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Jimmy Lake is changing Washington football’s mentality

ByRoman Tomashoff|
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 21: Quarterback Jacob Eason #10 of the Washington Huskies runs on to the field prior to the team's game against the Boise State Broncos in the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium on December 21, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 21: Quarterback Jacob Eason #10 of the Washington Huskies runs on to the field prior to the team's game against the Boise State Broncos in the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium on December 21, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

One of the most important things in a college coach’s job is recruiting, and that seems to be amplified in college football, and Washington football has a whole new approach under their head coach

Jimmy Lake said he wants Washington football to be aggressive in everything they do, and recruiting is one of the most important places to do that.

If you feel like you’ve been seeing more kids tweet out offers to Washington than normal recently, it’s not just because the recruiting dead period is over, it’s because Jimmy Lake seems committed to finding the best talent on the West Coast and getting all over it. We’ve seen some late 2020 offers to try and round out the class, a lot of 2021 offers, and even some to 2022 and 2023 kids go out in the last few days.

Now, recruiting doesn’t mean go out and throw out close to 350 offers like a certain school that wears green and yellow that plays in Eugene, but it does mean putting out more than 100 and being aggressive on some of the best players in the region. Chris Petersen showed a willingness to do that at times, but not nearly as often as he maybe should’ve (see Gee Scott Jr.).

Per 247 Sports’ most recent update, the Huskies have offered 59 prospects so far in the 2021 cycle (compared to 95 total offers in the 2019 class), and as the coaching staff continues their rounds up and down the West Coast, that number should only increase, as 14 of those offers are Texas kids, who Petersen always offered early to make sure he could stay in the hunt for them.

After hosting an immense junior day last week, which was attended by all of the state’s top recruits, and a few more from up and down the West Coast, Lake has proven that he’s serious about recruiting, and to be the best team in the country, you have to recruit like the best.

This also means getting on guys early, and staying on them for two, three, and even four years. Pictured above, there are guys from the classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023. Most of them have already been offered, and before you know it everyone in that photo should have an offer (especially Lincoln’s Jayden Wayne, a 6’5, 220 lb freshman edge rusher). With talent like these guys in-state, plus pipelines to out of state talent, if Lake and his staff can close on all this talent, the sky’s the limit for his teams.

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