Gary Pinkel, Revisited
Posted Oct. 1 at 11:49 am by Mike Seely
If you were to point to a single juncture in time where the University of Washington football program began its downward spiral, you could make a case for when the Huskies hired Rick Neuheisel over longtime Don James assistant and then-Toledo head coach Gary Pinkel nearly a decade ago. We all know what's happened to the Huskies since then, and most of us know what's happened to Pinkel: He's singlehandedly revitalized a long-dormant University of Missouri football program that's now ranked third in the country.
Mizzou recently locked Pinkel in to a lucrative multi-year extension, and rightfully so. But we all know how easy it is to tear up agreements such as those if the coach really has an urge to move on; and pathetic as the program has been for the first part of the 21st Century, the Washington job is still the prestige gig between the two. Not only that, but if Pinkel were to take over the Huskies next year, he'd be given a homecoming king's welcome.
Pinkel's got a good thing going at Mizzou, no doubt, and may nip this sort of talk in the bud as soon as the BCS culminates. But if he doesn't, and UW is able to pursue him, a tacit understanding must be reached: that Pinkel is allowed to use any means necessary to do here what he's done at Missouri. UW isn't Northwestern or Duke, elite academic institutions where success on the football field amounts to gravy (although the Blue Devils are having a pretty damn good year right now, and expect Ty Willingham to end up with the headset on at Northwestern sometime soon). UW is a football school — think Napoleon Kaufman rolling around campus in a brand-new sports car, without any identifiable means of employment. That's what I mean by any means necessary; these kids deserve some sort of compensation anyway for the millions of dollars they bring into the school's coffers. Don't ask, don't tell, just win.
Topics: Huskies
Comments
Would LOVE to see Pinkel take the helm at UW but it ain't happening. As bare as the cupboards are on Montlake, they're overflowing at Mizzou. He's got all of the talent in the state on lockdown, inlcuding a lights out QB waiting in the wings to replace Chase Daniel. Unless it's a real prestige job (sorry, UW lost that status nearly a decade ago) Pinkel is staying put. Which is a shame.
Posted Oct. 1 at 12:24 pm by KeeganOn a related side-note, check out the website for the church Kaufman's now pastor of...slick!
http://www.thewellchurch.net/
Posted Oct. 1 at 12:33 pm by SethWhy, too, would Pinkel want to go from the majors to the minor leagues? Outside USC and Oregon, Pac-10 just ain't the powerhouse of yesteryear. The Big 12, meanwhile, has half its schools currently ranked in the in AP's Top 25.
Posted Oct. 1 at 1:15 pm by Truman the TigerPac-10 is in a down year, but it will bounce back. Still, I don't think he's likely to want to start at the bottom again, just don't see him jumping ship.
Posted Oct. 1 at 2:14 pm by ChrisWoodward would never have someone with "any" formal athletic training or success record work for him.This is beginning to feel more and more like Chuck Armsrong and Howard Linclon at the UW helm.Cougs will be the ultimate beneficiaries...and they are in worse shape,today.
Posted Oct. 1 at 2:49 pm by Seels