SB Nation User Blog: John Berkowitz

Stanford Preview

John Berkowitz — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:50:51 -0000

When Washington heads to the Bay area on September 26th most feel the team will have a 1-2 record and be licking its wounds from thumpings at home from LSU, and USC. The Cardinal contest is a must win on the schedule since it gives the Huskies a shot at evening its record before heading back to South Bend to play Notre Dame.

The Cardinal know what it is like to have to crawl out of the cellar. That is exactly what they have been doing ever since coach Jim Harbaugh arrived on the scene three years ago. The Tree fell short of a bowl bid last season by one game. The goal this season is to win 6-7 games and finish the season some place sunny. Most feel that Stanford is a good bet to do that since Harbaugh has recruited exceptionally well since arriving on the scene.

Stanford welcomes back eight starters on offense and seven on defense. Harbaugh has rebuilt the team from the bottom up by recruiting well.

For Stanford to reach the next level they need to start moving the ball more through the air to balance the attack. Tavita Pritchard returns at QB but he may not be able to hold off Andrew Luck who has the better arm. Toby Gerhart returns at RB after piling up 1136 yards last season. He has a great nose for the end zone scoring 15 times last season. Stanford needs more production from a passing attack that ranked 103^rd nationally last season and had four more interceptions than touchdowns.

The Tree returns eight starters on a defense that is definitely on the upswing. Linebacker Clinton Snyder has all league potential and is the leader of the defense, but the strength should be up front. Defensive ends Tom Keiser and Erik Lorig are capable of wreaking havoc in the backfield and tackles Brian Bulcke and Ekom Udofia are both upperclassmen. Pat Maynor and Wopamo Osaisai both have graduated so Stanford has some major holes to fill to replace those two standouts.

The Cards need to improve their defensive backfield after giving up over 150 yards in passing per game last season. Safety Bo Mc Nally returns and he is solid but he needs some help back there if the Tree is going to improve on being 9th in Pac 10 pass defense. The Cardinal yielded 18 touchdown passes and picked off just seven in 2008, despite getting plenty of help from a healthy pass rush.

Consensus

If Stanford can get more balance in their offense and develop more consistency in the defensive backfield they should be a bowl team in 2009. Coach Harbaugh knows how to fire up his team to play well. The big question going into fall is at QB. Will Tavita Pritchard hold off Andrew Luck? It is all about improved production throught he air for the Cardinal to take it to the next level in 2009.

Early Prediction

You probably will never see me predict anything less than a Washington victory over Stanford whether it is home or away. If Jake Locker is healthy the Huskies should come away with the win and even their record to 2-2. Washington has more balance on offense and even though the offensive line is in need of a rebuild Locker will make them look better than they are. Washington receivers should have a field day against the porous Tree defensive backfield.

Defensively the Huskies will be improved in 2009. Better conditioned and better coached athletes playing with the right attitude should help the Husky defense improve in 2009. Playing a seemingly one dimensional offensive team like Stanford should be a confidence builder for this group.

I am going with a 28-17 victory for the Huskies on the road in this one.

Practice Schedule

John Berkowitz — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:20:40 -0000

Mon., Aug. 10 - Practice
Tue., Aug. 11 - Practice
Wed., Aug. 12 - Practice
Thu., Aug. 13 - Practice
Fri., Aug. 14 - Practice
Sat., Aug. 15 - Two-a-Day Practices
Sun., Aug. 16 - Picture Day (no practice)
Mon., Aug. 17 - Two-a-Day Practices
Tue., Aug. 18 - Practice
Wed., Aug. 19 - Two-a-Day Practices
Thu., Aug. 20 - Practice
Fri., Aug. 21 - Two-a-Day Practices
Sat., Aug. 22 - Practice
Sun., Aug. 23 - Off Day
Mon., Aug. 24 - Practice
Tue., Aug. 25 - Two-a-Day Practices
Wed., Aug. 26 - Practice
Thu., Aug. 27 - Two-a-Day Practices
Fri., Aug. 28 - Practice
Sat., Aug. 29 - Practice
Sun., Aug. 30 - Off Day
Mon., Aug. 31 - Practice
Tue., Sept. 1 - Practice
Wed., Sept. 2 - Practice
Thu., Sept. 3- Practice
Fri., Sept. 4 - Practice

UW picks up top kicker

John Berkowitz — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:36:57 -0000

Alejandro Maldonado has officially verbaled to Washington. This is the second time Maldonado has been in the news with a commitment to Washington but this time the kid has the verbiage down and realizes that a commitment doesn't mean interest....it means that is where he wants to go to school.

Alejandro's coaches think he is the best HS kicker in the country and that is welcome news for Washington in 2010 because they will face a big problem getting the ball through the uprights in 2009.

The Monday Morning Wash

John Berkowitz — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:27:19 -0000

We've been on vacation this week, heading up to Lake Superior and the Michigan Upper Peninsula. The internet, however, followed us on our jaunt, and fortunately it brings encouraging news for Husky fans.

Leading off, Andru Pulu was the only Husky recruit to play in the Washington state all-star football game this past weekend in Everett. Everyone came away impressed with Pulu's performance at inside linebacker. Check out this report from the Daily Herald:

He finished with seven solo tackles and was the only player on either team to reach double digits in total tackles with 12. He also helped clog the line of scrimmage, which allowed teammates to make tackles, and he even swatted down an East pass in the fourth quarter.

The question remains as to where the 6'3 250 monster is going to play at UW. Does he have the speed to play ILB in the Pac 10? Most recruiting experts projected Pulu at DE, needing a year or two to grow into the position. After his play this past weekend, it's clear why the coaches want to try him first at ILB. GIven UW's depth in the middle this year, expect Pulu to RS in the fall, but things will open up in 2010.

Puppy Chow

Scout.com reports that Spanaway HS's Happy Iona played himself into a UW offer at the rising stars camp held this past weekend on the UW campus. Congratulations to Happy, who has been working very hard in the classroom, getting himself into a position to be academically eligible in 2010.

Assistant Strength and Conditioning coach Charr Gahagan is leaving the UW to head up his own S&C department at North Texas University.

WR Tevin Carter, who verbaled to UW earlier this spring, is apparently now headed to Cal. Given the nature of recruiting, don't read too much into any commit at this time; there is plenty of time for changes before Letter of Intent day next February.

According to Bob Condotta's blog last week, the cost of renovating Husky Stadium has been reduced to $250 million, versus the $350 million originally projected. Construction and material costs are down due to the economic climate, but it is fair to surmise some cutting of luxury features in order to trim nearly 1/3 of the original cost.

Jake Locker's dad has been talking contract with the LA Angels. Though it won't effect his football career, it will tie up his baseball negotiating rights for six years should he sign a contract. An added bonus for the Washington Football program, Locker's professional status in baseball will free up an extra football scholarship. Baseball scouts rave over Locker's potential in the game, as most believe he has the ability to be a dominant, five-tool player in the major leagues along the lines of Torii Hunter and Grady Sizemore.

Durocher headed to CWU

John Berkowitz — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:56:41 -0000

Johnny Durocher is returning to a football stadium near you as QB for the Central Washington Wildcats. Durocher;s career took a detour after he discovered he had a benign brain tumor which was removed. The Mariners gave him a chance as a pitcher and the was progressing nicely until he suffered an arm injury. Then it was back to football working out at the IMG sports camp this spring to try to get some notice from the NFL. Since that didn't materialize he is back for one more season on the collegiate level at his third school.

We all love Johnny and we wish him the best at Central.

Huskies make change on the diamond

John Berkowitz — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:56:55 -0000

Ken Knutson who has been the baseball coach at Washington the past 17 years will not be returning next season and his association with the University will end on June 30th.

Knutson has provided stability to an undersfunded sports program which lack the facilities to compete with other Pac 10 members. The Husky baseball stadium is still uncompleted almost a decade after construction was started under the campaign for the student athlete.

A 1981 graduate of Washington, Knutson compiled a 584-399-2 overall record as the Huskies' head coach and went 240-189 against Pac-10 opponents. He has the most wins in school history and was named Pac-10 North Division Coach of the Year three times during his tenure. He led Washington to two Pac-10 titles, four division championships and six appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

Washington State returned to the NCAA tournament this past season. Oregon State has won two national championships, and the UW softball team just fisnished winning their first national championship. Perhaps Washington which plans to complete the baseball stadium in the near future plans to ramp up the direction of the program.

The Monday Morning Wash

John Berkowitz — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:34:55 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

Browse more photos »

The class of 2009 is starting hit campus this week to start the bridge program. It looks like almost everyone from the class is going to make it in which is good news. The only question mark is Tivao and we won't know for sure on that one till later this summer.

Not a lot of news per se going on at the start of this week but Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times had an excellent and informative interview with Coach Dan Cozzetto in his blog.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the off-season conditioning program and what your goals are for your players?

A: It's a seven-week program. I guess in the past there hasn't been a lot of players staying here. We we continue to work on the big three --- benching, cleaning and squatting. A lot of them changed their body types tremendously right now. Ivan (strength coach Ivan Lewis) has done a great job with them, and then we are running. We've got some other guys who need to take maybe 10 more pounds off. And we continue to work on fundamentals. They will have a busy summer in front of them. When they are not going to school they will be in that weight room.

Not a lot of rocket science going on here. Football players don't get better unless they continue to work out year around. They also don't get better unless they are getting proper direction, attention, and focus from the coaching and training staff. Sarkisian and his staff are doing everything to turn the mess around as quickly as possible. They have the formula for success and they have gotten the squad to buy in up to this point.

One thing that really was a joke under the previous three head coaches was the summer conditioning and work out program. Every single summer Molly Yanity would write a feature article about how together the team was and how hard they were working. Every single summer it became evident that they were more out of shape and less together than the previous season. The actual amount of kids actually working hard year around was pathetic compared to the Lambo and James years.

When Sarkisian was hired I estimated it would take 24 months for the team to be completely reshaped from a conditioning perspective. We are all going to see dramatic changes in 2009 during the season but wait till 2010. As S&C Coach Ivan Lewis said they are going to be as tough as nails. If you are a Husky fan that has to be exciting because the history of Washington football is all about toughness.

It is hard to believe that is has been over fifty years since Jim Owens first set foot on the Washington campus bring the Death March he has learned under Coach Bear Bryant at Texas A&M and Kentucky. Things have changed because this is a kinder and gentler time of history. The players are different, the rules are different, and society in general is different. That being said Coach Sarkisian and his staff are making the most of the tools that are available.

Looking around, we had very few guys who can bench 400 or squat 500 plus, or clean 300. That's kind of the norm with football. And the bottom line is football is a power game. Sometimes teams have gone to this high-intensity website stuff. You look at training now, it's going back to the big three (bench, squat, clean). That's what it's all about.

One thing I really notice when I attend the games in person is the physical appearance of our football team in comparison to our opponents. Take Oregon for example. The Duck offensive line's of this decade have made Washington look like a high school team in comparison. The horse like lower body which is developed by squats was simply absent on the UW offensive line. The training and effort to develop that simply hasn't been there.

If you have ever done squats you realize that it is the most demanding and miserable part of weight training. It is much easier just to concentrate on the upper body and ignore total body development. I think most of have noticed that most of the guys had decent pipes and scrawny lower bodies. Some of that is genetics but most of it is lack of proper conditioning.

One major thing that happened under Willingham was that a large amount of the team started working out at the IMA rather than the Husky weight room because of a lack of respect and trust toward S&C Coach Trent Greener. The kids didn't buy in and for some reason Willingham never came up with the answer to remedy that. Without being inside the program it is hard to place all the blame on Coach Greener. Like all the coaches he got his marching orders directly from Willingham. Whatever the core cause of it was it became a major reason why players regressed rather than progressed under the supposed molder of men.

The slide of the Husky football program stopped the minute Steve Sarkisian arrived on the University of Washington campus. Just like the arrival of Jim Owens a little over fifty years ago the Sarkisian era is going to introduce an element of toughness and conditioning that is the core component of all championship programs.

Daschel All Time Modern Pac 10 Coach Series

Nick Daschel has put together a series called the best Pac 10 coaches of the modern era. As a guide point he is using 1959 as a starting point and has compiled a list of 30 coaches stretching back fifty years. It makes interesting reading because coach #30 to start the list is Tyrone Willingham. I guess if you take your team to a Rose bowl you get automatic inclusion.

If you are going to put Willingham on the list you have to include Rick Neuhesiel because he does have that Rose Bowl victory on his resume. Rick was also a bruised Tui tailbone away from going to two Rose Bowl's during his short term at Washington. Say what you want about integrity issues concerning Rick but he was a much better coach than Willingham. Rick comes in at #24.

Bill Walsh at #20?

Nothing against Bill Walsh but his success happened after he left and before he returned to Stanford. Another question is how do you rank Larry Smith and Dick Tomey above Mike Price? I think what Price did during the last five years of his tenure at WSU rivals any accompliany head coach during the modern era including Carroll, McKay, and James.

#11 happened to be a guy named Jim Owens who passed away only last week. I think #11 is a little low for Owens who led the West coast back to respectability in the early 1960's. Expect Don James to be listed inside the top five once this is all said and done. I think anything less than a three will be a surprising snub.

My number one of all time would be John McKay. You can't argue with what he accomplished during his tenure at USC. Number two is very close between Don James and Pete Carroll. After that I would throw in UCLA's Terry Donahue and USC's John Robinson.

I know it is Husky heresy to ever suggest that anyone was ever better than DJ but the overall record of McKay and Carroll are among the best in collegiate history. If it was my list I would go with McKay at #1 followed by James and Carroll in a dead heat at #2.

Carroll as we know has had certain advantages at USC in his tenure and the biggest one may just be the decline of Washington, and UCLA. You take away your two biggest adversaries and it clears a bunch of debris out of the road to greatness. I will say even with a traditionally strong UW, and UCLA to contend with he would still have won most of those championships. Pete Carroll is the real deal IMHO.

James had his own debris clearing when he was coach too. Timing is everything you know. The move by McKay to the NFL, the probation of five Pac 10 schools at one time, and the reduction of scholarship limits to prevent the hoarding of talent at USC all helped him along the way. I will say though that he was beating McKay like a drum before he left which is no small acomplishment.

The thing about best of lists is that they are all subjective. The same writer could tackle the same subject next year and come up with a different conclusion. That is just another reason why they are fun to do.

"He can run, but he can't hide and we will find him!"

John Berkowitz — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:58:03 -0000

The Texas District Attorney has made it a priority to bring former WSU Cougar QB Ryan Leaf to justice back in Texas. He was quoted that he would form a dragnet and extradite him from Vancouver, BC. if he doesn't turn himself in to Texas authorities by Thursday.

A warrant for Leaf's arrest has been out since May 20, when a grand jury issued nine indictments related to alleged use of a prescription painkiller medication. Leaf faces up to 20 years in prison on the felony burglary charge alone!

As we said earlier Texas is about the worst place in the country to be doing something wrong and be caught. Expect Ryan to do quite a bit of time in the slammer if convicted and that conviction is pretty certain in Texas.

On the other side of the coin staying in British Columbia may just be a better option for Leaf if he wants to avoid jail time. While the Texas DA is making some big noise he may not realize that it isn't exactly easy to get someone extradited from the province.

We will see what happens on Thursday and if the promised dragnet commences.

Once again I think the best thing to do in this matter is get Ryan the help he needs rather than throw him in jail for twenty years. The guy is a complete screw up but the punishment needs to fit the crime in my opinion. Of course I am not in Texas.

Don't mess with Texas!

LB Bradly Roussel checks out

John Berkowitz — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:58:56 -0000

LB Bradly Roussel has left the team according to various sources. Bradly never had a smooth go of it at Washington but he is a good kid from a nice family who will end up playing closer to home at a smaller school.

Roussel was a great HS player who was a little too small for this level of competition. He also had a problem with eligibility this spring which didn't really make a good impression with the new staff.

We all wish him the best and will keep an eye on him at his new school.

I think it is a pretty good bet that he ends up at Tulane if he gets his grades and credits in order.

UW Coaches take their NCAA Recruiting Tests

John Berkowitz — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:27:38 -0000