7/26: Quarterbacks (Kirk DeGrasse)
7/27: Defensive Backs (Brad Johnson)
7/28: Running Backs (Ryan Priest)
7/29: Defensive Line (Jesse Kennemer)
7/30: Linebackers (Ryan Priest)
7/31: Receivers (Chris Landon)
8/1: Offensive Line (Kirk DeGrasse)
8/2: Special Teams (Brad Johnson)
8/3: Coaches (Chris Landon)
Today, Chris Petersen will be hosting his Fall Camp kickoff press conference. Just to be sure that everybody knows that things have changed and he will be doing things his own way, Coach Pete elected to do something that I don't know has ever been done before: he's making all of those grubby Seattle media types and journalists wake up early on a Sunday morning.
We've spent the better part of the last two weeks previewing the various position groups and the questions that exist around them as we go into camp. While you can't necessarily "preview" a coaching group, we thought it would be useful for our 'Pound faithful to get a run down on the new coaching staff.
Offensive Staff
Chris Strausser - Assistant Head Coach / OL Coach
Jonathan Smith - Offensive Coordinator / QB Coach
Keith Bhonapha - RB Coach / Recruiting Coordinator
Brent Pease - WR Coach
Jordan Paopao - TE Coach
Tim Socha - Strength and Conditioning
D'Andre Goodwin - Graduate Assistant
Josh Taufelele - Graduate Assistant
As you will see with the Defensive Staff, there is not a single leader of the offensive coaching unit. Chris Strausser has the title of Assistant Head Coach in addition to his role as Offensive Line coach. A stark contrast to previous OL Coach Dan Cozzetto, Strausser is a tactician and a strategist who exercises more subtle forms of persuasion and motivation with his charges. As assistant HC, he's more involved in the overall construct of program management. As OL coach, he values a more athletic, gym-rat style lineman. With his more than two-decades worth of experience as a coach - twelve around Chris Petersen - he's a great mentor the Huskies young Offensive Coordinator and QB coach, Jonathan Smith.
Many of you know Jonathan Smith as the former "short guy" QB at Oregon State. He has been with Coach Pete for a few years at Boise and is getting his first FBS OC job (though he has held the title at lower levels previous). Smith is expected to run a similar style offense to what we saw Boise run against UW last year. However, it is difficult to project what his playcalling habits will be with very little tape to go on. Concerns about Smith's inexperience are mitigated not only by Strausser but also by the presence of new WR Coach Brent Pease who, most recently, was the offensive coordinator at Florida in the SEC. Pease has coached for 23 years following a short career as a backup QB in the NFL which included a stint backing up Warren Moon. Pease has tons of experience as an offensive coordinator.
The other big names to note here are Recruiting Coordinator and RB Coach Ken Bhonapha and Strength and Conditioning Coach Tim Socha. Bhonapha was the first name that we heard about once Petersen was hired by UW. He's a young guy who has already established a stellar track record in coaching up young running backs. It remains to be seen how well he does replacing Tosh Lupoi as our recruiting ace. I put Socha on the offensive side of this analysis given his importance to Offensive Linemen in particular. I love the addition of Socha to the staff. He's a "big bear" type of personality from the University of Minnesota who happens to hold a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology from Auburn. He's got a very contemporary view of fitness and nutrition, but balances it out against good old-fashioned midwestern work ethic. Other assistants include Husky holdover and enthusiastic young TE Coach, Jordan Paopao, former Husky and NFL WR D'Andrew Goodwin (Grad Asst) and former New Mexico Offensive Lineman Josh Taufelele (Grad Asst)
The entire offensive staff has a nice blend of "been there, done that" experience and youthful energy. There is also a strong track record for every one of the coaches with Chris Petersen which should ensure that there are few, if any, blips in communication when it comes to the Head Coach getting his input into offensive preparation and game planning.
Defensive Staff
Bob Gregory - Assistant Head Coach / Linebackers Coach
Pete Kwiatkowski - Defensive Coordinator
Jeff Choate - DL Coach / Special Teams Coordinator
Jimmy Lake - DB Coach
Ben Thienes - Graduate Assistant
Gerald Alexander - Graduate Assistant
Bob Gregory reprises his role as Linebackers Coach under Chris Petersen, with whom he has worked off and on for the past 15+ years. He will also serve as an Assistant Head Coach with Pete Kwiatkowski serving as the Defensive Coordinator. The other "Coach Pete" is also a highly experienced coordinator whose specialty is defensive line play. Reading his track record with his defenses and their statistical rankings over the years at Boise State may help Husky fans finally put to bed the nightmares of Kent Baer, Ed Donatell and Nick Holt. The calling card of his style is very similar to that of Justin Wilcox (not surprising since they grew up on the same staff) and Husky fans can expect to see multiple looks and heavy utilization of hybrid-style players rotating to different spots on the field. His D is sure to feature guys like Hau'oli Kikaha, Cory Littleton, Marcus Peters and Shaq Thompson in a variety of roles.
The actual D-Line will be coached by Jeff Choate, who will also serve the role as Special Teams coordinator. Choate spent last season at Florida coaching Linebackers and Special Teams. This will be his first time coaching the D-Line, but it is somewhat irrelevant given Kwiatkowski's presence. Choate's real impact should be felt in Special Teams, where Huskies have, for the better part of the last decade, consistently underperformed expectations of Husky fans.
The most intriguing piece of the new Defensive staff may well be Defensive Backs Coach Jimmy Lake. Lake coached in the NFL in both Tampa Bay (with Tony Dungy) and in Detroit before joining Chris Petersen in Boise. While not necessarily "young", he is one of the most charismatic personalities on the staff and definitely brings a swagger to the defensive backfield that should jibe well with the youth that he is inheriting.
The rest of the staff is comprised graduate assistant Ben Theines and Gerald Alexander.
Chris Petersen, Head Coach
When you look at the way that Petersen has constructed his staff, there are some definite contrasts in organizational structure to what we saw in the previous two regimes at UW. The first thing that jumps out at you is the vast experience of the staff on an absolute basis. From what I can tell, Jordan Paopao is the only member with less than 10 years experience coaching in the college or pro ranks. The second thing that pops is the amount of experience that each coach has with Petersen. In fact, several coaches - including Choate, Kwiatkowski, Pease and Strausser - have had multiple tenures working with Petersen. This kind of continuity ensures as much as anything can that the coaching staff is on the same page.
The other interesting aspect of the organization of the coaching staff is the matrix structure of each side of the ball. Typically, the offensive and defensive coordinators are the "bosses" of those sides of the ball. However, on Petersen's staff, the coordinators serve the specific role of coordinating the game plans. Their authority, however, is checked by the presence of position coaches working with them that have the title of "Assistant Head Coach". As I'm not in the room, it isn't possible for me to describe how those dynamics all work. However, the implication is that Petersen is the boss and that he expects the staffs on each side of the ball to work in harmony on their delegated responsibilities for the good of the program overall.
As to what we can expect to see from Petersen on the field, there is little that I can add that hasn't already been covered extensively in this forum. Petersen approaches program management with a holistic approach that emphasizes the development of people over the development of players. He believes that mature, trustworthy men are just as valuable (if not moreso) than young, talented kids when it comes time to strap them on. He believes that attention to detail is the way to develop the discipline that helps boys become men. Finally, he believes in the concept of staying ahead of the curve and dictating change as opposed to letting change dictate to you. You can expect Petersen's team to always be looking for ways to challenge convention in the world of college football.
Analysis
When you look at the way that Petersen has constructed his staff, there are some definite contrasts in organizational structure to what we saw in the previous two regimes at UW. The first thing that jumps out at you is the vast experience of the staff on an absolute basis. From what I can tell, Jordan Paopao is the only member with less than 10 years experience coaching in the college or pro ranks. The second thing that pops is the amount of experience that each coach has with Petersen. In fact, several coaches - including Choate, Kwiatkowski, Pease and Strausser - have had multiple tenures working with Petersen. This kind of continuity ensures as much as anything can that the coaching staff is on the same page.
The other interesting aspect of the organization of the coaching staff is the matrix structure of each side of the ball. Typically, the offensive and defensive coordinators are the "bosses" of those sides of the ball. However, on Petersen's staff, the coordinators serve the specific role of coordinating the game plans. Their authority, however, is checked by the presence of position coaches working with them that have the title of "Assistant Head Coach". As I'm not in the room, it isn't possible for me to describe how those dynamics all work. However, the implication is that Petersen is the boss and that he expects the staffs on each side of the ball to work in harmony on their delegated responsibilities for the good of the program overall.
As to what we can expect to see from Petersen on the field, there is little that I can add that hasn't already been covered extensively in this forum. Petersen approaches program management with a holistic approach that emphasizes the development of people over the development of players. He believes that mature, trustworthy men are just as valuable (if not moreso) than young, talented kids when it comes time to strap them on. He believes that attention to detail is the way to develop the discipline that helps boys become men. Finally, he believes in the concept of staying ahead of the curve and dictating change as opposed to letting change dictate to you. You can expect Petersen's team to always be looking for ways to challenge convention in the world of college football.
- questions
Closing Thoughts
(((closing)))