Thank You Scott Woodward…
All of Husky Nation today should be thanking Scott Woodward. The University of Washington Athletic Director only a year ago made a semi-unpopular choice of hiring USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian as head coach to replace Tyrone Willingham. Most of the Nation (Husky that is) wanted Jim Mora to get out of his agreement with the Seahawks and coach his alma mater. Woodward didn’t bite at that option. The next “sexy” target was Mike Leach from Texas Tech. Leach turned Tech into a national power and seemed like the high-profile, spread offense slinging, no-nonsense coach the Huskies needed. Leach and his wife even flew up to Seattle, leaving fans and media speculating of an imminent announcement. Leach ended up going back to Lubbock without a deal and people scratching their heads. Enter Sark and well…you know the rest of the story.
Jim Mora has had a nightmare season with the Hawks. They are 5-10 and getting worse each week. Seahawks Nation has him on a very short leash. This isn’t to say he would not ne a fine coach at the college level, but he seems to be a pro guy and right now he still needs to prove he’s even that.
Mike Leach is another issue. Leach seemed like the “splash” move. When it didn’t happen, Texas Tech extended his contract. This week, they are regretting it. Leach was just suspended from coaching his team in the Alamo Bowl. Seems he made a player who was suffering from a concussion stand in a dark room by himself, unable to sit or lean, for 3 hours. Head injury safety has been big news lately and this treatment is idiotic. Add to it the player involved is the son of former NFL player and current ESPN college football analyst, Craig James, and it borders on lunacy. Read the entire story on ESPN.
Bottom line – AD Woodward, thank you for doing your due diligence, removing yourself from the outcry of the fans, and giving Husky Nation the coach this school and community deserves!
Dan
© 2009 Dan Weedin – All Rights Reserved
Dan – I was never a Mora fan because I recall a statement he made to the press about coaching at the college level. When his Dad coached under Don James, his Dad was never home because he was out recruiting all of the time. Jim realized over the years that college coaches put in a lot more time than pro coaches. He did not want to be out recruiting during the offseason because he did not want his kids to be without a father for most of their young lives. I would prefer a coach that is committed to putting in the time to recruit and Mora was not that guy. I like Sark a lot but the guy I was hoping UW would hire was Dave Christensen, a former UW player and top assistant under Gary Pinkel at Missouri. Dave Christensen played football at Everett High School and I got to know him when he played for the Huskies. He is now the Head Coach at Wyoming and he just took them to a bowl game. He and Sark were some of the hot young assistants out there that were getting interviews from various schools. I think Dave Christensen will do well at Wyoming and if he does, he will probably move up to a higher level coaching position in a major conference. Sark is already at a high profile school so I hope we have him as our coach for many years to come.
Interesting. I appreciate your input, Mike.
Dan – I like your blog but I was hoping more people would respond to your daily posts. So far I have posted comments on your posts that interest me and most of the time I am the only one responding. Do you anticipate more people commenting in the future? Happy Holidays and as always……GO DAWGS!
Mike, I certainly hope so! That’s the point. I’ve found that I’m getting a pretty good flow of readers (based on the cool reports I can pull up). Like a lot of private forums and blogs (unlike ESPN and newspapers), most people are “lurkers.” That’s not a bad thing or value judgment. People like to read and move on without giving their comments. I’m actually pretty pleased with the amount of comments for such a new blog. The other thing is I’ve had numerous comments on my Facebook page because I promote it there. I’d love to have those folks comment on the blog itself, but at least they are contributing.
Consider this an open call to everyone to please read AND join in the fun. And Mike, I totally agree with GO DAWGS!
Dan