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UW players playing the waiting game, too

DON RUIZ; don.ruiz@thenewstribune.com
Washington quarterback Jake Locker is on the advisory committee appointed to help select the school’s next football coach, yet he is as curious as anyone to find out who it’s going to be.

“We’re just kind of waiting for them to narrow it down and see who they’re going to seriously start looking at,” Locker said Tuesday. “To be honest, I really have a lot of respect for (athletic director Scott Woodward) and how he’s dealt with a lot of things to this point. I trust him. I think he knows the game. He’s been at places (LSU) that have had very successful programs, and he knows what it takes to win. I have no doubt that he’s going to find the best guy for our situation.”

Locker said the committee held one meeting in mid-November shortly after being created by university president Mark Emmert. Woodward and Emmert are driving the search, with the committee in place mostly to make sure the selection meets basic university standards.

Locker, the lone active player on the committee, said he believes the best guy might be someone who would raise the passion level a few notches from coach Tyrone Willingham, who will leave the program after UW’s season-ending game at California on Saturday.

“We need a guy that will kind of get up and get in your face and might challenge you more outwardly,” Locker said.

Locker will sit out the Cal game – his eighth miss since breaking his thumb Sept. 27 against Stanford.

The original prognosis indicated that he might return by mid-November.

Locker on Tuesday called that wishful thinking, explaining that the damage to his thumb was more significant that originally realized.

The thumb remained in a cast for eight weeks, the stitches were removed last week, and Locker recently began rehabilitation – mostly to restore full range of motion.

He said he expects to be ready for spring practice, under the new coach.

Meanwhile, several of his teammates also expressed varying degrees of interest in the man who will inherit what is now an 0-11 football team with a 13-game losing streak dating to November 2007.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Ronnie Fouch: “There’s a lot of rumors. Everywhere I went when I was home (in Northern California for Thanksgiving), everybody was asking me, ‘Who’s the new coach? Who do you hear is coming in? What’s the rumors?’ None of us know.”

True freshman receiver Jermaine Kearse from Lakes High: “I try not to worry about it as much, and just let it happen. But you tend to just ponder about it, wonder who’s going to be the next coach, what’s going to happen here, how the offseason’s going to go.”

Sophomore defensive back Quinton Richardson: “It’s killing us. We do follow the rumors. ‘Oh, we’re going to have him, we’re going to have him.’ Some of us joke around: ‘Oh, I found out this is our new coach.’ So we joke around with it. We’re just waiting. … We try not to focus too much on it. We try to focus on this game, get it out the way. In time we’ll know. Patience is a virtue.”

Extra points

Willie Griffin opened practice this week as the likely starter at tailback. … The Huskies practiced in Dempsey Indoor. They are expected to stay inside leading up to their trip to Cal, where game-time temperatures are expected to be in the mid-60s. … Locker and Fouch said a players-only meeting was held before the Apple Cup, stressing the need for players to take responsibility for finishing the season strong. … UW sophomore DB Victor Aiyewa (3.67 pre-science) was named to the Pac-10 all-academic first team. Junior DB Tripper Johnson (3.25 arts & sciences) was named to the second team. Honorable mention were sophomore OT Cody Habben, junior FB Paul Homer, senior K Ryan Perkins and sophomore FB Austin Sylvester.

Don Ruiz: 253-597-8808

blogs.thenewstribune.com/uwsports

LATEST ON UW’S COACHING SEARCH

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, named Tuesday as the Big 12 Conference coach of the year, was reported by Texas and Washington media as being in Seattle and interviewing for the UW job, but Tech athletic director Gerald Myers said he is preparing a raise and a contract extension.

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said that he will remain with the Bearcats, thanks, in part, to the university’s commitment to improve the football stadium.

Oregon announced that coach Mike Bellotti eventually will become athletic director while offensive coordinator Chip Kelly moves to head coach. Kelly had been mentioned early as someone the Huskies might be interested in.

But even as Oregon’s news closes the door to Kelly, it could open a window to Boise State coach Chris Petersen, who was honored this week as Western Athletic Conference coach of the year. Petersen has said he plans to stay in Boise; however, there had been speculation that he might have been waiting for the Oregon job to come open. With that job now filled, he might reassess UW’s possible place in his career plans.

Clemson kept interim coach Dabo Swinney on full time. Swinney wasn’t in UW’s plans, but the decision removes Clemson from the list of possible competitors for other openings.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Utah officials are interested in working out a deal to keep hot-property coach Kyle Whittingham.

Finally, this was the one of the hot-rumored days for the coronation of Jim Mora as Huskies coach. Even if that time element passes uneventfully, there is no indication that the Mora talk will pass with it. Several new reports, rumors and speculations arose Tuesday: some certain he’s in, some certain he’s staying with the Seahawks.

Don Ruiz, The News Tribune