Tag Archives: Steve Sarkisian

by | August 12, 2012 · 8:59 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Fullback

Just in case anyone missed Matthew’s post below, here is the link.  I can’t say enough about the post.  If you haven’t read it, go do that now.

Today we get to know our Dawgs who play fullback.  This falls at a convenient time since there are two of them and I’m on vacation so I don’t really want to write that much.  Suckers.  With that being said, there is a few notes after the jump about the first week of the Huskies training camp.

Jonathan Amosa (SR)

Who scored the first touchdown of the 2011 Husky football season?  If you had Jonathan Amosa in that pool, you were probably the only one.  You were also correct.  Amosa was thrust into the starting role last season after Zach Fogerson retired due to injury.  The word I’d use to describe Amosa’s play is adequate.  He got the job done but nothing too much more.  He seemed like he blocked pretty well but he’s nowhere near the Stanley Havili type player that Sark had at USC.  He came to U-Dub as a walk-on but was awarded a scholarship two years ago and has since became a regular.  He seems like a good guy to root for.  I would expect him to be on the field about half of the offensive plays, splitting time with Dezden Petty and off the field when the Dawgs go with a one-back formation.

Psalm Wooching (FR)

Psalm has the best name on the team.  That’s a quality that really can’t be looked over.  While Amosa is adequate, Wooching has a chance to be something more.  He could be more of the Stanley Havili type I had mentioned above.  With that being said, it looks as if this Hawaiian is headed for a redshirt year.  I’m excited to see what Psalm could become but that might not come for another year or two.

More notes after the jump. Continue reading →

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by | August 7, 2012 · 4:23 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Running Back

Fall camp started yesterday for the Huskies and the Good Guys will keep track of any major news that breaks.  At this point in time, the only news that would be of major significance is an injury so hopefully we won’t have to update on any of those.  I started a series about the Huskies position groups about a week ago, talking about the quarterbacks.  Today I’ll move on to the running backs.

The running back position has been filled over the last 3 years by one of the most successful backs in school history, Chris Polk.  He ended his career as the second leading rusher in school history and has since moved on to the NFL. This year brings us the first year of uncertainty at tailback in the Sark era.  There seems to be plenty of talent available but talent and proven talent are two different things.  I’ll order these guys in what I think the depth chart looks like right now.

Jesse Callier (Jr.)

Callier has been Polk’s backup for the last 2 years and has done pretty well in that role.  Sark made up ways to get him the ball (the fly sweep is the main way that comes to mind) and he usually succeeded with the ball.  The question about Callier is if he’d be able to handle running between the tackles and picking up the tough yards.  I tend to think that he can’t but I don’t have a ton of conviction in that thought.  Jesse did run in between the tackles in high school and was given an enormous amount of carries (43 in one game).  He doesn’t seem to have a huge history of injuries, so it’s not that I don’t think Callier couldn’t handle being the feature back.  He hasn’t shown that he can pick up yards after contact and that’s what Husky fans have grown used to.  Maybe he can but that’s yet to be seen.

Bishop Sankey (So.)

I’m a little higher on The Bishop.  He’s quick, strong and looks the part of a feature back to me.  Again, I don’t have a ton of evidence in these thoughts but it’s just what I lean-to.  Sankey played sparingly as a true freshman but showed flashes of potential.  Sark often put him in when the team ran a toss sweep play.  That speaks to Sankey’s speed.  He’s short, like Callier, and weighs about 200 pounds so the question of endurance comes up with Sankey.

Deontae Cooper (RS So.)

Matthew wrote about Cooper last night and I don’t have a lot to add.  I saw him before his two knee surgeries in almost every practice of the spring and he was every bit the legend that people have conjured up.  If he comes back and is that guy, the Huskies will have found their running back for this year and the next 2 years.  At this point, that would be close to a miracle.  But, it seems like the Huskies are due for a break as far as these things go.

Dezden Petty (RS Fr.)

Remember how the USC Trojans used  Lendale White back in their glory days?  This was the role Dezden Petty was billed to be in.  He’s a large back at 225 pounds and, if the Dawgs go with a running back by committee approach, will probably have some sort of role on this team.  I could see Petty coming in during goal line situations and he could also line up at fullback.

Erich Wilson (Fr.)

Wilson is the freshman of this group.  He didn’t come in with a bunch of hype and I don’t expect him to make an impact this year.  The depth in this group is lacking though, so who knows what could happen.  We probably won’t know much about Wilson for another year or two.

I left off Cole Sager and Willis Wilson but they are walk-ons who probably won’t be used outside of special teams and mop-up duty.  The group is young, talented and unproven.  It will be interesting to watch in camp and see if anyone claims the job.

Thanks for reading,

Andrew

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by | July 22, 2012 · 9:35 pm

Getting To Know Your Dawgs – Quarterback

Matthew has recently been working on his series about the Mariners prospects at different positions.  This seems like a good idea.  I mean, Matthew does have his Masters Degree so that means he has some good ideas once in a while.  You never knew that the amount of good ideas you had were a direct correlate to the amount of education you have, did you?  That’s why 7 year old’s ideas are so dumb.  This is a tiny bit true although I’m mocking it.

Anyway, as Matthew finishes up his series about the M’s, college football season approaches!  Husky football is vastly more interesting than the Mariners these days so my series, which is on each of the 2012 Huskies positions, should be way better than Matthew’s.  This really wasn’t a competition until I started writing this.  Read his stuff too because he’s a better writer and, if you’re interested in the Mariners farm system, it’s much more revealing.

There’s a little over a month before the Huskies kick off against San Diego State on September 1st and only about 10 days until the Huskies fall camp starts.  It will be an exciting time, as this might be Steve Sarkisian’s best Husky team so far.  We’ll have more previews on the team as the season draws.  Today, I’ll just be talking about the quarterback and will move down the list of positions over the next month (content may continue to be light for the next few weeks because of vacations and such, it’s a busy time.  Sorry!).

The quarterback position will probably always be in good hands as long as Sark is here.  There were concerns about Keith Price last season but then he turned in one of the most amazing seasons in Husky history.  While that was going on, our coach brought in two 4-star recruits to sure up the future.  This  might be the most cheerful position preview you read, so enjoy it!

Keith Price (RS JR.)

Over the next couple of seasons, Keith Price could become my favorite Husky of all time (it’s a tie between Chris Polk and Tui, at the moment).  He has a great story, he’s a great player, and, most of all, he’s just happy to be on the field, playing some ball.  His smile has won over Husky nation and I’m not sure that anyone (even opposing fans) can really root against the guy.  Oh yeah, the numbers are pretty amazing too.  Last year he passed for 33 touchdowns, over 3,000 yards and had a 67% completion percentage to boot.  He did most of that on one good leg.  I do wonder if he’ll be able to stay healthy for an entire season but we saw what he could do in the Alamo Bowl with a healthy body.

Without Chris Polk around, some have questioned if Price will be as effective.  It’s an interesting argument that has some legs but I don’t have many concerns as far as that goes.  His numbers may not be quite as efficient but the yards may go up even farther and the Dawgs should be able to muster some sort of rushing attack.

Derrick Brown (RS FR.)

Brown will enter the fall as Price’s backup, if that stays the same for the season remains to be seen.  Brown could quickly become a forgotten man on this team because of the talented kids below him and the star above him.  With that being said, if Brown performs well he’ll play as Sark has shown a willingness to play the best player.  As a quick aside, remember when that wasn’t the case?  When Tyrone Willingham was coach I had no idea if the best player at the position was playing.  I know expectation are growing for this program, as they should,  but let’s be thankful that we made the right decision on this coaching hire.  Sark may not be the guy who coaches this team in the next golden age of Husky football but he has truly done an incredible job of getting us out of a deep, dark hole.

Back to Brown, he’s a 6-3, 230 lb. guy who is a fairly mobile guy.  He’s from California and was ranked around the number 20 quarterback prospect in the nation by recruiting services.  He’ll battle it out for the backup job during camp and I expect that he’ll be listed as the backup quarterback going in to this season.  Beyond that, I really have no idea.

Jeff Lindquist (FR.)

Lindquist is from Mercer Island and is a guy that I look forward to seeing over the next few years.  I know a few people over on the island and they all raved about Lindquist.  Not so much as a football player (although he was surely great in high school) but more as a person.  He seems to truly have his head on straight (which is another thing that Sark has done well, bringing in players with good character and running a pretty clean ship).  He’s around 6-4, 220 and reminded me of a Jake Locker type style when I watched him live a few times.  He runs pretty well, although not as fast as Locker, and has a strong-arm.  He was rated in the top 10 quarterbacks by most recruiting services.

Cyler Miles (FR.)

Miles is from Colorado and had an interesting recruiting experience.  He committed to the Huskies and then almost flipped to USC at the last second before announcing he was a Dawg.  I remember signing day well since I woke up at 6:30 for it…. Anyway, Miles has the best mobility of any U-Dub quarterback.  He’s a quick guy.  His passing might not be as strong in the passing game as Lindquist but he’s faster.  The recruiting services rank these guys very evenly and they’re usually ranked around number 10.  I have no idea who will turn out to play more.  There is no consensus on who’s better but Sark is working with some good kids and I have a lot of faith that one of them will turn out.

This position is probably the best on the team right now.  You can make an argument for the secondary but I don’t think it has more talent than this one.  I hope that Price is able to stay healthy and the young guys can redshirt.  Also, any of the backups playing this year might be a bit too soon.  Sark knows what he’s doing with them though and this position is the least of my worries.  That’s a blessing, considering that it’s probably the most important position.

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | February 3, 2012 · 4:10 pm

Reviewing the 2012 Recruiting Class – Quarterbacks

As you know, if you’ve follow this blog or sports in general, yesterday was National Signing Day in college football.  I tried to keep up with the news all day with a live signing day thread but I didn’t go into much depth on reviewing any of the players.  That’s  because I’m going to review the players in their own separate posts.  We’ll start with quarterbacks today and as the days pass, I’ll make my way down the list of positions.  Some posts will be longer than other because of the amount of players, obviously.  I get most of my information from what the recruiting web sites say, watching video and hearing what Sark said about them.  With that being said, I’ll try to throw in some of my own opinion into the review and what it will mean to the Huskies.  I’ll give each position a review in terms of recruiting, although don’t take them too seriously.

Matthew has been reviewing the players that are already on the Huskies, by position (the latest one being wide receivers).  I won’t include any thoughts on those players aside from general comments.  This will strictly be about the incoming players who signed yesterday, but if you have any questions about the Huskies leave them in the comments and we’ll get to them.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, your newly signed Washington Husky quarterbacks:

  • Jeff Lindquist:  Lindquist is a kid from Mercer Island High School.  I’ve been to a few football games there in the past two years and was shocked at how few of players they had on their team.  They are a 3A school but only have 30-40 people on their team.  Lindquist turned them from a the bottom of the conference team to one who competed in a very tough league.  Jeff has a very strong-arm with good touch, from what I’ve seen.  He’s a big kid, 6-3, 230 lbs., and reminds some of Jake Locker.  He’s not as fast as Montlake Jake but is a much more polished passer at this phase in his career.  He did a lot of read-option stuff in the games I saw him in, along with some pro-style offense.  He’s rated as a 4-star prospect by most quarterback services and went to the elite 11 camp (a camp for, what are considered the best quarterback prospects in the nation).  Lindquist committed to U-Dub way back in April, as he was deciding between the Huskies and Stanford.  He has some pretty good stats from high school (as do all of these prospects).  Jeff was 141-255 passing this year for 1,908 yards and 22 touchdowns.  He also added 826 yards and 12 more touchdowns on the ground.  I’ve met Jeff once and know many people who are friends with him over on Mercer Island.  They all speak volumes about his character and how he’s a great person.  Coach Sark said the same thing in his press conference on Wednesday.  Lindquist is one of the top prospects in this class, but people seem to have forgotten how big it is that this guy has signed since he committed a long time ago.
  • Cyler Miles:  Miles will come from Denver, Colorado and is another top quarterback prospect.  He’s a little bit smaller than Lindquist but not much at 6-2, 220 lbs.  Miles, like Lindquist, committed back in the spring but his recruitment was a little more interesting.  After Doug Nussmeier left for Alabama, Miles considered going to USC.  He reaffirmed his commitment once and then on signing day he went silent.  He again considered USC and then finally decided on U-Dub.  Maybe he was just making fun of Jordan Payton, “You committed to 4 different schools?  Well, I’m going to commit to the same school 4 times!  Haha!”  If Miles doesn’t end up doing anything U-Dub I will associate him with keeping me up on signing day when I could have been taking my nap.  Fortunately, I don’t think that will happen because he’s pretty darn good.  Miles is considered to be another top-15 quarterback in the nation.  He’s rated as a 4-star recruit by most recruiting services.  If you’re wondering, he’s rated higher than Lindquist on some sites but lower on others (more on that later).  Miles has a bit of a strange release but I would expect that to be taken care of when he steps on campus.  He’s a very fast runner, he’ll probably be our fastest quarterback when he steps on campus.  I don’t know exactly what kind of offense he ran in high school, but it’s said that he’s taken a lot of snaps under center, so I’m guessing it was a sort of pro-style offense.  I’ve heard several times that he’s Keith Price-like in that he always keeps his eyes down-field while being elusive.  He played in the Army All-American game and did quite well, passing and rushing for a touchdown.  Miles is another one of this classes jewels and it’s a very good thing that we kept him.

Overall Grade – A

If I gave out A+ grades I’d give this position one.  I don’t give out them because A+’s are for kids who are always trying to 1-up each other and that’s annoying.  Take a break and watch a movie or go play catch, kids!  Anyway, it’s rare for a team to take 2 top-15 (maybe even higher) quarterbacks in one class.  They’ll immediately compete for a backup job against Derrick Brown and I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of them not redshirt.  I have no idea who’s better at this point.  I like Lindquist a little more right now, but that’s only because I’ve seen him play more.  They both have a lot of potential and it will be fun to watch.  I don’t know what will happen with them, especially if Max Browne from Skyline picks UW next year (although it sounds unlikely at this point).  But, it’s nice to have quarterback depth and both of these kids could be very special.

More reviews on the positions later!

Andrew

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by | February 1, 2012 · 7:02 am

Live Signing Day Thread

Notes From the Press Conference:

  • The only early player who will be here for spring ball is linebacker (who could play running back) Ryan McDaniel.
  • Kalei Auelua may greyshirt so all of the bloggers and writers can have an extra year to learn how to spell his name.  Actually he might greyshirt because of a knee injury.  (A greyshirt means that he would sit out this season and enroll for winter quarter next year).  Everyone else will enroll in the summer.
  • Sark discussed fans contacting recruits via social media.  In a nutshell, he said that he was against it.  That’s not very surprising and I think most coaches would take that stance.  The sad thing is that not everyone takes that stance.

Sark broke down every player that committed and it was very interesting.  You can rewatch it at GoHuskies.com or read about it on Condotta’s blog (although he hasn’t added much from the press conference yet, he will soon).  For now, I’m going to call it quits on here and take a nap.  I’ve heard sitting on a laptop from 6:30 AM – 3:30 PM isn’t exactly healthy!  Leave any questions in the comments and I’ll get to them soon.  If there’s anymore news I’ll get to it.  Thanks for following along!  It’s been fun.  Go Dawgs!

More On Beaver – Beaver is 6-0, 176 lbs.  He’ll play cornerback for the huskies.  What an amazing last 48 hours it’s been for the future of the U-Dub secondary.  Here’s some video.

Brandon Beaver Commits! – Sorry I was out to lunch… I should have known better.  Anyway, Sark announced at his press conference that Brandon Beaver is a Dawg.  Another great get by Sark and company.  I know we lost Payton, but this was a great day for the Huskies.  It seems to be all over now and Sark more or less confirmed that in his press conference.  I’ll have a few notes from his press conference in a bit.

Miles Video – Here’s a video of Miles.  Glad he’s a Dawg!

Cyler is a Husky – Right as I pushed update, Miles announced that he is still going to attend and play at the university of Washington.  So, the Huskies keep both of their 4-star quarterbacks and only lose one player today, Jordan Payton.  Overall, a great day.  I think there will be another two or three commits before it’s all said and done.

Still Waiting On Cyler – As of 1:26, we’re still waiting on a Cyler Miles decision.  No one seems to know what’s going on right now.  People are speculating that USC is close to running out of room in their class but I don’t think it’s an issue.  We should know any minute what his decision is.  Also, there’s a rumor that the Huskies might be in play for cornerback Alphonso Marsh.

Shaq Thompson On KJR at 12:20 – Tune into Softy’s show at 12:20 to hear the bright, new star for the Huskies.

Announcement Times – Cyler Miles will announce around 1.  Goforth will announce around 2.  Brandon Beaver will announce around 3:15.  Stay tuned for those.

That Could Be It – It’s possible the Huskies will receive more letters (the most likely are Cyler Miles, Goforth and Beaver) but that might be it. It’s been a pretty successful day and the Huskies have gained more than they’ve lost.  If Miles goes elsewhere, we may have to reevaluate that but as of now, it was a good day!  Things might slow down here for a little bit.  If any news breaks, we’ll let you know.

Jaydon Mickens’ Letter Arrives – There’s only so many ways to say a letter of intent has come.  Anyway, Mickens is a receiver who committed last night.  He’s 5-11, 175 lbs. and is known for his speed.  Here’s video.

Kalei Auelua Officially In – Auelua is a defensive end who’s 6-1, 233 lbs.  The Dawgman guys were just talking about him and said he has great speed for a defensive end.  Here’s the video.

Breakdown by Position – Over the weekend I’ll go in depth on the prospects at the positions.  For now, here’s the numbers (of course, there’s a few more guys that will probably join soon).

QB – 1 or 2 (Depending on Miles)

RB – 2 (including fullback, Wooching)

WR – 3 (including Mickens)

TE – 0

OL – 5 (6 if you include preffered walk-on)

DT – 2

DE – 2

LB – 3

DB – 2 (3 if we get Beaver)

S – 1

P/K – 2

Breakdown by State – Here’s the breakdown of players who have signed by state

California – 13 (Jaydon Mickens would be the 14th)

Washington – 5

Hawaii – 2 (But another one should be coming anytime with Aeulua bringing the total to 3)

Arizona – 1

Cyler Miles is from Colorado if he picks UW over USC.

Another Blog to Follow – Ted Miller’s ESPN Pac-12 blog is a great blog to follow if you want to know what’s going on around the conference.  You can find it here.

Brandon Beaver- Beaver is also one to watch, as he’s thought to be a UW lean.  Although he seems to not have any idea based on his twitter account.

Three Guys Left – With the announcement that Jordan Payton is going to UCLA, there are 3 guys on UW’s commit list who haven’t got their letters in yet.  They are Cyler Miles, Jaydon Mickens and Kalei Auelua.  Of course, there are rumors going on with Miles.  I don’t know what the deal is with Mickens but I haven’t heard any rumors of him going elsewhere.  Auelua lives in Hawaii and should be in shortly.

Softy on KJR – Softy is on KJR now with some recruiting experts and Dick Baird.  They have a lot more information than what was happening earlier on that radio station so listen along if you can.

Payton officially to UCLA – In one of the stranger things I’ve seen, Jordan Payton committed to U-Dub on national TV yesterday but has now changed his mind and is going to UCLA according to his high school AD.  This is a bummer, and the kid clearly doesn’t know what he wants.

Psalm Wooching, Best Name Nominee – This is my favorite name in the class.  Psalm Wooching is a 6-3, 217 pound fullback.  He’s a Hawaiian.  GoHuskies reports that he can also Fire Dance.  And here’s some real video.

Who’s All In?  If you’re just catching up, this is a list of guys who have got their letters in:

Kendyl Taylor
Darien Washington
Pio Vatuvei
Shaq Thompson
Nathan Dean
Taylor Hindy
Blake Rodgers
Dwayne Washington
Erich Wilson
Jake Eldrenkamp
Damion Turpin
Jeff Lindquist
Cory English
Ryan McDaniel
Cory Littleton
Korey Durkee
Shane Brostek

And add Cleveland Wallace to that, so it brings the number to 20.  I have video of most of the guys posted below, so feel free to scroll through.

Cleveland Wallace is Official! – Surprise number 3!  A DB from California, Wallace comes to UW because of the hiring of Keith Heyward.  He’s 5-11, 165 lbs.  Great pickup for the Dawgs.  Here’s some video.

Slowing Down a Bit – It seems that the letters are slowing down some.  There are a few rumors flying around that we have covered (Miles, Payton, and Wallace) but nothing new on those.  It’s been about 2 hours since the letters started getting reported.

Brostek Video –  I didn’t post this earlier with his name so here is some video of Shane Brostek.

Rumor:  Cleveland Wallace to UW – Oregon State verbal commit, Cleveland Wallace, sounds as if he’s decided on UW.  There hasn’t been a letter received but several sources say that’s where he’s headed.

Cozens to Arizona – One of the last guys the Huskies were in on, Dylan Cozens, has committed to Arizona.  This isn’t a big surprise but it would have been nice to get the defensive end.

Shane Brostek Is In –  Shane is the 19th guy who has a letter in.  I’m excited about this guy.  He’s a 6-3, 300 lb offensive lineman from Hawaii.  His dad was a Husky and he kept his recruiting quiet.  It’s thought he would be ranked higher by scouts if he had attended more camps.

Cyler Miles Will Decide at 1 P.M. – Multiple sources have confirmed that Cyler Miles will announce whether he’s going to UW or USC today at 1 P.M.

Josh Banks – Josh Banks is a defensive tackle from California.  He’s 6-3, 274 lbs. He was at a JC in California for 2 years.

Korey Durkee Punts His LOI In – Durkee is a punter from Gig Harbor and no, he didn’t punt his letter in.  Wouldn’t that be cool though?  He’s a big guy, 6-3, 215 lbs.  We’ve got some big special teams guys!

Jordan Payton Is Wavering – Sounds like UCLA might steal the coveted receiver away from the Huskies.  That’s 2 4-star commits that we’ll have to keep an eye on as the day continues.  Things are getting pretty interesting.

Cory Littleton Is In – With the 16th letter, Littleton comes to UW as a linebacker from California.  He’s 6-4, 218 lbs.

The Class is Shaping Up –  Just from writing this, I’ve become amazed at how solid this class is all of a sudden.  It’s happened in the last 3 days, but the class has really come together with linemen and play-makers.  If we can add some DB’s (mostly just Brandon Beaver) I’ll feel great about this.  Good  depth just about everywhere that it was needed.

Ryan McDaniel – With the 15th letter, McDaniel is a linebacker out of California.  He’s 6-0, 225 lbs.  Here’s his video.  McDaniel is one of my favorite under the radar guys in this class.

Adding Some English to the Kick! – And now the headlines are going down hill.  Cory English is now in as the 14th letter.  He’s a 6-3, 284 lbs. offensive lineman from Auburn.  I don’t see many video on English unfortunately.

Kicking Has Arrived! – Travis Coons, who was ranked as the top JC kicker by several services, now has his letter in. He’s big for a kicker, 6-2, 205 lbs.  I don’t think you want to watch video of a kicker.  If you do, you’re really cool or really lame.  I haven’t decided which yet.

Where We’re At – It’s a few minutes after 9 AM and the Huskies have 12 letters in, with more rolling in every minute.  12 is probably close to half the amount the Huskies will end up with.  We’ve had 2 surprised in Pio and Lindy.  Pio is one to be really excited about and Lindy seems to be a backup plan to Banner.

Jeff Lindquist With Number 12 – Lindquist, the big name quarterback from Washington has his letter in now.  He’s one to be excited about.  He’s 6-3, 215 lbs. and has a cannon.  Here’s some video.

Damion Turpin is In- That rhymed!  Turpin is a defensive tackle from California.  He’s 6-5, 265 lbs. so clearly he has a bit of weight to gain.  Welcome to the Dawgpack Damion!  Here’s some video.

Jake Eldrenkamp – The offensive lineman from Bellevue is in as number 10 and the third offensive lineman.  He’s 6-5 and 295 lbs.  Here’s some video.  Love the big guy.

Erich Wilson is In, Number 9 – Erich Wilson is 6-1, 190 lbs.  He will either play running back or linebacker and we’ll probably find that out during Sark’s conference.  He came from the same high school as Tom Brady and Barry Bonds.  If he plays like a mix of those two then he’ll be on steroids and really annoying.  I think I’ll like him a lot more than those two though. 

Here’s Some extra Info on Lindy – The relatively unknown Lindy, is definitely a sleeper.  I don’t mean he likes to sleep (although he might), I mean the coaches are rolling the dice on him.

Dwayne Washington In The Fold – This brings the number of letters to 8 and the number of players named Washington to 2.  He’s a 6-2, 210 lbs and a receiver out of California.  Here’s his video.

Cyler Miles Uncertainty – Sounds as if no one knows what Cyler is doing.  Hopefully we’ll know something soon.

Blake Rodgers, #7 – Blake Rodgers, 6-2, 215 lbs., a middle linebacker from California is in.  Here’s his tape.

Letter #6, Taylor Hindy! Surprise? – This seems to be a surprise? I don’t know much about him but he’s an added offensive line commit. He’s a big boy, 6-5 and 295 lbs.  Here’s his tape and I’ll try to add some information about him as we go.  He will bring the number of offensive linemen to 5 (6 if you count the walk-on).  Good news there.

Nathan Dean Is In – Nathan Dean, an offensive lineman from Juanita High School in Kirkland, is now in.  He’s 6-7, 274 lbs. and here’s some video.

Virtual Highlights- GoHuskies.com has some weird virtual highlight thing going on in their website.  It’s a bit strange but kind of cool too.  Check it out there if you’d like to.

Shaq Thompson Officially In – We’re up to number 4 now and it’s Shaq Thompson, which is awesome.  Here’s some video of Shaq, who clearly has some good film.

Jeff Lindquist on KJR – The Husky quarterback commit from Mercer Island is on KJR with Mitch right now.

Surprise! Pio Vatuvei! – The first surprise of the day is Pio Vatuvei.  He has committed to U-Dub after formerly being committed to USC.  He’s a defensive end out of California who is 6-3, 272 lbs.  Great get and way to start, here’s his video.

Cyler Miles may be Rethinking- The highly rated quarterback commit for the University of Washington may be rethinking his commitment to the Huskies.  Obviously, that’s not great news but we’ll see what happens.

Pretty Awesome Video – Here’s a pretty cool video of Darien Washington laying out some guy.

Darien Washington Next – Darien Washington (6-1), a receiver out of California, is now officially a Husky.  He’s listed as a CB by scout but it looks like GoHuskies may have him a receiver, which would come from Sark.

Kendryl Taylor is the First One in – Washington has just announced that Kendryl Taylor (5-10, 196 lbs.), a receiver from Arizona, has got his letter in.  Here’s some video on him.

Shaq Thompson’s LOI is Signed – According to Joe Davidson on twitter, Shaq Thompson has signed his LOI and it will arrive a U-Dub shortly.  That is good news because we won’t have to worry about him flipping to Oregon or anything like that.  This is at 7:58 AM.

Press Conference at 2 – Sark’s press conference is at 2 P.M. today.  I don’t think I passed that along until now.  I’m not sure where it will be streamed but I would guess GoHuskies will have it.

From the GoHuskies Live Chat –  “Folks, still waiting to hear official confirmation on the LOIs. Just need to make sure all the T’s are crossed and the I’s are dotted.”

Dumb Debates – One of the best parts of signing day ending will be the end of all the dumb debates about whether schools should stop talking to a recruit after they verbally commit.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s not going to happen unless there is an early signing period and only the NCAA will allow it to happen if they want it to happen.  ‘Stealing’ recruits has been happening for longer than any of know.

Also, KJR needs to stop comparing Shaq Thompson to Terrance Jones.  Completely different situation and there is not really a comparison in the way they changed their minds.

Michael Rector to Stanford – Rector had been a UW commit has decided to sign with Stanford.  He was thought to be leaning that way after getting accepted earlier this week.  This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, and due to the slew of wide receiver commits in the last 2 days, it seems as if the Husky coaches may have known.  It’s a loss, but not a huge one.

Where UW Ranks – As of right now (7:38) the Huskies rank 4th in the Pac-12 and 21st in the nation with their recruiting class on Scout.  Of course, these rankings don’t exactly matter but, you’d rather have a highly rated class than not.

Pac-12 Top Classes – Scout and ESPN have Oregon as the number one ranked class in the Pac-12, as Oregon has made an early push this morning.  Rivals has USC as number one in the Pac-12.

Number One Ranked Classes –  For those who are curious, Alabama is ranked as having the number one class by ESPN and Rivals.  Scout Recruiting has Texas as number one in the nation.

Live Chat – At gohuskies they have a live chat going on.  As far as I can tell that will be the first way to hear about a letter coming in.  As of right now, 7:27, there are no letters in.

Why Shaq picked us – Condotta linked this article a few minutes ago, and I found it pretty interesting so I will do the same.  Although, if you’re following this blog without following his I’d suggest changing that quickly.  Anyway, here is what Shaq said about why he chose UW. (Shaq Thompson is the highest rated recruit U-Dub and the number 1 ranked safety in the nation).

ESPN3 – ESPNU (which you can find on ESPN3) is also streaming live coverage of prospects announcing.  I’m not sure if any UW prospects will announce on there but it’s still fun to follow.

7:11 – It’s 7:11 and we’re waiting as far as I can tell.  7-11 and a doughnut doesn’t sound too bad.  Then again, it doesn’t sound too good either.

No Fax Cam – Unfortunately, Gohuskies.com has done away with the fax cam.  This camera strictly just was set on the fax machine at UW and showed any letters coming in.  It was quite boring.  But, it’s the end of an era and it’s all over.  Goodbye fax cam, we’ll miss you.

No recruits in different time zones – Letters can be signed at 7 AM by players, so some schools have had letters come in already (Trey Griffey, the son of Ken Griffey Jr. has had his letter come into Arizona at 5 AM this morning) but the Huskies all have players in the pacific time zone (aside from a few in the mountain time zone) who are deciding.  So, anytime some will trickle in.

The Day Is Here – Good morning all and Happy National Signing Day!  The letters of intent are just a few minutes away from rolling into the University of Washington, and we’ll soon know who will be the incoming freshmen of 2012.  I’ll cover today by putting all new information at the top of this post as everything happens.  As we’re about to start, here’s a list of links to some of the blogs and information that’s worth following.

Here’s the Good Guys Recruiting Thread from the last couple of days, if you need to catch up.

Gohuskies has a ‘Signing Day Central’ feature on their website.

Bob Condotta’s (Seattle Times) Husky Football Blog

Ryan Divish’ (News Tribune) Husky Insider

I’m not sure if they’re doing anything specific, but UW Dawg Pound is a nice blog to follow.

The recruiting services, Dawgman and Realdawg will have information as well.

There you go, and we’re off!

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by | January 19, 2012 · 1:32 am

Catching Up With The Dawgs

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks at Montlake for Sark and his football team.  Matthew wrote about the recruiting aspect a few weeks ago and that combined with all of the coaching news has made for an interesting month since the Alamo Bowl.  Tonight, I’ll take a look at most of the news (date-by-date fashion) and add a few thoughts to it.

December 14th, 2011 – What Happened: Demetrice Martin, who was the cornerback coach at UW, left to fill the same position at UCLA.  He was one of the top recruiters on the Husky staff and his loss was felt immediately in the recruiting realm.  Several commits flipped from UW to UCLA and a few other guys dropped the Huskies from their list.

Looking At It Now:  It doesn’t seem like a big deal now and, frankly, I think it might help the Huskies.  Martin was undoubtedly a good recruiter but I don’t know about his coaching.  Maybe we won’t see our corners lack confidence now?  Maybe they’ll play a little closer to the receiver.  None of the corners have developed under Martin (Q. Rich regressed significantly) and maybe they will under the new coach.  Maybe not, but I think it was time for a change at this coaching position anyway.

December 29th, 2011 – What Happened:  Kevaire Russel, one of the top recruits in the state, announces that he has verbally committed to Notre Dame over the hometown Huskies.  Message boards erupted (I’m talking about you Dawgman) in fury over how Sark can’t recruit.  It was a little shocking and interesting to see that the Huskies couldn’t keep a recruit at home.

Looking At It Now: It’s still a bit alarming that a lot of in-state recruits are turning elsewhere but it was never worth freaking out over.  The Huskies are still in on several big name guys and will probably end up with a very solid class.  I should have saved some of the comments from the Dawgman boards because it’s hilarious how blown out of proportion some were.

December 29th, 2011 –  What Happened:  The Huskies lost one of the most entertaining, frantic, fascinating football games I’ve ever seen.  The Alamo Bowl ended in with Baylor winning 67-56.  I still see that score and am astonished.  Both defenses were absolutely terrible and both offenses were phenomenal.  It’s a shame that a lot of the focus gets put on how horrible the defense was (which I admit, both were horrible) and not put on how good the offenses were.  Watching the national title week several weeks later, I couldn’t help think of how entertaining that game was.  By the way, the Dawgs and Baylor would score touchdowns on LSU and Alabama.

Looking At It Now:  You always want to win.  Let me start off by saying that.  A bowl win is nice because trophies are cool and you don’t want to have 67 points scored on you on national TV.  This game may be responsible for what all happened next and what happened next may be what takes the Dawgs back to the top of the Pac-12.

December 31st, 2011 – What Happened:  Sark fired Nick Holt, Mike Cox and Jeff Mills from his staff.  The Alamo Bowl seemed to be the final straw with the defense and Sark had enough.  It wasn’t much of a surprise and speculation quickly turned to candidates.

Looking At It Now:  It had to happen and it did.

January 2nd, 2012 – What Happened:  The Huskies hired away Justin Wilcox from the Tennessee Volunteers, he was their defensive coordinator.  He brought Peter Sirmon along with him and he will coach the linebackers.  This seemed to be Sark’s first choice and he made the move quickly.  People around the country were impressed by the hire of the up and coming DC and his right-hand recruiting man.

Looking At It Now:  When Sark gave Husky fans a day to speculate about who the new guy might be, Justin Wilcox was my top choice.  Needless to say, I was pleased with the hire.  Wilcox has an impressive resume and seems to know what he’s doing.  His players seemed to love him and he was successful at both of his stops.  He may leave for a head coaching gig soon, but that means that he’d have been successful.  I’m all for this hire and it seems like everyone else is too.

January 12th, 2012 – What Happened:  The Huskies hired Keith Heyward to be their new defensive backs coach.  He is a younger guy who had the same position at Oregon State.  There’s a theme to these hires and it’s that they’re all younger guys.  He was said to be one of the best recruiters on the OSU staff.  I don’t have any examples of his coaching ability.

Looking At It Now:  I don’t have a lot of basis for this but I think this might be the most underrated hire the Huskies made.  It seems like this one was forgotten after all of the news.  Heyward is well liked by recruits and may steal a few from Oregon State this year.  Again, I don’t know much about his coaching ability but he was loved at OSU and was said to be a good hire by many experts.

January 16th, 2012 – What Happened:  The Huskies hired Tosh Lupoi away from the California Golden Bears.  He was their defensive line coach and a pretty successful one.  He is said to be the best recruiter on the west coast and everyone was impressed with the hire.  Many Cal recruits were shocked and said to be opening their recruitment back up.

Looking At It Now:  Well, these last couple only happened a few days ago so there’s not a ton to add except for my opinion.  This is a great hire.  Lupoi probably can’t live up to the hype he has come with because I’ve never seen an assistant coach have so much hype aside from Ed Orgeron, who is the other top recruiting assistant in the Pac-12.  It was the best defensive-line coaching hire Sark could have realistically made.  It was the final piece of, what I consider, the best staff he could have put together.

January 16th 2012 – What Happened:  Nick Montana, the heralded quarterback, decided to transfer from the UW.  He came to the Huskies with much fanfare and didn’t perform very well in his only start (not that it was all his fault).  From what I saw he has a future as a college quarterback.  In fact, from what I saw he could start for Alabama or LSU and win a national championship.

Looking At It Now:  It was inevitable, really.  The guy wants to play and wasn’t going to have much of a chance here.  Watching his demeanor in practice, I was never a huge fan of his but he’s got talent and is a smart kid.  I hope he does well in the future.

January 17th – What Happened:  The Huskies offensive coordinator, Doug Nussmeier, left UW and took the same role at Alabama.  It’s hard to blame him, he’ll get to call his own plays for the defending national champions and he’ll get a raise.  Unfortunately for the Dawgs, Nussmeier was a great coach and they had to fill another position in their staff.  This was the date it became official, it was known quite sometime in advance.

Looking At It Now:  Nussmeier is a good coach and deserves a ton of credit for the progress Jake Locker and Keith Price made.  With that being said, everyone knows this is Sark’s offense.  He is the creative young mind and he has his system.  I would be surprised if the Huskies felt a huge impact by the loss of Nussmeier.  Best of luck to him at Alabama.

January 18th – What Happened:  The Huskies poached another Cal coach in Eric Kiesau to fill the role of offensive coordinator.  He’s another guy who’s said to be a good recruiter.  He was the wide receiver coach at Cal and will coach the quarterbacks here.  Cedric Dozier, another top recruit in Washington who committed to Cal, is said to be reconsidering because of this news.

Looking At It Now:  Another good hire, although I don’t really think it’s an upgrade from Nussmeier.  Time will tell what Kiesau will do on the recruiting trail and I’ll be interested to see if there’s any drop off in the development of the quarterbacks.  I would guess no, because of the presence of Sark.

Wow, a lot has happened.  When I put it all out like this I’m somewhat amazed.  So, where is the program now compared to about a month ago?  It’s hard to tell without a game being played, of course.  Everyone thinks the staff is better than it was.  The recruiting sure seems like it’s going to gain steam at some point in the next couple of weeks, if not days.  With all that in mind, I think the program is trending up.  These hires have given the Huskies some steam but, as we learned with Nick Holt, some hires aren’t as glamorous as they first seem.  Sark did the best that he could, but you just never know.

Two weeks until signing day!  I love that day.  For now, be careful out there in the snow.  It’s a little crazy out there.  Go Dawgs!

Oh, and Nick Holt Jr. transferred to Montana!

Andrew

 

 

 

 

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by | January 4, 2012 · 10:04 pm

Montlake’s Going Crazy!

The last week has been a wild one for University of Washington football.  Between the Alamo Bowl, coaching changes, and recruiting news, there have been no shortage of emotion swings.  I’m going to save the recruiting talk for a future post, but I want to offer some thoughts on the rest of the news.

Plenty has already been said on the Alamo Bowl, so I’ll keep it short, but it’s hard to ask for much more out of a bowl appearance.  Besides a win, that is.  Everyone expected a shootout, but this one went to a completely different level.  I’ve heard people say that the lack of defense was embarassing, and I suppose that it probably is.  I certainly wish the Huskies would have pulled out the win.  Still, I can’t get overly upset about it.  That was one of the craziest things we’ll ever get to see.  I talk a lot on here about how I increasingly watch sports for the chance to be amazed.  Winning is great, but I want to see great performances and events that surprise me.  The Alamo Bowl had both. Continue reading →

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by | November 11, 2011 · 12:37 pm

UW vs. USC Predictions

Hello, Dawg fans.

In 2006, the UW Huskies started 4-1 with their only loss to Oklahoma.  It seemed a return to a bowl game was imminent.  Then they lost a few tough ones, Isaiah Stanback got hurt, and they didn’t win another game until the Apple Cup.  They finished 5-7, missing a bowl game.  Two years later they were 0-12.

This year, they Huskies started 5-1.  Three weeks later, they’re 6-3 and facing a tough USC squad in L.A.  It’s easy to think this season is sliding away, especially in light of the beatdowns from conference powers Oregon and Stanford.

Entering the season, however, most people were expecting a 7-5 or 8-4 season.  A few people were hoping for 9 or 10 wins, but even they admitted they were being very optimistic.  Even with the disappointing losses, the Dawgs are right on target.  They’re not anywhere near being elite yet, but they’re a solid, young team, just like we thought.  They should finish with 8 wins, with 7 or 9 being realistic possibilities.

Even if they don’t win another game, they’ve secured a bowl game.  I don’t want to be at the point where Husky fans are just hoping for a bowl game, but it’s a start, and it’s where the team is right now.  They’re making progress, and while we want it to happen quicker, it helps to take a step back and remember what could be happening instead.

Joe

Nothing about this game feels right.  USC is taking this game personally.  The Nick Holt comment, which was harmless and not a slam on USC if you read the context of the question, is plastered all over the USC football facilities.  Coach Sark complimenting Matt Barkley saying he’s better than Luck is being taken personally somehow.  Lane Kiffin today on Softy was clearly annoyed with the fact USC has lost two in a row to the Dawgs (Hey Lane, cheer up, you got a few extra timeouts from last year you might be able to use Saturday…).  The Trojans want revenge, and I think they’ll get it.  USC is playing at a very high level right now offensively, and that concerns me for obvious reasons. Robert Woods and his WR running mates will simply torch the UW secondary, and if the UW pass rush continues to be M.I.A., Barkley will have all day to throw.  This could get ugly quick.  I do think the Huskies will bounce back on the offensive side, but it’ll be too little because of the inevitable drops by the receivers will kill some drives. I expect Polk to have a tremendous game back on his home turf of So Cal.  In the end though, the Trojans roll.

USC 49 – UW 31

Matthew

I think the Dawgs are capable of pulling this one out, but they are moving in the complete wrong direction.  If this were the fourth game of the year, I would have picked the Huskies.  Since then, the Huskies are floundering a bit while USC is playing great football.  If the Dawgs play anything like they did against Oregon, they don’t have much of a shot.  Still, it feels like this team could click at any minute, so maybe this will be the week.  I’ll believe it when I see it.

USC 45, UW 34

Andrew

The Huskies have a tough fight up against them on Saturday.  USC has been playing well after starting their season a little lackadaisical and the Huskies will have to play a really good game if they want to avoid losing their 3rd out of their last 4.  Sark and company have had the Trojans number the last 2 years though and I think that means something.  This game means a little more to the coaching staff and they will be prepared (not that they aren’t usually prepared).  USC probably has a little better athletes but I don’t think the gap is that far away, as Bob Condotta pointed out with some stats the other day (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskyfootballblog/2016734593_comparing_uws_and_uscs_confere.html).  I think that points to a close game.  My hopes aren’t too high for this game and I don’t know why.  Maybe it’s because I thought the Huskies would finish 8-4 all along and this game would be the last one they lost.  I know I’ve been preaching that we should start expecting to win but I don’t feel that heading into Saturday.  I’m guessing that it’s about time USC wins a close one against us and so I’ll go with that.

UW 35, USC 38

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