Dead Period

I have to say, this is a pretty dull time to be a college football writer. I embarked on this project of "Husky Trails" to provide comprehensive insight into the happenings of Washington football, and it's been great so far.

This last week, however, has been a bit tricky in terms of the column (not to mention starting a new job on the side haha). Things have been pretty dead.

Basically, the coaches are all on furlough, since they can't really do a ton of recruiting or coaching. The players are in their summer conditioning programs and that's kind of what they are doing.

About the biggest news over the last week was the loss of wide receiver recruit Tevin Carter to Cal.

Carter, a speedy southern california receiver prospect, committed early to the Dawgs since they were about the only ones that were coming in for him.

Within the last several weeks, after a steller showing at one of the California track meets, he has been getting looks from his in-state schools. Thus the change, since he wants to play closer to home.

The only other news of note is that assistant strength coach Charr Gahagan has left to be the head strength coach at North Texas. This follows the North Texas strength coach moving on to Tennessee.

Gahagan was one of the strength guys that Sarkisian lured away from USC when he came up to UW.

So far through spring the teams has gotten good reviews on their progress in strength and conditioning. The programs Gahagan and head strength coach Ivan Lewis have put together have worked.

The new strength and conditioning program may be the missing link as well, to finally overcome that last hurdle towards progress. The Tyrone Willingham teams were at best short on endurance, and most of the time looked extremely sluggish.

With both of these departures it belies a potential problem that Sarkisian is going to have in the coming year.

First, that some of the recruits have committed early and the real challenge is not so much the initial commitment but rather keeping them onboard.

Second, any success this staff has will mean that programs will start poaching the assistant coaches. What the Huskies need is not one good year, but sustained success, and that comes with a more or less solid core staff.

That being said, success does need to come.

The Recruiting News Just Gets Better For the Huskies

The Washington Huskies and head coach Steve Sarkisian have capped off an excellent week of recruiting, with four solid recruits heading to Montlake.

Today the Huskies received news from highly regarded athlete Keonon Lowe from Portland, Oregon and tight end/defensive end Michael Hartvigson from Bothell, Washington.

They join current recruits Nick Montana, arguably the biggest get of the group, and offensive lineman Colin Porter.

Erik Kohler, a teammate of Montana's, made a visit to Seattle this weekend and came away really impressed. The four star lineman didn't commit but cited how the new staff have assuaged any doubts about the 0-12 2008 campaign.

Michael Hartvigson is an interesting recruit, with upside on both sides of the ball. He had been recruited by as highly regarded programs as Florida in the past. However, this can be traced back to former Washington tight end coach Brian White switching to coaching for Gators.

He is a self professed lifelong Dawg fan and said that the visit completely sealed the deal for him. So much so he jumped up in the middle of the meeting and shouted "I'm a Dawg!"

This was considered great news by the staff assembled for the meeting, and even drew a tender moment from defensive coordinator Nick Holt. The verbally profuse hardman was so excited he kissed Hartvigson on the forehead.

A bit extreme perhaps, but a complete departure from the previous regime to be sure.

Keonon Lowe is another great get, and is rated the highest in the Huskies class by Rivals right now.

Lowe was recruited as a receiver and joins current receiver recruits Jamaal Kearse and Tevin Carter in this class. He made his decision after visiting Montlake as well. The staff has done well to make the campus and the energy there a real selling point this recruiting season.

The best news about Lowe, from this humble fans perspective, and barring his high regard, is the fact that the Huskies stole him away from Duck territory.

Naturally, of course, the Duck fans will all say that he isn't that good and the Ducks can survive. Something along the lines of that it doesn't matter in the greater scheme of things.

In truth, it doesn't, but it has to be a moral victory for a brand new staff, that hasn't even won a game yet, to be able to steal a highly regarded recruit from a bitter rivals backyard.

It will in no way bring parity back to the old ways, i.e. the Huskies dominating, but Washington needs all the help it can get at this point.

Four recruits in a week is a great haul, especially after coming off such a dire season and it also being the off-season.

The real question is, if things go bad this year, can Sarkisian hold onto this group.

Time will tell.

Huskies Nab a New Lineman

For those of you a bit giddy on the news about Nick Montana's commitment, I bring more good news. Washington received its second offensive lineman commit today from local product Colin Porter.

Porter, who played for Redmond last season, is an impressive 6'5" 313 pound guard. Coupled with Ben Riva this is a much needed recruiting need filled.

The Huskies are looking to beef up their complement of linemen with this class by hopefully signing three or four, so half way there for Sarkisian and company.

Porter cited the Montana commitment as one of the influences on his decision. He said it showed the new staff's commitment to adding quality players and getting the program back where it needed to be.

He also said that he was flattered by the interest shown in him by the Husky staff. On the last day of February, the last in which coaches could go out on visits in the spring evaluation period, six Husky coaches packed into his school to see him.

The Porter commitment makes it the tenth for this class but also, more importantly, the sixth in state commitment as well. I've harped on this point a lot in the past, but its very important to point out that UW only received two in state commitments in all of last year's class.

However, it also key to point out this staff has only sent out one more scholarship offer to in state players, to Bothell tight end Michael Hartvigson. It will be interesting to see who picks up some offers as the season goes on.

Just as a side note, while Washington has picked up two linemen commits, they only have one true running back commit in Melvin Davis (Zach Fogerson is going to be a fullback). Both positions were focuses for this recruiting year so it will be interesting to see who else they pick up.

Still, another good day to be a DAWG!

Joe Montana at Husky Stadium?

Great news tonight for all you Husky fans out there. The Washington Huskies just reeled in one of the recruits they had to get in Nick Montana, a quarterback from Oaks Christian High School.

After the somewhat disappointing loss to BYU of the services of heralded in-state recruit Jake Heaps, this has to come as some good news.

Even better, Montana is a bit of a better fit for the style of offense that Steve Sarkisian wants to run. It also bodes well for Sarkisian's recruiting ability, with the big-name QB signing with an 0-12 team.

Montana threw for 2,404 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior last season.

Montana had offers from schools all over the country, including Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Washington, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, Florida State, Maryland, Nebraska, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.

Notre Dame was thought to be the leader because of the ties his father Joe Montana has there, but in the end Nick chose Washington.

Montana's high school coach claimed the Husky staff did an excellent job recruiting the young quarterback. Montana himself said that coming to campus and meeting the staff really sealed the deal.

Montana will join Ronnie Fouch and Keith Price as the backups to current starter Jake Locker in 2010, but with a fairly open competition at this point, it's going to be interesting going into 2011.

Nonetheless, it will be pretty great for Husky football to have a legend like Joe Montana hanging around the program more often.

At least, it's pretty cool from my perspective, being a lifelong 49ers fan.

It's all smoke and mirrors at this point before a ball is even hiked, but it's obvious from the energy Sarkisian brings why he was brought into the program.

What The Heaps Decision Means for UW

Today heralded Washington state recruit Jake Heaps is expected to make his decision to play for Brigham Young University. Washington was in late with the Sammamish quarterback, but lost out to BYU's considerable lead. This could probably be considered the first disappoinment of the Steve Sarkisian era.

The problem revolves around the Willingham staff waiting to long to open up his recruitment. Because of his Mormon faith, BYU opened up his recruitment after his sophomore season. 

The question now is where the Huskies go from here. Sarkisian has stated that signing a quarterback is a must for the 2010 recruiting class. They are recruiting two big name athletes in Jesse Scroggins from Lakewood, California and Nick Montana, son of the 49er great Joe Montana.

However, since Washington went 0-12 last season, the chances of signing those two players were long even before Heaps committed. Heaps would have been the most likely out of that trio to sign with UW.

That being said, many pundits have stated that this may turn out well for the Huskies in the long run. Heaps was thought to be a better fit for the BYU offense than for Sark's offense, with BYU's being predicated on much shorter timing routes. 

The Washington offense under Sarkisian is going to have longer timing because of Sark's desire to work out of play-action. Many pundits have also stated that the best choice of the three big name quarterbacks is Scroggins.

Bruce Feldman had this excellent piece detailing Scroggins, who received his first offer back in February from the Washington staff. Since then he's gone on to receive some big name offers from around the country, including Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Pittsburg, Cal, Nebraska, and many others.

While a long-shot still, Sarkisian and Co. are highly recruiting two of his teamates at Lakewood in wide receiver Kevin Anderson and safety Dion Bailey. Getting any one of those guys would be great, any two would be wonderful, and god forbid all three would count as a major coup. 

The Huskies also signed defensive end Talia Crichton from Lakewood in last seasons class. It would certainly help recruiting Scroggins to have some of his friends and teamates on the field.

Montana, on the other hand, is the longest shot. He is scheduled for an unofficial visit this weekend and Husky fans can only hope that Sarkisian makes a big enough impression on Montana and family.

Washington has made the last cut down to seven, mostly on the back of Sarkisian and offensive coordinator Nussmeier's reputation as quarterback groomers. Many feel that while Washington has its merits, it won't make it through the next cuts.

Many have said that Notre Dame will be the destination because of his dad's legacy there. However, as evidenced by the Jack Elway situation at Arizona State, following a big name athlete father isn't always the easiest.

My bias would love to see a Montana at UW because I'm a life long 49ers fan, but I think that UW is a huge long shot for both of these quarterbacks. If one looks at the offer lists for both the remaining of the three, there is some tough selling to do considering UW was 0-12 last season.

Sarkisian and staff are sure to be looking at other quarterbacks that are down their list. Andrew Manley of Wahiawa, Hawaii has stated the Washington staff have been looking at him along with four other quarterbacks. It's unclear who the last one of that group is. 

While Sarkisian has stated a quarterback is a must for this class, it seems to point to a lack of confidence in Fouch to take the reins from Locker. 

Locker will most likely have this season and next to mature before going into the NFL, leaving Fouch with an extra year of eligibility after that. There's no reason why any of these big name recruits are going to want to wait two years at least to play. Therefore, Fouch must be scheduled for backup duty.

Don't forget as well that highly regarded recruit Keith Price is arriving this summer on campus, and will also be developed.

The conventional logic is that Sarkisian is looking for a quarterback of his own, with the physical tools he wants, that he can groom and shepard into his system. Fouch and Price were both Willingham recruits.

This isn't as much of a critical juncture for the Huskies under Sarkisian, because there is only so much recruiting he can do on hope for the future. It's hard to deal with that 0-12 hanging over the program right now.

He's done extremely well on the recruiting front so far, especially in state, but the loss of Heaps stings a little for a lot of Husky fans. The best they can do is cross their fingers and hope Sark and Co. can get it done with Scroggins and/or Montana.

It will all come into place. Hopefully. 

Another batch of links

Well everybody, we are on the downhill slope heading into the 2009 season, but I doubt it can come fast enough for most of you fans. I know it's a slow time here at Husky Trails.

In my capacity of providing coverage for the Washington Huskies football team, I feel it's appropriate to pass along the stories I find interesting about the program.

Enjoy the list!

 

-The Sporting News had a good interview with new head coach Steve Sarkisian. Sark had some positive words about quarterback Jake Locker and his progress in the new offense.

 

-As passed along by Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, Tom Luginbill of ESPN's Scouts Inc. says highly touted in state recruit Jake Heaps will pick BYU over UW. I don't know how much of a lead BYU has, but apparently they were in first while the Willingham staff hardly recruited him.

Luginbill also asserts that Heaps may not be the best fit in the system Sarkisian wants to use. Jesse Scroggins of California, another Washington target, would probably be the best fit.

 

-Another Condotta story here, detailing what UW does now for the Husky Stadium renovation. My take on it is that athletic director Scott Woodward is still being unnecessarily difficult still.

In response to trying to scale back the scope of the project or do it in stages he has been very negative. Unfortunately, to get this project done, sacrifices are going to have to be made.

 

-Bruce Feldman, of ESPN, has Washington as one of his ten most improved teams in 2009. He cites the 18 returning starters and the Sarkisian enthusiasm bump as possible reasons for it.

 

-Congrats to the UW softball team for winning their first national championship! The Huskies topped the Florida Gators by winning the first two games of the series.