Puppy Chow
by John Berkowitz on Jan 27, 2009 9:13 AM PST
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PrintHusky WR Coach Aaron Roderick became former Husky WR Coach Aaron Roderick for the second time in a span of two weeks when his wife put her foot down concerning moving to Seattle. Roderick's wife is an assistant soccer coach at Utah and both are natives of the area. It is really tough to get people out of Utah when they have been there all their lives.
So the Huskies continue to search for a new WR coach and the fans favorites are Robin Plufgrad who was just let go by Oregon and James Lofton who has been coaching in the NFL for a number of years.
I have noticed a few people rooting for Lofton but I have to tell you that playing the position and coaching the position are two different things. While Lofton has a big time name he would have to adapt to college all over again and the rigors of recruiting. None of that is a given and I doubt he is on Sarkisian's short list. Don't expect Washington to aprroach the opening with a lot of urgency until recruiting is finished unless Sark had an obvious numer two.
Recruiting
This is the last big week of the recruiting season and Washington only has 14-15 spots full. Sarkisian said he would like to bring in a full class of 25 but at this point I am thinking 18-20 tops which would be fine with me.
JC DT Myles Wade from Portland say he is done and will go to Texas Tech. I think Sarkisian will work him hard this week to get a visit out of him.
JC DT Branden Warner seems to be headed to UCLA according to Brian Dohn of Inside UCLA. This still could end up going Washington's way because of admissions policies.
QB/S Josh Motem will end up choosing between Colorado and Washington. He was listed as a soft recruit to UW but since his Colorado visit it has become virtually a tie between the two schools for his services.
WR James Johnson says that he hasn't made a decision yet and it will be a big surprise when he does. One of the sites reported him as a commit two weekends ago but Dawgman has talked to him twice and he says he is not committed to anyone at this point. Most think UW will be his final choice.
No official word from Hawaii on OT Stan Hasiak and LD Simione Vehekite yet. It seems both are keeping a low profile and even surprised their HS coach when they tripped Washington together.
We did hear that Sarkisian, Holt, and Nansen are going to be in Hawaii this week undoubtedly making final visits with Hasiak, Vehekite, and maybe even a couple of other guys we haven't heard about.
Washington only has four known official visitors coming in this weekend. Word is that number could swell to as many as 12-13 as the weekend gets closer. This isn't an easy year for the recruiting services because they really don't have any idea of who the Washington coaching staff is in on.
Plan B Guys
This the annual weekend where football programs from all over the country who have not finished recruiting bring in their Plan B type guys. Washington has been in Plan B mode for the entire month because of the coaching change. We still have some semi big names on the board but if the staff closes one or two that is likely the best case scenario.
Here are a few examples of Plan B guys who have popped into the picture over the last week for Washington during the past couple of years.
WR D'Andre Goodwin is your superstar in this group. UW was in on quite a few big time receivers in 2006 who went elsewhere and the kid from Antelope Valley popped out of nowhere.
- OT Skyler Fancher
- OT Mark Armelin
- CB Marquise Persley
- WR D'Andre Goodwin
- DT Derek Kosub
- C Matt Sedillo
- OG Morgan Rosborough
- TE Tim Williams
- S Mesphin Forrester
- DT Wilson Afoa
Afoa and Forrester went on to start a lot of football games. Sedillo may start or play quite a bit next season. Armelin and Fancher are solid currently as backups at OT. Persley is a bit buried in the dfensive backfield at this point.
Tim Williams and Derek Kosub quit the squad. Morgan Rosborough has had weight problems and hasn't played much.
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Hope
I hope they get the guys they want and do not just fill the list to fill the list. Next year will be the true test of Sarks and Co’s recruiting abilities. All things considered he did a pretty good job at least making people think twice about UW. Once they get a couple of actual wins it will only help him sell this wonderful university.
Go Sark and Co.!
Filling
That is why I would be surprised to see them take more than 18-20.
They have 18 spots open this year so using the coming attrition for the 2010 class makes more sense than using it now.
Next year they could conceivably fill most of their openings with Blue Chips starting with Jake Heaps and Zach Fogerson. We have a great in state class coming up and I am confident our staff can get most of them.
by John Berkowitz on Jan 27, 2009 10:35 AM PST reply actions
OG
Isnt there a big time OG from Garfield that is coming out next year?
It would be great to start the year with two of the top prospects in the country to get this thing rolling.
The reason I read
John,
Thanks again for the updates. These types of reports are the reason I read this blog. You have great knowledge, obvious good sources, and a true sense of Dawg history and tradition. A pleasure.
Fancher
I’m not sure Skylar Fancher really qualifies as a “plan B” guy – he committed to the UW in early December, and then late in the game USC came hot and heavy after him.
Barrett
John – What’s your take on LB Jordan Barrett out of Cali? We offered him a while back but he still hasn’t heard from Sark according to one of the recruiting sites.
This guy had an offer from Notre Dame as well, but now that is gone. Is it a poor senior year performance that led to this 3 star recruit falling out of favor or do you think its something else?
Also, I see that dawgman.com no longer lists Tony Heard as having a scholarship offer from UW. Looks like we may have missed the boat by not offering Allen Mooney (similar size/speed to Heard).
Barrett-Mooney-Heard
I’m not sure why UW dropped Barrett. Usually grades and the lack of a test score are the reasons.
Heard was offered last summer by Willingham. His offer has been off the table since the October. Mooney was never recruited by Willingham or Sark.
Pflugrad
Robin Pflugrad will do just fine John! I still believe his hiring would strike a blow at Oregon recruiting because he knows their backyard really well.
Just wondering how Roderick would have beat Pflugrad out for the UW receivers job if Sark was really considering him but I guess Sark & Roderick have a personal relationship??
I just hate the fact that there’s not many “name” candidates left at this late date but I guess it can’t effect this year’s recruiting so Sark can take his time.
Timing Routes
John I get your point about the difference in playing and coaching, but that is still 15+ years of pro style experience. Now an NFL franchise is not going to just grab someone off the street to be a position coach even with the dysfunctional Oakland Raiders. Assistant coaches have to now their stuff in order to keep a job.
Their are pros and cons in regards to both Lofton and Pflugrad. I like Lofton because of his NFL connections and his longevity in either playing or coaching the pro style offense. Pflugrad would be a nice addition and a nice take from Oregon. Definitely knows Oregon and Washington State’s recruiting trails. But the thing that baffles me about Pflugrad is that he has been operating out of the spread offense. How many timing routes come out of the spread? Zero. How many timing routes is Sark going to put in? A LOT!
I like Loften more then Pflugrad because he is familiar with the pro style and pro style routes. And to me I could careless what Oregon does or doesn’t do. I don’t want to hire an ex-Oregon guy just because Oregon doesn’t want/need him. This is about the UofW and we should go after the best coach available.
James Lofton for receivers coach!
Grymes
Realdawg is reporting that Grymes has pulled his name from the UW commit list. Do you know what the story is? Of course I am learning that Realdawg is wrong on alot of their scoops.
Thanks
Sounds like Grymes was being asked to join the UW as a greyshirt so he decided to instead take a full offer from Idaho. Reading between the lines, my guess is Sarkisian and staff weren’t totally sold on Grymes and this was their way of encouraging him to look elsewhere.
The Huskies have gotten in on a lot of athletes since Sarkisian was hired, and maybe they feel they’ve got what they need in terms of potential DB’s and Grymes doesn’t measure up.
Too bad – he’d have been the first guy the Huskies signed from my H.S. since I’ve been following Husky football…
Not to worried
In the long run it’s probably best for him to go where he will have a chance to play. This opens up a spot for either this year or next which is huge. It would have been nice to create a pipeline to his high school but oh well. I wish Grymes the best of luck and we will see you on the field.
Skyler Fancher
I don’t think Fancher was a plan B type of recruit because USC was in on him hard before signing day.
by alldawgsgo2heaven on Jan 27, 2009 5:05 PM PST reply actions
ooops…. just saw that kirkd said the same as me
by alldawgsgo2heaven on Jan 27, 2009 5:06 PM PST up reply actions
Now we know why Ricky N left Colorado...
… it was because his school could not compete with the likes of WSU on academics (which is really saying something).
From high school RB Carl Winston.
“The college atmosphere is probably about the same between the two [WSU and CU] and I would give Washington State a slight edge academically. Saying all that, I think it may just come down to where I feel most comfortable and that’s what I’m still wrestling with. Hopefully by the end of the week, I’ll have my decision ready to make.”
And, here I thought it was all about the money that Babs was doling out.
"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.
Is it just me...
or is Dawgman saying that Patrick Hall is coming up to the UW this weekend?!?! If he is that is amazing. Not saying he will switch to the UW but you cant say that Sark and Co arent trying their hardest to get kids to at least look at us. Hey maybe one of these kids will like the immediate playing time and the fact that there isn’t a lot of depth infront of them…who knows. Sometimes all it takes is one big time guy to get the others to say “why is he going there??”. Thats why getting Heaps early would be a HUGE get for us for 2010.
Hall is visiting, yes. It’s a longshot to land him, but the fact we get his last visit is a bonus, as is getting Boyd’s last visit and the fact we may be willing to offer his buddy Purvis.
All in Preperations for Next Year
All of the recruiting effort this year will pay dividends next season. The best way to get kids recruited is by winning. Winning gets recruits in, winning brings in better salaries for coaches, winning builds and rennovates stadiums, winning generates donations and funding, ext. ext. ext.
I think Sark already has a solid picture as to who is going to sign a national letter of intent next week. I think he understands that all too very well, but recruiting doesn’t stop because you know who is coming in and who isn’t. I see Sark and Holt working diligently to see what sells and what doesn’t sell. These guys didn’t just fall of the turnip truck yesterday fellas. They are making a big push this year in recruiting so they will know going in next year what sells, more precisely what sells them to Washington.
Sark knows next year is going to be the big haul. Winning next year is the single biggest key in bringing in that big haul. Regardless of what an Oregon fan would say, it’s going to happen pretty dam fast. I know that it would seem like we are miles away from winning or even competing, but Sark sees something that we haven’t seen yet. Sark sees a lot of returning offensive players coming back. He also sees the gifted defensive coordinator he hired. I think Steve Sarkisian is a lot smarter then we know him to be, why else would he have taken this job if he didn’t think it could be successful?
Right now Sark and Holt are gauging interest in order to prepare for the big haul next year. And if they can poach a good kid away from somebody else the more power to them. The biggest thing about this year’s recruiting class is both Sark and Holt are recruiting kids that would fit like a glove into their systems. May not be a 4 or 5 star kid, but they have the work ethic to succeed and the desire to be great college football players.
All I saw was purple
Some problems that can be solved right away
1. Strength and Conditioning
2. Attitiude
3. Emotion
4. Effort
5. Teaching
If you can correct those five area’s during your first year in command you can win a few more ball games with the talent you have.
Next Season
I can honestly say that I see us winning no less than 4 games. Its all about getting a winning attitude as opposed the losing one the Sark mentioned when he was hired. If kids go into a game thinking they will lose, they have lost already. If we can get the 5 things mentioned above (and i think we will) we should be in a good position to get this thing rolling. Sometimes all it takes is a spark…maybe a nailbiter with LSU or USC to start the year, to gain some confidence…?? Who know.
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