The twists and turns of recruiting
by John Berkowitz on May 13, 2009 6:44 AM PDT
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PrintThe latest recruiting news holds O'Dea FB Zach Fogerson considering himself a soft verbal commit to Washington. Recent offers from Michigan and other top schools have influenced him to keep his options open.
In reality, what this--or for that matter, any kid wants--is what is older brother did not get: a little early attention in the recruiting process. Let's face it, it's fun to be wanted and courted. It is great to be told that you would look good in Maize and Blue. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience I would advise any PSA to take all their trips and consider all options carefully.
In reality, in May all commitments are soft; nothing is official until kids sign their LOI next February. A lot can happen between now and then on both sides of the coin. Take, for example, current WSU TB James Montgomery; he was a lock to go to Washington a few years ago to the extent that Coach Willingham elected not to recruit any other running backs.
Montgomery's heart was with Washington and Willingham. However, his mother was the one signing the LOI, and consequently he ended up unhappily at Cal. Montgomery transfered out of Cal as soon as he was legally able to do so. The point is, you can't count on anything until the ink is dry on the LOI.
The determining factor of the 2010 recruting class will be the on-field performance of the 2009 squad. Yet another bottom-of-the-league finish, regardless of the direction the team is headed, will be lethal to the program. The coaches know they need to pull a few rabbits out of the hat in next year's schedule to definitively demonstrate the bowl-less streak is about to end.
Good coaching staffs get their teams to win games they have no business winning. This current staff has the ability to start turning the moral victories of the recent past into wins that count in the standings. THOSE wins stand to be the determining factor of exactly how good the upcoming recruiting class ends up.
It is a long road to 2010 signing day. Expect more than a few twists and turns along the way. In the end, I expect Zach to join his older brother at Washington.
Johnny Durocher update
When discussing the twists and turns of recruiting, another local product comes to mind in the name of Johnny Durocher. Johnny chose Oregon coming out of Bethel High School, but eventually transferred to Washington.
Durocher spent much of his time at Washington injured, but did see some occasional playing time. When a benign brain tumor ended his collegiate football career, Durocher decided to concentrate on baseball. The Seattle Mariners then gave him an opportunity in their minor league system; he was progressing well until injuries--once again--ended that endeavor.
Under the guidance of IMG Academies, Durocher is now attempting a return to football. I received some information on his comeback quest last week for us to post here, as apparently did Bob Condotta.
Here is a link from IMG on his progress. We all wish him the best of luck with his comeback, and hopefully a pro team will give him a shot to show what he can do.
“Someone’s got to do it,” he said. “Someone’s got to make the story. Before Kurt Warner, everyone said nobody can go from the Arena League to the Super Bowl. Before Tom Brady, everyone said nobody can go from getting beat out in college to winning three Super Bowls. Just give me a shot. I think I’m pretty damn good, and I want everyone else to know it.”
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Recruiting
How could you tell an 18 year old not to take a free trip to some of the biggest schools in the US? Take your trips, have fun, and come back to UW!
Fogerson
Can’t blame him for exploring his options and being courted for a while. He’s one of the best prospects in Washington, but because he committed super-early, he hasn’t gotten as much attention as the likes of Heaps, Riva, Kearse, Potoae or Waters (and that’s a shame).
We need to let him know that UW is the place for him and not second-guess him taking a once in lifetime experience as a high-end high school recruit. I’m sure Sark has been texting and calling him the last 12 hours letting him know just that.
I think he more highly recruited than
Waters, Riva, Potoae, and Kearse…look at the schools who have offered him compared to the other guys. Not that he is better in the grand scheme of things but he has some serious offers from big schools even though he has been a long time UW commit.
Injuries
He sat out most of his junior year with injuries but going into last year he was one of the top three recruits in the state. I wouldn’t weigh his potential impact by his rating. coaches know the kid is a players and that is why he is getting attention.
Confident that UDub turns the corner
Have you seen the teams development? Our kids don’t look like the scrawny bunch that was put on the field last season. I see muscle development through out the entire team. Our big cheeseburger offensive linemen have dropped down to better O Line weight. Chris Polk looks good! The linebackers look good, receivers, D Linemen look to be ready to get nasty.
The season will come down to how effective the offensive line is and finding a few bodies that can cover in the secondary. Everywhere else looks Pac 10 ready. I am confident with this group of coaches that we will achieve 6 wins this year- if not more. We had a lot of kids return, starters and a lot of kids that saw significant playing time. I’m not saying we will be seasoned, but I do see us playing with more cohesiveness then what we’ve seen in the last 5 to 6 years. Crazi says bowl bound in 09!
Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
Crazi
You’ve made some off the wall predictions that have come true, but 6 wins might be the biggest reach yet.
I’d expect 2 wins, happy with 3, and ecstatic with 4 or 5. I wouldn’t know how to react if we got 6 wins…probably renew my season tickets for the next 10 years in advance.
With Locker healthy last year, this team would’ve won at least 2 games. We lost almost nothing in terms of productive Seniors, welcome some decent JC kids, get back arguably our best defensive player in E.J. and face a Pac-10 that, for the most part, should be down.
I would think 4 wins is a reasonable expectation, not cause for ecstasy. 6 wins may be optimistic, but not overly so. If Sark is as good a coach as we hope, 4 wins should be a modest goal for him.
4 is the over-under line in my mind.
Idaho, Stanford, Arizona, ASU, UCLA, and WSU are all winnable games in my mind.
Idaho – hopefully enough said
Stanford – The talent is getting better but we took them to the wire without Jake so we will see
Arizona – Good team but still a middle of the road Pac -10 team…a team we need to start beating
ASU – Collosal let down last year and could continue this year
UCLA – All the talent in the world at their finger tips but hasnt lived up to it yet
WSU – hopefully enough said
Please do not put words in my mouth and say i think we win all of these games, but i do think we have a chance.
Yeah, I think that’s about right.
Arizona – hard to believe they won’t take a step back with Tuitama no longer there and a couple of untested Sophomores competing for the QB job
ASU – like Arizona, they have to replace a long-time starter at QB; Sullivan has some experience, unlike the Arizona situation, but he sucked last year when he played and ASU’s O-line is still a major question mark
UCLA – should be very good on defense, but the questions on offense are huge considering their QB situation (RS-Fr Kevin Prince) and their continuing problems with their O-line
Stanford – 16 returning starters and they seem to think RS-Fr Andrew Luck will improve the QB situation over incumbent starter Pritchard, but I wonder about their depth and whether the O-line will be as good as it was last year given they lost a couple key guys
WSU – hard to believe they won’t be awful again; if things don’t improve quickly, Wulff may be looking for a new job soon…
Idaho – there’s no good reason the Huskies shouldn’t win this game handily
And I’ll add this: while Oregon State has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to rebuilding vs. reloading, I’m still skeptical they can adequately replace their lost defensive talent, especially their corners, and you wonder if their QB situation might become a distraction to the rest of the team.
I think it’s very unlikely the Huskies will beat USC, Cal and Oregon, though of course upsets can happen, but the rest of the Pac-10 is vulnerable enough that we should have a shot in those games. LSU will be a major longshot, but I’m not yet convinced by Notre Dame (although that team should finally be maturing enough to start living up to their hype).
I forgot about Notre Dame...
They are beatable too.
I think the better time to beat them was last year; all that talent is entering their 3rd and 4th years in the program, and they may be experienced enough now to turn the corner and save fat Charlie’s job. But that’s no guarantee – I’m still not convinced Weis is the genius coach many proclaimed him after his first 2 years.
I hope they tank
and Urban Meyer takes the job. Notre Dame isn’t the dream destination it was even 15 years ago. Also, while they can pull from all over based on name value, I don’t think anybody will be able to drag kids in as well as an SEC powerhouse.
It would make me feel good (in a really slimy Lane Kiffen way) if Meyer were to go fail at Notre Dame.
Every Game on the Sked is winnable (minus USC)
Don’t be too sure we don’t learn how to win early on in the season and catch a few Pac 10 juggernauts at the right time. Without looking at the schedule, I believe the Oregon game is late in the season and at Husky Stadium. Who’s to say that we put some wins together and catch Oregon at the right time in the season?
Just like winning, losing is contagious and as a fan base, which use to be a juggernaut in itself, from what I am hearing sounds a lot like we are already whipped and throwing in the towel. All you fellas … I’m not the sort that likes pats on the back. But when we roll up to 6+ wins this season, I don’t want to hear all of you clamboring for “I told you so”.
A “realist” who thinks negative and dwells in self-pity will continue to think negative and dwell in self-pity. The only way to climb out of the celler is dig yourself out. You have to be an optimist- what else is there?
6+ wins this year. I said it four months ago, all we need is that one win and everything can turnaround. The hardest part of rebuilding is learning how to win, once you learn how to win, the team then has a blueprint for success. The turn around will come swift and fast!
Go Huskies! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
There is a difference between thinking negative and being a realist
A negative person would say if Locker goes down we are in store for another LONG season.
A realist looks at both sides of the coin, we should improve greatly over last year and I really hope we win 6-8 games. But REALISTICLY speaking 4-5 wins is a practical outlook on the season, not blind love and complete adoration for a BRAND NEW COACHING STAFF.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
You know something Lear, this fan base use to be special- I mean really special. It was the most beautiful thing on the planet. HuskyNation and it bore a proud name. Back then anything under 8 wins was not acceptable. Nowadays we’ve lowered our standards to “…4-5 wins is a practical outlook on the season”. My, oh my, where did we go wrong?
If the majority of the fanbase thinks obtaining 4 or 5 wins is acceptable then no wonder we stink! 0-12 or not my standards don’t change- 8 wins is the benchmark regardless who is coaching the team. If the majority of the fanbase believes 4 or 5 wins are “good enough” then isn’t it possible that the team will perform at that level? I mean word does get around and when word spreads, then surely culture changes to the expectation.
One thing that I heard regarding the day Tyrone Willingham was hired as head football coach of the Washington Huskies, the media involved in the reporting mentioned that Willingham would have a long leash to get this turned around. The job didn’t require a 4 or 5 year turnaround to see dramatic improvements. What it needed was a punch in the arm to get things heated up! The University of Washington is a great school and has a long withstanding traditionally rich football program- it needed a young energetic coach that understands the buzz saw (regarding recruiting), it needed a coach that understands how offenses and defenses evolve, and who had the teaching ability to execute what was being installed.
We got Ty w/ a long leash, who thought he had plenty of time to turn things around. Where did it get him? The guy is out of coaching and sitting on a nice little settlement package somewhere in the Bay Area.
I’m old school, even though I am the brand new 2008 Hummer :) My standards don’t change. 8 wins is the benchmark. If we relax as a fanbase, we send a message that time is on the coaching staff’s side. Ty believed it and this is what we have.
All I saw was purple
Which is it?
Are you “old school” or a brand new Hummer? You can’t be both! You are either a winner or a loser, you can’t be both, ask Todd Turner and Willingham how well it works to be both.
I hate to break it to you, but the reality is we were 0-12 last year, not 12-0. I firmly believe that if a UW coach goes 6-6 he should be fired. BUT, the reality is that it is going to take time to turn the program around. I WANT the UW to win 12 games, but not chaning your “standards” after last season is ignorant and foolish.
THIS FAN BASE IS SPECIAL. How many other 0-12 teams get over 10,000 people to attend the spring game? Husky Stadium is STILL loud even with 15,000 empty seats. All this fan base needs is some WINS.
You call yourself a true Husky fan? Then how about you lay off the “old fans” and the rest of the fanbase that “use to be special”. Just because the rest of the fan base uses common sense instead of ignorant overly high expectations, it doesn’t give you a right to bash them. You give this fan base half of a reason to get excited and Husky Stadium will be rocking like the “old” days.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
The Clock is Ticking
I’m old school, but I think like a modern machine. Much like how our new coaching staff is fusing tradition with some of the latest trends.
I still stand firm, 0-12 or not, 8 wins has to be the benchmark. If we lower our expectations then surely the culture will change and it has. Every year since the Rose Bowl season our expectations have declined and every year since the program has fallen harder and harder. My arguement was not meant to “bash” the fanbase. I was attempting to paint a precise and accuarate picture of the culture we’ve created. Now I know the fanbase does not recruit or coach the team. But what we do do is create a cultural atmosphere surrounding the program and whether you believe it or not the team, coaches, and program in general feed off that culture and atmosphere.
The SEC didn’t get to where it is today by lowering standards. The South created the meat grinder they call the SEC by setting standards and then raising the bar. We’ve been doing the complete oposite of what they’ve been doing. We continue to lower our standards because of down years. I call B.S. on that! An 0-12 year is the best time to push the standards through the roof, because let’s face it the only way out is UP.
I am not going out on a limb, I don’t have insider’s knowlege pertaining to the program, and I don’t have little devils or angels sitting on my shoulder. Yet I believe firmly that coach Sark is going to pull a rabbit out of his hat and win 6+ ballgames this season. Why?
A young, exciting head coach that understands the intracacies of a sophisticated modern-day football offensive playbook that is endless. We have the most enthusiastic and in-your-face defensive coordinator in the land. We have a young, never tiring coaching staff beating down doors in terms of recruitment. Not to mention we have a solid foundation of talent coming back that started or saw significant playing time for an 0-12 team.
The 0-12 thing scares you doesn’t it? Well it should. But you see the coaching staff is going to use 0-12 as a tool to get these kids to play for them. It’s all about M-O-T-I-V-A-T-I-O-N and brother, Sark and Holt are NOT going to allow this team to forget how going 0-12 felt. You will see gameday eyes vs. LSU. You will see the same gameday eyes vs. Idaho. And you will see the same gameday eyes vs. USC. Throughout the entire season the eyes will tell you everything you need to know about this team.
6+ wins baby and the clock is ticking.
Go Dawgs! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
Reality
Having overly high expectations is just as dangerous as having overly low expectations. Start thinking with your head instead of your heart, would you expect “your” football team to win 8 games right after a 0 win season? What happens when we are 1-2, and the team has to go 7-2 to meet your expectations? Sounds like a recipe for disaster!
0-3 wins is a disappointment
3-5 wins should be expected
6-9 wins would be AWESOME, but expecting such is just setting yourself up for failure
9+ wins would be a miracle, again, expecting that much is setting yourself up for failure.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Well...
I kind of feel you can be both. I’d love a Hummer(I made sure to capitalize that, but I also love the way we played back in the day. Since John started this blog, it almost always seemed that we found a way(must have been some sort of astigmatism) to come up with more wins than losses.
I’m generally a pretty positive person regarding the program, but I remember losses that just left me flabbergasted. They tempered my current expectations. Do I believe we can get back to what we once were, most definitely. Will it happen next year? Even I can’t drink enough beer to confidently predict that.
Part of the problem for me is that I/we’ve been through a lot of these types of years…the damn wait and sees. Glasses tinged with optimism and we’ve been let down.
Things are changing for the positive, and I know I’ve both said and heard that before, but this is more than that. I have no clue what will happen this season, but I’m looking forward to it more than I have in quite awhile. I’m looking forward without trepidation mainly because I feel that whatever talent we have, these guys are going to get as much out of them as they can.
I really need to buy another turntable so I can listen to “Ramble On”.
by hairofthedawg on May 18, 2009 4:07 AM PDT up reply actions
Well said
I think Sark and Co. will turn this around, and will get us back to a point when 6 wins gets a coach fired. But we need patience, expecting it immediately will not help anyone.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
It was the cry for patience that allowed Ty to return for his ruinous 4th season. Now, there’s a big difference between the 1st year at a school and the 4th year, but Ty’s career at the UW started the same way – people preaching patience on the heels of Gilby’s 1-10 season.
I’m not going to say “fire Sark!” if the UW wins 4 games next year. But a bowl game is necessary no later than his 3rd year, and if he’s any good we should be bowling in 2010.
Agreed
I was heavily on the fire Ty ban wagon after year three, it was painfully obvious that he wasn’t going to meet UW standards.
Year 1: We need patience, anything over 4 – 5 wins is just icing on the cake.
Year 2: Significant improvement over year 1, with the current amount of young talent, I’d expect 6+ wins and a bowl game.
Year 3: Continual improvement, bowl game or get fired.
Year 4: No more losing seasons, EVER.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
3rd Year Starting QB!
I would agree with Lear’s take on the matter, but I can’t hide my loyalty- I see a bright future with the current head coach, I think our defensive coordinator and the rest of the assistants are first rate.
You guys have become paranoid simply because we haven’t had great coaching in this program for a long time. We’ve got good talent through out the program and we’ve got a savvy 3rd year starting QB that is Pac 10 battled. Our main areas of need are at O Line and in the secondary. If we shore up these two units a savvy and healthy Jake Locker could own the Pac 10.
All I’m saying is that I believe we have enough talent on the roster right now to win 6+ games as early as this season. And with the excitement surrounding this program with the new coaching staff, anything is possible.
If we fail to win 6 games this next season you can call me a moron, you can scrap any and all predictions by Crazi from here on out. But mark my words, a healthy Jake Locker and a bright and enthusiastic coaching staff is going to will this team to 6 wins this season.
Go Huskies! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
I hope you’re right, and I think it’s not so crazi to think they can win 6 games. I won’t be terribly upset if they only win 4, but much below that and I’ll start to really second-guess if Sark is the guy we think (hope?) he is. Certainly in year two he needs to be at least .500 and in a minor bowl game, if not a serious contender in the Pac-10 race.
It’s OK to demand excellence…
Look fellas, flat out the team quit on Ty last season. Once Locker went down the old coaching staff lost the team. Our early non league slate last season was a meat grinder and it got the season off to a slow start. Once the Pac 10 season got underway, the team was upbeat, but Locker went down and the team lost its focus and more or less quit.
We’re not that bad and we’ve got good players on the roster now. In Tedford’s first year at Cal the man essentually turned a down trodden Bears program into a Pac 10 juggernaut. I don’t see any reason why Sark and Holt can’t do it too. The toughest part of rebuilding is LEARNING TO WIN. As coach Sark said, our kids are starving for success. These malnutritioned football losers are going to get a taste of winning … the team will come together … and the winning atmosphere will be reborn. Winning is contagious and I see Sark making a drastic leap in the win/loss colum in his first year.
Call me Crazi, but I see greatness in coach Sark, Holt, and the rest of the coaching staff.
All I saw was purple
Fog will be a Dawg
Anybody that commits this early in the recruiting process is in love with the program, coaches, and school.
Like I’ve said in the past, verbals don’t mean nothin’ unless it is in pencil. And I agree, Fogerson should take full advantage of the recruiting process. Yet one thing that I always come back to is if an out of state kid and an in state kid are dualing it out for the same starting position, who have the same physical abilities on the football field- the in state kid will more or less get the starting job, just because he is the local kid. So that is something that both Fogerson and Heaps are going to have to figure out.
I see 6+ wins as early as next season. Sark is no dummy, he saw this job as a sleeping giant and had to know that turning it around quickly could be done quickly. Why else would he take the job? Washington is a gold mine job for a young, hard working coach. Bowl bound in 09- BaBY! WOOF!!!
All I saw was purple
I'm sure if you looked deeper...
…you’d find out that the coaches encouraged him to look around. They’re smart enough to realize this is a huge decision for every kid out there to make and the last thing you want is to pressure a kid into making a decision without looking at all of his options. If the kid comes back after making an “informed” decision, it’ll be better for him and better for the Huskies.
Washington Husky Football-1991 National Champions
Interesting
“Anybody that commits this early in the recruiting process is in love with the program, coaches, and school.”
I find that a very interesting thing to say, seen as how Willingham was coach when he initially committed.
"Bow Down to Washington"
"Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Fogerson
Apparently Scouts may have been a little quick on the draw…Realdawg (everyone’s least favorite recruiting website because of their too early annoucements of commit news) said that Fogerson is still 100% a Dawg and that his waivering is a rumor. Rivals still has him on the commit list…take it or leave it.
Realdawg, if you rememeber last year, was the first to say the James Johnson would be a Dawg and was right. But they have also made other claims that were wrong. They are great because they take chances the other sites cant…its a 50/50 guess at this point.
Brand X
If Dawgman says the sky is blue Realdawg will say it is chartreuse.
the kid is officially a soft verbal because he has stated that he wants to take all his visits. That is the definition of a soft verbal.
Realdawg will say the sky is yellow...?
Every kid should take their visits because its a once in a lifetime opportunity. Enjoy being pursued and enjoy the free vacations…just make sure you come back home when your done.
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