Takeaways from coach Jimmy Lake after UW Huskies first day of fall camp
Months later than expected, Washington finally opened fall camp on Friday under a cloudy sky at Husky Stadium.
It was the first practice of what will serve as a four-week training camp leading up to the Huskies’ season-opener at Cal on Nov. 7. Shortly after it ended, first-year head coach Jimmy Lake joined the media on a Zoom call to discuss his impressions.
“Everybody is just grateful to be practicing and that we’re all on the field together,” Lake said. “I think that’s probably the theme, probably not just here but across the country. They’re happy being with their position coach. They’re happy going through drills and making themselves better and preparing for a season.
“We’re happy that there’s a season and we actually have something to look forward to. … This whole year has made our whole staff and all our players more grateful because they know how fast it can be taken away.”
Quarterback competition
With the first day of fall camp in the books, it’s no surprise that Lake was immediately asked about the quarterback competition between graduate transfer Kevin Thomson, sophomore Jacob Sirmon, redshirt freshman Dylan Morris and true freshman Ethan Garbers.
The media was permitted to watch the first 20 minutes of practice, which didn’t offer much from the quarterbacks outside of warm-up throws. Lake wasn’t in a rush to offer much insight from the rest.
“All those guys are getting reps,” he said. “‘The top four guys, which are the three young guys that are on scholarship and our transfer, Kevin. Those guys are all getting reps. It’s fun watching those guys make plays, make some mistakes. That’s part of practice. We have the whole training camp here to get those guys dialed in for Game 1. It’s going to be fun to watch that competition to play itself out.”
But would he offer an idea of what the early depth chart looks like?
“No.”
Young players take the field
Lake compared it to Christmas morning, the opportunity to finally see the Class of 2020 take the field for a complete practice. While Lake continually stressed that players have four weeks to separate themselves, he did mention a few freshmen that have impressed.
▪ Running backs: Lake said he’s excited about the two new running backs, Sam Adams II and Jay’Veon Sunday.
▪ Wide receivers: Lake didn’t single out any particular player, but the Huskies have three freshman wide receivers on the roster: Jalen McMillan, Rome Odunze and Sawyer Racanelli. “Our receivers have made a lot of plays out there,” Lake said.
▪ Offensive line: The Huskies brought in an impressive offensive line class in 2020 that included three four-star recruits. The offensive line is replacing three starters from last year, but Lake already commented on the talent level. “They jell together,” Lake said. ‘It’s been fun watching (offensive line coach Scott) Huff get after those guys a little bit. You can tell they love it.”
▪ Outside linebacker: The incoming outside linebackers — five-star recruit Sav’ell Smalls and Jordan Lolohea — have been impressive early, Lake said. Lolohea originally signed with UW in 2017 but went on a church mission after high school. “Their pass rush moves and their get off has really been different than what I’ve seen the past couple of years,” Lake said. “(Outside linebackers coach Pete Kwiatkowski) has really done a good job with those guys.”
▪ Defensive backs: UW added freshman Jacob Covington, Elijah Jackson, Makell Esteen and James Smith in the Class of 2020. “They’re the length that we want them to be,” Lake said. “They’re as fast as we want them to be. They’re learning from a veteran group right now. It’s fun watching those guys take the next step, too.”
Lake often used young talent when he was the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. Don’t expect that to change now that he’s taken over as head coach, especially as the Huskies are heading into a season with so many unknowns.
“I’m an equal opportunity employer,” Lake said. “You come in here, you’re ready to compete and you can learn the techniques and the schemes that we’re teaching in all three phases and you’re the best guy, you’re pushing to be the best guy, you are playing. There’s nothing like competition.”
“You can already tell it’s making our team better.”
Two players opt-out
Lake said tight end Jacob Kizer and defensive back Isaiah Gilchrist have chosen to sit out the season due to concerns about COVID-19. Both players are still on scholarship. Eligibility is frozen for all players this season, so both would have the option to rejoin the team in 2021.
“Per our opt-out policy, as soon as they opted out they were obviously not going to be here anymore, not around the team because of the coronavirus concerns, which they have and I totally respect,” Lake said. “Next year, in 2021, hopefully, everything is better and there’s a vaccine or we know how to deal with this virus even better than we’re dealing with it now, and those two guys have the options to join back with the Dawgs.”
Families in the stands
UW is working to find out if players’ families will be allowed in Husky Stadium this season. Lake said it’s a priority.
“We would like to have parents of our players at games,” Lake said. “We are at the will of the local health authorities here in Seattle or wherever we’re playing whether they are going to allow that or not, but there’s no question that I think the first people that should be able to watch the game are the parents of our players.”
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 2:26 PM.
