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Here is the latest news on Tosh Lupoi:
He’s still at UW preparing his players to compete with BYU in the Fight Hunger Bowl.
You remember that, right. The bowl game? The post-season? That thing that Husky fans once took for granted and then lost before Steve Sarkisian and crew descended on Montlake and elevated the Dawgs to the tune of four straight bowl appearances. We have one coming. And it is only a week or so away.
Husky fans can be forgiven if they seem to be a little distracted. Over the last two weeks, the Huskies won an Apple Cup, lost a head coach, had several assistants poached, saw recruits flip, hired a shockingly competent new coach, saw recruits flip the other way, lost out on a local stud to a hated rival and observed a certain legend ascend to an interim leadership position that will almost assuredly mark his final days with the program.
PHEW.
That’s a lot for any fan to absorb. Imagine what it must be like for our players.
The players - in particular, the senior players - are the point of this article. Because these young men all signed up for and dedicated themselves not to something that was already established and steamrolling the college football landscape. Rather, they signed up for a vision of what could be. They signed up to lead a change in a moribund program that had a prideful pedigree but a pitiful present. They signed up based on nothing more than faith and a belief in themselves.
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And they delivered. The 2013 Huskies team is - based on any metric - the most successful team to grace Montlake since the Rose Bowl team of 2000. In reality, they are likely the best team to take the field on behalf of their University since the mid-90’s. The seniors in this class have emerged as true leaders of men and have restored not only the luster to a tarnished brand, but also hope to despondent Husky fans who have endured the failings of old men and women in the shepherding of our beloved program. Keith Price … Will Shamburger … Sean Parker … DiAndre Campbell … Kevin Smith … Andrew Hudson … the list goes on. Names of some of the seniors who all had options elsewhere, but came to Seattle to not be part of something that was, but to lead something that could be.
This isn’t about Steve Sarkisian. This isn’t about Scott Woodward. It’s not about Tosh Lupoi or Marques Tuiasosopo. It isn't about Budda Baker or John Lockett. The week ahead is about all of those Huskies who may be taking the field for the last time in Purple and Gold. This is about the successful journey that they have navigated and the opportunity that they have to make their mark both in Husky record books and in the fond memories of Husky fans all over the world.
There is not much that I can do to distract you from all of the other considerable noise surrounding the program right now. The volume is cranked up high and it is impossible to completely tune it out. But I can invite you to create some space in your attention span to consider the current incarnation of this football team. There are stories to be told, memories to be shared, thank-you’s to be given and one more game to be played. Don’t miss this opportunity. In one week, it will be all over. And it’ll be too late.
So join the conversation. Use the comments thread to reflect on this season and the run over the last few years that our senior and "draftable" players have led. Let’s put some attention to the game that we all love and the last hurrah for these fellow Huskies.
