Below is the second part of my off -season review – once Sark bolted for the coast, Chris Petersen came to town.
Upon the hiring of Coach Petersen, a friend of mine made this observation, and I think it is a perfect summation:
“Sark was a coach. A pretty good coach. But Petersen is a CEO. He can run an organization and make it successful.”
Does that description remind anybody else of a former UW Coach? It’s not fair to compare Chris Petersen to Don James when he hasn’t even coached a regular season game yet, but the way in which he conducts himself is extremely Dawgfatheresque.
His attention to EVERY SINGLE DETAIL, NO MATTER HOW SMALL. His coaches do the coaching during practice. Petersen will get in there every once in a while, but observes. He watches film and debriefs with his position coaches and coordinators after practice is done.
Then he tells them what he wants, and they go do it again the next day. His coaches know the drill, they know how Coach Pete runs his business, and they go execute. I ask again, does that sound like Coach James?
The fear that Chris Petersen couldn’t recruit in a Power Conference also seems unfounded. Buddha Baker committed to Oregon when Sark was coaching. Buddha ended up at UW once all was said and done. My favorite recruiting win with Pete so far? NATE DOGG’S SON. Naijel Hall is coming to UW. Never mind the fact that he’s a 4 star defensive back and fills a dire need for this team. Regulators! Mount up.
Lastly in this whirlwind off-season we have the Cyler Miles/D’morea Stringfellow debacle. Talk about getting tested early in a head coaching tenure – the projected starting QB and blue chip WR are arrested for beating up a woman (I’ll write more on this at a later date) after the Super Bowl. Oy.
Pete handled it the way he wanted to. He has long been known to have a quick trigger finger with disciplining players, so everybody was curious to see how this would be handled.
Much to the chagrin of the Seattle media, Pete revealed nothing. He let the legal process run its course and then he handled in house the way he saw fit. One player is still a part of the team, one is not.
The only thing that is clear from this is that Chris Petersen will run this program his way, and nobody, not players or media or fans are going to deter him from doing things the way he wants them done. For better or worse, he’s going to live and die with his methods.
Like I said, I am exhausted. All of this happened BEFORE Spring Ball started! Now here we are, mid way through July and less than three weeks away from Fall Camp and I cannot freaking wait.
The talent on this team is undeniable, and the expectations that have accompanied this new coaching staff are off the charts. Frankly, that’s how it should be on Montlake. Teams that are well coached and well run with a deep talent pool are what Husky fans expect every single year, and also what Husky fans have been deprived of for so very long. Let’s go to work, Dawg fans. Bow Down.