.0%)

Rick Neuheisel took over the program after the sanctions had finally wore off and he was very successful at first. He won a Rose Bowl during his second season finishing ranked 3rd in the nation. The next two years he struggled by Husky standards going just 15-10 as the defense was declining and it had appeared the talent level on defense was decreasing as well. The perception due to that 65-7 loss to #1 ranked Miami on national t.v. was that Neuheisel was getting blown out too much which as you can see simply wasn't the case. Neuheisel was caught gambling in a pool and was fired. Keith Gilbertson took over and went 7-16 for two years. The thought was the program needed to be "cleaned" up which set up the shittiest years in UW football history.

Tyrone Willingham (2005-08):

Previous three years before arrival: 14-22
Previous year before arrival: 1-10
First season: 2-9(+1 win improvement)

W-L: 11-37(.229)

20+ losses: 16(33.3%)
30+ losses: 6 (12.5%)
40+ losses: 3(6.2%)
50+ losses: 1(2.1%)

30+ PPG allowed: 25(52.0%)
40+ PPG allowed: 14(29.1%)
50+ PPG allowed: 5(10.4%)

As you can see the Willingham era was clearly the worst era in Huskies football history. Willingham inherited a program on the rocks having just gone 1-10 but he made the program worse somehow finishing his career off going 0-12 and losing his last 14 games as Huskies head coach. While the Huskies were competitive during his second and third seasons there wasn't enough wins to show for it. When Willingham was finally fired the Huskies were searching for their fifth different head coach in an 11 year span.

Steve Sarkisian (2009-present):

Previous three years prior to arrival: 9-28
Previous year prior to arrival: 0-12
First season: 5-7( +5 win improvement)

W-L: 19-19(.500)

20+ losses: 9(23.6%)
30+ losses: 5(13.1%)
40+ losses: 3(7.8%)

30+ PPG allowed: 19(50.0%)
40+ PPG allowed: 10(26.3%)
50+ PPG allowed: 4(10.5%)
60+ PPG allowed: 2(5.2%)

Sarkisian of the coaches I just named did the best in his first season in improving. While James, Neuheisel and Willingham all improved by one game Sarkisian improved by five games.  Sarkisian has guided the team to back to back bowl games after not going to a bowl game in six seasons. Now looking at these numbers though Sarkisian is closest to Willingham. They are getting blown out roughly the same and allowing the same big defensive numbers. Sarkisian is winning more games than Willingham as he is simply a better coach so the Huskies are winning almost all of their close games. Although I don't think Sarkisian is like Willingham instead he reminds me of a different Huskies head coach.

In conclusion, Sarkisian reminds me most of Rick Neuheisel. I think both are great offensive coaches, good game day coaches, good play callers, average recruiters and average program builders. I think had Sarkisian taken over when Nueheisel did his record would be on par with Neuheisel. I don't think Sarisian is the guy to take the Huskies to a Rose Bowl title unless he has a fluke year like Neuheisel did in 2000 when the Huskies went 11-1 but had eight fourth quarter comebacks that season. Sarkisian experience a similar season in 2010 when the Huskies went 7-6 but won four games on the final play of the game. I feel as if Sarkisian is the guy who will continue to put the Huskies in a bowl game much like Neuheisel was. I just don't think Sarkisian is on James level or even Lambrights level as the defense was somehow been worse in his era than even Willingham's. Sarkisian has a lot to improve on heading into year four but we are starting to see a trend develope and he is shaping up to be another Neuheisel where every passing record will fall but the team only wins seven to eight games a season.

Cougars fire Wulff!

By Kshell

After days of debating and meetings the Washington State Cougars finally decided it was time to end the Paul Wulff era in Pullman. This is a tough day for Cougar fans as Wulff is a former player for them. In fact he was on the 1988 team that defeated the Huskies and won a bowl game.  Wulff took over a tough situation as his previous coach Bill Doba left him with practically nothing and it showed his first two years. At the end of the year Wulff was fired in year four which saw his starting quarterback Jeff Tuel go down. Wulff promised a bowl game this year and fell two games shy as he went 4-8 on the season. For his career at Washington State Wulff went 9-40, 6-40 vs D-1 schools and 4-32 in conference play. The pressure was on to fire Wulff despite the players support and love for their coach. Now the Cougars will be looking at their head coach since Mike Price left them weeks prior to their Rose Bowl game.

When Wulff took over the Cougars program he inherited a mess which reflected in his record. His first two years on the job he went just 3-22(1-17 in conference). The Cougars lost by 30 plus points seven times in 2008, 40 plus points five times and 50 plus points four times and lost by 63 points to California and 69 points to USC. That year was a success to the Cougars despite finishing 2-11(1-8) because they defeated the Huskies. In 2009 the results stayed the same as Wulff struggled through a 1-11 season(0-9) while getting shutout in the conference. During 2009 the Cougars lost by 30 plus points seven times, 40 plus points two times. During his third year the Cougars improved but still only went 2-10(1-8) which put the pressure on Wulff this year. After starting off 3-1 the Cougars finished the year losing seven of their last eight games finishing 4-8(2-6). The Cougars have had some close losses the past two years losing by less than seven points four times in the past two years. Ultimately as a coach your job is to win and Wulff has recruited decently meaning the next coach will inherit a team that should go to a bowl game.

Fair or not Wulff will be linked with such duds as Tyrone Willingham. Willingham in four years at Washington went 11-37(6-29) which was previously seen as the worst era in conference history. Wulff ended up beating that mark going 9-40(4-32). Both took over programs in bad shape and left the program stocked with more talent than they arrived. Both were surly with the media and often didn't share much. The difference is the players cared for Wulff while the players at Washington absolutely hated Willingham. Willingham was also at a better school which has more advantages so his failures have no excuses unlike Wulff. Steve Sarkisian took over Willingham's mess and in three short years has the Huskies going to their second straight bowl game. The Cougars are hoping for the same as they'll gain back a healthy Jeff Tuel plus other nice players. Are the Cougars ready to take the Pac-12 by storm? no they aren't. Are they at least ready to go to a bowl game for the first time since 2003? yes they are. They still aren't an overly talented bunch but there is a enough pieces in the passing game for a pass happy coach(Mike Leach) to succeed in year one. Wulff did the dirty work but ultimately wasn't ever going to be the guy to take them over the top.

In conclusion, as a Husky fan I'm sad that Paul Wulff has been fired. No in reality this is a tough day as he was an alum who played for the Cougars. Cougar fans so wanted him to succeed unlike any other coach because the Cougars was his #1 job he was never going to leave them ever. The problem is the fans and maybe administration let that cloud their judgement that a football coaches job is to win games. Wulff didn't win enough games and he'll most likely never be a head coach on any level again. Wulff coached his alma mater but in the end these four years went as terribly as they possibly could have for Wulff and Cougar nation. The Cougars will now look to embrace their new head coach as their rivals prepare for their next bowl opponent. Maybe next year the Cougars will be preparing for their next bowl opponent although Wulff won't be there to see it unfold.

Why do Seattle fans hate Jim L. Mora?

By Kshell

This past sunday when the Seattle Seahawks took on the Cleveland Browns there was an interesting choice as the color commentator. The announcer was former Seahawks head coach Jim L.Mora and he actually showed he still loves the city of Seattle. With the Washington Huskies defense still struggling under Nick Holt some fans have suggested Mora take over as coach. Of course some fans are against the move. You see due to the Tyrone Willingham fallout in 2007-2008 Mora to those fans is the most evil coach there is. He's on the same level as Chip Kelly and Rick Neuheisel to this fanbase. In this following post I'll explain why hating Jim L. Mora(he isn't a junior by the way) is simply stupid and I'll explain why some fans hate Mora.

The controversy all began with Mora in December of 2006. Mora two seasons removed from taking the Atlanta Falcons to the NFC championship game was on 950 KJR with Dave "Softy" Mahler and his old college roommate Hugh Millen. On air talking candily with two guys that he considers his friends Mora made mention that the Univeristy of Washington was his dream job. Mahler caught that statement and knew he had gold so he ran with it. To which Mora said "If I'm coaching Super Bowl week I'm quitting my job to be with the Huskies if they offered tomorrow." Those comments made some Husky fans very excited. Those comments also pissed off the Atlanta Falcons fanbase and some Washington Huskies fans as the Huskies had a coach in place in Tyrone Willingham. Willingham who took over a 1-10 mess saw his team go 2-9 in year one but then in year two saw progress going 5-7. The Huskies did lose six games in a row after starting off 4-1 as Willingham rubbed some people the wrong way with his "suddenly senior" game as the Huskies lost 20-3 at home to 0-10 Stanford Cardinal. At the end of the season the Falcons fired Mora after going 7-9 in a season which the Falcons started off 5-2. The Falcons lost three games in a row after Mora made those comments as well. Mora was hired though by the Seattle Seahawks to be the secondary coach and assistent head coach. That move was interesting as Mora would be in Seattle in 2007 which meant he was going to be the first choice if Willingham started to fail.

With Mora already in Seattle that made for an interesting 2007 season which divided up the fan base. You had your pro Willingham guys who defended him no matter what and felt you should never bash on your coach. You also had some fans who wanted Mora to be the coach. The season started off well for Willingham as the Huskies were 2-0 for the first time since 2001 under freshman quarterback Jake Locker. The Huskies then lost six games in a row and the tipping point was the final loss as the Huskies blew a 41-26 lead to the Arizona Wildcats losing 48-41. That is when some fans began to openly demand the Huskies fire Willingham and go with Mora. Mora took a position job for the Seahawks many felt so he can be right there in Seattle. There was some speculation that a secret behind the scenes deal was taking place for Mora to take over for Willingham. There was many arguments on the dawgman boards where it got to a point the Mora fans created their own website which could get pretty vulger at times but the content was generaly the right message.

 The Huskies finished the 2007 season losing the Washington State Cougars 42-35 and then blowing a 21-0 lead only to lose 35-28 to the Hawaii Warriors. This is where the University screwed up they chose to keep Willingham for the 2008 season knowing that an NFL coach was in their backyard in Jim L. Mora. In January of 2008 the Seahawks who had a 10-6 season named Mora the next head coach for when Mike Holmgren retires after the 2008 season. Willingham of course went 0-12 in 2008 and because Mora was already scheduled to be the next NFL head coach he turned down the Huskies out of loyalty to the Seahawks. The Huskies would hire Steve Sarkisian while Mora was fired after just one season for the Seahawks going 5-11 even though he inherited a team that had gone 4-12 the year prior.

Seattle has had plenty of failed coaches before and many who have failed worse than Mora did in only one season. Which is why it is so perplexing that Mora is so hated by so many fans in Seattle. For those who don't know Jim L. Mora's dad is Jim Mora the coach who once had the famous line of "Playoffs?!! I just hope we can win a friggin game" in a very high pitch voice. Well elder Mora earned his stripes as the Huskies defensive coordinator when Don James took over as head coach the first move he made was demoting Jim Lambright from defensive coordinator to linebackers coach. The Huskies won the Rose Bowl during the 1977 upsetting the Michigan Wolverines 27-20. Elder Mora then bolted to the NFL as he was successful for the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts but couldn't ever win the big game.

Younger Mora played for the University of Washington from 1980-1983 as he was a part of two Rose Bowl teams and a graduate assistent on the Orange Bowl team. Younger Mora went on to coach with his dad then later became an up and coming defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers before becoming head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. There is no reason to hate Mora as his dad has a big part of Huskies history and he himself played for the Huskies. He has stated several times that the Huskies job would be his dream and he even coached the Seattle Seahawks. Recently while announcing the Seahawks game he showed that he still loves Seattle as he grew up here, his wife is from here and he still lives in Seattle. If anything fans should root for a guy like Mora who has local connections. Instead, since nobody will ever admit to supporting Willingham the bitterness still remains. Many of the Willingham fans are easily detected as they go out of their way to hate on the "evil" Rick Neuheisel and will bash on Jim L. Mora even though he played for the Huskies.

Now the Mora bashers bring up the fact that why would any college team want him since he failed in the NFL twice? Well let's play a little game coach A won one division title and has a 31-33(.484%) record in the NFL and a 1-1 playoff record. He was given three years at one job where he had some success and at another job was fired after just one season. Coach B won one division title and had a 33-31(.515) record in the NFL and a 1-2 playoff record. He was given three years at one job where he had some success and at another job was fired after just one season. Both coaches were also defensive coordinators on successful 49ers teams. As you can see both coaches are eerily similar so if you haven't guessed by now coach A is Jim L. Mora and coach B is Pete Carroll. Yes the same Carroll who replaced Mora as Seahawks coach and more importantly the same Carroll who won two national championships, four Rose Bowl championships and two Orange Bowl's. Carroll like Mora is an energetic defensive minded coach who had no college head coaching experience at all prior to arriving at USC.

 In fact failing in the NFL doesn't mean much as most failed NFL coaches do quite well in the college game. Former Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson won two national titles at the university of Miami went to the Seahawks where he was 31-33 in four seasons. After being fired went to the Oregon State Beavers who hadn't had a winning season in close to 30 years. While at Oregon State Erickson went 31-17(.646%) including a Fiesta Bowl win.  Erickson went to the 49ers where he was 9-23 only to return to the college game with the Arizona State Sun Devils who are enjoying a 5-2 season as we speak. Steve Spurrier won a ton of games including a national championship at the univeristy of Florida Gators before leaving to the Washington Redskins. With the Redskins Spurrier was a failure going just 12-20 before returning to the college game. At bottom feeder South Carolina Spurrier is 50-34(.595%). Typically failed NFL coaches come down to the college ranks and dominate the college game just like major leaguers dominate triple A.

In conclusion, no fan in Seattle should have any reason to hate Jim L. Mora yet so many want him to fail. Just mentioning that a former NFL head coach should be the Huskies defensive coordinator and some fans will be outraged at the thought of Mora becoming defensive coordinator. You just know if Sarkisian were to be fired or leave and Mora takes over all those Willingham supporters bitterness would come through as they would ride Mora like no other. Facts are Mora was with the Seahawks for one season which isn't enough time to run a franchise into the ground like many portray that he did. Mora also isn't set out for the NFL but as a Huskies fan I fear that someday UCLA, Arizona or California will come in and swoop Mora up. I've never seen Husky fans turn on one of their one in my entire life. Sad that the fans will let an 11-37(.229) coach like Willingham be the reason for turning on a player whose dad coached the Huskies to a Rose Bowl win and a former player who was on a Rose Bowl championship team. Hopefully the animosity towards Mora will finally end as he appears to be a guy who loves this area. This is a guy we should be rooting for not against as there is no reason to root against Mora. If the Huskies are ever at point of searching for a new head coach(hopefully not for decades I might add) I would have no problem with Jim L. Mora being the head coach and neither should you.

Fan base divided brings back memories

By Kshell

The Washington State Cougars fan base is currently divided over head coach Paul Wulff. Some fans want him fired as they realize he isn't the guy. While others want to elect him mayor of Pullman because he leads the Pac-12 in "moral" wins the last two years. The boiling point came in a disappointing 28-25 loss to the UCLA Bruins despite winning the totals yards, first downs, time of possession and turnovers. The fan base who wants Wulff and his 8-34 record(3-26 in conference) gone are now being accused of not being "true" Cougar fans. While I must admit watching Cougar fans fight amongst themselves is quite hilarious it brings me back to a dark time period. When Washington Huskies fans were bickering about a certain losing coach. All the same bull shit excuses that are used towards Wulff were used towards Tyrone Willingham. From blaming the previous coach, the constant jealously of your rival(Husky fans towards Oregon and now Cougars towards Sarkisian), to be satisfied with just being competitive, and to not being a "true" fan for openly getting on your head coach. Yes I don't miss those days at all. In this following post I'll talk about the losing mindset that Cougar fans and how Husky fans had that same mindset just a few years ago.

During the 2007 football season the Huskies fan base was divided. You had two groups of people which had one side(the doogs) who were fine with Willingham and made every excuse in the world for him. Then you had another portion of the fan base that was sick of excuses and embarassing losses(like losing four of five to the Cougars!!!). The Dawgman boards were a war zone where if you blasted Willingham you were considered not a fan. The dawgman guys all supported Willingham despite an 11-25 record. On KJR Dave "Softy" Mahler publicly supported Willingham stating he needed more time. The only public figure was Hugh Millen who did a study showing coaches who have a winning percentage under .350 after three seasons have never succeeded at their university. Now everyone claims all along that they "knew" Willingham wasn't the guy. Mahler even went as far as saying he knew Willingham wasn't the guy during his second season after "suddenly senior" night. Just like I'm sure many of my Cougar friends who are being persecuted right now by many soft Coog(spelled wrong on purpose) fans will be the same fans that "knew" Wulff wasn't the guy. The problem is every fan base just accepts losing and in the northwest fans who want to win are the minority not the majority.

When you do fire a crappy coach the key is to hire the right guy. Which the Huskies failed to do when they fired Keith Gilbertson they hired Willingham. The Cougars did the same thing when they fired Bill Doba then hired Paul Wulff. Just like in 2007 so many Husky fans wanted Pat Hill who was an average coach at Fresno State. Today Cougar fans if they do fire Wulff will most likely want Robb Akey to lead them. Akey of course coached the Cougars from 1999-2006 so he'll never leave Pullman. As a Huskies fan I hope my rival school hired Akey as he is only 18-38 as head coach at Idaho. In his fifth season he is currently 1-5 yet the love affair for Akey is very confusing. The Cougars have always hired from the Cougar family so why change that? Well because you've only made it to 10 bowl games in 100 years, beat your rival only 31 times out of 103 games is why. Steve Sarkisian is in the process of controlling this state landing nine of the top 11 players in the state the last two years including all six last season. If the Cougars expect to compete with their rivals they are going have to find a real coach or be prepared to be stuck losing for a while.

In conclusion, watching history repeat itself with my rival school has been fun to witness. I do feel for my Cougar friends who actually have expectations for their program but they are fighting a losing battle. I experienced this battle as a Huskies fan for a year straight on Mahler's facebook page and the doogs/coogs will always have the numbers. Fans want to make excuses and believe in "hope" instead of hard factual evidence. If you ranked the Pac-12 coaches Wulff would rank either 11th or 12th including Mike Stoops who was just fired would rank ahead of Wulff. Those who support Wulff can't complain when their rivals(Huskies) are playing in a Rose Bowl soon because they helped that happen. The Cougars are no longer a threat and are fighting for their lives just to win five games in year four. The fact that the Cougars were so bad in 2008 and 2009 has made their fan base soft where they accept going 2-10 last year. Last year was a "success" as the Cougars were finally competitive and now in year four the Cougars are still getting blown away by mountain west teams. Still losing to UCLA whose own head coach Rick Neuheisel is on the hot seat. The Cougars fan base is divided and as a Huskies fan I hope the excuse makers get their wish as Wulff is given more time. For my friends who have expectations well I feel sorry for you guys. Don't worry though you guys are the true Coug fans because you actually expect wins unlike the soft fans who want a participation ribbon for just showing up.

Washington Huskies preview vs Hawaii: Flasback to 2007

By Kshell

This Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT the Washington Huskies(1-0) host the Hawaii Warriors(1-0) in a game at Husky Stadium. The Pac-12 Huskies take on the team most pick to win the WAC in the Warriors. The Warriors last week already defeated a Pac-12 team 34-17 against the Colorado Buffaloes. The Huskies survivors of a 30-27 win over the Eastern Washington Eagles are hoping to put up a better effort this week. Huskies third year coach Steve Sarkisian let it be known he wasn't pleased with the Huskies efforts the previous weeks. The Huskies defense the previous week allowed 473 yards passing which is scary considering who they have to play this week when Hawaii comes to town.

This week the Huskies defense will have to improve as they take on Warriors quarterback Bryant Moniz. In the win over Colorado Moniz completed 20 of 33 passes(60.6%) for 178 yards with a touchdown pass. He also ran for 91 yards(6.5 YPC) with three touchdowns. Moniz is a dual threat quarterback who can run and pass. Last season Moniz completed 361-555 passes(65.0%) for 5,040 yards with 39 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. So like Eastern Washington the Warriors will be throwing the ball around the field. The Huskies will have to play much better defensively then they did against the Eagles. One thing that will be going in the Huskies favor is this week unlike last week the Huskies will actually be healthy heading into the contest which should pay huge dividends.

The Huskies this week will have back senior cornerback Quinton Richardson and senior wide receiver Jermaine Kearse. The Huskies will also have Chris Polk close to 100%. Last week Polk was only at 80% which you couldn't tell by his game log. Polk carried the ball 23 times for 122 yards(5.3 YPC). Look for Sarkisian to feed Polk even more this week to control the clock to keep the Hawaii offense off the field. With Kearse back look for Sarkisian to also open up the playbook a little bit and allowe quarterback Keith Price to throw down field some.  With Richardson back in the starting lineup the Huskies will have some experience at cornerback which should prevent some of those touchdowns on third/fourth and longs. The Huskies will have quite the battle on their hands and this is a game that should come down to the end. The last time these two teams played the game did come down to the very end of the game. In this following post I'll flashback to that famous 2007 game and talk about how that loss wasn't even the worst thing to happen to Husky football that weekend.

Washington Huskies(4-8,2-7) at #11 Hawaii Warriors(11-0, 8-0):

The Washington Huskies were coming off a 42-35 loss to cross state rival Washington State Cougars as they were heading into this game. There was plenty of speculation circling around Dawgman, KJR, Seattle Times and other news outlets should this be the last game for Tyrone Willingham. Some believed a loss he would be fired for sure while others believed that Cougars loss had already sealed his fate that he wouldn't be brought back for 2008. Meanwhile the Warriors were enjoying their best season in school history led by quarterback Colt Brennan as the Warriors were hoping they would get an invite to the Sugar Bowl with a win over the Huskies. The atmosphere in Hawaii was unbelievable as the Warriors had everything to play for while the Huskies were playing out their season. Many figured the Warriors would destroy the Huskies. Well at the start of the game it was the Huskies who looked to be like the team who was playing with something on the line.

The game started off great for the Huskies as Louis Rankin took the opening kickoff 41 yards to the Huskies 44 yard line. The Huskies then went on an eight play 56 yard drive which saw freshman quarterback Jake Locker rush for 34 yards on three carries. Locker would cap the drive with an eight yard touchdown run to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead. On the Warriors first possession Brennan was sacked and fumbled the ball giving the Huskies the ball on the Warriors 21 yard line. After being denied three straight runs the Huskies facing a fourth and goal from the one gave the ball to their fullback Luke Kravitz who ran for the touchdown to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead. The Warriors would go three and out again. The Huskies would go on a six play 51 yard touchdown drive. Senior running back Louis Rankin would rush for 39 yards on four carries on that drive. The Huskies would cap the drive with a Kravitz two yard touchdown run. The Warriors were silent as they were trailing 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Warriors in the first quarter on their four possessions had a three and out and three fumbles which the Huskies recovered.

The Warriors would finally get their offense going in the second quarter. The Warriors would go on a 10 play 83 yard touchdown drive. On that drive Brennan would complete all seven pass attempts for 67 yards. Ending with a seven yard touchdown pass to Jason Rivers to pull the Warriors within 21-7. The Huskies would respond to that touchdown by going on a seven play 84 yard touchdown drive. Louis Rankin would rush for a 44 yard run to the Warriors 28 yard line. Then Locker would hit Marcell Reece for a gain of 13 yards to the 15 yard line. He would later hit fullback Paul Homer for a 10 yard pass which was originally ruled a touchdown but after review he was down at the one yard line. Homer would then cap the drive with a one yard touchdown run giving the Huskies a 28-7 lead.

The Warriors down 28-7 in the middle of the second quarter turned to their heisman hopeful quarterback Brennan to try and march the Warriors back into the game. The Warriors would respond to that touchdown by going on a six play 75 yard touchdown drive. On that drive Brennan completed all five of his passes for 75 yards including a 43 yard pass to Ryan Grice-Mullen to the Huskies seven yard line. Brennan would then cap the drive hitting Rivers for a three yard touchdown. The Huskies would punt on six plays allowing the Warriors to have the ball once again. The Warriors would start their drive with a surprising 44 yard run to the Huskies 36 yard line. Then Brennan would take over once again completing all four of his passes for 36 yards. Brennan would finish the drive with a 13 yard touchdown pass to Rivers to cut the lead to 28-21 heading into halftime.

The third quarter featured no scoring as the Huskies missed a field goal and the Warriors missed two field goals. So heading into the fourth quarter the Huskies had led 28-21 but in the Willingham era the Huskies could never close these games. The Warriors in the fourth quarter after the two missed field goals finally executed properly as they went on a six play 73 yard drive. Brennan was four for five passing on that drive for 75 yards including hitting Rivers for a 40 yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at 28-28. The Huskies had blown a 21-0 and 28-7 lead to the Warriors but had one final possession to try and win back this game. The Huskies facing a critical third and 15 from the Warriors 46 yard line saw Locker complete a first down pass in field goal territory. The officials said his foot crossed the line so it was called a penalty loss of down. The replay had shown that Locker did not cross the line but the Huskies were forced to punt the ball away to the Warriors.

The Warriors would go on an eight play 76 yard touchdown drive. On that drive Brennan would complete all six of his passes for 70 yards. Brennan would hit Grice-Mullen for the go ahead score from five yards out with just 49 seconds left. That would be Brennan's fifth touchdown pass of the game. The Huskies now finding themselves trailing 35-28 would have the ball on their own 22 yard line. The freshman Locker would hit tight end Michael Gottlieb for a 25 yard gain down to their own 47 yard line. Then Locker would hit Reece for a 49 yard pass to the Warriors four yard line with 20 seconds left. After Locker was stuffed for a loss of two he would attempt to throw a pass to Reece. Reece would bobble the pass as it was intercepted to clinch the thrilling comeback for the Warriors. The Warriors would go to their first ever BCS bowl game with that win. For the Huskies it made for a long plane trip home.

For the Warriors they were led by Brennan who completed 42 of 50 passes(84.0%) for 442 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. His main receivers were Rivers who had 14 receptions for 167 yards with four touchdowns and Grice-Mullen who had 10 receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown. In his final game as a Husky Louis Rankin would rush for 145 yards on 21 carries(6.9 YPC) while freshman quarterback Jake Locker would complete 9 of 17(52.6%) of his passes for 142 yards with an interception. Locker would also rush 15 times for 76 yards(5.1 YPC) with a touchdown. This was a typical Willingham loss which saw the Huskies lose to a WAC team despite rushing for 261 yards(5.2 YPC). Many felt this would be the final game that Willingham would coach for the Huskies as he finished last place for the second time in three years and was 11-25(6-20 in Pac-10 play) as Huskies coach. In a shocking move Willingham would be brought back for 2008 and the Huskies would go 0-12. While the Warriors would go on to lose in the Sugar Bowl to the Georgia Bulldogs. Head coach June Jones would bolt for SMU that offseason.

The Huskies will only have players who redshirted that season who are on the current squad so there is no revenge at stake here. Keith Price and Chris Polk amongst others weren't on that roster who lost to Hawaii that night. One thing to remember is that the Huskies are complaining about a win over Eastern Washington which sure beat the days of griping about tough losses all the time which was the case in the Willingham era. That game should teach Husky fans just how far the program has gone but have last week's performance show just how far the Huskies have to go. The Huskies aren't an elite program quite yet but that sure is better than what they were during that era I just described where 21 point leads were not safe at all. When the Huskies were actually surprised they played so well against a WAC team which in itself should have been a major red flag on just how horrible the program had fallen to that point.

In conclusion, the Huskies are taking on a pretty good team this Saturday in Hawaii a team people are predicting to win their conference. Just like in that game the Huskies because they are a BCS conference team should dominate the line of scrimmage. I expect to see plenty of Chris Polk and I expect to see the defensive line to continue to stuff the run while applying some pressure this week. The Huskies with Nebraska coming up can't afford to drop this game to fall to 1-1. The Huskies have won five games in a row and with a win here could win six in a row. The Huskies more importantly to avoid a bowl game would have to go a disasterous 3-7 down the stretch which I don't see happening. This should be a well played football game just like that game I described back in 2007. Hopefully reading that game shows everyone just how far the program has improved over the years under Sarkisian.

Bown Down to Willingham book review

By Kshell

"Without history we are doomed to repeat it"-George Santayana(1863-1952)

This quote applies to the book that I recently purchased by author Derek Johnson Bow Down to Willingham. Johnson is the author of Husky Football in the Don James era and War of the Roses which was about the 2000 Rose Bowl championship season. I enjoyed both books and in the past few months have had some good football related talks with him while on facebook. In fact in my book Johnson wrote me a personal message in there which was pretty night and that meant a ton to me. Now for those wondering why I would read such a book about the worst era in Washington Huskies football history? Well as the quote says without history we are doomed to repeat it. I also read it because I was curious what really happened behind the scenes to cause the football program that is my favorite sports team in all of sports to go 11-37 in a four year period. In this book Johnson touches on how race played a huge role in why head coach Tyrone Willingham was brought back for year four. I already knew that but what I didn't know was how mean of a coach he was to his players and how he disrespected the greatest Husky football player in the last 50 years.

Now I'll do my best to review this book without giving away too much. The part I found most alarming was the way Willingham treated not only his current players but former players. At a school with so much tradition like what current head coach Steve Sarkisian does is he embraces the tradition. While Willingham made most former players feel like outcasts to the program and was especially disrespectful to former #1 overall pick in the 1992 NFL Draft Steve Emtman. Emtman a two-time all-ammerican was the assistent strength and conditioning coach for the Huskies. Willingham demoted him then let him go. That wasn't a very smart way to win over fans right off the bat. I don't understand Willingham's motives at all to be so disrespectful towards a Huskies legend. If you noticed in Willingham's years the offensive line was all fat and out of shape. The team often showed no strength at all and perhaps having a guy like Emtman around could have produced a few more wins. As Johnson shows throughout the book it the Willingham way or the highway(Sadly he would refer to himself in the third person). For Willingham though the losses kept creeping up as did the excuses.

The book does a good job illustrating the pain all the former players who Willingham constantly threw under the bus suffered. I was born in 1985 so up through my high school years the Huskies had never suffered a losing season and that streak started eight years before I was born. So for my father and myself to experience that run of crap from 2004-2008 was just down right dreadful. At least my grandpa passed away in 2004 to miss this run of shittyness that hadn't been seen ever before. Willingham was also a wimp as a coach as the book talks about how he didn't allow swearing. Now I'm not saying every coach needs to be like Rex Ryan but this is football last I saw. His wimpy philosophy showed on the football field as the Huskies were often punched in the mouth under his watch. The players without any reason even to them would find themselves in Willingham's doghouse. Once a player was in there he was stuck there forever as Johnson pointed out. Willingham was a prick to his players but that isn't a crime his worst offense was his shitty record including his 0-12 last season.

Back in 2007 there was a huge divide over to keep Willingham or not. I have never seen a fan base more divided on such an issue before. At the time Willingham had completed his third season which saw the Huskies 11-25 and Willingham had seen his teams take last place, second to last and last place in the conference. This is when the "doogs" got their wish and Willingham was brought back. You can often seen this "doogs" on Softy Mahler's facebook page. These are the people who will support their team and all their decisions no matter what. These people will clam you aren't a "true" fan if you disagree with any moves. Softy Mahler himself during that time supported Willingham to be brought back so keep that in mind when he talks about if a Husky football coach should be retained. Now this book does a great job of painting you back in that time. Johnson brings up the dawgman message boards, other message boards that were created due to Willingham being brought back, talk show hosts and newspapers. I felt like I was back in 2007 he illustrated that time period so well.

After reading this book I'm not surprised the Huskies went 0-12 in 2008. In fact I'm surprised they didn't do to Willingham what happened in Varsity Blues to Bud Kilmer where they ditched the coach at halftime. In fact had the players did that in the 2008 Apple Cup they probably win that game. Willingham is the only coach in the last 60 years to have a losing record to the bottom feeding Washington State Cougars. That is when you know you've hit rock bottom when you can't even beat the Cougars and was 0-2 at Husky Stadium. The book in more than a few chapters talks about the 2007 apple cup which was strange. Willingham who lost the game kept his job while the Cougars fired their coach Bill Doba. It was scary time for the true Huskies fans as they realized the Cougars had raised their expectations higher than the Huskies. Thankfully now the Cougars one upped the Huskies by bringing back Paul Wulff and his 5-32 record so I can sleep easy knowing that.

This book I think also shows why the Huskies are in good hands with Steve Sarkisian. I know I was critical of Sarkisian during his 3-6 start in year two. I mean the same people who were responsible for the Willingham disaster had their hands on the Sarkisian hire so it was hard to not be skeptical unless you blindly support your team no matter what. You soon realized that Sarkisian didn't necessarily take over a team void of talent but mainly a team who was mentally beaten up. The Willingham coaching staff taught the players absolutely nothing while breaking their spirit. The Huskies players weren't allowed to be college kids as Willingham would spy on their myspace pages, who they hung out with, would go to various bars making sure his players who were legally old enough to drink weren't served, etc. Willingham destroyed their college experience while not producing any wins at all. The players were poorly developed as there have been several players who went undrafted who remain in the NFL today from the Willingham era. Sarkisian has built his players spirits up and most importantly made football fun. Now the Huskies are winning games especially the close games this past season. The Huskies care for their head coach and he cares for them which wasn't the case in the Willingham years.

In conclusion, when I picked up this book I couldn't stop reading it. Chapter after chapter you hear a player who was screwed over by Willingham. Yet the press who was there on the inside supported him to be brought back for his fourth year. Like Johnson states when Keith Gilbertson was fired after just his second season there wasn't a controversy it was just another failed coach. With Willingham like the O.J. Simpson case it turned into a race war. People wanted Willingham to be successful because he was the first black coach in Huskies history and they ignored his constant late game mismanagements. I give Johnson credit for taking on the race issue head on. I've read mixed comments on the dawgman pages(probably bitter fans who were wrong about bringing back Willingham) about this book. This book was a fun read and it was definately worth my money. I look forward to his next Huskies football book as so far he is three for three on very enjoyable books to read.








For those who want more information on Johnson's book here is the site link. Derek Johnson Books: Bow Down to Willingham

Huskies take on UCLA flashback to 2006

By Kshell

When UCLA Bruins(4-5,2-4) travel to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies(3-6,2-4) they will be heading into the game with some swagger. The Bruins are coming off a win against Oregon State which snapped a three game losing streak. While the Huskies are currently on a three game losing streak and must win this game to remain bowl eligible. The reason the UCLA Bruins will have some swagger when facing the Huskies is because they have only lost to Washington twice since 1997. Well in this preview and the following preview I'll talk about the two Husky wins. I'll talk about these wins not because I'm a homer. I'll talk about those two wins because I was at both games starting with the most recent win in 2006.

September 23, 2006: UCLA Bruins(2-0,0-0) at Washington Huskies(2-1,0-0)

The Huskies who had won just three games in the previous two seasons enter their Pac-10 opener under second year head coach Tyrone Willingham feeling good about themselves. That is because the Huskies the previous week blocked an extra point and defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 21-20 giving them a 2-1 record first time they had a winning record since November 1st, 2003 when they defeated Oregon 42-10 to improve to 5-4.

At the time of this game I was living in Ellensburg, Washington as I was going to school at Central Washington University. At the time my car was not working so my Dad drove from Longview to Ellensburg(250 miles) to pick me up as headed towards Seattle(120 miles) for the game. It was a beautiful day in Seattle which is rare for me since I had only been to one September game before this. My dad and mom were at the previous game and saw the Huskies beat Fresno State.

As my dad and I were walking to the stadium we were talking about the Mens basketball team since we were front of Hec Ed. The Huskies were bringing in the "greatest" freshman class ever which highlighted Spencer Hawes and Quincy Pondexter. I bring this up because I look over and I see coach Lorenzo Romar showing off potential recruit Justin Holiday around the gym. I went up to Romar and introduced myself to him. I was so nervous I was shaking and probably sounded like an idiot. I told him he is doing a great job and asked if this would be a great year. He replied "we are pretty young and haven't proven anything so we'll see". I respected his honesty he could have easily overated his team but chose not to. I then stood for a picture with Romar and my dad told me he got it. Then come to find out my dad doesn't know how to use cell phones and didn't get the picture. By the way the Huskies signed Holiday the next day so I joke him meeting me was the final thing to push him over to the Purple and Gold side.

As for the game itself I was dissapointed in the pregame introductions as my former high school teamate wasn't starting for UCLA after starting the previous game. I also called several friends I was so pumped up about meeting Romar. That was the most nervous I've ever been meeting someone which is crazy. The Huskies came out extremely flat in front of 58,000 fans. The Huskies in fact in 2006 had just one game where attendence was over 60,000. The Huskies found themselves trailing UCLA 16-0 and had a grand total of one yard offense with two minutes to go in the half. Senior quarterback Isaiah Stanback looked horrible as did the running game. My dad was in shock this was the exact opposite Stanback he saw the previous week.

The Huskies who would get ball first second half would have a terrific two minute drill right before half time. Stanback would hit Sonny Shackelford for a 23 yard touchdown pass with a minute to go in the half. The Huskies had finally shown they could move the ball through the air as UCLA wasted chances to put the game away settling for three field goals in the first half inlcuding two that were inside 30 yards. The Huskies would use that momentum and score another touchdown on their opening drive again Stanback hitting Shackelford for a 28 yard pass to cut the lead to 16-14.

The Huskies defense would bend but not break as they would allow a 22 yard field which UCLA would extend its lead 19-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Stanback would lead the offense down the field again and would connect on his third touchdown pass of the game to Johnie Kirton for a four yard touchdown pass. The Huskies would then go for two and Stanback would hit Kirton again for the two point conversation giving the Huskies a 22-19 lead. The crowd was going crazy. Stanback was running around showing emotion he was being booed in the first half to being cheered by the Huskies crowd.



What would happen next still gives me goose bumps just typing this. The previous week outside linebacker Dan Howell missed the game because his father passed away on September 10th, 2006. Howell was playing with a heavy heart this game I'm sure. When UCLA quarterback Ben Olsen dropped back to pass the pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. The crowd was freaking out going crazy then I realized who picked the pass off it was Dan Howell who intercepted the pass from 33 yards out. I pointed that out to my dad it was an emotional moment as his touchdown put the game away giving the Huskies a 29-19 lead.

The Huskies would win the game 29-19 as the Huskies would splash Tyrone Willingham with gatorade. What a difference a half makes as Isaiah Stanback finished the game 18 of 29 for 200 yards passing with three touchdowns and one interception. He also led the team in rushing with 48 yards. His main target was Shackelford who had nine receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns. It was looking like Willingham had the program in the right direction. It was a terrific win as I was pumped how I met Romar that day and it was looking like Husky football was turning around. On the way home I remember the Husky honks pumping up Willingham and mocking Notre Dame who was losing to Michigan State at the time(ND came back and won) after they had already lost earlier in the year. I forgot who said it but one of them said "I bet Notre Dame wishes they had Willingham now, their mistake is our gain".

It was a great win for the Huskies and they won the next week to improve to 4-1(2-0). Husky football had appeared to be back and I was at the game that started this run. Now Stanback went down and the season like many seasons from 2004-present have gone to crap. I'll never forget the joy I had that day though. I met Romar and although I was wrong I thought that was the turnaround of Husky football. Hopefully this Thursday can be the real turnaround.