Softy & Dick 3-20 Hour 1: Dannen Gone, Mike Florio, Fun w/ Audio

In the first hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain discuss Washington Athletic Director Troy Dannen leaving Montlake for the same job with Nebraska, plus the guys talk about that plus more NFL news with Mike Florio of PFT before reacting to some Fun w/ Audio.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Weird go and guys, I amso happy. I am actually a hashtag
thankful that this Troy Dan and newsdropped today and not tomorrow when the entire
station starting at nine to a halsoff the air for college basketball. I
mean, Chuck and Buck would havehad this whole thing to theirselves, and
that's not fair to any of us. So thank god this thing dropped today.

(00:21):
And I'll tell you what, wealways asked the sports gods Dick to
spread the story signe, so wecould have some fun with this. We
had Kaalin Debor, we had PeteCarroll, we had Nick Sabin, and
now we have Troy Dan and allin the first couple of months in twenty
twenty four. It is unbelievable howmuch change is happening right now on Mott
Lake. And I gotta tell youwhat, I am generally not a guy

(00:42):
that enjoys a lot of change,Okay, kind of stuck in my ways
with my certain things. I liketo eat, certain things, like to
drink. TV shows we like towatch. You come to our house.
We're we're watching Friends from thirty yearsago, Big Bang Theory from twenty years
ago, the same stuff every singlenight. But The amount of change happening
at Washington right now is ludicrous.Twenty twenty one, jen Co and Jimmie

(01:03):
Lake, twenty twenty two, jenCo and Kaylen de Boor twenty twenty three,
Troy dan and Kaylen de Boor twentytwenty four, Jetfish and god knows
who running the athletic department. Itis unbelievable how much change has happened on
Montlake. And look, I mean, when things like this happen, you're
always asked, well, what areyour emotions are you? Are you pissed
off? Are you frustrated? Areyou sad? Are you bummed out?

(01:25):
Are you happy? The guy left? Blah blah blah. And I gotta
tell you, man, I wasseverely bummed out when Kaylen de Boor took
off for Alabama. Was severely bummedout when that happened. I do not
feel that way with Troy Danon atall, because I have my own experiences
with him. You have experiences withhim. A lot of people that work
at Washington have experiences with him,and a lot of this might be explained

(01:52):
by what was happening. And Ifeel kind of weird saying this because I
don't like talking about people's personal lives, But a lot of this dick might
be able to be explained away bywhat was happening in Troy Dan's personal life.
Yes, his wife was not here, his kids were not here.
There's now reports that his wife wasnever coming up here, to which I
would just ask the Parker search firm, who did the search for the new

(02:13):
ad? What do you do?And I would also ask the University of
Washington did we not know that?Did we not look at this situation?
And ask missus Danin are you coolwith this? Are you enjoying Washington?
Do you want to make the move? Because if that was the case,
if there was any concern whatsoever thatTroy Danen would never be able to convince
his wife to move to Seattle,I'm sorry, but you may not be

(02:37):
a guy I want to hire.So I would just ask the Parker Search
from what the hell was going onthere? And then number two, Look,
we can argue all day long aboutwhat kind of ad Troy Danen would
have been down the road. Thejetfish thing may work out tremendously. The
new hire of a basketball coach,whoever that guy was going to be,
may have worked out tremendously, Butthere is no question that behind the scenes

(02:58):
at Washington today there are a tonof people that are happy to see this
move made tons because he turned offa lot of people, and we saw
that up and close and personal.The day Jetfish was hired, guys,
and I have not told this storyyet on the air, but I will
now. The day Jetfish was hired, Dick and I are doing the show
before the press conference, filling infor Pucking Jim because Rich didn't want a

(03:21):
couple of cougars on the air fromyou dub fair enough, right, So
we're on the air doing the showfrom the recruiting lounge that day press conference
at eleven. Dick and I areon the air at ten o'clock, and
you can go back and hear thepress the podcast all you want. We're
on the air and we're talking aboutthe Jetfish hire, and we're saying things
like, is he the right guy? We don't know, look at his
resume, he likes to bounce around, he's kind of a vagabond, blah

(03:42):
blah blah. About five minutes intothat show, I get a text from
one of the associate ads at Washingtonsaying, Troy is pissed at you guys.
He wants you gone. He wantedto kick us out of the press
conference broadcast that day because we werenot falling in line with the hire of
Jetfish to his liking, to whichI said to this person that sent me

(04:03):
this text, I said, look, if we leave and we go on
the air and say the ad isthrowing us out of here, that's gonna
make you and him and everybody elselooked five times worse than whatever you think
is going on right now on theradio show. So we stayed. And
that kind of sensitivity that day wasmind boggling to me how this guy who

(04:24):
worked at Tulane, who's been aroundmajor Colwich athletics, could be that sensitive
to somebody going on the air andliterally, I think again just describing what
this guy's resume had been, aresume that, by the way, Jetfish
has joked about many times since hegot the job at UB and he wants
to throw us out of there.The night after or the Friday morning on

(04:46):
the radio station when Kaylin Debor wassupposed to appear with Chuck and Buck.
Remember that whole thing we went throughwith Chuck and Buck. There's a tweet
that goes out that we send outfrom the radio station, and I have
a copy of it as a matterof fact, right in front of me.
Here. The tweet says, Huskyfans, we know you were looking
forward to a visit with coach deBorr this morning. Please understand the coach

(05:08):
to Boor and UDA Athletics are continuingto work towards a future we can all
be excited about. At this time, he will not be joining us this
morning. And then that afternoon hetook the Alabama job. Obviously, that
day before Kaitlan took the Bama job, I got a phone call from another
associate ad who's asking me, hey, who the hell sent that tweet out
from KJR talking about Kaylen and thedepartment working towards the future together. I

(05:30):
said, your boss, Your bossapproved it. They had no idea,
Dick, They had no idea whatthis guy was doing behind the scenes.
He had cut off everybody at Washington. So when I say, there's people
that you dub that are glad tosee this relationship, and that's exactly why.
Because it was so fun and Irealized that we're not about having fun

(05:51):
here, We're about winning games andchampionships, and if Troy, Dan and
Dick had to come in here andrule with an iron fist, then that's
what he had to do. Butthere were a lot of people working behind
the scenes at Washington that were nottreated the right way whatsoever the minute this
guy showed up, and he turneda lot of people off, including big
time donors by the way. Sowhen I say I'm not saddened to see

(06:15):
this relationship end, I'm not.I think Washington's getting a reset here,
boys, they're getting a reset.And then go now right to option B,
Dick, whatever Option B was lasttime, if that's still available,
or you want to go bigger andcall tide lie Wiki, go for it.
Everything you are hearing I am hearingfrom your contacts, from my contacts,
the lack of communication, maybe puttingmore focus on relationships outwardly with other

(06:40):
ads, with powerbrokers of college footballthan on the people that work under him.
And that causes dysfunction, right,it causes the dysfunction. I always
thought he was wound very very tightlyever since the first time I ever met
him. Now you may have theremay be a perfectly good reason for which
is what you were exactly talking abouthis family situation. If I was away

(07:03):
from my family for six months ina new job three thousand miles away,
I'd be wound very tightly as well. But we'll talk more about it later
because I know we have to goto Florio, right, But just to
back up that point, this isa guy who was trying to work on
a new gig and establish whatever culturehe wanted to establish, well at the
same time not having any idea whatwas going on, you know, behind

(07:23):
the scenes with his family. Soyou might be able to explain it all.
But we'll talk more about this comingup again. Mike Florio joining us
right now. It's time for aweekly conversation with Pro Football Talks Mike Florio,
brought to you by Simply Seattle.Tired of buying and repping the same
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(07:46):
Sonix collection in the world, checkout simply Sattle dot com. Now with
Mike Florio, here's SOFTI and Dick. All right, get back to the
Troy Dannon Conversation, a segment ofJoining us right now. The King the
undisputed at heavyweight champion, baby ofall NFL media, Pro Football Talk dot
Com, the NFL, and NBCPFTLive. Our friend Michael Florio, Michael,
how are you, pal? I'mdoing great? How are you today?

(08:11):
Yeah? Yeah, I gotta trustme. We're all buttholes. We
are aware that we are butt youjust me, all right? So I'm
the buttley. Thank you? Whatabout? I know it's not really your
arena because you're more focused on theNFL, but we're all sitting here today,
Mike. I'm just be curious toget your take on Troy Dannen Uwad
was here for six months, itis now gone taking the job at Nebraska.

(08:33):
And this is kind of a reflection, if you will, of college
athletics, with the amount of changeand movement happening right now in this sport.
So what do you say to Huskyfans that are kind of their heads
are spinning with all this change herein Seattle? Well, this isn't the
college football I've known for fifty years, where people actually make business decisions that
are in the best interest of themselvesand their families. Oh wait, that's

(08:56):
always applied to coaches, Nad.It just doesn't apply to players until now,
and God forbid, players have theright to make those same decisions.
I think it's hilarious here people likeNick David and say, all these players
want to know about now is howmuch are we going to get paid?
Well, isn't that the first questionyou asked at any job you're applying for,
how much does it pay? Youdon't have what's your policy on open

(09:18):
toad sandals? You ask how muchdoes it pay? So I have no
problem with what you're talking about withthat happening. If the contract allows it,
if the school allows it, that'show it goes. You make decisions
that are best for you and yourfamily. Look at what happened to the
guy that was the and I'm forgettinghis name already, that was the offensive

(09:39):
coordinator at Washington, goes to Alabamaand leaves in a matter of weeks,
come back and be the Seahawks offensivecoordinator. You make the decisions that are
right for you, and if it'sfine to the people on the management side,
it should be fine to the peopleon the player's side as well.
Mike, Now to the NFL,what is the plan for justin fields in
Pittsburgh and why did the market dryup so much for him. I think

(10:03):
that Arthur Smith's the new offensive coordinatorin Pittsburgh, the former head coach the
Falcons, has already drawing up playsthat will get Fields on the field,
along with quarterback Russell Wilson. Assumingthat Wilson holds the QB one spot,
he's been essentially handed QB one.That doesn't mean he'll keep it if he
performs horribly in offseason workouts and ortraining camp and or preseason. If he

(10:26):
plays in the preseason and or earlyin the regular season and Fields looks,
good nature takes its course and Fieldsends up playing, That's just the way
it goes in football. But Ithink the Steelers envision this as a steal,
and that is not with pun intended. You were looking at a depth
chart that they had wanted to keeptogether at some point. I think the

(10:48):
pivot came because I think they wentinto the offseason hoping to bring back Mason
Rudolph and had him compete with KennyPickett and let's just see how it goes.
I think when they got Mason Rudolph'sfirst demand for a new contract,
someone realized, wait a minute,this guy wants how much and we can
get Russell Wilson for one point twomillions. Maybe we got this all wrong.

(11:09):
Let's just blow it up. Let'sget Russell Wilson. And then they
had Fields fall into the laps.And I think that part of it by
the Bears. This whole idea ofdoing right by Justin Fields means the next
time a team does right by aplayer, and also you know something that
isn't right by itself will be thefirst time. It's always the best interest

(11:30):
to the team. And I thinkin this case, this is the theory
I've been cooking up, and Ithink there may be something to it.
They need to have Caleb Williams towant to go to Chicago, and if
Caleb Williams think they're screwing around withthe last guy they took in Round one
three years ago, he looks atthat and says, well, they may
screw around with me. Maybe that'sthe deciding factor. And I don't want
to play for the Bears. SoI think they had a clear self interest

(11:52):
in taking care of Justin Field andputting him where he wanted to go,
because that helps create a scenario whereWilliams doesn't think they're going to screw me
next, Mike Florio with US.Is Aaron Rodgers really going to run for
vice president? And what do youthink of the job as GM has done
of putting together a decent football teamover the offseason. Well, first of

(12:13):
all, over the weekend, newscame out that Robert F. Kennedy Junior
is not going to name Aaron Rodgers'VP. So it was a very short
lived experiment. Apparently, according tomediaeight dot com donors, big donors to
RFK Junior were troubled by the newsthat it could be Aaron Rodgers. So

(12:33):
Rodgers is out. Nicole Shanahan isin no relation to Kyle. She is
going to be named the VP nextTuesday. So Rodgers is out. The
Jets never believed he was going todo it. I think it was a
short term publicity play for RFK Junior'scampaign, and it worked. People became
aware of it, people talked aboutit, even though it ended up making
Aaron Rodgers look even a little morecooky than he already does. The GM

(12:54):
in New York is doing a greatjob because he's no longer listening to Defacto's
GM. Aaron Rodgers instead of DavidBOTIORI. They go get Tyron Smith instead
of maybe OBJ who Aaron Rodgers wouldwant, they go get Mike Williams.
That's one of the things that Igotta be carefw I couched this, I

(13:15):
heard this, I was told thisrumor, the source, whatever, bottom
line is here. It's a factAaron Rodgers' role as someone with actual input
in the configuration the roster is over, and I think some of these moves
we've seen this year underscore that,especially if they don't sign Boti. I
mean, if they could get Bockarifor peanuts, then so be it.

(13:37):
But Bocktiari is available. Smith isavailable, and my understanding is they made
an offer to Smith they never thoughthe'd accept. They were stunned that he
took a deal to pay six pointfive million with an upside of thirteen and
a half on top of the sixto five. They did not expect him
to take that, and he didso. I think they're very happy about
the two deals they've done this weekand the Jets trying to trying to be

(14:00):
team next year that we thought theywere going to be last year with lower
public expectations. I think they likethe fact that people think They're not going
to be great this year. Theyjust hoped to do what they were going
to do last year. Dak isin the news for a couple of different
reasons this week. First of all, does the restructure of his deal say
anything of as long term future there? And then what's going on with this
extortion case? I haven't seen anyrecent development, says of last week,

(14:24):
he had filed a lawsuit against awoman and her lawyers who had accused him
of sexual assault and threatened a lawsuit. The accuser alleged victim whatever appropriate term
we need to use because nothing hasbeen proven yet, was supposedly going to
be filing a counterclaim with some sortof legal action against Dak Prescott. Even

(14:46):
though the lawyer and I spoke tohim last week for about fifteen minutes on
the record. They recognized that themost obvious claims that would come from an
alleged sexual assault are barred by theapplicable statute of limitations because this thing allegedly
happened in February twenty seventeen. Sothis is a player turning the tables on

(15:07):
an effort that he believes is frivolousand false and exaggerated. And it never
happened. So instead of just defendingthe lawsuit when it comes, he decided
to take the initiative. It's agussy move, and it's a gussy move
for the Cowboys to simply restructure hisdeal, lower his cap number by a
little bit, and deal with thefact that he enters the final year of
his contract with no way of keepinghim for twenty twenty five. They cannot

(15:31):
use the franchise tag based on theway his contract is structured. He will
be a free agent next year.He'll be Kirk Cousins. Next year,
He'll be Baker Mayfield. Next year. He'll be a guy who decides,
based upon what else is out therefor him, what he's going to do.
And I think the Cowboys have justcome to the conclusion that there isn't
going to be another team that decidesto break the banks for a guy who's

(15:54):
been around since twenty sixteen and whodoes not have a history of postseason success
and has had some great years,some good years, some down years,
an injury that wiped out most ofthe year. I think the Cowboys are
banking on no one making him anoffer that he will take instead of whatever
the Cowboys want to pay Mike Floriowith us on the radio show Before You

(16:14):
Go. We haven't spoken since theHawks made the move for Sam Howe.
What does the Sam Howe trade sayto you about Gino Smith's future or the
Seahawks' willingness or unwillingness to draft aquarterback high in this draft. I think
they still would potentially take a quarterbackif the right quarterback falls to them.
This is a low cost investment ina player who was still young. That

(16:37):
was something John Schneider pointed out lastweek. Younger than Bo Nick's same age
as Michael Pennix junior, twenty threeyears old, played a lot of football
last year, was durable in aseason with a lot of quarterback injuries.
He went wire to wire. Hethrew a lot of passes. They were
impressed with how he performed when Washingtoncame to play the Seahawks and almost beat
them. I think the final scorewas twenty nine to twenty six. They
like what he can do. Theystill say Geno Smith is the guy.

(17:00):
I mean, you've got the GMwho says Gino is the guy, and
you've got the head coach who won'tcommit to Geno as the starter, and
you just wonder what's going on here. But the bottom line is if Gino
Smith falters and Sam Howe impresses them, why wouldn't you ultimately flip the switch.
It all comes down to whether ornot Geno can play at a high
enough level, and you've got options. And here's the other thing too.
Look at last year, look atall the quarterback injuries. You need to

(17:23):
have two guys at a minimum,and I think some teams are going to
potentially carry three guys on their activeroster, understanding that what we saw last
year might not be an aberration.We might see more and more quarterback injuries
moving forwards. Michael, great stuff, and glad to know there's only one
buttole here on the show. Appreciatethat. We'll talk in a week man.

(17:44):
Thank you. Nick. All right, Mike Florial with us. All
right, let's go back to theDanning conversation. Good guy. How many
people driving around right now, Dick, who have real jobs and real things
to worry about, have no ideaTroy dan and UWAD is no longer the
UWAD. He left today for Nebraska. And if you think this story is
weird, I will tell you nextsegment, how it's even weirder than you

(18:06):
think, coming up on ninety threeto three KJR event. Now back to
Sophie and Dick on Sports Radio ninetythree point three kJ RFN no Washington Huskies.
See, I don't crack. You'rehome for the Huskies, and I
think Troy fits all the criteria youknow that I think we're all looking for.
He is accomplished athletic director, andhe knows the issues facing college football.

(18:27):
He's an unbelievable guy. And it'sno slight to the University of Washington,
which is a wonderful place my sister'salma mater. But I just know
that he wanted to come home andhe wanted to be here. All right.
That's Matt Ruhle, the head coachto Nebraska, talking about his new
boss, Troy Dannon, who tookthe Nebraska job today. And if you
think that's weird, think about theidea that yesterday, Dick in Palm Springs,

(18:48):
there was a big Husky donor eventin the desert yesterday and this morning,
Troy Dannen, Anna Marcuse, thepresident of Motley Futures, and a
bunch donors were on the same flightleaving Palm Springs Airport to Seattle, while
Annamark Housay was approving that press releasesaying she was disappointed in Troy for leaving

(19:11):
for the press all at the sametime. So he was look yesterday at
this event. I've talked to numerouspeople that were there, and he did
say that Tulane football spends more moneyon football than Washington does, which was
met with audible groans by the crowddown there right in front of the president.
So it's possible he knew at thattime he was taken off for Nebraska.

(19:32):
But I just think in the end, man, he never felt comfortable
here. He never looked to me, Dick like he felt comfortable in Seattle
at that job. No, you'reright, I think, like I mentioned,
I think he was wound very tightly. I think he wanted to come
in and control everything right away beforeestablishing relationships with anybody. And when somebody
does that, I don't think there'sany surprise that five months later when he

(19:56):
leaves, there's a sense of reliefover there. Right now, that's the
best word to describe it. Andpeople can people can call it spin all
they want, And I know they'rehaving a field day on social media.
But listen, like you said inthe first segment, we weren't saying this
about Kaylin de Boor. No,every situation is different. Of course we
were sad that Kaylen de Boor left. That was a gut punch that Kaylan

(20:18):
Bore left. Because we're not sayingthat about Troy Dannon doesn't mean we're spinning
anything, right. And look,I'm also not saying that Troy Dannon was
going to be a horrible they are. I'm absolutely correct, just telling you
what we observe behind the scenes.And let me ask you this, how
many U DUB employees today have youseen take to social media saying how sad
they are to see this guy goarro. I haven't seen one person,

(20:42):
not one, not one coach,not one associate, ad, not one
assistant, not one person has goneto social media today to say how sad
they are to see this guy gowith Kaylan. With Jen, right,
I mean, Jen was there forthirty years, it was a totally different
story. But I just think inthe end, I know a lot of
people are having fun with Washington's youknow, tumultuous times, and there are

(21:04):
tumultuous times. I mean, goodGod, we're talking about, you know,
going from Jen con and Jimmy JenCohen and Kayln Troy and Kaylin to
who knows who and Jed Fish.So yes, there's a lot of change.
I will say exactly what I saidafter Kaylen de Boor took off.
Washington will be fine, because Washingtonis always fine. And this unfortunate situation

(21:26):
that you Dub finds itself in rightnow is going to be rectified within weeks.
Yes, there will be a newad, a new basketball coach.
Everything will be taken care of eventually. So I still think you Dub is
in the right spot and a greatspot moving forward into Big ten. I
don't know what Anamarra's future is.There's rumors about her maybe stepping down the
next year or so. We'll seewhat she does. But I just think

(21:48):
in the end, Washington's got toomuch tradition, it's too big a brand
to completely fall apart. And Irealize there are some Husky fans and some
fans that say that it feels likethat, it feels like everything's falling apart
right now at U Dub. Idon't feel like that at all. Because
I think again, Troy Dan andstepping aside actually might be a good thing
for U, dub Orhen it's allsaid and done. I mean, go

(22:10):
back to some of the names thatwere on the list, you know the
first time. They're not big names, right, Ed Scott at Virginia,
Chris Pesman Houston, Chrissy Rawalk fromDelaware, Stephanie Rempe from Nevada. Jeremiah
Donati is the ad at TCU wentto ups by the way here in Seattle,
in the area Puget sounds, sohe might be a guy that wants
to come back home. I thinkyou go big. If you're anam a

(22:30):
dick, I'll say you exactly whatI said the first time. Put Pat
Chun's name on that list as well. Pat Chun may have been looking for
the Ohio State job initially, andthen when that job fell apart for him,
maybe he would be willing now tocome to Seattle. I'd call Todd
Laiwiki. I would do exactly whatI did the first time, and I
called Todd Laiwiki and I would say, hey, look, you've done everything
there is to do in pro sports. The one thing you haven't done is

(22:52):
run a College Athletic Department. Thingsare changing now more than ever. This
job is not like it was fiveyears ago. It's more pro based than
has been. And ever Wilby potentially, why do you come over and do
something new, challenge his competitive spirit? And you know what, if he
says no, he says no,but you can't hurt from asking a guy.
And if he says no, he'salso a guy I would lean on
for advice big time. And Iagree with John Wilner when he tweets today

(23:15):
that Washington needs to find somebody thathas a little bit of Washington in him,
or at least knows what the situationis. You brought a guy over
if you want continuity, you broughta guy over from Tulane. You went
on this big national search. Yougot the hot guy from a guy from
Tulane, and he lasted five monthsbecause he wanted to be closer to his
family. So I mean, that'ssomething that has to be has to be

(23:37):
taken into account. But you're exactlyright about Washington. The bones are strong
at the University of Washington, bothat the school and at the athletic department.
And this is this is an absoluteblip on the radar. As far
as the long term health of thisorganization. I've got no worries whatsoever in

(23:57):
the University of Washington long term becausewell, and look, I mean,
I know people say and Dick,I totally agree with that. But people
say things, and I'll say thingslike you gotta find somebody who fits the
culture, right, Okay, Wellwhat does that mean? Well, what
that means is that, whether youlike it or not, there are certain
political boundaries in this area that youhave to abide by. End the story

(24:22):
doesn't matter if I like it,It doesn't matter if you like it.
It is what it is. Right. This is a different atmosphere here in
Seattle versus Tulane or Tuscaloosa, Alabama, or Gainesville, Florida, or Fort
Worth, Texas. Right, it'sjust a different environment. So when I
hear a story that Troy Dannon ata State of the Union address with his
department earlier this year, back inJanuary, literally told people that he has

(24:47):
no time for the DEI program atWashington Diversity Equality Inclusion, and that people
walked out of the room when hesaid that earlier this year, that's another
sign that this is not right forthis job. That's it end to story.
And again, this is not apolitical commentary on my part whatsoever.
I'm just saying that when you takethe job, you have to read the

(25:10):
room, and I feel like Troywas unwilling at times to read the room.
Now he may have changed as themonths and years go by, right,
he may have developed, and hemay have you know, developed,
you know, some kind of aconnection and kind of you know, a
continuity with the with the atmosphere here. But that wasn't happening after five and
a half months. I think partof this for Troy is the family situation.
Another part of it. I justdon't think the guy ever fit here.

(25:33):
He was never comfortable here, whichbrings up the question why was the
guy hired in the first fricking place? Why was he hired in the first
place? Dick? It was setup to fail from day one because of
the family situation. I think you'reright. I think I think it could
have succeeded even if his culture didn'tfit Seattle's culture right away. I think

(25:56):
eventually he would have acclimated to it. May I've learned, yeah, for
sure, though with the family situationand his wife not him reportedly not wanting
him to take the job in thefirst place, and him never seeing them
for the first five months of himbeing here, that that is just set
up for failure from day one.Well, I mean, look, I
will tell you this that after thesituation at Jet's press conference where he wanted

(26:17):
you and me thrown out because wewere criticizing the Higher, which we were
not doing that whatsoever. Look,let me just tell you something, guys.
I've been doing this a long time. Dixon do this a long time.
We may come across as dopes,but we're not stupid. And nobody
at this radio station is going towalk into U DUB and the coaches offices
and go on the air live literallyfifty feet from Jedfish's office and rips Hire

(26:40):
and start slamming the Higher. Okay, I mean that is the height of
stupidity. So when we go onthe air and we're going through his resume,
which again he's Jed has joked abouteven on this radio station since he
got the job, wondering if he'sthe guy, will he be here long
term? I think Troy Dan inthat day was almost looking for kind of
a state run media type thing,and he wasn't getting it from and that's
why he threatened to throw us out. That's why he wanted us thrown out.

(27:03):
That's why he sent over an associatead to kick you and me out
of the recruiting lounge at Washington toleave the show, get in the car,
and go back to the radio station. But things like that again,
we sat down, i'll be honestwith you, about a month and a
half ago, and we had dinner, me and Troy for two hours at
Duke's shout Out Dukes on Lake Union. Hashed a bunch of stuff out and

(27:26):
said, look, dude, I'mon your side on this thing. I'm
a Husky. I want this thingto work. But you got to realize
that there's passion here for this job. And I don't know if he was
not getting that at Tulane. Maybethat wasn't a part of the process at
Tulane like it is here. You'redealing with a much bigger fan base,
of course, much bigger media coresthan you are down there. Maybe he

(27:47):
was just kind of stunned by allthat. But I said, Troy,
the one thing you cannot do isyank away the passion from Husky fans.
And if that passion came out thatday in the form of me wondering if
Jed's gonna be here long term?Deal with it? All right, deal
with it, And he may haveeventually dealt with it, But I think
again, he was just never comfortablehere with this gig, and it's time
for you to have to find somebodywho is Yeah, you know what,

(28:10):
I think I will restate what Isaid earlier about Troy Danan and the positive
I think his type is well suitedfor the direction that college football is going
in. No question, I thinkjedfish Is type is well suited for the
direction college football is going in.But we'll find out if jedfish gets comfortable

(28:33):
with this area and with this footballteam and stays your long time. We
know that Troy Danon never was Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, Well again,
I think it's probably time to hiresomebody fairly quick. I mean, we
just saw what Nebraska did, forGod's sakes, they hired somebody fairly quick.
So with the coaching search for thebasketball team, that right now,
I think is the biggest topic ofconversation and maybe the biggest concern. Aaron

(28:55):
O'Connell, who's the interim AD rightnow, who's the interad. When Jen
left for USC, she was onTroy Danna's leadership team. And if they
were down the road with a headcoach candidate, I don't see that changing
with O'Connell. If it's a guylike Sprinkle, for example, who I
believe wanted to be at Washington,no matter who the AD was, I
don't think it matters. But ifit was a guy like a Will Wade

(29:17):
for example, who you've thrown hisname out there. If it was a
guy like a Will Wade and thatrelationship going back to Louisiana was a big
reason why they were talking to him, then that may change. But I
think again, if they are downthe road with somebody, I don't know
if this really changes any of thatbecause I think O'Connell will continue that path
whatever they're on right now, andyou don't want to start over in that.

(29:38):
I mean, I think if thetiming were different, then this would
have happened, you know, rightbefore Hopkins. I mean, what would
have happened had Hopkins not been fired? Right? I mean with a new
AID, it would we have anotheryear of Mike Hopkins potentially because an AD
would have been hired and going like, hey, I'm not going to fire
a guy without watching him coach onebasketball game. So in that sense,
I think it was the timing wasit's good for the University of Washington because

(30:02):
we were so far down the roadin hiring a new head basketball coach,
as close as maybe even a weekfrom hiring a new head basketball coach.
So I think O'Connell can close thedoor on that. And I do trust
Troy Dannin's, you know, hishis research in trying to find the right
guy. All Right, we've gottabreak a little fun with audio. I
think Petros, Oh man, whatare you to have Petros on the air

(30:23):
at four o'clock this afternoon right hereon ninety three to three KJRFM. It's
now time for someday in Dick's funwith audio, Jimmy g pawn Star,
Jimmy mister garoppolo. Now let's havesome fun with audio. You know I
did tith today, Dick, Ihaven't done for a long, long time,
my friend, long long time.Oh yeah, I had a scar.

(30:44):
I had a drink before twelve o'clocktoday. My head was my head
was freaking spinning. My phone wasringing, off the hook. I had
a major headache. So about elevenforty five boom cracking rum down the hatch.
Really, see when I have aheadache. When I have a headache,
I can't go he can't go tothe bottle. It just makes my
head ache worse. Well, Idon't know, man, lucky you.
I can't lucky you. All right, let's do a little fun with audio

(31:07):
slash. Hey did you hear that? Hey, Dick, did you happen
to hear what's that? Dick?We start last night on the CBS Sports
postgame show former Sonic Wally's Zerbiak reactingto Virginia scoring forty one points, forty
one yards and a loss to ColoradoState in the first four yesterday. The

(31:29):
way you perform in this tournament,it puts the committee unnotice. They made
a mistake putting Virginia into the NCAATournament. Every bracketologist was saying it they
go out and play like this,it's unwatchable basketball. The way they played
today on national TV. The committeemade a big mistake by putting this team
in the NCAA tournament this year.And it's nothing against Tony Bennett. He's

(31:49):
a great national championship winning coach,but his team did not belong on this
floor with Wow. Well, Ijust I got two questions for you.
How long is Tony be can toride the national championship in Virginia because when
he's not winning a national championship,he's losing in the first round every single
year. And then number two,He's exactly right because when Virginia made the

(32:12):
first four, a lot of peoplewere like, what are we doing here?
And man, they made the committeelook stupid. Last night, Virginia
was ten points lower in Ken Palmthan any other team that made the NCUBLEA
tournament. Amazing and that's just atleast in the in the at large sense.
Do you how many minutes of realtime they went last night without scoring
a basket, actually without scoring apoint? Yeah, I saw that.
D two minutes fifty two minutes betweenthem scoring point. They had fourteen points

(32:38):
for fifty two minutes of real timeuntil the sixteen minute mark left in the
second half. They had fourteen pointsin that game. Do you realize Tony
Bennett's last NCAA tournament win was yes, a few rounds later than Mike Hopkins,
but it was the same year asMike hopkins last NCUBA tournament win was
it? Was it the title game? Yeah, Hopkins won the first and

(33:00):
then that year Bennett made the championshipgame. Bennett hasn't won a game since.
Yeah, he's got I think he'sgot six wins in the tournament and
all of them came and won yearevery single year. Uh yeah, I
mean it's it's boring basketball. Hewon a couple of games at Wazoo,
but in Virginia, every game he'swon has come I think in the same

(33:21):
damn season. Man. So Idon't know. Man, It's it's pretty
brutal when that happens like that lastnight, because that was not fun to
watch whatsoever. All Right, what'snext, Hey, Dick? Did you
happen to hear that? What's that? Dick? Let's go to number one.
Back. On October ninth, TroyDannon, be now Nebraska athletic director,
joined us for his first interview wasWashington's ad and had this to say

(33:45):
about taking the job on Mount Lake. Most of his misprofession, you always
have that place that go boy,if that job ever opens, that's the
one on one. Everything's in place, and and I go back to Hey,
I'm not moving again into my thirdjob. It's gonna be my last
job. But I want to gosomeplace where you can win. And you
know, I love Tulane. You'regonna win a national championship to Lane.

(34:07):
You win national championships here, andit's been proven. I just I just
think he just he just wasn't evenprepared to take the gig, you know,
personally, professionally, whatever. Imean, there's certain things and decisions
that you make at home where youhave to involve your wife. Yes,
this is one of them. Movingacross the country would be one of them.
And he's coming on the air andhe's talking about I'm never leaving,
all right, Does missus Dannon knowthat? Is she aware of this?

(34:29):
Like what's going on? And look, maybe things changed, Okay, I
have no idea what was going onbetween the two of them. Maybe he
came out here and she was allfired up and then move change of heart.
But this just sounded like he wasn'teven remotely prepared to make this move.
No, you don't. I thinkhe wanted to LeVar bullet. I
think he wanted to speak it intoexistence, because I believe him when he

(34:51):
said that and I believed him whenhe said that because I think he wanted
to make it happen. I thinkhe wanted to make it work. I
didn't think I don't think he thoughthe was leaving in f five months to
go to Nebraska or any place else. But it just obviously didn't well.
I think we should skipped the numberthree Jackson, Dick. Did you happen
to hear that? What's that?Dick? After Cathern de Borr left?

(35:12):
You dubbed for Alabama? Former UFquarterback Isaiah Standback Garfield High Graduate had this
to say, lamenting the school's issuesmaintaining and keeping talented people. What's going
on? Coach Peterson was an amazingcoach at the University of Washington, But
why did he abruptly retire? JenniferCoyn was an amazing athletic right there at
the University of Washington she left.Is not just finances, y'all. There's

(35:36):
something that's a lot deeper than what'sgoing on, and something that we haven't
necessarily put our finger on. Ifwe don't identify what that is, we're
going to continue to repeat history.Is it the culture? Is it the
environment? The living environment in thecity of Seattle that has diminished. It's
something. Why are we in thisposition where we have to continue to try
to make this decision in Twitter orthumbs and figure out what the next move

(35:59):
is. Shouldn't be that way,y'all. We have to figure out what
was that can what this problem is. We got to put our finger on
it, and that means that we'regot to dig a little bit deeper and
we're probably gonna find some things thatare a little bit painful. But in
order for us to have sustainability,we have to be able to diagnose what
the issue is. And that's whyit's we're looking in the mirror. So
I mean, is there an epidemicat Washington or is this just circumstance with

(36:20):
Kaitlin de Boorr happening to be thehottest coach in college football at the same
time as the Michigan and Alabama jobare open, and the circumstance of hiring
an ad who maybe just maybe wasn'ton the same page with his family about
moving out here. I like andrespect Isaiah Standbeck. I completely disagree with
the last minute of audio I justheard. It was all of these things

(36:44):
have to be taken individually. JenCohen was here for thirty years. My
god, Chris Peterson had nothing todo with Washington. He still works at
Washington. Had nothing to do withWashington that he left. It had to
do with the direction of college football, which now, by the way,
he seems pretty clairvoyant, doesn't he, because everybody thinks of college football and

(37:07):
college athletics now the way he didwhen he quit, because he saw it
coming. Yeah, yeah, nodoubt. From that perspective, I think
Chris is I don't want to usethe word dinosaur because that's almost that's that's
not respectful. But he's an oldschool guy, right, and there's a
new school moving into college football atwhich him and guys like Nick Saban I
think don't really want to be apart of. And I respect that,

(37:29):
But you're gonna have to find away to get some new school people here
and to find a way to keepthose new school people here. And there
are people that have worked at Washingtonbefore Dick that will tell you sometimes it's
hard to get stuff done at UBbecause of the atmosphere, because upper Campus
doesn't support the athletic department the waymaybe it should. You're moving into a

(37:50):
heavyweight boxing match with Ohio State,Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin,
USC and Oregon. They have tobe ready for that. And if
they're not ready for that, andI mean financially not ready for that,
and if the will is not thereto be ready for that, then they
could be in trouble. But I'mthinking, I don't think it's a common
I don't think it's an uncommon problemwhat you're talking about that. I don't

(38:12):
think Washington is by itself in anystretch of the imagination. So guess what.
The ones that are uncommon are theones that win and the ones that
are elite. And I want Washingtonto be elite. And if they don't
prepare themselves for this move and theydon't hang on to those new school people
that we're talking about, it's goingto be a long, long ho in
that conference. We're gonna break Petro'sPapadaki's a great day to have him on.

(38:34):
Oh my god. He will joinus next on ninety three three KJRFM