Rivalry week tends to bring out the worst in fans and sometimes the players as well.
But coaches are supposed to be above the fray when it comes to providing bulletin board material. Washington head coach Jimmy Lake obviously didn’t get the memo.
When he was asked about whether Oregon was a recruiting rival, this was the response from is the second-year coach.
“That is way more pumped up than it is” answered Lake.
“Our battles are really,… the schools that we go against, have academic prowess, …like the University of Washington, Notre Dame, Stanford, USC. We go toe to toe, all the way to the end, with those schools. So I think that’s made up and pumped up in [the media’s] world. In our world, we battle more academically prowess teams.”
In true media fashion, this is what any mindful head coach should have said.
We recruit nationally. Oregon recruits nationally. We have each plucked great athletes from each other’s back yards. We’ve won some recruiting battles. They’ve won some recruiting battles. Unfortunately, they’ve won a few more of those battles in recent years. The best way to beat the Ducks off the field is to beat them on the field and we’re looking forward to doing that on Saturday.
Concise and simple. And above the fray.
It’s not that hard. That statement shows some respect for the rival, but at the same time delivers confidence that your team will win on the field.
But Lake decided to go in a different direction.
He thought that insulting every football player on the roster and every athlete that goes to Oregon would be the best message to send. To go after someone’s intelligence and imply they couldn’t get into Washington so they had to settle for Oregon is cheap and lazy.
It’s also not even close to the truth. In fact, it’s a canyon-sized blunder, and it may very well cost him on the scoreboard.
This isn’t the first time Lake spouted out some, shall we say, questionable statements.
Listen Below. He said this at halftime of the Oregon-Washington basketball game in Seattle.
Washington has never “dominated” recruiting on the west coast. And they’ve certainly been lackluster on the field which translates directly to recruiting.
In 2020, Washington’s class was ranked No. 2 in the conference, behind Oregon. Ever since Mario Cristobal became the head coach for the Ducks, recruiting has gone through the roof and the results on the field bear that out.
Not so much for Washington as the Huskies are currently 4-4 and were beaten soundly by FCS Montana in what is considered one of the worst losses in the program’s history.
The Huskies are not dominating in anything, especially on offense as Washington is one of the worst offenses in the nation. Offensive coordinator John Donovan’s time in Seattle is definitely numbered.
Meanwhile, down in Eugene, the Ducks are 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12 North and are well on their way to yet another trip to the conference championship game.
As if Oregon didn’t need any more motivation to go to Seattle and thrash the Huskies, Lake added fuel to that fire.
Thanks Jimmy.
The Ducks appreciate it.