Time for Mora to come home

[SeatownJay]

Report today said Del Rio has interviewed for the USC job.

 

[kearly]

I think dropping Sark for Mora would be a downgrade, especially when you factor the assistant coaches and the huge recruiting advantage Mora has benefitted from in SoCal. Sark makes adjustments more readily than just about any coach in the conference, and statistically the Huskies have improved every season, though for miscellaneous reasons they seem to be cursed to never win 8 games.

That said, if the team did something very stupid and fired Sark, you could do a lot worse than Mora as the fallback. And I will admit, getting away from Oregon style football would be a welcome change stylistically, though it's working so I won't complain.

 

[HawkWow]

Why would firing Sark be "Very stupid"? That's a rather broad statement, Kearly. How stupid would it be if Saban said he wants to honor coach James by taking the U-Dub job? Would firing Sark be stupid then? That is an extreme example, but no more extreme, IMO, than calling the firing of 7 win Sark "stupid". I don't question your knowledge, mine pales in comparison, but after watching this program, and football in general for better than 40 years, I do not believe Sark is HC material at this time.

"Stupid" would be me actually believing his firing is likely.

 

[JSeahawks]

I just don't see Mora making the move now. I think UW missed the window for that one for now.

 

[HawkWow]

Agreed JSea. I don't want Mora anyway. It would be like trying to get back together with an ex. Just let her go. Anytime and every time Mora screwed up (and he will), there will be ugliness. Neither camp needs that drama.

 

[kearly]

Why would firing Sark be "Very stupid"? That's a rather broad statement, Kearly. How stupid would it be if Saban said he wants to honor coach James by taking the U-Dub job? Would firing Sark be stupid then? That is an extreme example, but no more extreme, IMO, than calling the firing of 7 win Sark "stupid". I don't question your knowledge, mine pales in comparison, but after watching this program, and football in general for better than 40 years, I do not believe Sark is HC material at this time.

"Stupid" would be me actually believing his firing is likely.

Fair enough. If he's fired- it's a 95% chance of stupid. On the miniscule chance you can get Saban, of course you'd do it. But unlikely scenario's aside, I definitely think Sark is a head coach- in fact I think he's an NFL head coach. He's outstanding at making adjustments and fixing problems. He's had to deal with a talented but skittish QB behind one of the worst pass pro lines in the conference. His switch to the Oregon style helped hide a lot of problems with the O-line, it made Sankey a MUCH better player, and though Price suffered from the switch at first, during the offseason he coached up Price to handle the offense well in 2013.

He should have fired Nick Holt sooner. Other than that, I love what he's done on defense, building a respectable defense out of mostly low-profile players. He's also recruited extremely well for a guy that's basically a .500 coach playing his games several hundred miles from SoCal. To compensate, he stole away Cal's ace recruiter (probably a coincidence, but Cal has been in free fall ever since).

I'm not worried at all about Sark's job this year, but I am worried about his job after he goes 5-7 in 2014. Not a believer in Miles at all. I like the RB Washington, but he's a step down from Sankey. Losing a ton of weapons on offense, and losing a few key defenders as well. I don't think UW will be terrible next year, but the Pac-12 has never been this good before. UW could finish 8-4 and still only be the 7th best team in the conference. They are probably going to limp to 7-6 this year while posting the best numbers the team has had in over a decade. So when you replace Price's performances with a mechanical QB who can't throw, it could get fugly.

Really hoping Sark sees the light with Miles before it's too late. Either that or works some serious magic and he turns Miles into a bizzaro version of Tui. Maybe he does things the hard way, but if he sticks with Miles next year I will fear for his job.

 

[jkitsune]

Why would firing Sark be "Very stupid"? That's a rather broad statement, Kearly. How stupid would it be if Saban said he wants to honor coach James by taking the U-Dub job? Would firing Sark be stupid then? That is an extreme example, but no more extreme, IMO, than calling the firing of 7 win Sark "stupid". I don't question your knowledge, mine pales in comparison, but after watching this program, and football in general for better than 40 years, I do not believe Sark is HC material at this time.

"Stupid" would be me actually believing his firing is likely.

Fair enough. If he's fired- it's a 95% chance of stupid. On the miniscule chance you can get Saban, of course you'd do it. But unlikely scenario's aside, I definitely think Sark is a head coach- in fact I think he's an NFL head coach. He's outstanding at making adjustments and fixing problems. He's had to deal with a talented but skittish QB behind one of the worst pass pro lines in the conference. His switch to the Oregon style helped hide a lot of problems with the O-line, it made Sankey a MUCH better player, and though Price suffered from the switch at first, during the offseason he coached up Price to handle the offense well in 2013.

He should have fired Nick Holt sooner. Other than that, I love what he's done on defense, building a respectable defense out of mostly low-profile players. He's also recruited extremely well for a guy that's basically a .500 coach playing his games several hundred miles from SoCal. To compensate, he stole away Cal's ace recruiter (probably a coincidence, but Cal has been in free fall ever since).

I'm not worried at all about Sark's job this year, but I am worried about his job after he goes 5-7 in 2014. Not a believer in Miles at all. I like the RB Washington, but he's a step down from Sankey. Losing a ton of weapons on offense, and losing a few key defenders as well. I don't think UW will be terrible next year, but the Pac-12 has never been this good before. UW could finish 8-4 and still only be the 7th best team in the conference. They are probably going to limp to 7-6 this year while posting the best numbers the team has had in over a decade. So when you replace Price's performances with a mechanical QB who can't throw, it could get fugly.

Really hoping Sark sees the light with Miles before it's too late. Either that or works some serious magic and he turns Miles into a bizzaro version of Tui. Maybe he does things the hard way, but if he sticks with Miles next year I will fear for his job.

A friend of mine pointed out something very similar - the odds of landing someone demonstrably better than Sark this year is possibly not great. His argument was that, despite what I want to believe, UW is not as desirable a job as the traditional powerhouses (such as USC), and thus unlikely to land a top coaching candidate in direct competition with USC. Mora is unlikely to bail on UCLA when they seem a step away from competing for a possible title, and unless you think Wilcox is the HC of the future, there aren't any other obvious replacements who would choose to come to UW. Maybe back in their heyday of dominance, but not right now.

I don't keep up with the pulse of which coaches are actually looking in a given year, so it's hard to say for sure he's right, but it definitely made me wonder.

As for Miles, I wouldn't be too quick to bail based on his limited action. I find it hard to believe that all the scouts simply failed to notice he had no arm strength when they scouted him, rated him 4 stars, and when USC was in play heavily for him at the end. He's still young and could improve substantially before he's required to start next year.

 

[SeatownJay]

My biggest complaint against Sark is his seeming inability to recruit and develop quality linemen, both offensive and defensive.

 

[HawkWow]

Why would firing Sark be "Very stupid"? That's a rather broad statement, Kearly. How stupid would it be if Saban said he wants to honor coach James by taking the U-Dub job? Would firing Sark be stupid then? That is an extreme example, but no more extreme, IMO, than calling the firing of 7 win Sark "stupid". I don't question your knowledge, mine pales in comparison, but after watching this program, and football in general for better than 40 years, I do not believe Sark is HC material at this time.

"Stupid" would be me actually believing his firing is likely.

Fair enough. If he's fired- it's a 95% chance of stupid. On the miniscule chance you can get Saban, of course you'd do it. But unlikely scenario's aside, I definitely think Sark is a head coach- in fact I think he's an NFL head coach. He's outstanding at making adjustments and fixing problems. He's had to deal with a talented but skittish QB behind one of the worst pass pro lines in the conference. His switch to the Oregon style helped hide a lot of problems with the O-line, it made Sankey a MUCH better player, and though Price suffered from the switch at first, during the offseason he coached up Price to handle the offense well in 2013.

He should have fired Nick Holt sooner. Other than that, I love what he's done on defense, building a respectable defense out of mostly low-profile players. He's also recruited extremely well for a guy that's basically a .500 coach playing his games several hundred miles from SoCal. To compensate, he stole away Cal's ace recruiter (probably a coincidence, but Cal has been in free fall ever since).

I'm not worried at all about Sark's job this year, but I am worried about his job after he goes 5-7 in 2014. Not a believer in Miles at all. I like the RB Washington, but he's a step down from Sankey. Losing a ton of weapons on offense, and losing a few key defenders as well. I don't think UW will be terrible next year, but the Pac-12 has never been this good before. UW could finish 8-4 and still only be the 7th best team in the conference. They are probably going to limp to 7-6 this year while posting the best numbers the team has had in over a decade. So when you replace Price's performances with a mechanical QB who can't throw, it could get fugly.

Really hoping Sark sees the light with Miles before it's too late. Either that or works some serious magic and he turns Miles into a bizzaro version of Tui. Maybe he does things the hard way, but if he sticks with Miles next year I will fear for his job.

Well, because I respect your opinion so much, I will have to rethink mine. I don't like the lack of discipline. That, and the neglect of the O-line, concerns me more than anything else (now that Holt is gone). To see Sark over there jumpng up and down on the sidelines, with the kids, is great...until the penalties start adding up. I don't know that he commands a level of respect you'd want your HC to have. And again I admit...I don't know.

I see you give Sark a generous share of the credit for the revamping of the D. Is it possible I am giving too much credit to Wilcox? The D from the Alamo to today (for the most part) is night and day. The big change was Wilcox taking over for Holt. If I am wrong, and Sark deserves more credit, what was he doing during the Holt years? I ask because I guess I just don't know.

Then there are the numerous bad decisions on the field. Decisions I believe cost our kids football games. The pooch kicks vs Stanford and the ridiculous wildcat on 3rd and 1 vs Ucla instantly spring to mind. But, the Dawgs are a very emotional topic for me, and when they're losing, of course I am capable of exaggerating a problem. Maybe I've done so with Sark (?).

My Saban comment was certainly tongue in cheek. But what if we can get Pinkel or Richt? I don't think one of those hirings would be stupid, either. I want change. I don't want UO football (it's currently not working), I want UW football. Unbelievably, I find myself gravitating towards USC. USC, whether winning or losing, stay the course. That's a program that understands just how basic football actually is and how it should be played. You don't need flashcards and no huddle offenses to run the ball, stop the run and limit turnovers. Of course they have it easier than us in recruiting, but there was a time that wasn't true. The more of this craptastic average football we play, the harder it will be to dig ourselves out of our own hole. My heart bleeds for this football team and I want wins for our kids as badly as I want wins for us.

I appreciate your well thought out reply and will see if I can rethink my lust for canning Sark.

 

[HawkWow]

Why would firing Sark be "Very stupid"? That's a rather broad statement, Kearly. How stupid would it be if Saban said he wants to honor coach James by taking the U-Dub job? Would firing Sark be stupid then? That is an extreme example, but no more extreme, IMO, than calling the firing of 7 win Sark "stupid". I don't question your knowledge, mine pales in comparison, but after watching this program, and football in general for better than 40 years, I do not believe Sark is HC material at this time.

"Stupid" would be me actually believing his firing is likely.

Fair enough. If he's fired- it's a 95% chance of stupid. On the miniscule chance you can get Saban, of course you'd do it. But unlikely scenario's aside, I definitely think Sark is a head coach- in fact I think he's an NFL head coach. He's outstanding at making adjustments and fixing problems. He's had to deal with a talented but skittish QB behind one of the worst pass pro lines in the conference. His switch to the Oregon style helped hide a lot of problems with the O-line, it made Sankey a MUCH better player, and though Price suffered from the switch at first, during the offseason he coached up Price to handle the offense well in 2013.

He should have fired Nick Holt sooner. Other than that, I love what he's done on defense, building a respectable defense out of mostly low-profile players. He's also recruited extremely well for a guy that's basically a .500 coach playing his games several hundred miles from SoCal. To compensate, he stole away Cal's ace recruiter (probably a coincidence, but Cal has been in free fall ever since).

I'm not worried at all about Sark's job this year, but I am worried about his job after he goes 5-7 in 2014. Not a believer in Miles at all. I like the RB Washington, but he's a step down from Sankey. Losing a ton of weapons on offense, and losing a few key defenders as well. I don't think UW will be terrible next year, but the Pac-12 has never been this good before. UW could finish 8-4 and still only be the 7th best team in the conference. They are probably going to limp to 7-6 this year while posting the best numbers the team has had in over a decade. So when you replace Price's performances with a mechanical QB who can't throw, it could get fugly.

Really hoping Sark sees the light with Miles before it's too late. Either that or works some serious magic and he turns Miles into a bizzaro version of Tui. Maybe he does things the hard way, but if he sticks with Miles next year I will fear for his job.

A friend of mine pointed out something very similar - the odds of landing someone demonstrably better than Sark this year is possibly not great. His argument was that, despite what I want to believe, UW is not as desirable a job as the traditional powerhouses (such as USC), and thus unlikely to land a top coaching candidate in direct competition with USC. Mora is unlikely to bail on UCLA when they seem a step away from competing for a possible title, and unless you think Wilcox is the HC of the future, there aren't any other obvious replacements who would choose to come to UW. Maybe back in their heyday of dominance, but not right now.

I don't keep up with the pulse of which coaches are actually looking in a given year, so it's hard to say for sure he's right, but it definitely made me wonder.

As for Miles, I wouldn't be too quick to bail based on his limited action. I find it hard to believe that all the scouts simply failed to notice he had no arm strength when they scouted him, rated him 4 stars, and when USC was in play heavily for him at the end. He's still young and could improve substantially before he's required to start next year.

It's his actual throwing motion that troubles me. It's got a big wow to it...sort've a loose, looping motion, yet he appears oddly mechanical. I'm not upset with his performance, including the interceptions. I just can't recall a successful QB with a throwing motion such as his. Who knows? Maybe he was protecting an injury and that caused him to elevate his motion. I didn't see much zip on his ball either. But you're right, someone saw something good in him and whatever it was, I hope we get to see it too.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Sark won't be coming to USC. It'll be either Ed O. or a guy like Sumlin.

The one thing I could see making Mora leave UCLA is not being able to keep assistants because UCLA won't pay to keep them or some other money issue.

Agreed on both points.

Ed O is making it very hard to even have a coaching search right now. Which worries me because I'd love Sumlin or Petersen.

But no. Sark isn't coming to USC. He's too similar to Lane Kiffin in terms of wins, losses and pedigree. Sark isn't the raging bag of douche that Kiff was.. but really.. that would NOT go over well.. especially with the steam Ed O is picking up.

I think they will throw a huge contract offer at Sumlin and if that falls short, Orgeron will be the next coach

 

[Hasselbeck]

Report today said Del Rio has interviewed for the USC job.

To be fair that was before the big win against Stanford. Now Orgeron is a very serious candidate. USC hasn't been this excited about its football team since the pre-sanction Pete Carroll days.

 

[Tical21]

I completely adored Sark for a long time. Much more so because I thought he was a genius of a playcaller. Now, what I liked most about him is completely gone. Now we can judge him only as a leader of young men and a recruiter.

He sounds to me now like a guy who has run out of answers. How does he stop losing local kids to other schools? How does he become more consistent on both sides of the football? How does he get the kids to play with discipline and stop committing so many penalties? Is this offense the answer, or a band-aid? How is he going to get this team over the hump and into league championship contention? He sounds to me like a guy who doesn't know the answers to any of these questions. I think he's losing confidence.

I was so excited to see Miles with live bullets, and that lasted for about two minutes. Not excited anymore. We're gonna be in trouble next year.

 

[TheWebHead]

Mora may have an easier time recruiting at UCLA though, and like Sark, and thanks to Pac12 refs, they both seem to have teams that are much to penalized. Year after year, Sark has a recruiting class in the top 25, yet repeated 7-6 records sniff nowhere near a record that matches the top 25 talent he's bringing in.

Interesting though if you look at the Pac 12, there's a lot of teams in bowl eligibility range, 8 already, but I believe there's only 7 automatic spots. If WSU wins 6 and are outside the automatic bids, do they travel well enough to get a bowl invite?