One of the reasons I started this blog was to bring a little sanity back for the fans of Husky football who have had to endure six years of complete misery.
When I say sanity a good recent example is a number of recent posts over on Dawgman criticizing Steve Sarkisian for coaching in yesterday's Rose Bowl game for USC. What many of these well meaning posters forget is that we are in the middle of a dead period when recruits cannot be contacted that coincided with some of the worst weather the region has seen in over a decade.
I love the boards at Dawgman because they are truly the pulse of what is going on in the Husky community. I just find it amusing when that pulse starts beating erratically.
Let's make a couple of things clear. Only Rick Neuheisel and Jackie Sherrill recruit during the dead period. The dead period is just that. You aren't allowed to contact or visit recruits. They can however call you. If you have a phone no matter where you are you can take that call. No reason you can't take that call while preparing a team for the Rose Bowl.
You could visit local high school coaches in Washington State except that they are all home with their families because school isn't in session until next week.
I guess you could use that time to get to know the players on the current roster a little better but since UW is not in session and all the players are home with their families that isn't an achievable goal either.
As far as making inquiries into building your coaching staff you don't have to be sitting in Montlake waiting out a snowstorm to do that. Once again they have these things called cell phones and computers where you can contact anyone in the world at any time. They can also contact you if they want.
What Sarkisian did do was spend this time preparing the USC Trojans for the Rose Bowl. If you have ever been to a Rose Bowl practice you realize that the sidelines are full of Southern California HS players and coaches who come to observe. Every kid isn't going to USC and I think the networking opportunity is just way to good to pass up.
As far as the game itself there are millions of people watching across the country who keep hearing repeatedly with every close up shot of Sarkisian that he is headed to the University of Washington. Every single time the USC offense makes a big play they show a shot of Sarkisian. Do you think that maybe sends a positive message to potential recruits?
Hey...Everyone is entitled to their opinion even if it is a bad one. I just couldn't think of any negatives when it came to Sarkisian finishing out his contract at USC and not abandoning the kids he recruited for their final game together.
I think it was great for USC and even better in the long run for Washington.
What do you think?