2020 is perfect for Washington Huskies football coach Jimmy Lake to start his head coaching career
2020 is the perfect year for Jimmy Lake to start his first head coaching job with the University of Washington Huskies football program.
University of Washington Huskies football fans were left stunned by head coach Chris Peterson’s departure last December. Jimmy Lake, the team’s defensive coordinator, was immediately elevated to the top job.
Despite his strong local ties and positive relationships with UW players, there were concerns from the Huskies faithful about promoting Lake. He had no previous head coaching experience. A Power-5 school isn’t usually the place where someone learns to be a head coach.
Nevertheless, he’s the man now at U-Dub. But the road to Washington football’s first kickoff of 2020 was a wild ride.
The Pac-12 flip-flopped several times about playing football this fall, while the country is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic. First, they went to a conference-only 10 game schedule in late July. That was followed by a cancellation of all fall semester conference athletics in August.
Due to a combination of public and political pressure, the Pac-12 caved. On September 24, the conference CEO Group decided on playing a seven-game schedule beginning November 7.
A gimme
If there was ever a season to break in a first-time head coach, this is it. Getting away from everything a major college coach does before the whistle blows on Saturday this year is a chance to work on game management.
The truth is seven-games is a token season. It was hard enough for a Pac-12 team to compete for a college football playoff spot this year before the coronavirus hit. The competition is real, but the results are likely taken with a grain of salt. There are several reasons why.
First, seven games don’t accurately reflect “the grind” of a college football season. Next, many conference players, including Washington’s standout defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike opted to sit out this season. Finally, the on-again, off-again, on-again season has wreaked havoc on preparing teams to get on the field.
2020 is gimme. Unless the Washington Huskies football team is a seven-week embarrassment, there is no way Lake will lose his job. The burden of being perfect is off his shoulders. Lake can both experiment and make mistakes without constantly looking over his shoulder for an ax to fall. He’ll get a mulligan.
Lake should take full advantage of his grace period, he won’t have as much leeway from the fans in 2021.
How do you feel about the Washington Huskies new football coach Jimmy Lake and the upcoming 2020 season? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.