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The latest on the Ducks, Beavers, Cougars and Huskies.
The Pac-12 Network is searching for personalities to fill out their air time, and one recently announced college football personality is former UCLA Bruins head football coach Rick Neuheisel, according to The Daily Bruin.
Neuheisel said he would do "a lot of soul searching" before he made his next move.
Apparently, a head-first dive into the world of television required less careful thinking. Neuheisel was introduced as one of three "faces" of the Pac-12 Conference's new TV networks last week.
"You've got to get back up on the horse and ride," Neuheisel said. "I was given a great opportunity by the folks at the Pac-12 Networks."
Although this seems like a move out of the coaching game, Neuheisel would not completely put the idea of coaching again to rest:
"I still love football, and I'm not precluding the chance of going back to coaching," Neuheisel said. "But my mind-set right now is 100 miles per hour for starting this network with a bang and telling the story of Pac-12 football."
For more on the Pac-12 make sure to check out Pacific Takes.
Oregon State cornerback Malcolm Marable had a brush with the law for the second time this offseason, after he was arrested Sunday according to this report by Cliff Kirkpatrick.
Marable, who served a suspension during winter workouts for a traffic offense, was arrested this time on violent conduct charges after he hit a bouncer at a night club.
In an interesting twist, Marable's involvement was an attempt to "free" 19 year-old teammate Ryan Murphy who was attempting to enter the club using an ID that belonged to another Beaver player, Anthony Watkins.
According to Kirkpatrick, Murphy was cited form misrepresentation of age and trespassing.
Marable played in 12 games in 2011.
Multiple media outlets have reached out to OSU for comment, however, the university has yet to do so.
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For more on the Oregon State Beavers head on over to Building The Dam. For more PAC-12 coverage be sure to visit Pacific Takes.
The PAC-12 made a big splash Wednesday as it prepares for the August 2012 launch of its television network, by announcing a trio of on-air personalities.
Joining the network will be three former PAC-12 athletes: Ronnie Lott (USC football), Summer Sanders (Stanford volleyball) and Rick Neuheisel (UCLA, football). Neuheisel also was the head coach at three PAC-12 member schools: UCLA, Washington and Colorado, though Colorado was a member of the Big XII during his tenure.
From the PAC-12's press release:
"This is an exciting day for the Pac-12 Networks as we bring on three of the greatest leaders and personalities in Pac-12 history as the initial members of our on air broadcast team," said Lydia Murphy-Stephans, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Pac-12 Networks. "Exceptional storytelling is going to be the foundation of the Pac-12 Networks and with the success of our universities and student-athletes the storylines are never-ending. With Ronnie, Rick and Summer, we have three professionals who have a passion and deep understanding for the history and excellence that exists in the Pac-12. Their skills, expertise and unique insights will help us elevate our coverage and deliver the most compelling stories to our fans."
Ronnie Lott:
"When I first heard that the Pac-12 was planning to build seven networks to showcase all of the incredible student-athletes and programs throughout the Conference it was one of those WOW moments," Lott said. "What is being created is truly remarkable and I'm excited to be part of it. If you are a fan or alum of the Pac-12 you have to have these networks."
Summer Sanders:
"I am thrilled to be a part of the Pac-12 Networks," Sanders said. "It's like coming home for me. Being a Stanford alum who was born and raised in Northern California, I truly believe there's no greater Conference in the country. It puts a huge smile on my face to know that I am now going to be one of its voices in sports broadcasting."
Rick Neuheisel:
"This is an amazing opportunity. I have such a deep passion and respect for the Conference and for all of the schools," Neuheisel said. "I have been affiliated with the Pac-12 since I was six years old when my dad taught at Arizona State. I never missed a Sun Devils game growing up. Then I got the chance to play at UCLA and went to law school at USC. I began a coaching career at UCLA that took me to Colorado then to Washington and back to UCLA. The launch of the Pac-12 Networks is very exciting and I am thrilled for this opportunity to help deliver unprecedented exposure to the Conference of Champions."
Lott and Neuheisel will serve as football analysts for the network, while Ssnders will serve as a host and an "expert analyst for a variety of shows and events."
The network will provide 24/7 coverage of PAC-12 athletics utilizing one national network and six regional networks.
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For more on the PAC-12 visit Pacific Takes.
Ted Miller and Kevin Gemmell of ESPN's Pac-12 blog have been busy this during the college football offseason with a number of different posts and tidbits on numerous subjects in and around the Pac-12. One of which is the creation of 'top 10' lists, such as the Top 10 Quarterbacks of the Pac-12 created by Athlon Sports, who feel the Northwest region will have the richest QB talent in the conference next season.
Colin Porter, a rising junior offensive lineman for the Washington Huskies has ended his career according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
Head coach Steve Sarkisian told the Times that Porter is suffering from "degenerative arthritis" in both of his shoulders. The former Bothell HS standout was a mainstay for the Huskies' offensive line the past two seasons. Porter started all 13 games at right guard for the Huskies in 2011.
This news means there is a gap that now needs to be filled on the right side of the offensive line.
Porter was one of the top recruits from the class of 2009, he was ranked as the No. 9 offensive guard and given a four-star rating by Scout.com.
Here's some reaction from different writers and fans following the team:
Horrible news out of Montlake this evening. I can't even begin to describe how bad I feel for this kid, he was a stud on the offensive line and will be greatly missed on the football field. (Via: UW Dawg Pound)
Tough to hear about former Bothell standout Colin Porter's UW career coming to an end. I still remember how excited he was on signing day.
—Mason Kelley (@masonkelley) April 10, 2012
Tough news about Colin Porter. He was a hard worker that brought some physicality to the O-Line.
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) April 10, 2012
For more discussion about Porter's retirement, head on over to UW Dawg Pound.
The Washington Huskies' have lined up their first recruit for the Class of 2013.
According to the Seattle Times, Lakes High coach Dave Miller has said that receiver Sammie Long has committed to Washington.
According to Miller, Long let UW coach Steve Sarkisian know of his decision last night and that Long "is very excited to be a Husky."
Long, a 6-foot-4, 190 lb. Lakewood resident, is listed on Rivals.com as a three-star recruit and NorthwestPrepReport.com recently rated Long as the best wide receiver prospect in the state. Last season, Long recorded 20 catches for 266 yards with five touchdowns for the 11-1 Lancers.
Northwest Prep Report described Long as a "big, mobile, agile target who has good hands and excellent speed."
According to Rivals, California, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Oregon St., Purdue, UCLA, Utah and Washington St. all showed interest in signing Long.
For more on the Huskies, head over to the UW Dawg Pound.
ESPN's Pac-12 Blog and Kevin Gemmell have been going through and ranking the top 25 players of the Pac-12, based on their 2011 season, and the countdown hit 11 on Tuesday. Coming in at that spot is surprise star Keith Price, and Gemmell explains why:
2011 numbers: Let's start with the 33 passing touchdowns. That would be a UW single-season record. Then, there's the 3,063 passing yards -- second all time at Washington. The 66.9 completion percentage and 161.09 passing efficiency? Record and record.
Preseason ranking: Unranked.
Making the case for Price: How does an unranked player catapult to No. 11? You start by putting up numbers that get you in the conversation with Pac-12 quarterbacks like Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley. You shock the rest of the conference with efficiency and accuracy traditionally not seen from a sophomore, let alone a first-time starter. You make a fanbase forget about Jake what's-his-name -- that first-round draft pick you replaced. And you do it all on bad knees, bad ankles and with a bad shoulder. The full, healthy Price was finally unleashed in the Alamo Bowl and he rushed for his first three touchdowns of the year and threw for another four. He said he's dedicating himself this offseason to putting on more weight so he can stay healthy. If the poised pocket quarterback and the athletic runner can all come together for a full season next year, expect this dynamic football player to warrant some legitimate Heisman buzz.
There's really no arguing with the logic here - Price had a record breaking season for the Huskies and made it pretty easy to forget about recently-departed Jake Locker. Price has potential to thrust himself into the top-five discussion next year with another solid campaign.
Make sure to check out the rest of their rankings and see if any other Huskies made the list.
For more on the Huskies, head over to the UW Dawg Pound.
Whatoh. Maybe Chip Kelly should have gone to Tampa Bay to coach the Bucs after all. News out of Eugene today does not bode well for the football program, which is under an NCAA investigation for improper recruiting methods, the most notable of which involve Will Lyles, who claims the school paid him $25,000 to influence Texas recruits to head north. Bryan Fischer of CBSSports explains after the jump...
Welcome to the long-awaited debut of The Daily 12-PAC. Well, long-awaited for me at least. I am extremely excited to join the team here at SB Nation Seattle, and in particular, to bring you PAC-12 football fans this daily feature to fulfill your football fix. The DTP will be a fixture here on the site, providing you a daily dose of Huskies, Cougars, Ducks and Beavers football news and information from around the nation. And of course, if there is anything else going on in the conference with a regional twist, we'll bring that to you as well. So sit back, kick your feet up, and grab a can from The Daily 12-PAC. I'll see you after the jump.
With the ink barely dry on the class of 2012's letters of intent, and offers already going out to the class of 2013, The Seattle Times' Bob Condotta looks back at the Huskies' 2010 recruiting class.
Like the article states, this class is significant for two reasons in particular: 1. It was Steve Sarkisian's first full after getting hired prior to the 2009 season. 2. It was Washington's highest ranked recruiting class to date under Sark.
But what stands out most to me, is that the 30 member class has already lost seven players due to transfer, academics and discipline, additionally, its also had its share of other disappointments. Four-star guys like DT Sione Potoa'e and Deontae Cooper have underperformed and been bitten by the injury bug respectively. We are still 2-3 years away before we can truly reflect on this class, but it's a nice "state of the class" type piece from Bob.
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When Washington State hired Mike Leach, critics of the hire pointed to his "baggage" as one of the reasons why they didn't approve of him being named head coach. The baggage they referred to was/is his ongoing legal issues surrounding his dismissal from his last coaching stop at Texas Tech.
Friday, the Texas Supreme Court denied Leach's wrongful termination suit against the university, but this isn't the end of Leach's legal pursuits. Leach also has a pending lawsuit against ESPN for the role they played in his firing. Check out the story for more details. The guys at Coug Center had some stuff to say on this, as well.
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I came across this piece by the guys at FishDuck.com essentially providing reassurance to Oregon fans that Kenjon Barner has what it takes to fill LaMichael James' shoes.
It's an interesting take on the Oregon RB situation, and Barner in particular, but one that I don't particularly agree with. I think what Oregon has been able to do offensively since Chip Kelly's arrival has proven is doesn't really matter who lines up in the backfield for the Ducks, they're gonna have success running the football either way. Oregon's success, in my opinion, is a product of scheme. Have they recruited well to fit that scheme? Yes, extremely. Which is why losing a player, even of James' caliber shouldn't matter to the Ducks. Oh, and besides, they got this guy named De'Anthony Thomas too, and he's kinda good.
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Now, where I come from, we just call it a DUI. But in Oregon, they do things fancy, so it's called a DUII. That's two "I's" people. At first I thought the extra "I" was because in addition to driving under the influence of alcohol, Oregon State DB Sean Martin also tried to elude police, but after looking up Oregon laws, I realized the second "I" stood for "intoxicants".
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Make sure to follow Scott (@scottenyeart) and SB Nation Seattle (@sbnseattle) on Twitter.
To join in on the discussion and find more great college football commentary and analysis, make sure you head to SB Nation's Pac-12 football blog, Pacific Takes.
The Washington Huskies are continuing to fill out their coaching staff for the 2012 season. They have filled in all of their regular assistant jobs, but there are still some positions on their support staff that are left to fill.
U San Diego RB coach Andrew Rolin of Cordova High hired as Washington Huskies offensive assistant;also a good recruiter,landing nice talents
— Joe Davidson (@sb_joedavidson) February 16, 2012
It's a quality control type job and not on-field or recruiting. UW obviously has all its regular asst jobs filled.
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) February 16, 2012
Their latest hiring comes from the University of San Diego, where 24 year old Andrew Rolin, running backs coach will be coming in as a Husky quality control assistant.
Rolin is probably being brought in for how well he knows Northern California recruiting country, as he hails from Rancho Cordova near Sacramento. Washington has some important targets in the Northern California area this recruiting season, and they'll need as much familiarity with the area as they can possibly get. While Rolin can't really recruit, any efforts he can provide on official visits by recruits could be highly useful.
Rolin once played quarterback for the University of San Diego.
To discuss Washington football, hit up UW Dawg Pound.
One of the better Husky Football blogs out there is the one Bob Condotta runs at the Seattle Times. Last week, Condotta brought us some video interviews of some of the Huskies' new coaching staff, and even transcribed them out. Below, I've embedded the interview with new Husky OC Justin Wilcox, and one portion that really stuck out to me was his vision for the Huskies defense, which has been notoriously bad the last few years.
Condotta and Husky Defensive Coordinator Justin Wilcox:
On what he wants to do schematically: "We kind of have a basis of things we like and believe in. You've got to have an identity in terms of schematics. At the same time you don't want to try to jam a square peg into a round hole. So we are going to see what we are good at and put the stress on our better players and not going to ask a guy to do something he can't do. You can't line up the same way anymore every down because people are too good on offense, especially in this conference.
The days of people lining up in two backs and running tons of play action are over, especially out here. There are some unique offenses out here that can present a lot of problems. What we need to do is find out who we can rely on and who to put the stress on and we have an idea but as we get through spring ball it will kind of develop our scheme --- we know what we kind of want to do but we don't want to jam a square peg in a round hole and do something we are not good at.''
Dave Miller of National Football Post compiled his list of the best recruiting classes this year by offensive position, and gave the Washington Huskies the top mark for recruited quarterbacks this year.
Even though Florida State secured Jameis Winston, he may end up playing baseball. Notre Dame, meanwhile, has Gunner Kiel, who is seen as the top dropback passer amongst the recruits. Purdue took three quarterbacks this year, but it was Steve Sarkisian and his Huskies that landed the best pair of QB's respectivley, getting both Cyler Miles and Jeff Lindquist.
Miles eventually decided on UW instead of flipping to USC, winning co-MVP honors at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl this season. He was 7-8 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown during that game. The 6-3, 225-pound Lindquist played well at at the Semper Fidelis Bowl, throwing two TD's of his own before leading the West squad to a 17-14 victory.
Sark is going to have some fun (and a tough decision) between these two once Keith Price moves on.
For more on the Huskies, head over to the UW Dawg Pound.
According to Oregon State beat writer Cliff Kirkpatrick, the Beavers football program is getting close to hiring former Indianapolis Colts assistant coach Rod Perry to be Oregon State’s new defensive backs coach, but may not be announced until later in the week.
Perry played his college ball for the Colorado Buffaloes and was a fourth-round selection by the then Los Angeles Rams. He played for them from 1975-82 before moving on to the Cleveland Browns from 1983-84.
He has some coaching experience in the Northwest already, coaching with the Seattle Seahawks from 1989-1991. He’s also coached with the L.A. Rams (1992-1994), Houston Oilers (1995-1996), the San Diego Chargers (1997-2001) alongside Mike Riley, the Carolina Panthers (2002-06) and of course the Colts (2008-2011).
For more in depth discussion and analysis of everything Beavers, make sure you head over to Building the Dam to get in on the action and show off your fanhood.
Everyone knew once Tosh Lupoi left Cal for Washignton, some seismic shifts would result in the recruiting landscape. Indeed, UW would benefit when several recruits switched from other schools and became Huskies instead, following the former Golden Bear turncoat on their way up to Seattle.
Ben Glicksman of Sports Illustrated filed this report on how Tosh's efforts deserve top standing as it caused Pac-12 chaos within a mere two weeks.
Washington assistant Tosh Lupoi: A. Not only did Washington experience a recruiting boon after acquiring Lupoi in late January, but rival Cal suffered a colossal drop-off. The Huskies added five-star safety Shaq Thompson, four-star athlete Jaydon Mickens and four-star defensive end Pio Vatuvei, among others, while the Golden Bears lost Thompson, defensive end McCarthy and wide receiver Payton. It all but solidifies Lupoi's reputation as one of the nation's most influential assistant coaches.
Mike Leach didn't have a lot of time to make his mark on Washington State football, but he put together a pretty impressive class in a short period of time. Given only just under two months to get players to commit to become Cougars, Leach found some impressive players, particularly one wide receiver.
Ben Glicksman of Sports Illustrated graded the new coaches and how they performed in a short span of time to land recruits, and Leach came out favorably.
Junior linebacker C.J. Mizell was considered one of the most prominent tacklers for the Washington St. Cougars. But he's had his issues in the past, and the Washington St. Cougars have had to come down on him and punish him for his transgressions. In fact, only the firing of Paul Wulff kept Mizell from getting booted off prior to this season.
That didn't seem to save him long enough. It seems that the new regime has had enough of Mizell after his latest incident. Bryan Fischer of CBS Sports reports.
Mike Leach knows he's got a rebuilding job to do on the Palouse but that doesn't mean team discipline will take a back seat in his quest to lead the program back to glory. The head coach announced on Tuesday that linebacker C.J. Mizell was no longer with the Washington State football team following his arrest over the weekend after his involvement in a fight at a fraternity house.
Mike Leach isn't messing around. At Texas Tech, the eccentric head coach was known for his discipline on personal matters of his student-athletes. Leach placed particular emphasis on making sure his students attended and excelled in class and stayed academically and mentally sound. And it seems like he's doing the same thing here with Mizell.
To discuss Mizell and Washington State football, head on over to CougCenter.
More: How did the Huskies do?
The Washington Huskies could really afford to upgrade their defensive depth after the way they've been bludgeoned the past few years. And it looks like they're doing just that with some key commits the last few weeks. First Shaq Thompson switched from Cal to UW, then Cleveland Wallace switched from Oregon State to Washington, and now Dominguez cornerback Brandon Beaver adds even more depth into the secondary.
Beaver committed moments ago to the Washington Huskies over the California Golden Bears and the Utah Utes. Beaver has been recruited by UW for a long time, and Steve Sarkisian seemed to get the go-ahead from Beaver to make the announcement before Beaver went on Fox Sports West and picked the UW hat.
To discuss Washington football recruiting, head on over to UW Dawg Pound. To talk about Cal football recruiting, check out the California Golden Blogs. To learn more about Utah football recruiting, best to head over to Block U.
Cyler Miles has been conflicted for awhile but where he wants to go to college. The Mullen quarterback might be saying that he's sticking with his original commitment, but does he really mean it?
Miles has been committed to the Washington Huskies for awhile, but the USC Trojans have been doing their best to try and woo him away from Seattle. I wouldn't imagine their pitch, but it'd probably have something to do with the great offensive traditions of SC and general success of the program, plus the possibility of throwing to all those great wide receivers that the Trojans now boast.
QB Cyler Miles just spoke again with USC as he nears his 1 p.m. announcement
— InsideUSC (@InsideUSC) February 1, 2012
Word is Cyler Miles hasn't yet made up his mind. Still deciding between #USC and #Washington. Teammates say he might not sign 2day #copreps
— Ryan Casey (@jryancasey) February 1, 2012
Casey of the Denver Post further elaborates.
Miles told The Denver Post that he has letters of intent from USC and Washington, and will choose which school to sign with at Mullen around 2 p.m. today.
Miles, the No. 1-rated recruit in The Denver Post's class of 2012 rankings, committed to Washington last summer. But commitments are non-binding; today — national signing day — is the first day recruits can sign binding letters of intent with colleges.
Miles apparently brought two LOIs from both USC and Washington to his announcement. There, he finally eventually announced for the Huskies. The quarterback appeared to be very conflicted but has held true to his original commitment, keeping Washington's class at 24.
To discuss USC football recruiting, head on over to Conquest Chronicles. To talk about Washington football recruiting, go to UW Dawg Pound.
Jaydon Mickens, a wide receiver recruit out of Los Angeles, CA made a verbal commitment to the Washington Huskies on Tuesday night.
According to his Rivals.com profile, Mickens is a four-star recruit and the No. 11 best wide receiver in the class of 2012.
Mickens chose the Huskies over Oklahoma State. Though he is only 5'8", his athleticism and speed garnered him scholarship offers from several Pac-12 schools including California and USC. Mickens will join former Dorsey High school teammates and current Huskies Matthew Lyons (Linebacker) and Marvin Hall (Wide Receiver).
This latest commitment for Huskies Head Coach Steve Sarkisian caps off a successful recruiting day. The Huskies also gained commitments from OL Shane Brostek (Kamuela, HI) and Jordan Payton (Westlake Village, CA),.
Here are highlights from his junior season at Dorsey High School:
Jaydon Mickens Dorsey High Class of 2012 (via utrhighlightvideos)
To discuss Mickens and UW football recruiting, head on over to UW Dawg Pound.
Steve Sarkisian and the Washington Huskies might have just landed their biggest recruiting victory when they picked up the prized jewel of the Cal recruiting class and got him to make the move to UW.
Just committed to the UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON #HUSKYNATION
— Shaq Thompson(Grant) (@ItsShaqThompson) January 31, 2012
Shaq Thompson is considered one of the best safeties in the 2012 recruiting class. The Grant safety is the all-around package and was expected to be a game-changer as someone who could start the moment he made it onto campus. Thompson has always liked Washington, and it looks like the movement of his main recruiter was enough to make the difference in getting him to come Northwest. A few other factors could've also played a hand in his final decision.
It's official: Shaq tells us the reasons for Washington are: "It's where my heart is; second highest graduation rate in the Pac-12..."
— Joe Davidson (@sb_joedavidson) January 31, 2012
Just heard from Shaq;Wash was a close 2nd to Cal earlier;really likes Tosh Lupoi,academics;best friend James Sample is there. It's done.
— Joe Davidson (@sb_joedavidson) January 31, 2012
Baseball was another big factor for UW, Sark was willing to allow him to miss some spring ball, family appreciated the flexibility
— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) January 31, 2012
Looks as if the poaching of Tosh Lupoi from Cal to Washington might've made the difference.
To discuss Thompson's commitment and Washington football recruiting in general, head on over to UW Dawg Pound. To talk about Cal football recruiting, check out the California Golden Blogs.
The departure of Tosh Lupoi from Cal to Washington might have had an unintended consequence: One of his biggest recruits that Lupoi was looking at will be going to neither school and will end up at perhaps the biggest rival in all the conference. Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee reports.
Arik Armstead made his announcement a few hours, and made his commitment to Oregon over an impressive list of schools, which included Cal, Washington as well as Auburn, UCLA and USC. Armstead really liked the sports business program and the Nike connections, and appreciated the lack of negative recruiting from Chip Kelly.
Armstead will enroll for the spring quarter in March and should be able to participate in spring practice, and he'll figure to compete for playing time on the defensive front. Armstead also wants to play hoops, and he should be in the mix to be on Dana Altman's squad.
To talk about Armstead and Oregon football recruiting, head on over to Addicted to Quack.
More from SI: Lupoi hire has major recruiting ramifications
Scott Enyeart is a staff writer and podcast contributor at Field Gulls, covers the USC Trojans for Neon Tommy, and has unique connections to both Pete Carroll and Steve Sarkisian from their respective days down in Southern California. He's a former D-1 coach (UNLV) and with his coverage of Pac-12 football and though his ties to Sark and Carroll, he has a great perspective on pretty much every level of football that is happening on the west coast, from high school and up, and has innumerable connections therein so I love to hear his take on things.
Enyeart was on SportsRadioKJR's Dave "Softy" Mahler show earlier this week and had some interesting things to say about UW's newest hire, Tosh Lupoi.
Said Scott: "It's probably the biggest hire that [Steve Sarkisian has] made as a head coach. Tosh's reputation and just what he's been able to do in the short time he's been in the profession, is pretty unparalleled."
Make sure you give it a listen, and follow Scott on Twitter. For more on the Huskies, make sure you check out UW Dawg Pound. To discuss Cal recruiting, go to the California Golden Blogs. To see more of Scott's work on the Seahawks, head over to Field Gulls.
According to a tweet by ESPN's Greg Biggins, Eric Kiesau will be the new wide receivers coach for the Washington Huskies.
Kiesau was California Golden Bears' wide receivers coach and the passing game coordinator. He joins defensive line coach and recruiting guru Tosh Lupoi as two members of the Cal coaching staff to bolt for the Huskies.
Lupoi's defection caused shockwaves down the west coast as one of the best recruiters in the country left Cal for the Huskies and a big pay raise. It isn't known if Lupoi had anything to do with Kiesau's decision to join the staff as well with the two not being associated with one another due to being on different sides of the ball, but Lupoi had to make the gig more attractive to Kiesau since Kiesau has a recruiting past as well.
Kiesau spent only one season as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator at Cal after previously serving as WR coach and recruiting coordinator for four seasons (2002-2005) in a previous stint with the Bears. He then spent 2006-2010 on the University of Colorado coaching staff.
For the most part, college football assistants stay under the radar, aside from offensive and defensive coordinators. But many times, these somewhat anonymous position coaches are the most vital pieces of programs, especially on the recruiting trail. These relatively quiet, high-paid assistants are the piece of the puzzle that makes everything go.
Which is where former Cal assistant Tosh Lupoi comes in. Unless you follow recruiting closely, Lupoi probably isn't a household name. He took root at Cal and quickly became the Golden Bears' ace recruiting. This year's top-15 class after a season that was nothing spectacular? Lupoi was the man behind-the-scenes, piling up highly-touted recruits along the way.
Despite Cal not having a winning Pac-12 record in the last three years, Lupoi's efforts landed Cal many top recruits who would have previously never seriously considered Cal as a destination. The loss of the coach who is arguably the best recruiter in the country is already having implications for the Golden Bears.
Be sure to check out the rest of the article from SB Nation Recruiting.
Combined with Justin Wilcox -- Lupoi has a long-standing relationship with the new Washington defensive coordinator -- the Huskies have put together a superb team of assistants on the defensive side of the ball. Lupoi is one of those somewhat anonymous, well-paid assistants because he simply delivers, striking a bond with recruits and hauling in big-name prospects.
While Lupoi will coach the defensive line and coordinate the run game on the defensive side of the ball, make no mistake about it: this was a hire for recruiting purposes. And with the former Cal ace in Montlake, the Bears' huge recruiting class may be in peril. You can bet Lupoi will go after some of the kids he recruited, and plenty of other Pac-12 coaches will be circling the wreckage, trying to flip kids until the last possible moment.
The Ducks, Huskies, Cougars, and Beavers will soon have some new competition on the schedules as it was announced on Wednesday that the Pac-12 and Big Ten have decided to form an inter-conference partnership that will include inter-conference schedules in all sports, and beginning in 2017, an inter-conference football schedule, according to multiple sources.
This agreement will go for all sports, but football and basketball are the money makers, thus they are the focal points of this agreement. Every team in each conference will play at least one team from the opposing conference each season, with 2017 as the starting point for football and possibly much earlier that in other sports.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney noted that it is sort of like realignment without having to do any actual realignment, and a rather saavy move for the two Rose Bowl conferences to make some serious cash-money:
"It's sort of in lieu of what some other people are doing (with expansion)," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.
"Our idea is you can't stand still. You have to build in an environment where people are competing for attention, where they're competing to have the best competitive assets and to present themselves in the best way. I think both of us believe ... this is the most constructive way for us to do that."
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott iterated the fact that this is not a "political move," rather [in essence] a business decision to promote that Pac-12 to a much larger market.
"This makes a lot of sense," Scott said, "in terms of continuing to broaden our exposure and improving programming and improving the caliber of our schools' matchups."
When combined, the Pac-12 and Big Ten markets take up 15 states that include 43% of the U.S. population and 22 of its top 50 TV markets. if that isn't making bread, I don't know what is.
Looking ahead, the four-some of Pac-12 schools in the Northwest will have a bit of a tougher task trying to get to a BCS bowl game with a Big Ten school on their schedule every year. But with the increases in revenue and exposure I'm sure it will all work out nicely for all the Pac-12 and Big Ten schools.
For more on discussion and analysis, head over to Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes and/or Off Tackle Empire.
Mike Leach has been hired as the new Washington St. Cougars head coach, which brings all sorts of nice quirks. One of them will be the type of assistants he hires with his new coaching staff.
Leach doesn't usually make typical hires, which always makes it very compelling who the Cougars end up hiring. Chris Level has the reports here, here and here.
To discuss Leach's new hires with Washington State fans, go to CougCenter.
PAC 12 Power Rankings High On Oregon, Reflect The Depth Of The North Division
ESPN's PAC-12 Blog released its latest conference power rankings today and the Oregon Ducks are no doubt pleased with their No. 2 ranking. The rest of the PAC-12's four Pacific Northwest institutions, however, might not be so happy with theirs.
Here's what ESPN had to say about the Ducks:
The Washington Huskies are the next highest PNW school on the list, at No. 5:
At No. 8 are the Washington State Cougars, somewhat surprisingly behind Cal and UCLA:
Right behind the Cougs are the Oregon State Beavers at No. 9:
The rest of the list is rounded out by three teams from the PAC-12 South. Even though the individual institutions from the PNW might no agree with where they're ranked, one thing seems clear - the balance of power in the conference is in the PAC-12 North.
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For more on the PAC-12 head on over to SB Nation's PAC-12 blog Pacific Takes.
May 18 1:50p by Scott Enyeart