When Pete stepped down and Jimmy took over I knew we were losing our best recruiter on the staff but thought Jimmy was good enough to maintain the standard of top 15 classes like we have done the last three years. But as we sit here today, six months away from signing day, with no official visits likely this upcoming year, I think it’s clear that we are going to take a step or two back for the 2021 class. I originally thought in the winter that with the 2021 in state class being as loaded as it was, that we would finish in the 10-15 range. But then the spring came and it was clear that we were struggling on the recruiting trail and had no momentum and I stated it. That led a certain administrator on dawgman calling me negative and making baseless accusations about how I hate the coaches but I was fine with it because I knew it was the truth. I also expected the class to turn around in the fall when visits were allowed and expected us to close strong and thought a top 25 class was reachable. Well no official visits are likely this year, it’s iffy on if football will be played and it’s pretty clear that this class is going to be more similar to the 2014/2015 than the last three classes meaning we are going to have to depend on the coaches evaluation and coaching skills because other than Sam there is no can’t miss guy in this recruiting class. Right now I expect this class to have one high end guy in Sam, a couple low end four star and the rest filled with three star recruits. I’m disappointed in our recruiting and wish we throw away one the best in state classes Washington has ever had but we did.
Resetting expectations
- This topic has 65 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 7 months ago by
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Lake messed up by not firing Gregory and KB. Also messed up by hiring a proven bum as an OC who openly states he doesn’t like recruiting.
Also has Lake lost his recruiting touch? Last year he was blown out on Ringo and had some other questionable recruits for DB’s compared to how he normally does.
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Lake messed up by not firing Gregory and KB. Also messed up by hiring a proven bum as an OC who openly states he doesn’t like recruiting.
Also has Lake lost his recruiting touch? Last year he was blown out on Ringo and had some other questionable recruits for DB’s compared to how he normally does.
Haven’t liked one move Jimmy has made yet. He talked a big game at his press conference but every move he’s made has been safe and nothing he’s done so far has been “aggressive” like I thought it would be.
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Thanks for your honest appraisal albeit quite grim.
Do you see Jimmy capable of learning from his mistakes? I thought he would be more prepared for being a head coach. I thought he would really be more on top of recruiting. I get that the recruiting process for UW does rely and put a major emphasis on visits. But everything he has done to put his stamp on things seems to have been a backward step recruiting wise?
The decision making maybe my biggest worry. Donovan was a PR mistake of a hire even if he is competent OC and learned from his failings at Penn State and seems to add nothing to recruiting.
Cato seems a strange hire for TE even though Papap was not seen as a strong recruiter – Cato maybe worse.
Letting go of Cooper Petanga and having him go to Oregon looks more problematic by the day. Justin Glenn maybe fine but this recruiting year was too crucial to remove someone at the center of recruiting and replace them with someone with limited experience in that role.
Some specific questions:
I thought Lake understood recruiting and the inherent weaknesses of the existing recruiting?
Will he make the necessary changes to the staff to weed out weak recruiters?
Does Jimmy personally recruit any players like Coach Pete did?
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I get what you are saying about resetting expectations, but expectations should never be reset, they should be met or exceeded or things need to change.
I, too, was very high on Jimmy when he got hired. I thought he would really go after recruiting in a way we hadn’t seen with Pete. But instead he chose to continue the same recruiting strategy, but without the reason recruits were excited by that strategy (Pete). Recruits came here because of Pete and we are still selling our program like Pete is the head coach.
The staff he put together is so lacking in recruiting it hurts. And he made sure all of them got two year contracts. He has tied his tenure to this staff and I think it will sink him. Knowing what was coming down the pike in state over the next few years, recruiting should have been a absolute priority. I do not believe anyone in the Athletic Department understands how important recruiting is. They have all bought into Pete’s hatred of hype and recruiting rankings actually mattering.
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The worst part of this is we are very likely stuck with this staff unless guys decide to move on. I would be stunned if we paid buyouts to fire anyone on staff. ALL OF THEM are signed through at least the 2021 season and that was Jimmy’s desire. So this is our crew unless people decide to leave on their own. And next years class is really good too.
Thanks for your honest appraisal albeit quite grim.
Do you see Jimmy capable of learning from his mistakes? I thought he would be more prepared for being a head coach. I thought he would really be more on top of recruiting. I get that the recruiting process for UW does rely and put a major emphasis on visits. But everything he has done to put his stamp on things seems to have been a backward step recruiting wise?
The decision making maybe my biggest worry. Donovan was a PR mistake of a hire even if he is competent OC and learned from his failings at Penn State and seems to add nothing to recruiting.
Cato seems a strange hire for TE even though Papap was not seen as a strong recruiter – Cato maybe worse.
Letting go of Cooper Petanga and having him go to Oregon looks more problematic by the day. Justin Glenn maybe fine but this recruiting year was too crucial to remove someone at the center of recruiting and replace them with someone with limited experience in that role.
Some specific questions:
I thought Lake understood recruiting and the inherent weaknesses of the existing recruiting?
Will he make the necessary changes to the staff to weed out weak recruiters?
Does Jimmy personally recruit any players like Coach Pete did?
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Thanks for your honest appraisal albeit quite grim.
Do you see Jimmy capable of learning from his mistakes? I thought he would be more prepared for being a head coach. I thought he would really be more on top of recruiting. I get that the recruiting process for UW does rely and put a major emphasis on visits. But everything he has done to put his stamp on things seems to have been a backward step recruiting wise?
The decision making maybe my biggest worry. Donovan was a PR mistake of a hire even if he is competent OC and learned from his failings at Penn State and seems to add nothing to recruiting.
Cato seems a strange hire for TE even though Papap was not seen as a strong recruiter – Cato maybe worse.
Letting go of Cooper Petanga and having him go to Oregon looks more problematic by the day. Justin Glenn maybe fine but this recruiting year was too crucial to remove someone at the center of recruiting and replace them with someone with limited experience in that role.
Some specific questions:
I thought Lake understood recruiting and the inherent weaknesses of the existing recruiting?
Will he make the necessary changes to the staff to weed out weak recruiters?
Does Jimmy personally recruit any players like Coach Pete did?
– I thought so to but actions speak louder than words and when he put together his staff in the winter is when I got concerned because it had red flags written all over it.
– With the budget deficit coming up, we are stuck with this staff for the next two years whether he likes it or not.
– He absolutely does but he doesn’t have Pete’s charisma nor does he have Mario’s aggressiveness so he’s not really effective and it’s why he has yet to close a big recruit as a head coach. -
You’re acting as if Emeka and JTT are gone and that’s not even close to reality. UW controls their own destiny with both of them depending on the season they have on the field. Win 10 games and neither of them are going anywhere. The guys we’re getting right now aren’t a step down from the guys they got in previous classes. This D-line class will rival the best UW D-line classes ever. The DB class will be loaded with draft picks. Tucker and Leigbor are legit legit. If we can close them that’d be a great DB class. Heims will be a high draft pick. Wyrsch has Kaleb McGary level talent. Moore is one of the top-2 most talented TE’s this coaching staff has ever recruited. Jumper and maybe Coco Lukrich are meat and potatoes guys who are athletic and physical but position-wise, aren’t going to be highly rated by recruiting services. Lukrich would be a freak fullback and a fan favorite here. I wouldn’t mind watching that big ass kid pancake Justin Flowe on the goal line.
I would be ecstatic to finish with a class that looks like this:
Offense:
QB: Sam Huard
WR: Emeka Egbuka
WR: Troy Franklin OR Tsion Nunnally
RB: Caleb Berry
RB: Byron Cardwell
TE: Quintin Moore
TE: Shield Taylor
H-Back/Fullback: Caden Jumper
H-Back/Fullback: Coco Lukrich
OL: Robert Wyrsch
OL: Owen PrenticeDefense:
DL: Kuao Peihopa
DL: Voi Tunuufi
DL: Siaosi Finau
DL: Jacob Schuster
OLB/DL: JT Tuimoloau
OLB: Maurice Heims
OLB: Velltray Jefferson
ILB: Will Latu
DB: Zakhari Spears
DB: Dyson McCutcheon
DB: Chance Tucker
DB: Mitch LeigberThat would arguably be the best UW recruiting class since the 90’s regardless of what the ranking say. So much size, speed, athleticism, and physicality. If UW brings in four classes that physically look like that mock class, they’re going to win a national championship. No doubt about it.
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– I thought so to but actions speak louder than words and when he put together his staff in the winter is when I got concerned because it had red flags written all over it.
– With the budget deficit coming up, we are stuck with this staff for the next two years whether he likes it or not.
– He absolutely does but he doesn’t have Pete’s charisma nor does he have Mario’s aggressiveness so he’s not really effective and it’s why he has yet to close a big recruit as a head coach.[/quote]
Hmm, from my very outside perspective hundreds of miles away I thought Jimmy was one of the better recruiters on staff in that he had won quite a few tough recruiting battles against heavy duty competition for some highly sought DBs like Julius Irvin, Kyler Gordon, Cam Williams, Trent McDuffie, etc. I thought him to be charismatic when I heard him on Softy’s show several times.
But this year even the DB recruiting has been a source of concern.
I don’t know how to reconcile his past recruiting triumphs as a DC/DB coach with this poor closing. I guess a head coach really needs to be closer and Jimmy did well as a DB coach building relationships and talking about DB development.
His past successes in recruiting his position give me hope he can learn and step up as a closer.
But he is now the CEO and the decisionmaking is my biggest worry as I said. Even if Donovan works out he was a poor hire and a PR disaster and recruiting liability.
I don’t understand why as you say he talked big on being aggressive and he has been anything but. He should have job security. Why has he been so conservative in his decisionmaking? That is hard to undersand?
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I feel like JL is straying away from CP recruiting blue print in all the wrong ways.. CP was able to wait on these under the radar recruits and either get them last minute or even have them walk on (when they have other pac-12 offers). Guys like jumper and the commit from this week could have easily fallen into that walk on category..
Why TF is Lake pressing so much and taking these commits so early? Seems like he’s making some unjust decisions because he’s feeling pressured or just doesn’t give a fuck and wants to take the “Easy” commit..
Also.. with this class being majority 3 star guys. Does that have an effect on the 5 stars on our board? Obviously talent wants to play with talent. Oregon is selling that their class can win a natty. Not sure uw can sell the same thing..
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I feel like JL is straying away from CP recruiting blue print in all the wrong ways.. CP was able to wait on these under the radar recruits and either get them last minute or even have them walk on (when they have other pac-12 offers). Guys like jumper and the commit from this week could have easily fallen into that walk on category..
Why TF is Lake pressing so much and taking these commits so early? Seems like he’s making some unjust decisions because he’s feeling pressured or just doesn’t give a fuck and wants to take the “Easy” commit..
Also.. with this class being majority 3 star guys. Does that have an effect on the 5 stars on our board? Obviously talent wants to play with talent. Oregon is selling that their class can win a natty. Not sure uw can sell the same thing..
First timer, nervous nellie.
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Lake messed up by not firing Gregory and KB. Also messed up by hiring a proven bum as an OC who openly states he doesn’t like recruiting.
Also has Lake lost his recruiting touch? Last year he was blown out on Ringo and had some other questionable recruits for DB’s compared to how he normally does.
Haven’t liked one move Jimmy has made yet. He talked a big game at his press conference but every move he’s made has been safe and nothing he’s done so far has been “aggressive” like I thought it would be.
It’s strange in a lot of ways. Lake is coaching like an established coach who is resting on his accomplishments. When in reality he’s a first year head coach so I figured he’d be hungry and trying to prove something.
Instead his two coaching hires were promoting a guy from within, hiring a nobody from Vandy and hiring a failed OC who openly hates recruiting.
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At this point we are in the JL world he’s either a genius or a dud.
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That’s it. I’m turning to the drink.
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I feel like JL is straying away from CP recruiting blue print in all the wrong ways.. CP was able to wait on these under the radar recruits and either get them last minute or even have them walk on (when they have other pac-12 offers). Guys like jumper and the commit from this week could have easily fallen into that walk on category..
Why TF is Lake pressing so much and taking these commits so early? Seems like he’s making some unjust decisions because he’s feeling pressured or just doesn’t give a fuck and wants to take the “Easy” commit..
Also.. with this class being majority 3 star guys. Does that have an effect on the 5 stars on our board? Obviously talent wants to play with talent. Oregon is selling that their class can win a natty. Not sure uw can sell the same thing..
There does seem to be a degree of panic in some of these offers. Again this is back to decisionmaking and an apparent lack of confidence – it appears for all the bluster at the press conference – Coach Lake is feeling pressure replacing a great coach like Coach Pete.
Oregon and Cristobal are all about hype. UW is not which is fine but when you are dealing with the Oregon Hype Machine you have to view your strategies and decisions in the context of what your leading adversary is doing.
From reading Troy Franklin’s recent interview with John Canzano – the hype of a national title is a big thing that swayed him.
Lake needs to counter the Oregon hype in recruiting.
I like almost all the class’s film, UW has done a great job of identifying and developing talent. Nick Harris and Ben Burr-Kirvan come to mind as wtf recruits that shone. And if only we had held on to Nicholas Bolton.
I believe strongly that UW with decent QB play will have a great season because the defense will be lights out.
But Coker and Sonics are 100% right recruiting has to be the number one priority and Jimmy has to do better.
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At this point we are in the JL world he’s either a genius or a dud. Everybody I know he coached said he’s next level. That’s only reason I have faith best coach they have been around. Thus new DBU.
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The expectation now is to get JTT, Emeka, Troy and Prentice and salvage the class.
One comment about Jimmy as a recruiter. Dennis said he may have got tired of it after Asa Turner’s recruitment. There was a clear drop in Jimmy’s recruiting in the 20 class before he became head coach. I pointed it out & Sonics & HH criticized it.
Not beating my chest, just pointing out that a year ago it was apparent Jimmy’s recruiting was down a notch. Is that the Jimmy we are seeing now? Or the 2015-2018 guy recruiter.
Initially I was excited. The source that told me the rumor that Pete was going to step down, then said we were getting Gerald Alexander and Bob & Boner could be gone too. The comments from Gerald on Lake in that Athletic article made it seem there was no way he wouldnt be working on Lake’s staff.
What transpired reminded me of 2005 when people thought we would get Tedford and then we ended up with Losingham.
The worst part is we could have strung together a fantastic class on top of the last 3 classes and a team that already meets the blue chip ratio! We could have had a legit playoff contending team over the next 5 years!
Do you know that we’ve been the best program in the Pac since 2013? That’s what the metrics say.
Our coaches, Jimmy included, are showing themselves so far to be terrible salesman.
Jimmy better be a tremendous game day coach and Donovan a real find. Otherwise, they are blowing it big time.
If we don’t salvage this class Jimmy should be down to 2 years and Cohen better have Justin Wilcox on speed dial or beg Pete to come back.
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The expectation now is to get JTT, Emeka, Troy and Prentice and salvage the class.
One comment about Jimmy as a recruiter. Dennis said he may have got tired of it after Asa Turner’s recruitment. There was a clear drop in Jimmy’s recruiting in the 20 class before he became head coach. I pointed it out & Sonics & HH criticized it.
Not beating my chest, just pointing out that a year ago it was apparent Jimmy’s recruiting was down a notch. Is that the Jimmy we are seeing now? Or the 2015-2018 guy recruiter.
Initially I was excited. The source that told me the rumor that Pete was going to step down, then said we were getting Gerald Alexander and Bob & Boner could be gone too. The comments from Gerald on Lake in that Athletic article made it seem there was no way he wouldnt be working on Lake’s staff.
What transpired reminded me of 2005 when people thought we would get Tedford and then we ended up with Losingham.
The worst part is we could have strung together a fantastic class on top of the last 3 classes and a team that already meets the blue chip ratio! We could have had a legit playoff contending team over the next 5 years!
Do you know that we’ve been the best program in the Pac since 2013? That’s what the metrics say.
Our coaches, Jimmy included, are showing themselves so far to be terrible salesman.
Jimmy better be a tremendous game day coach and Donovan a real find. Otherwise, they are blowing it big time.
If we don’t salvage this class Jimmy should be down to 2 years and Cohen better have Justin Wilcox on speed dial or beg Pete to come back.
Facts!! Hopefully it’s sounds like Tinae he’s starting to pressure but he’s sounding like Kanye forgets the grind with some success hopefully he’s that early smart..LIPO.
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I feel like JL is straying away from CP recruiting blue print in all the wrong ways.. CP was able to wait on these under the radar recruits and either get them last minute or even have them walk on (when they have other pac-12 offers). Guys like jumper and the commit from this week could have easily fallen into that walk on category..
Why TF is Lake pressing so much and taking these commits so early? Seems like he’s making some unjust decisions because he’s feeling pressured or just doesn’t give a fuck and wants to take the “Easy” commit..
Also.. with this class being majority 3 star guys. Does that have an effect on the 5 stars on our board? Obviously talent wants to play with talent. Oregon is selling that their class can win a natty. Not sure uw can sell the same thing..
With the AD budget deficit UW and every school is going to have, the only way this staff isn’t all back next year is if one of them goes the Matt Lubick route and walks away or goes to the NFL. We aren’t going to buy them out, and they aren’t going to leave to a lesser school for less money. They are ours thru December 2021.
Goods want to play with goods just like we are seeing in the NBA and College BB. You better believe high 4 and 5 stars (difference makers) are taking notice if they are serious about coming here, about who ISN’T coming here, as are the other staffs (Oregon and SC) who will be telling them every chance they get.
Like everyone else, I am stunned and stupefied at how poorly recruiting is going. Jimmy as DB coach had to go home and pound his head against the wall seeing who he was signing versus what other position coaches were bringing in, yet choose to retain KB/BG (KNOWING Pete was going to make a change at the end of season had he stayed) and bringing in two very unknown commodities with little/no west coast recruiting experience (Kato/Brown). Additionally, I can understand him keeping Will Harris, but in his two years here, I don’t know who he’s pulled in, which should be a red flag for Lake as well.
I always believed Lake’s success/failure would have to do with the x’s and o’s (scheme), as the johnnys and joes (talent) he would have. Two more classes like this and unless he is going to come up with a Chip Kelly offense no one has ever seen or can defend, it’s not going to matter.
Thanks Sonics for writing such a clear and succinct analysis of what’s happened. Appreciate your insight and information.
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The expectation now is to get JTT, Emeka, Troy and Prentice and salvage the class.
One comment about Jimmy as a recruiter. Dennis said he may have got tired of it after Asa Turner’s recruitment. There was a clear drop in Jimmy’s recruiting in the 20 class before he became head coach. I pointed it out & Sonics & HH criticized it.
Not beating my chest, just pointing out that a year ago it was apparent Jimmy’s recruiting was down a notch. Is that the Jimmy we are seeing now? Or the 2015-2018 guy recruiter.
Hmm, I thought the decline last year was because of the tremendous young depth in DB room, but this years struggles maybe confirmation of that?
But I would have a thought a chance to be the HC, build his own team and earn all that money would have lit a fire under him?
The thing with college football the required skill set of a HC is vastly different of that of a DC/position coach. But I would have thought that Pete would have tutored and mentored him to prepare him for this day.
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The expectation now is to get JTT, Emeka, Troy and Prentice and salvage the class.
One comment about Jimmy as a recruiter. Dennis said he may have got tired of it after Asa Turner’s recruitment. There was a clear drop in Jimmy’s recruiting in the 20 class before he became head coach. I pointed it out & Sonics & HH criticized it.
Not beating my chest, just pointing out that a year ago it was apparent Jimmy’s recruiting was down a notch. Is that the Jimmy we are seeing now? Or the 2015-2018 guy recruiter.
Initially I was excited. The source that told me the rumor that Pete was going to step down, then said we were getting Gerald Alexander and Bob & Boner could be gone too. The comments from Gerald on Lake in that Athletic article made it seem there was no way he wouldnt be working on Lake’s staff.
What transpired reminded me of 2005 when people thought we would get Tedford and then we ended up with Losingham.
The worst part is we could have strung together a fantastic class on top of the last 3 classes and a team that already meets the blue chip ratio! We could have had a legit playoff contending team over the next 5 years!
Do you know that we’ve been the best program in the Pac since 2013? That’s what the metrics say.
Our coaches, Jimmy included, are showing themselves so far to be terrible salesman.
Jimmy better be a tremendous game day coach and Donovan a real find. Otherwise, they are blowing it big time.
If we don’t salvage this class Jimmy should be down to 2 years and Cohen better have Justin Wilcox on speed dial or beg Pete to come back.
The Ringo recruitment was the first sign that Jimmy was losing his touch. In 2018 it was looking like UW was the favorite to 2019 we weren’t even in the running for him. Our 2020 DB recruiting class wasn’t your typical Lake recruiting like we had seen previously.
Looking at 2020 DB recruiting and now how Lake is doing as a head coach in recruiting it appears he’s lost his touch.
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