Huskies' Petersen Kicks Himself Upstairs

The USA has more than enough wild-&-crazy conspiracy theories floating around out there, and there's no need for another.

So let's just call what's happening at Montlake a series of coincidences.

• In 2018, Pete Kwiatkowski -- Washington coach Chris Petersen's longtime and successful DC -- surprisingly volunteered to let highly-coveted secondary coach Jimmy Lake jump over him to become co-DC in name only and new DC in fact.
• Now, one season later, the highly successful Petersen's shockingly stepping aside for -- you guessed it -- Jimmy Lake.

 

Interestingly enough, before all this news hit, anyone who watched the Apple Cup broadcast last weekend couldn't help but notice Lake was getting most of the face time along Washington's sideline.

 

It wasn't entirely unexpected.

While Petersen had yet to inform Lake or virtually anyone else of his decision -- even though his close friend Mike Leach's clairvoyance surprised him -- Lake was a sidebar storyline due to his comments in last year's Apple Cup that ...

• He had Leach's offensive system figured out,
• He knew Leach wasn't gonna change, and
• He hoped Leach would stay at Wazzu forever because of it.

 

Unless Leach buys his own pirate ship and sails off to plunder other lands, it now seems like he and Lake are indeed gonna see a lot of each other in the coming seasons.

And the rookie head coach has gotta bitta work to do.

By Petersen's standards, the Huskies underperformed this season. Dude took over a storied program in disarray and brought them back to national prominence. Consensus was they had a shot at the CFP this year.

 

Putting it mildly, 7-5 was frustrating.

• Lake broke in nine new starters on defense, but
• Despite a senior-laden o-line, a slinger who's a possible NFL first-rounder this spring, and a RB who can approach light speed, the offense was beyond inconsistent.

As the offense was Petersen's specialty, this wound up wearing on him more than virtually anyone realized. Apparently, it led him to give increasing consideration to something Confucius observed 'way back in the day:

 

This happens to beat the hell outta another base reality in terms of motivation:

 

That'd explain why Petersen turned down the USC job in favor of Washington. Trojan fans didn't really get that then, and in conjunction with Dallas Cowboys fans, they don't get it now.

He probably woulda endured his perceived need to recharge if Lake wasn't there to take over. He doesn't sound at all interested in leaving the Seattle area, and he's banked enough with the Huskies to buy and consume anything he damn well desires.

 

A key part of that is the Built for Life program he installed for his players. Lake will continue it, which is surely a priority for Petersen.

Dude's never had a taste with the football factory model, so seeing him stick around Montlake for a while and have more time to grow that program seems not only logical, but so him.

 

Lake's challenge, now, is to use his currently boundless energy to do something about Washington's offense.

His D looks like it'll be dynamite for the next few seasons. Dude's well known among DB recruits that he won't even call them unless he thinks they're NFL material. So far, the results back him up.

 

The Huskies have gone to extremes to keep him, and his mentor's gonna be in the building.

He's now gotta justify their belief. Clearly, Petersen and the school like his chances.