SEATTLE — After serving a one-week suspension for a sideline altercation with a UW student-athlete head football coach Jimmy Lake has been fired.
Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen announced Sunday afternoon that the school has terminated Lake.
Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will remain in his role as acting head coach for the final two games of the 2021 season. The Huskies travel to Boulder, Colorado this coming Saturday before returning home for the Apple Cup.
"Making a head coaching change in any sport is difficult, recognizing that the decision impacts coaches, staff, student-athletes and their families,” Cohen said in a statement release.
“However, as the steward of UW Athletics, I must always act in the best interests of our student-athletes, our department and our university. No one wanted Jimmy to succeed more than I when I hired him in 2019, but ultimately, this change is necessary for a variety of reasons, both on the field and off. I am grateful for Jimmy’s service to Washington, and we wish him the very best of luck moving forward.”
At 4-6 the team needs to win both games to secure bowl eligibility.
Lake, 44, has spent the past seven seasons at UW after coming over from Boise State as part of Chris Petersen's original coaching staff in 2014.
His presence on the staff was felt immediately on the field and in recruiting. One of his first major coups was landing four-star safety Budda Baker out of Bellevue High School (Bellevue, Wash.) after he had made a verbal commitment to Oregon weeks prior.
That '14 class, which consisted of cornerback Sidney Jones, an under the radar prospect who turned into two-time First Team All-Pac-12 selection in 2015-16, and safety JoJo McIntosh, an All-Pac-12 Second Team selection in 2017, along with Baker laid the foundation for the run to the College Football Playoffs in 2016.
Over the years Lake has developed eight players into NFL Draft picks and even more who landed as an undrafted free agent, such as Arizona Cardinals special teams ace Ezekiel Turner. In the coming draft classes that number will only continue to increase when Trent McDuffie, Kyler Gordon and other UW defensive backs hear their name called.
With his impact came an increase in the role Lake had as an assistant under Petersen.
From 2014-15 he served solely as defensive backs coach. In 2016 he was elevated to co-defensive coordinator alongside Pete Kwiatkowski and he maintained that for two seasons before Kwiatkowski stepped aside as the defensive play-caller in 2018 in order to keep Lake on the staff.
During the Huskies run of three consecutive New Years' Six bowl games Lake was offered the Alabama DC position twice, and turned it down both times. It was one of several offers that came in his direction.
Lake maintained both publicly and privately that he was firmly in trenched at UW. So, when Petersen shocked the college football word in December 2019 by resigning as head coach, it was a natural fit for Lake to step right in to the role.
He led the program to a 3-1 record in a shortened pandemic season in 2020, which gave UW the North Division title even though the team couldn't play Oregon due to a Covid-19 outbreak within the team.
However, after a historic 13-7 defeat in the season opener against Montana, and a subsequent drumming from Michigan in The Big House, it was clear that Lake was not a head coach.
No question he was a DB czar. Players said that Lake's practices were harder and more physical than any under Petersen.
As the season continued the pressure continued to mount on Lake and the inexcusable results led to a tipping point against Oregon.
UW had three personal foul penalties against the Ducks, one indicator that on some level he had lost the locker room.
Lake relieved offensive coordinator John Donovan of his duties effective immediately after the Huskies managed just seven first downs in their 26-16 loss at home to Oregon.
It was a move that came at minimum seven games too late to have much of a chance of salvaging his future as UW's head coach.
