Coaching staff update

That can only be a positive assuming the young man is motivated and committed. Now it remains to be seen if Shaw will be back.

Adding him to a fully returning linebacker corps is going to be a huge boost. Didn’t he lead the Huskies in tackles last season?

I think they are about open to anything with Willingham gone.

What IS up with the beige? Is it a money issue? Is nike making us look like crap and the UW just takes it because nike pays us a lot of money? We need to dictate to them the color, style and materials of the uniforms. The DAWG wags the tail not the other way around!

I’ve emailed Woodward about this issue and apparently they don’t consider it important but you know these kids CARE about how they look when they’re out in the spotlight. It’s getting all of the detail right that makes a complete program. AND GET RID OF THE FRIKKEN nike weasel!

Front seven: Linebackers could be very solid if Tui opts to stay, EJ walks the line, and everybody stays healthy. Look at that roster and there’s a lot of depth at that position. On the line if the bevy of youngsters grow and improve, it might be harder to double team DTN. Did any of the numerous members of the ’08 class manage a redshirt?

The secondary is weak. At corner Quinton Richardson didn’t cut much mustard this year and Vonzell McDowell was even worse two years ago. Meshpin, you will be missed. At safety there’s a little more promise but if it ever gets so that Tripper Johnson sees the field w/ regularity, good night.

On offense there’s just tons of young talent. I’m very excited that Sark’s a QB coach as an accurate Locker could shred defenses w/ all the talent at receiver. The new coach’s promise of a pro-style offense has me a little concerned as that relies on a quality offensive line and while the Husky Uglies had their moments this year, I wouldn’t want to base my scheme around them w/ so many athletes at every other position on offense. I hope Curtis Shaw comes back.

I was really hoping Gervais would be kept. I know the running game was mostly awful this year, but I was refreshed after 2 years of Louis Rankin with the style of running the young backs were employing. There weren’t many breakaways like Rankin sometimes got, but the backs themselves rarely lost yardage.

Besides, the recruiting benefits of keeping Gervais seem palpable and I’m generally a fan of a HS legend making it relatively big. He should’ve at least been given an interview.

We need more of this from the offensive line. I think these guys are getting big at the expense of conditioning and their ability to move.

I think this is GREAT! Guys have a shot at the depth and are going to work harder and compete for playing time. Should make the team better.

Other than oregon, does anyone else run this offense in the Pac-10?

It should be interesting to see how this class shapes up. I don’t think there are that many urgent needs. Will Sark go after some JC guys or will he stick with HS kids? I don’t know what his philosophy is and how much of that was really Pete Carroll’s? I guess we’ll find out.

Do you really think if a top JC kid is available that can help immediately you don’t recruit him based on your preference for HS kids?

I also hope this staff understands the academic hurdles some of the JC kids have to go through to get into the U. I could not believe the guys who couldn’t gain admission at the U and then immediately get into Arizona or some other school. I know that was one thing Baird talked about. He said he’s like to get that changed to make it easier for the JC guys to gain admission to the UW.

But only at a couple of positions: DB (safety and corner probably) and DT. Filling out those positions w/ juco’s would actually be a reasonable way to take last year’s excellent recruiting class and w/ redshirts, extend it some and build depth. That’s the case on the D_Line anyway, in the secondary we just need somebody who can cover a damn receiver.

A quick scan at rivals came up w/ a couple of highly rated DB’s at JUCO’s on the west coast who could be pursued.

On the DL, Emeka Iweka needs to be on coach’s minds as he’s hopefully working towards getting academically eligible.

Also, why hasn’t UW offered Eric Smiley yet? USC and a couple of SEC school’s have already offered him but it seems all he really wants to do is come back home to Seattle and play w/ his cousin Deandre Coleman. You have to figure an offer there would bring Coleman back quick, especially now that things are settled on the head coaching front.

I don’t think Eweka will be eligible to come back till 2010. He got a late start at the JC.