How will Chris Petersen’s decision to step down impact the Huskies’ recruiting class?
The question seemed to surface every offseason: Would Jimmy Lake return to Washington next year?
It was easy to understand the concern. Lake is widely considered one of the top assistant football coaches in the country and he was repeatedly courted by high-profile programs with promises of promotions and higher salaries. UW did everything it could to get him to stay, and it always worked.
In each of the last two years, Lake received raises and extensions. In 2016, he was promoted from defensive backs coach to co-defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach. Two years later, he was named defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach.
Next up for Lake? Head coach.
UW announced on Monday that Petersen will step down as head coach following the Huskies’ bowl game. In the same release, Lake was named his successor.
247Sports national recruiting editor Brandon Huffman talked to various UW commits after the announcement, and the overwhelming reaction was “complete shock.” The Huskies currently have 21 commitments for the Class of 2020, 10 defensive and 11 offensive. While the offensive recruits will rightfully have more apprehension, those on the defensive side know exactly what to expect.
“There’s been recruits in the past couple of years that said, ‘Well, you know I’m going to Washington because of Jimmy Lake,’” Huffman said. “I think there’s been the concern of him leaving these past couple offseasons. … This is something that’s been in the back of recruits’ minds is how much longer is Jimmy Lake going to be there when there’s potential other DC jobs he can take where he’s paid more, or potential head coaching jobs. I think this answers that question.
“I think this is only going to help them more with defensive recruits because there’s no longer the question of if he’s leaving. He’s already been a tremendous recruiter and a tremendous evaluator of talent with who he’s brought in in the secondary the past couple of years. I think it just helps because there’s no more questions of is he going to leave.”
Defensive strengths, offensive questions
From 2015 to 2018, UW led the Pac-12 in both total defense and scoring defense. Lake has coached eight defensive backs that are currently on NFL rosters. Even this season — in what amounts to a down year for one of Lake’s defenses — the Huskies still have the No. 24 scoring defense in the country.
But while Lake’s credentials will likely keep the defensive members of UW’s 16th-ranked recruiting class on board — James Smith, a three-star defensive back commit out of St. John Bosco (Calif.) told Rivals he’s now even more committed to the program — Huffman expects the offensive recruits to take more of a “wait-and-see” approach.
That doesn’t apply to five-star Kennedy Catholic quarterback Sam Huard, the lone commit in the Class of 2021. Huard’s father, Damon, and uncle, Brock, were both UW quarterbacks in the 1990s.
“I don’t think whoever coaches is going to make a difference at Washington for him,” Huffman said. “That kid’s such a Washington legacy but he was shocked, too. He said he was sitting in class and his phone was blowing up.”
But for most offensive commits, the waters are murkier. The Huskies have eight four-star recruits committed on that side of the ball, including quarterback Ethan Garbers, two wide receivers and three offensive linemen. Garbers told Rivals that he is still committed to UW, but it monitoring the situation closely. Four-star offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett told The Athletic that he was disappointed that Petersen stepped down but was still excited to sign with the Huskies.
Even before the announcement that Petersen was stepping down, the future of the Huskies’ offense was unclear. After a season where UW struggled offensively — it ranked 75th in total offense (395.4 ypg) and 49th in points per game (24.9) — it was uncertain whether offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan would be retained. Now, that question is more pressing than ever.
Signing Day around the corner
And all of this with the early signing period starting on Dec. 18 and National Signing Day pproaching on Feb. 5.
“Jimmy Lake, in his first kind of real chance to put a stamp on his own program, will have to make a decision for what he’s going to do with the offensive coordinator,” Huffman said. “So I think there was already a little measure of uncertainty with the majority of offensive recruits. They wanted to see what was going to happen — who stays, who goes.
“Now, you have a new head coach who’s a defensive guy and I imagine the offensive guys are going to still have a few more questions they’re going to want answered whereas the defensive guys are like: Sweet, he was big part of the reason we committed there in the first place and now we got a defensive-minded head coach.”
In Huffman’s opinion, Lake needs to decide on his staff “as quickly as he possibly can.”
“And more importantly,” Huffman said, “I think he needs to name who his offensive coordinator is going to be and his defensive coordinator, if it’s status quo or if he’s got his own guys.”
Even with the lingering questions, Huffman said UW’s best decision was announcing Lake as the next head coach in the same breath as the news Petersen was stepping down. The lack of a coaching search eliminates the biggest uncertainty.
“There’s not the unknown of who is going to be the head coach, whats his style going to be, what’s his program going to be,” Huffman said. “Immediately, there’s a known successor and I think guys are excited to know who that known quantity is now and know he’s as much a part of the fabric as what Pete’s done at Washington.”
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 3:36 PM with the headline "How will Chris Petersen’s decision to step down impact the Huskies’ recruiting class?."
