September 4, 2026 • 19 mins
Former Huskies Head Coach Chris Petersen joins Dave Softy Mahler to talk about the Apple Cup on Sunday and the future of the game past 2026, WSU Head Coach Kirby Moore, who Chris knows well, how far UW can go in 2026, Demond Williams and the offense around the quarterback, looking back on the 2016 team and the honor coming.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
High formation.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Snap to Browning. They'll just hand Gaskin again.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Left side.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Gaskin has a hole.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Gaskin into the open field across the 50.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Miles Gaskin inside the 20-yard line.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Left sideline.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Miles Gaskin is.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Ripped out at the pylon. Two arms up. Touchdown, Washington.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
80 yards.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Miles Gaskin to the house.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
All right, well, it may not feel like it for
some people, but it is Apple Cup week. I'm telling you,
it's actually happening Sunday at 1 o'clock. Hear the game
right here on 93.3 KJRFM. Kickoff at 1.05. Pre-game show
starts at 9 from the zone. And whenever I think
of this game, I always wonder if there's ever one
game that Chris Peterson really misses. as the head coach
(00:44):
of the Huskies. It's got to be this one because
he never lost to Wazoo, and he outscored the Cougars
by 140 points in the six games he coached in
the Apple Cup and is with us right now on
the air talking some college football and talking some Apple Cup. So, Coach,
I know there's a lot about this game and this
sport and crazy business that you don't miss. How about
(01:07):
taking part in the Apple Cup after all the success
that you had in that game, man?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well, it never really felt like that, you know, outscoring
by the number you just said. The games just always
felt like they were going to be tight and hard fought.
And there was a lot of emotion going on. And so,
you know, that's kind of par for the course. You know,
you don't really appreciate those things and some of the
(01:33):
work that's going on so much later. So that's kind
of my feelings on that. What a special game, you know,
and it's a little bit unfortunate that just like all
of college football, the whole stage has changed. And so
the stakes feel different. But, you know, you got to
(01:55):
credit Washington and Washington state still trying to play this
game as long as they can, even if they have
to move it early in the season, it just is
what it is. And we'll see how it goes from there.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, no doubt. You got, you got three games left
in the series contract coach as of now going through
2028 and You know, there's a lot of Coug fans
that I know, and I'm sure maybe some Wazoo people
that you talk to that just don't know if they've
got the stomach to keep this thing going. You know,
I'm curious to see what kind of crowd the Cougs
get for the game on Sunday. But put yourself in
the Wazoo shoes for a minute, right, of a fan,
(02:28):
of a booster, of a coach, of a maybe administrator, AD, whatever.
What do you think you'd feel in your gut about
keeping this thing going if you were on the opposite side?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah. It's hard going to a gunfight with a knife, right?
I mean, that's what I think about. Um, it's just,
there's some, there's some cool things going on in college football.
I know we always talk about the negatives and, you know,
all the chaos behind the scenes. The Saturdays are still
(03:00):
really cool, but probably the thing that bothers me the most,
certainly from my roots and where I come from is
the separation, um, between the haves and the have nots,
so to speak. And, you know, it's just the separation
is becoming so great. Like when I was a boy
(03:20):
back in the day, you could feel those things. I
remember visiting some places and, you know, some of the
Texas schools and Texas A & M and just scratching
my head going, Holy smokes, they have all this stuff
going on. How do they not win all their games?
And then we go back and, and, you know, try
to figure out how to compete with those type of
guys in a bowl game or something like that. But
(03:42):
how we competed with them is we were able to
get underrated talent and really develop that talent and keep
them with us for a while. And they turn out
to be much better players than people thought they were
going to be. And so when you are paying these
kids so much money and you can take them out
of developmental places, like the Boise's, the wazoo's, the, Oregon State,
(04:08):
San Diego State, or the world, that's really hard and
really frustrating when that component goes away. It's one thing
to be able to not go after the same recruits.
That kind of always has been going on in college football.
You had to pick your battles wisely before the transfer portal,
(04:28):
before paying kids and all those types of things. But
you could still find really good players and you can
keep them developing. The developmental programs are Texas, Notre Dame,
Ohio State, you know, Washington. I think Jeff's done a
great job of keeping those guys there. Those are the
developmental programs because you can keep your good young talent
(04:49):
there and pay them.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Right, right, right. Well, you got a guy on the
opposite side in Kirby Moore, Coach. Chris Peterson's with us. And,
I mean, all of a sudden, you got a pretty
damn nice coaching tree going for you. I mean, you know,
two guys that you know very well, and Kellen with
the Saints and Kirby now with the Cougars. But, I mean,
you tell me. I mean, what does Kirby Moore bring
to the table? I don't think Washington– I'm trying to
(05:13):
remember if we played him when he played for you
at Boise. I think we may have seen him when
he was a wide receiver, but certainly not as a
head coach, obviously. What is Kirby Moore going to bring
to the table on Sunday in this Apple Cup, you think?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
You know, Kirby and his brother, Kellen, they're so similar.
You know, Kellen has always kind of got the headlines
because he was the quarterback and a darn good one
at that. I mean, one of the best to ever
play college football. And then Kirby being the wide receiver
and the little brother, you know, in some ways has
kind of always been behind the scenes. But They were
(05:47):
so similar. And I start with really their football IQ
and their smarts. They're really, really smart people and smart
football coaches. And then, you know, I move quickly to
something that I think a lot of people probably don't
talk enough about in this emotional coaching world is their temperament.
(06:10):
They are just so rock solid steady. They're not going
to ride the roller coaster. And if they feel it inside,
the players and the people around them and the coaches
aren't going to feel that. And thirdly, you can't find,
you know, in both Kirby and Kellan, but talking about
Kirby here, you can't find better people. Like they're just
(06:31):
high character quality human beings. And so, you know, these
are the type of people that you're really rooting for,
not because you just have a connection, but when you
do get to know Kirby and Kellan, So many of
the people that he's assembled on that staff, it's really
an interesting game for me, right? Because we've got the dogs,
you know, opening. It's on a Sunday. I'm actually going
(06:52):
to get to be able to go to this game.
But there's eight other people on that staff that I'm
connected to that we either played for us on the
staff of Boise or in our staff at Washington that
are on that Washington State staff. And it's, you know,
that's a hard way to come out of the gate.
First time head coach building your program against what Jetfish
(07:14):
has built and building there at Washington. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, it's funny because the last time I asked to
have you on the show was before the L.A. Bowl
with Boise and UW. And you said, nope. I'm going
to sit this one out. So I'm surprised that you said, yep,
to come in on this one for the Apple Cup.
But obviously, it's a different animal now. And you mentioned
all the names and the people that you know. And look,
we'll talk about what's going on Saturday with a 2000 Sunday,
(07:37):
what's going on with a 2016 team in a minute.
Coach Peterson's with us. Apple Cup Sunday pregame show starts
at nine here on KJR. But when you look at
this roster that Jed Fish has put together, Do you
see a potential Big Ten championship caliber team? Do you
see a college football playoff team potentially? What do you
(07:59):
see when you look at what Jetfish is working with?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, you know, I actually think that Washington, when I
put on my college football analyst hat and that kind
of humorous airsoft between you and I being in that chair, right?
But when I go that direction, I actually have Washington
as a true sleeper this year. I know people are
(08:23):
buzzing a little bit about them and all those types
of things and they're ranked, what, 17th? But I do
have them a sleeper, meaning that they could get into
the college football playoffs. I mean, I really do think that.
Some things got to fall correctly for them, but I
love how their schedule lines up. I love how it
starts out. And I think it's really important that you
(08:45):
get off to a fast start good confidence building start.
I always think that's about kind of figuring out our identity.
We think we know who we're going to be and
we want to be, but it's never quite exactly that.
And so the way the schedule shakes, you know, kind
of accumulating in the first four games with a home
game at Minnesota, I like that because I think Minnesota
(09:06):
is always going to be a scrappy, hard competitor. So
that'll be a good little test. And then the one
that everybody's got circled is the next game going down
at USC. But I think that game is positioned so
well for the Huskies. Because the game before that, the
Trojans are playing the Ducks at USC. And any way
(09:28):
you cut it, the way I see this, that's a
win for the Dawgs. A win in terms of before
the game's played, emotionally. Because the Trojans are going to
be all in on that game. The Ducks will be
all in on that game. That's going to be super emotional.
There's going to be a lot of bullet shot. Win
or lose. And so you got to regroup after that game.
(09:49):
I've said this a million times. I think you're a
different team after every Saturday. Sometimes a little bit better,
a little bit more confident, sometimes not so much the
other way. And the coach's job is to kind of
figure it out. out where we are and go from there.
But I think that that is a well-positioned game for
the Huskies. right there going down there. And then just,
you know, I like everything else about it. And Penn
(10:11):
State's going to be an improved team, but we get
them at home. Iowa's always hard. Iowa, I think that's
going to be a problem prior to coming here. And
then certainly the last two games. I mean, I think
he could come down to these last two games. We've
got Indiana at home and then have to go to
Eugene to play the Ducks. And so I kind of
like the schedule. I like the talent that he's accumulated there.
(10:33):
I like the fact that this is year three. You
follow Jeb's track record. He just keeps building. And so
I think this is a really interesting team.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Well, a lot of it,
as you know, it's unfortunate to pin a lot of
this on one position. But unfortunately, in football, more so
than any other sport, Coach, and you know this as
well as me, sometimes it just comes down to one guy,
and that's the quarterback, right? And here's DeMond Williams, who's
wearing Warren Moon's old number one. We haven't seen a
Husky quarterback wear number one in almost 50 years on campus.
(11:04):
And he's grabbing that this year. You know about what
happened over the offseason. Seems like the team has put
that behind them for the most part. But if you're
coaching DeMond, if you're advising DeMond, what do you need
to see out of now number one this year and
year three that maybe you didn't see last year?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Well, I think it's all the things that Judge Fish
has talked about, you know, and you're right. You know,
a lot of this, I mean, the quarterback position, in
my opinion, is the greatest position in all of sports.
That position has to go and has to be successful.
And it was for the most part last year. But
to take the next step, that position has to take
(11:43):
the next step as well. And I think DeMond will
take the next step. The question is, again, as a coach,
as a head coach on offense, the whole thing you're
trying to do is make that position as successful as possible.
So what do we need to do there? Number one,
you got to run the ball and you got to
run the ball as effective. That just takes so much
(12:06):
pressure off the quarterback. And when I look at that,
the one guy that I think they need to get
back in that mix is Landon Hatchett. I think he's
completely underrated. I think he's a way better player than
most people in this city give him credit for. He's
a leader. He's the heart and soul. That guy is
a very good football player. And so, you know, they
(12:29):
got some depth there now, and so they're going to
be okay. But I think Landon is a big key
for that offensive line. I think the running backs, hopefully
they can stay healthy. If Simon sees Quade Cargo, Jaden Lamar,
I think is a really good player. He's got to
get healthy, stay healthy, all those things. And then do
they have enough firepower out wide, you know, to help
(12:49):
them on? I think that Chris Moss is a really
interesting new piece added. Desmond Roebuck's going to be good,
Rasheed Williams. And so, you know, it's depth, you know,
because you're just not going to have all those pieces
as you go through this season. That's just not real football.
So you have the guys underneath them that can step
up and make this happen. The defense, again, you want
(13:10):
to talk about underrated. I think this defense, I think
Ryan Walters is truly one of the best coordinators in
the country. It's almost, to me, a little bit like
a no-name defense. I mean, here in Seattle, we know
the names. Mm-hmm. But the sum of the parts is
better than the whole. Those guys played really well. They
did last year. And I think they're going to be
better this year, even though they lost some of those
(13:31):
really good corners. And, you know, I just think the
pieces that they have stacked in there, that linebacker crew
is deep and experienced. I like that. And I think this,
even being an offensive-leaning kind of coach all my career,
championships are won on defense. I mean, the offense, yeah,
(13:52):
we've got to score points. But when you're playing really
good teams or on the road, you're not going to
score the same amount of points week in and week
out that you're used to. That just doesn't happen. When
you're playing Indiana and Oregon and going on the road,
you don't usually score like you would normally. That's when
(14:13):
the defense has to come to life. And that's so
much where the toughness of your team comes from, too. Yep.
And so I like this defense. And so I think that,
you know, those are all the things that I think
about this team right now.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, we're going to see you on Sunday. I know
you got Fox duties, TV duties on Friday. Chris Peterson's
with us talking Apple Cup. And I don't know, man,
I don't know how often you play the what if game.
I played a lot. I mean, I'm a Seattle sports fan.
I got plenty of opportunities to play the what-if game, right?
Not just with the Seahawks and Mariners and Sonics, but
(14:47):
that 2016 game against Alabama, man. What if? What if
Buda Baker had picked off that pass? What if Jake
hadn't thrown that pick six? What if Bo Scarborough? Blah, blah, blah.
Drives me nuts. But what I think people forget is
the accomplishment, 15-year wait to win the conference game. and
go to a game like the peach bowl what you
(15:08):
did not see because you were with the team was
the party across the street at the bar outside the
golf course where we had to wait an hour and
a half to get on the air because of a
high school game that we were carrying and by the
time we did go on the air nobody was in
the right shape to be on the air but you
guys provided a massive party for us and you provided
a massive point of pride for Husky fans to, to, to,
(15:31):
to end that street coach and get us back to
a PAC 12 championship for the first time since 2001,
that team's going to be honored Sunday. You're going to
be there when you think now, God, we're talking what,
you know, 10 years later, uh, what do you think
about when you think about that club?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
I think the first thing that just jumps into my
mind when I think about that team and maybe a
couple of teams even after that team, but like, really
just all the good players that we had. I just
always think that, that, you know, I think sometimes, whether
it was even at Boise or Washington, I think probably
(16:12):
the most underrated thing about our programs was the players
that we got. We just had some really good players.
And you don't end up getting to a four-team college
playoff without some of the best players in the country.
And that's what I think happened with us. I think
that we had this talent that just was really, really outstanding.
(16:32):
And then I will tell you this. It was really
interesting because, you know, you better than anyone. You hear
all these things and all these regrets. In fact, half
the stuff you just talked about, I didn't forget. Now
I'm going to have a bad day. Sorry.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
My fault. Think about the Colorado game. Think about Colorado instead.
All right.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Why would I? What Colorado game? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Which one? The championship game that you won in Santa Clara.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I was going back to my last year when we
lost at Colorado. So that's how we think, right? No,
not that one. We think the same. So, but let
me just say this. So going into that 2016 season
with that team, you know, we've been there two years
and we were kind of going backwards. You know, the
first year we had a lot of good players, underachieved,
(17:16):
We didn't have our act together. I didn't have my
act together enough to get those guys all aligned. Next year,
we lost a lot of good players, played a bunch
of true freshmen. Bitter on this 2016 team, right? And,
you know, scratching and clawing to win games, and we
were in every game in the fourth quarter, just couldn't
quite get it done. And I remember in that offseason,
(17:37):
a couple different players, John Ross, Coleman Shelton, some guys
that had been around, and... some of those like kind
of older guys leader type guys and I remember them
coming up to me independently in the weight room in
the spring and they're like coach you know we're going
to be good this year right and I'm like why
(17:59):
would you say that and I did I was just
like you know and they all said this too they
all said you know I know we always say that
at Washington we always say that and I just said
what makes you say that I've heard this before and
they said no we are going to be good And
they all kind of made a reference that what we
want to do now is win. And whatever that takes,
(18:22):
I think we're over ourselves. Like before, it had all
been us trying to like get ours. And, you know,
it's just that like team first mentality. It's like, you know,
everybody needs to start and everybody needs to catch so
many balls and everybody needs this role. This team has
really just said, even going into that. I remember John
Ross said, hey, if I got to go back to
(18:43):
defense and play defense, or if you leave me a
receiver and I don't catch any balls in the game
and we win, I am good. And I promise you that.
And so I heard that from these different guys. And
I'm thinking, hmm, this is going to be interesting because
that is the number one requirement to a championship gold
(19:04):
standard type team is to have this team first mentality.
Whatever the role is that this team needs, you're all
in on. And I felt that from these guys going
in and the rest kind of happened.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, no doubt. Well, I'm glad you guys are getting
your due on Sunday. A lot of big names, a
lot of great guys on that team. And swing by
the pregame show if you're so inclined. Greg, Lewis, Mario,
myself will all be there. We'd love to see you
in person and say hello. But, hey, in the meantime,
appreciate you doing this. Always fun to catch up, all right?
Great to see you back on TV for another year.
(19:39):
Still weird to me that you're doing it, but you're getting.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Grayed out, by the way.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So keep it going, and we'll see you on Sunday, hopefully,
all right?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Appreciate you, Safdie.
High formation.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Snap to Browning. They'll just hand Gaskin again.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Left side.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Gaskin has a hole.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Gaskin into the open field across the 50.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Miles Gaskin inside the 20-yard line.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Left sideline.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Miles Gaskin is.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Ripped out at the pylon. Two arms up. Touchdown, Washington.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
80 yards.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Miles Gaskin to the house.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
All right, well, it may not feel like it for
some people, but it is Apple Cup week. I'm telling you,
it's actually happening Sunday at 1 o'clock. Hear the game
right here on 93.3 KJRFM. Kickoff at 1.05. Pre-game show
starts at 9 from the zone. And whenever I think
of this game, I always wonder if there's ever one
game that Chris Peterson really misses. as the head coach
(00:44):
of the Huskies. It's got to be this one because
he never lost to Wazoo, and he outscored the Cougars
by 140 points in the six games he coached in
the Apple Cup and is with us right now on
the air talking some college football and talking some Apple Cup. So, Coach,
I know there's a lot about this game and this
sport and crazy business that you don't miss. How about
(01:07):
taking part in the Apple Cup after all the success
that you had in that game, man?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Well, it never really felt like that, you know, outscoring
by the number you just said. The games just always
felt like they were going to be tight and hard fought.
And there was a lot of emotion going on. And so,
you know, that's kind of par for the course. You know,
you don't really appreciate those things and some of the
(01:33):
work that's going on so much later. So that's kind
of my feelings on that. What a special game, you know,
and it's a little bit unfortunate that just like all
of college football, the whole stage has changed. And so
the stakes feel different. But, you know, you got to
(01:55):
credit Washington and Washington state still trying to play this
game as long as they can, even if they have
to move it early in the season, it just is
what it is. And we'll see how it goes from there.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Yeah, no doubt. You got, you got three games left
in the series contract coach as of now going through
2028 and You know, there's a lot of Coug fans
that I know, and I'm sure maybe some Wazoo people
that you talk to that just don't know if they've
got the stomach to keep this thing going. You know,
I'm curious to see what kind of crowd the Cougs
get for the game on Sunday. But put yourself in
the Wazoo shoes for a minute, right, of a fan,
(02:28):
of a booster, of a coach, of a maybe administrator, AD, whatever.
What do you think you'd feel in your gut about
keeping this thing going if you were on the opposite side?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yeah. It's hard going to a gunfight with a knife, right?
I mean, that's what I think about. Um, it's just,
there's some, there's some cool things going on in college football.
I know we always talk about the negatives and, you know,
all the chaos behind the scenes. The Saturdays are still
(03:00):
really cool, but probably the thing that bothers me the most,
certainly from my roots and where I come from is
the separation, um, between the haves and the have nots,
so to speak. And, you know, it's just the separation
is becoming so great. Like when I was a boy
(03:20):
back in the day, you could feel those things. I
remember visiting some places and, you know, some of the
Texas schools and Texas A & M and just scratching
my head going, Holy smokes, they have all this stuff
going on. How do they not win all their games?
And then we go back and, and, you know, try
to figure out how to compete with those type of
guys in a bowl game or something like that. But
(03:42):
how we competed with them is we were able to
get underrated talent and really develop that talent and keep
them with us for a while. And they turn out
to be much better players than people thought they were
going to be. And so when you are paying these
kids so much money and you can take them out
of developmental places, like the Boise's, the wazoo's, the, Oregon State,
(04:08):
San Diego State, or the world, that's really hard and
really frustrating when that component goes away. It's one thing
to be able to not go after the same recruits.
That kind of always has been going on in college football.
You had to pick your battles wisely before the transfer portal,
(04:28):
before paying kids and all those types of things. But
you could still find really good players and you can
keep them developing. The developmental programs are Texas, Notre Dame,
Ohio State, you know, Washington. I think Jeff's done a
great job of keeping those guys there. Those are the
developmental programs because you can keep your good young talent
(04:49):
there and pay them.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Right, right, right. Well, you got a guy on the
opposite side in Kirby Moore, Coach. Chris Peterson's with us. And,
I mean, all of a sudden, you got a pretty
damn nice coaching tree going for you. I mean, you know,
two guys that you know very well, and Kellen with
the Saints and Kirby now with the Cougars. But, I mean,
you tell me. I mean, what does Kirby Moore bring
to the table? I don't think Washington– I'm trying to
(05:13):
remember if we played him when he played for you
at Boise. I think we may have seen him when
he was a wide receiver, but certainly not as a
head coach, obviously. What is Kirby Moore going to bring
to the table on Sunday in this Apple Cup, you think?
Speaker 1 (05:27):
You know, Kirby and his brother, Kellen, they're so similar.
You know, Kellen has always kind of got the headlines
because he was the quarterback and a darn good one
at that. I mean, one of the best to ever
play college football. And then Kirby being the wide receiver
and the little brother, you know, in some ways has
kind of always been behind the scenes. But They were
(05:47):
so similar. And I start with really their football IQ
and their smarts. They're really, really smart people and smart
football coaches. And then, you know, I move quickly to
something that I think a lot of people probably don't
talk enough about in this emotional coaching world is their temperament.
(06:10):
They are just so rock solid steady. They're not going
to ride the roller coaster. And if they feel it inside,
the players and the people around them and the coaches
aren't going to feel that. And thirdly, you can't find,
you know, in both Kirby and Kellan, but talking about
Kirby here, you can't find better people. Like they're just
(06:31):
high character quality human beings. And so, you know, these
are the type of people that you're really rooting for,
not because you just have a connection, but when you
do get to know Kirby and Kellan, So many of
the people that he's assembled on that staff, it's really
an interesting game for me, right? Because we've got the dogs,
you know, opening. It's on a Sunday. I'm actually going
(06:52):
to get to be able to go to this game.
But there's eight other people on that staff that I'm
connected to that we either played for us on the
staff of Boise or in our staff at Washington that
are on that Washington State staff. And it's, you know,
that's a hard way to come out of the gate.
First time head coach building your program against what Jetfish
(07:14):
has built and building there at Washington. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, it's funny because the last time I asked to
have you on the show was before the L.A. Bowl
with Boise and UW. And you said, nope. I'm going
to sit this one out. So I'm surprised that you said, yep,
to come in on this one for the Apple Cup.
But obviously, it's a different animal now. And you mentioned
all the names and the people that you know. And look,
we'll talk about what's going on Saturday with a 2000 Sunday,
(07:37):
what's going on with a 2016 team in a minute.
Coach Peterson's with us. Apple Cup Sunday pregame show starts
at nine here on KJR. But when you look at
this roster that Jed Fish has put together, Do you
see a potential Big Ten championship caliber team? Do you
see a college football playoff team potentially? What do you
(07:59):
see when you look at what Jetfish is working with?
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah, you know, I actually think that Washington, when I
put on my college football analyst hat and that kind
of humorous airsoft between you and I being in that chair, right?
But when I go that direction, I actually have Washington
as a true sleeper this year. I know people are
(08:23):
buzzing a little bit about them and all those types
of things and they're ranked, what, 17th? But I do
have them a sleeper, meaning that they could get into
the college football playoffs. I mean, I really do think that.
Some things got to fall correctly for them, but I
love how their schedule lines up. I love how it
starts out. And I think it's really important that you
(08:45):
get off to a fast start good confidence building start.
I always think that's about kind of figuring out our identity.
We think we know who we're going to be and
we want to be, but it's never quite exactly that.
And so the way the schedule shakes, you know, kind
of accumulating in the first four games with a home
game at Minnesota, I like that because I think Minnesota
(09:06):
is always going to be a scrappy, hard competitor. So
that'll be a good little test. And then the one
that everybody's got circled is the next game going down
at USC. But I think that game is positioned so
well for the Huskies. Because the game before that, the
Trojans are playing the Ducks at USC. And any way
(09:28):
you cut it, the way I see this, that's a
win for the Dawgs. A win in terms of before
the game's played, emotionally. Because the Trojans are going to
be all in on that game. The Ducks will be
all in on that game. That's going to be super emotional.
There's going to be a lot of bullet shot. Win
or lose. And so you got to regroup after that game.
(09:49):
I've said this a million times. I think you're a
different team after every Saturday. Sometimes a little bit better,
a little bit more confident, sometimes not so much the
other way. And the coach's job is to kind of
figure it out. out where we are and go from there.
But I think that that is a well-positioned game for
the Huskies. right there going down there. And then just,
you know, I like everything else about it. And Penn
(10:11):
State's going to be an improved team, but we get
them at home. Iowa's always hard. Iowa, I think that's
going to be a problem prior to coming here. And
then certainly the last two games. I mean, I think
he could come down to these last two games. We've
got Indiana at home and then have to go to
Eugene to play the Ducks. And so I kind of
like the schedule. I like the talent that he's accumulated there.
(10:33):
I like the fact that this is year three. You
follow Jeb's track record. He just keeps building. And so
I think this is a really interesting team.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Well, a lot of it,
as you know, it's unfortunate to pin a lot of
this on one position. But unfortunately, in football, more so
than any other sport, Coach, and you know this as
well as me, sometimes it just comes down to one guy,
and that's the quarterback, right? And here's DeMond Williams, who's
wearing Warren Moon's old number one. We haven't seen a
Husky quarterback wear number one in almost 50 years on campus.
(11:04):
And he's grabbing that this year. You know about what
happened over the offseason. Seems like the team has put
that behind them for the most part. But if you're
coaching DeMond, if you're advising DeMond, what do you need
to see out of now number one this year and
year three that maybe you didn't see last year?
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Well, I think it's all the things that Judge Fish
has talked about, you know, and you're right. You know,
a lot of this, I mean, the quarterback position, in
my opinion, is the greatest position in all of sports.
That position has to go and has to be successful.
And it was for the most part last year. But
to take the next step, that position has to take
(11:43):
the next step as well. And I think DeMond will
take the next step. The question is, again, as a coach,
as a head coach on offense, the whole thing you're
trying to do is make that position as successful as possible.
So what do we need to do there? Number one,
you got to run the ball and you got to
run the ball as effective. That just takes so much
(12:06):
pressure off the quarterback. And when I look at that,
the one guy that I think they need to get
back in that mix is Landon Hatchett. I think he's
completely underrated. I think he's a way better player than
most people in this city give him credit for. He's
a leader. He's the heart and soul. That guy is
a very good football player. And so, you know, they
(12:29):
got some depth there now, and so they're going to
be okay. But I think Landon is a big key
for that offensive line. I think the running backs, hopefully
they can stay healthy. If Simon sees Quade Cargo, Jaden Lamar,
I think is a really good player. He's got to
get healthy, stay healthy, all those things. And then do
they have enough firepower out wide, you know, to help
(12:49):
them on? I think that Chris Moss is a really
interesting new piece added. Desmond Roebuck's going to be good,
Rasheed Williams. And so, you know, it's depth, you know,
because you're just not going to have all those pieces
as you go through this season. That's just not real football.
So you have the guys underneath them that can step
up and make this happen. The defense, again, you want
(13:10):
to talk about underrated. I think this defense, I think
Ryan Walters is truly one of the best coordinators in
the country. It's almost, to me, a little bit like
a no-name defense. I mean, here in Seattle, we know
the names. Mm-hmm. But the sum of the parts is
better than the whole. Those guys played really well. They
did last year. And I think they're going to be
better this year, even though they lost some of those
(13:31):
really good corners. And, you know, I just think the
pieces that they have stacked in there, that linebacker crew
is deep and experienced. I like that. And I think this,
even being an offensive-leaning kind of coach all my career,
championships are won on defense. I mean, the offense, yeah,
(13:52):
we've got to score points. But when you're playing really
good teams or on the road, you're not going to
score the same amount of points week in and week
out that you're used to. That just doesn't happen. When
you're playing Indiana and Oregon and going on the road,
you don't usually score like you would normally. That's when
(14:13):
the defense has to come to life. And that's so
much where the toughness of your team comes from, too. Yep.
And so I like this defense. And so I think that,
you know, those are all the things that I think
about this team right now.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Well, we're going to see you on Sunday. I know
you got Fox duties, TV duties on Friday. Chris Peterson's
with us talking Apple Cup. And I don't know, man,
I don't know how often you play the what if game.
I played a lot. I mean, I'm a Seattle sports fan.
I got plenty of opportunities to play the what-if game, right?
Not just with the Seahawks and Mariners and Sonics, but
(14:47):
that 2016 game against Alabama, man. What if? What if
Buda Baker had picked off that pass? What if Jake
hadn't thrown that pick six? What if Bo Scarborough? Blah, blah, blah.
Drives me nuts. But what I think people forget is
the accomplishment, 15-year wait to win the conference game. and
go to a game like the peach bowl what you
(15:08):
did not see because you were with the team was
the party across the street at the bar outside the
golf course where we had to wait an hour and
a half to get on the air because of a
high school game that we were carrying and by the
time we did go on the air nobody was in
the right shape to be on the air but you
guys provided a massive party for us and you provided
a massive point of pride for Husky fans to, to, to,
(15:31):
to end that street coach and get us back to
a PAC 12 championship for the first time since 2001,
that team's going to be honored Sunday. You're going to
be there when you think now, God, we're talking what,
you know, 10 years later, uh, what do you think
about when you think about that club?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
I think the first thing that just jumps into my
mind when I think about that team and maybe a
couple of teams even after that team, but like, really
just all the good players that we had. I just
always think that, that, you know, I think sometimes, whether
it was even at Boise or Washington, I think probably
(16:12):
the most underrated thing about our programs was the players
that we got. We just had some really good players.
And you don't end up getting to a four-team college
playoff without some of the best players in the country.
And that's what I think happened with us. I think
that we had this talent that just was really, really outstanding.
(16:32):
And then I will tell you this. It was really
interesting because, you know, you better than anyone. You hear
all these things and all these regrets. In fact, half
the stuff you just talked about, I didn't forget. Now
I'm going to have a bad day. Sorry.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
My fault. Think about the Colorado game. Think about Colorado instead.
All right.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Why would I? What Colorado game? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Which one? The championship game that you won in Santa Clara.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I was going back to my last year when we
lost at Colorado. So that's how we think, right? No,
not that one. We think the same. So, but let
me just say this. So going into that 2016 season
with that team, you know, we've been there two years
and we were kind of going backwards. You know, the
first year we had a lot of good players, underachieved,
(17:16):
We didn't have our act together. I didn't have my
act together enough to get those guys all aligned. Next year,
we lost a lot of good players, played a bunch
of true freshmen. Bitter on this 2016 team, right? And,
you know, scratching and clawing to win games, and we
were in every game in the fourth quarter, just couldn't
quite get it done. And I remember in that offseason,
(17:37):
a couple different players, John Ross, Coleman Shelton, some guys
that had been around, and... some of those like kind
of older guys leader type guys and I remember them
coming up to me independently in the weight room in
the spring and they're like coach you know we're going
to be good this year right and I'm like why
(17:59):
would you say that and I did I was just
like you know and they all said this too they
all said you know I know we always say that
at Washington we always say that and I just said
what makes you say that I've heard this before and
they said no we are going to be good And
they all kind of made a reference that what we
want to do now is win. And whatever that takes,
(18:22):
I think we're over ourselves. Like before, it had all
been us trying to like get ours. And, you know,
it's just that like team first mentality. It's like, you know,
everybody needs to start and everybody needs to catch so
many balls and everybody needs this role. This team has
really just said, even going into that. I remember John
Ross said, hey, if I got to go back to
(18:43):
defense and play defense, or if you leave me a
receiver and I don't catch any balls in the game
and we win, I am good. And I promise you that.
And so I heard that from these different guys. And
I'm thinking, hmm, this is going to be interesting because
that is the number one requirement to a championship gold
(19:04):
standard type team is to have this team first mentality.
Whatever the role is that this team needs, you're all
in on. And I felt that from these guys going
in and the rest kind of happened.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, no doubt. Well, I'm glad you guys are getting
your due on Sunday. A lot of big names, a
lot of great guys on that team. And swing by
the pregame show if you're so inclined. Greg, Lewis, Mario,
myself will all be there. We'd love to see you
in person and say hello. But, hey, in the meantime,
appreciate you doing this. Always fun to catch up, all right?
Great to see you back on TV for another year.
(19:39):
Still weird to me that you're doing it, but you're getting.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Grayed out, by the way.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
So keep it going, and we'll see you on Sunday, hopefully,
all right?
Speaker 1 (19:47):
Appreciate you, Safdie.
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