What our program is vs. what it could/should be

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I like Petersen the human being far more than I liked Pete the football coach, but I still very much appreciate his contributions over the past six years. He did tons of positive things and had a level of success that was significantly greater than his predecessor.

With that said, I think it is more than fair to say that he didn’t pursue maximizing the potential of the program very aggressively, if at all.

Under Pete we had a Boise-meets-Stanford energy and profile. That’s still better than 85% of the programs in FBS, but is far short of where we could be.

The model I want is a Clemson-Michigan hybrid: a thoroughly modern program with a unique culture that is fun and focused on winning, fused to being serious about academics, etc..

The pieces are all just sitting there. It is just a matter of whether the people in the AD and program see them and actually have the will to do it.

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As I’ve said it’s reasonable to be concerned about Jimmy now.

Not firing Boner & Gregory and taking forever with the OC search that was limited to two people is a huge red flag. It’s quite underwhelming.

I have little faith in the AD as a whole and the leader. Cohen seems entirely hands off with everything. As @Coker said, Pete was covering up a lot of warts. Those are going to slowly be revealed now as its amateur hour at Graves.

Meanwhile, Oregon is going to continue along, doing everything it can to win its first NC, while we stumble forward with a super-talented squad.

Not firing Bob is just baffling. How much worse can your performance be?! Paopao was better than Bob and he was god awful!

People saying its reasonable to be concerned about Jimmy Lake before he even conducts his first spring practices make my eyes roll so hard they almost fall out.

We can never be Clemson. We don’t have the money nor the talent pool to match them. People need to stop thinking we can be them because it’s not possible. At the end of the day it comes down to money and being in the pac-12 we are short handed when compared to our competitors and that’s just the way it is.

thapurplefunk wrote:

People saying its reasonable to be concerned about Jimmy Lake before he even conducts his first spring practices make my eyes roll so hard they almost fall out.

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Interesting. You sound like somebody who has an inherent faith in people in positions of authority; somebody who assumes those titles justify belief in their judgement and competence.

I am not saying Lake is incompetent or has poor judgement, but I don’t make assumptions about those things vis-a-vis his role as a head coach, since he has never been one before. I know he is great at coaching DBs and is the second-best defensive coordinator on the staff. Other than that, I will make up my mind on his competence as things evolve, based on the evidence.

Crazy, I know.

Lake’s just weeks into his job. If anybody’s ever led an organization of more than 50+ people, they know causing massive, immediate change is risky.

There have been some great posts here lately about what UW is and could potentially be, but we may be in for another 8-5 season or two before Lake hits his stride and finally cuts loose the dead weight.

Not long ago, Cristobal was puttering along at the head of an unmotivated squad losing to Boise St. in the desert toilet bowl. It’s taken some time for him to turn that ship around, and could’ve easily had 2-3 more losses than he did this year and be on the hot seat already.

A guy with Lake’s background should be able to identify an OC who would give him fits if he was on the opposite sideline. Mississippi State just hired the guy Lake bitched on an annual basis and nonchalantly needled publicly.

I’m still optimistic Lake’s going to make a good hire, though I doubt most of us will be thrilled with it at first.

sonics1993 wrote:

We can never be Clemson. We don’t have the money nor the talent pool to match them. People need to stop thinking we can be them because it’s not possible. At the end of the day it comes down to money and being in the pac-12 we are short handed when compared to our competitors and that’s just the way it is.

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Keep parroting the low expectations stuff. It’s working out great.

And never forget to always defend the coaches, even when they are wrong.

I’ve been to Clemson. And Eugene. And North Bend, Indiana.

There is NO … FREAKING .. WAY ….UW can’t be as successful as Clemson with a motivated organization who knows how to recruit. Shoot, put those 3 places together and they don’t come close to what UW has collectively.

Oregon lucked out because they had 1 alum with deep pockets and a corporation to sponsor their rise. If Knight had gone to Corvallis, Oregon would be Beaver-lite like they historically are.

UW has everything necessary to be a near-annual juggernaut.

Verfluchte Hunde wrote:

I’ve been to Clemson. And Eugene. And North Bend, Indiana.

There is NO … FREAKING .. WAY ….UW can’t be as successful as Clemson with a motivated organization who knows how to recruit. Shoot, put those 3 places together and they don’t come close to what UW has collectively.

Oregon lucked out because they had 1 alum with deep pockets and a corporation to sponsor their rise. If Knight had gone to Corvallis, Oregon would be Beaver-lite like they historically are.

UW has everything necessary to be a near-annual juggernaut.

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Absolutely. And the thing to remember is that what Clemson is now is entirely different from what it was 10 years ago. Or 7 years ago. Or even 5 years ago.

It also takes a very literal reading of what I wrote to come to the conclusion that we need to be just like Clemson. My point was that we can be a cutting edge program, with a unique and fun culture. Clemson is those things. We can be too. That doesn’t mean we would need to do it exactly the same way (which in Clemson’s case, revolved around spending a bazillion dollars on facilities upgrades).

Being unique and fun is one of the two things going in Clemson’s favor, the other being they have an increasingly demanding fan base that cares.

Other than that, our offerings are superior to Clemson in every way minus maybe the gameday atmosphere, but that’s debatable when we’re good.

It still took Dabo years to really get his grounding, and Lake is arguably starting with a stronger team talent base.

Clemson was Georgia Tech for years…or even Syracuse….Pitt…since 1980, really. Nothing special, just like the location and academic standing of the University.

AIRWOLF wrote:

sonics1993 wrote:

We can never be Clemson. We don’t have the money nor the talent pool to match them. People need to stop thinking we can be them because it’s not possible. At the end of the day it comes down to money and being in the pac-12 we are short handed when compared to our competitors and that’s just the way it is.

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Keep parroting the low expectations stuff. It’s working out great.

And never forget to always defend the coaches, even when they are wrong.

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And you never forget to bitch and complain about every little that’s not perfect to you and make sure to make a big spectacle of it.

[sonics1993]

Verfluchte Hunde wrote:

I’ve been to Clemson. And Eugene. And North Bend, Indiana.

There is NO … FREAKING .. WAY ….UW can’t be as successful as Clemson with a motivated organization who knows how to recruit. Shoot, put those 3 places together and they don’t come close to what UW has collectively.

Oregon lucked out because they had 1 alum with deep pockets and a corporation to sponsor their rise. If Knight had gone to Corvallis, Oregon would be Beaver-lite like they historically are.

UW has everything necessary to be a near-annual juggernaut.

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Location is one of the most over rated factors by fans, it rarely matters whether you play in a big or small city. What matters is the location to the talent pool which we don’t have since a lot of the talent is in the south.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by sonics1993.

sonics1993 wrote:

AIRWOLF wrote:

sonics1993 wrote:

We can never be Clemson. We don’t have the money nor the talent pool to match them. People need to stop thinking we can be them because it’s not possible. At the end of the day it comes down to money and being in the pac-12 we are short handed when compared to our competitors and that’s just the way it is.

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Keep parroting the low expectations stuff. It’s working out great.

And never forget to always defend the coaches, even when they are wrong.

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And you never forget to bitch and complain about every little that’s not perfect to you and make sure to make a big spectacle of it.

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That’s called calling for accountability. If you think people like me and Dennis are rough, you should hear the fans at top programs.

Accountability for what, he hasn’t even made a decision yet. It’s absurd

sonics1993 wrote:

Accountability for what, he hasn’t even made a decision yet. It’s absurd

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And all I’ve said is that the way the search has been handled so far hasn’t been confidence inspiring. I don’t default to assuming everybody in positions of authority are always doing the right thing, because I have life experience.

It’s very simple.

Either we are all in and everything matters or we just need to face it that we are super beta program that will be competitive once in a while.

As a fan all you have is your voice to share your displeasure. But just as USC doesn’t give a fuck about football right now because of the President of the school. UW hasn’t cared about football since Don James retired. UW has always been a great program despite the administration not because of them.

I want Jimmy to win that is all. I don’t have to like the way he does it and how every other programs have buzz around their OC searches and ours no one knows and no one cares. I will always have criticism because I care and I want to be better and I will never give any coach or administrator the benefit of the doubt. They need to show results period. Our program can be great if the UW puts in the effort. Until then we suck until we don’t.

Your username is a microagression against me and I will NOT STAND FOR IT.

I also refuse to read your post on principle.

Trojan Dawg wrote:

It’s very simple.

Either we are all in and everything matters or we just need to face it that we are super beta program that will be competitive once in a while.

As a fan all you have is your voice to share your displeasure. But just as USC doesn’t give a fuck about football right now because of the President of the school. UW hasn’t cared about football since Don James retired. UW has always been a great program despite the administration not because of them.

I want Jimmy to win that is all. I don’t have to like the way he does it and how every other programs have buzz around their OC searches and ours no one knows and no one cares. I will always have criticism because I care and I want to be better and I will never give any coach or administrator the benefit of the doubt. They need to show results period. Our program can be great if the UW puts in the effort. Until then we suck until we don’t.

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Coker wrote:

Your username is a microagression against me and I will NOT STAND FOR IT.

I also refuse to read your post on principle.

PepsiFirst wrote:

It’s very simple.

Either we are all in and everything matters or we just need to face it that we are super beta program that will be competitive once in a while.

As a fan all you have is your voice to share your displeasure. But just as USC doesn’t give a fuck about football right now because of the President of the school. UW hasn’t cared about football since Don James retired. UW has always been a great program despite the administration not because of them.

I want Jimmy to win that is all. I don’t have to like the way he does it and how every other programs have buzz around their OC searches and ours no one knows and no one cares. I will always have criticism because I care and I want to be better and I will never give any coach or administrator the benefit of the doubt. They need to show results period. Our program can be great if the UW puts in the effort. Until then we suck until we don’t.

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I agree with the first part.

But his post is actually GOOD.

[Trojan Dawg]

Think of it this way Coker more Coca Mexicana for you and more Pesi Mexicana/ Real sugar Pepsi for me! To each their own is the saying.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by Trojan Dawg.