Items that stand out:

-Bert wants Partridge
-Ash wants to be UW head coach

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/.../183591851.html

I don't understand the part about Ash wanting to become coach. Wouldn't Alvarez had sat down with each of the assistant coaches first to see if there was interest from any of them in applying for the head coach position and two, asking BB (and the remaining players) if they thought any of the assistants on the current staff would make a good head coach?

Would BA even consider Ash? What are people's feeling about him being HC?

Hypothetical if Ash was named coach, would he retain both Partridge and Buh?

Interesting developments

It seems like if BA wanted to hire Chris Ash he would have done so by now. BA must be working closely with both Ash and Canada to plan the Rose Bowl practices and game plan. If he likes what he sees, why not hire him.

Can things get any crazier?

The Ash thing makes little sense.

- If Barry wanted him as head coach, why wouldn't he stop him from going to Arkansas?
- And on the other side, if Ash thought he has a legit shot at being head coach, why would he take the DC job before figuring that out?

EricTheeRed wrote: The Ash thing makes little sense.

- If Barry wanted him as head coach, why wouldn't he stop him from going to Arkansas?
- And on the other side, if Ash thought he has a legit shot at being head coach, why would he take the DC job before figuring that out?

He hasn't left UW yet. All things are still on the docket.

I liked Ash as a DB coach. Thought he did well. Moving up to DC was logical. HC? No.

Maybe Ash and family took a visit to Fayetteville, realized it was a sh!thole, and had second thoughts. 

EricTheeRed wrote: The Ash thing makes little sense.

- If Barry wanted him as head coach, why wouldn't he stop him from going to Arkansas?
- And on the other side, if Ash thought he has a legit shot at being head coach, why would he take the DC job before figuring that out?

That's what worries me and tells me Barry definitely does not have his man.  The only things that I can think happened is Barry had/thought he had his guy and something happened.  Or, the process is going as badly as we fear and Ash sees that Barry's "short list" his a bunch of lines going through the names on it and believes he's as qualified as any of the coaches BA is looking at now.

Ash as a head coach? I nearly died laughing.

BelmontBucky45 wrote:

EricTheeRed wrote: The Ash thing makes little sense.

- If Barry wanted him as head coach, why wouldn't he stop him from going to Arkansas?
- And on the other side, if Ash thought he has a legit shot at being head coach, why would he take the DC job before figuring that out?

That's what worries me and tells me Barry definitely does not have his man.  The only things that I can think happened is Barry had/thought he had his guy and something happened.  Or, the process is going as badly as we fear and Ash sees that Barry's "short list" his a bunch of lines going through the names on it and believes he's as qualified as any of the coaches BA is looking at now.

This is the only explanation which make a lick of sense to me.

While I am still in the Tucker camp, I think one potential scenario is that BA has been working with these guys more closely over the last week and might see some of the fire and qualities that he would like to retain and mold.

Wow, there definitely are some nervous people around here.  This isn't exactly the Tennessee search or any of those that have been disastrous.  I've gotten to the point where I don't trust a single report I've heard about anyone.  I find it awfully impressive how much under wraps Barry has managed to keep virtually all information.

spottedbadger wrote: Ash as a head coach? I nearly died laughing.

Well then the idea of Partridge should be equally as laughable. Ash had more to do with the defenses improvement considering he called defensive plays and brought along the secondary to the highest level its been in a long time.

That is how I see it too.

ABQBadger wrote:

BelmontBucky45 wrote:

EricTheeRed wrote: The Ash thing makes little sense.

- If Barry wanted him as head coach, why wouldn't he stop him from going to Arkansas?
- And on the other side, if Ash thought he has a legit shot at being head coach, why would he take the DC job before figuring that out?

That's what worries me and tells me Barry definitely does not have his man.  The only things that I can think happened is Barry had/thought he had his guy and something happened.  Or, the process is going as badly as we fear and Ash sees that Barry's "short list" his a bunch of lines going through the names on it and believes he's as qualified as any of the coaches BA is looking at now.

This is the only explanation which make a lick of sense to me.

I'm not sure Ash is the guy.  If there was someone on the coaching staff that the players loved they wouldn't have asked BA to coach the team during the Rose Bowl.  Not saying the players have to love the new head coach, but I get the feeling there's a reason the players asked Alvarez instead of someone else on staff being the head coach on an interim basis.  And, even more importantly, if there was someone on staff that BA wanted to "test run" as head coach he could have turned down the players and said, "I'd like to see (insert name of assistant coach here..like Chris Ash) be the interim head coach".

I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

combatsports4life wrote: I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

Agreed, actually. I thought he did an incredible job with the defense this year when they needed to step up.

Agree.  There is a lot of posturing going on based on rumors alone.  The Ash "news" is no different.  All the "denials" of interest mean no more or less than the twitter hysteria of the past week anointing this or that coach as a target.  The minute that Biff took the job in Arkansas, the current staff's days were numbered.  Highly, highly unlikely any will be retained after the Rose Bowl.  They know that and we know that.

HCSmooth wrote: Wow, there definitely are some nervous people around here.  This isn't exactly the Tennessee search or any of those that have been disastrous.  I've gotten to the point where I don't trust a single report I've heard about anyone.  I find it awfully impressive how much under wraps Barry has managed to keep virtually all information.

We are nearing Tennessee status.  They went from wanting Gruden to ending up with Butch Jones. We have gone from Peterson to debating the merits of Matt Campbell and Joe Rudolph, we are not too far behind.

HCSmooth wrote: Wow, there definitely are some nervous people around here.  This isn't exactly the Tennessee search or any of those that have been disastrous.  I've gotten to the point where I don't trust a single report I've heard about anyone.  I find it awfully impressive how much under wraps Barry has managed to keep virtually all information.

And how did he do last year?

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--- uwwbadger wrote:

combatsports4life wrote: I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

Agreed, actually. I thought he did an incredible job with the defense this year when they needed to step up.

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About as well as could be expected with a team that could generate no pressure and could rely on about one guy in its secondary (Fenelus).

columbusbadger wrote: And how did he do last year?

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--- uwwbadger wrote:

combatsports4life wrote: I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

Agreed, actually. I thought he did an incredible job with the defense this year when they needed to step up.

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WryWhiskey wrote: We are nearing Tennessee status.  They went from wanting Gruden to ending up with Butch Jones. We have gone from Peterson to debating the merits of Matt Campbell and Joe Rudolph, we are not too far behind.

HCSmooth wrote: Wow, there definitely are some nervous people around here.  This isn't exactly the Tennessee search or any of those that have been disastrous.  I've gotten to the point where I don't trust a single report I've heard about anyone.  I find it awfully impressive how much under wraps Barry has managed to keep virtually all information.

Tennessee had a bunch of confirmed and rejected offers.  We don't know who Barry has actually talked to let alone offered.  HUGE difference.

WryWhiskey wrote: We are nearing Tennessee status.  They went from wanting Gruden to ending up with Butch Jones. We have gone from Peterson to debating the merits of Matt Campbell and Joe Rudolph, we are not too far behind.

HCSmooth wrote: Wow, there definitely are some nervous people around here.  This isn't exactly the Tennessee search or any of those that have been disastrous.  I've gotten to the point where I don't trust a single report I've heard about anyone.  I find it awfully impressive how much under wraps Barry has managed to keep virtually all information.

I am not talking about the fan speculation game.  I am talking about how Barry is operating.  Nothing I have heard yet has me worried at all.  You, and several other fans, might be freaking out and worried about having all of the best candidates taking other jobs while UW ends up with a 2nd or 3rd tier coach.  But none of us is privy to Barry's short list, we don't know which of these coaches was actually interviewed, how serious Barry has been about Golden, Riley, Petersen, etc.  

And, remember, the last time Barry hired a head football coach it was a very young D-Coordinator without any HC experience and had only been a D-Coordinator on his own for about 2 years.  That one turned out well for the program.  

I trust that Barry will get a great coach.  There are a lot of talented, experienced coaches out there but it's vital that UW has the right kind of fit.  This is where it's easy to speculate about Barry coaching beyond January 1.  I don't think he does though.  I don't think this search will last much longer.  Barry might not be in a rush, but I think the time is coming.  I'd guess by Tuesday.

Henry wasn't reliable in the secondary? Devin was there for a while. Isn't it up to the DC to find a way to generate pressure, or are you saying he didn't have any talent to work with?

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--- JamaicanJake wrote:

About as well as could be expected with a team that could generate no pressure and could rely on about one guy in its secondary (Fenelus).

columbusbadger wrote: And how did he do last year?

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--- uwwbadger wrote:

combatsports4life wrote: I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

Agreed, actually. I thought he did an incredible job with the defense this year when they needed to step up.

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I know Barry says he always has a list, but if this thing really did take him by total surprise (as he says), of course he is going to be a little bit behind in terms of finding a new coach.

In most other cases, the AD made the call to fire the HC and obviously would have had some kind of idea who he wanted prior to doing so. BA probably assumed (as many of us did) that BB would be around for a long while, and hadn't given any serious thought to finding a new HC.

Having said all of that, I am not overly worried. It's not like we've seen any slam-dunk candidates take other jobs (possible exception of Doeren who was already gone), we just started the search process far later than the other programs who've already hired their man.

columbusbadger wrote: Henry wasn't reliable in the secondary? Devin was there for a while. Isn't it up to the DC to find a way to generate pressure, or are you saying he didn't have any talent to work with?

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--- JamaicanJake wrote:

About as well as could be expected with a team that could generate no pressure and could rely on about one guy in its secondary (Fenelus).

columbusbadger wrote: And how did he do last year?

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--- uwwbadger wrote:

combatsports4life wrote: I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

Agreed, actually. I thought he did an incredible job with the defense this year when they needed to step up.

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Even great coaches can only do so much.  Smith and Gilbert going down last year hurt our defense in a big way.  We had way to much youth and inexperience in general to overcome it.  Even so the defense wasn't all that bad.  We were two Hail Marry's away from a possible National Championship birth.

Agreed. I was speaking in terms of fan base chatter.

I am not anti-Ash, but I am not as big on him. Secondary struggled last year and gave up points at critical times. Also gave up a ton of points to MSU and Oregon (who didn't?) and only a ridiculously good offense kept us in those games.

This year, defense struggled to hold leads (Nebraska, MSU) or keep teams out at he end of games (PSU, OSU). There was improvement in the secondary, which was much appreciated.

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--- combatsports4life wrote:

columbusbadger wrote: Henry wasn't reliable in the secondary? Devin was there for a while. Isn't it up to the DC to find a way to generate pressure, or are you saying he didn't have any talent to work with?

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--- JamaicanJake wrote:

About as well as could be expected with a team that could generate no pressure and could rely on about one guy in its secondary (Fenelus).

columbusbadger wrote: And how did he do last year?

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--- uwwbadger wrote:

combatsports4life wrote: I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

Agreed, actually. I thought he did an incredible job with the defense this year when they needed to step up.

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Even great coaches can only do so much.  Smith and Gilbert going down last year hurt our defense in a big way.  We had way to much youth and inexperience in general to overcome it.  Even so the defense wasn't all that bad.  We were two Hail Marry's away from a possible National Championship birth.

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No Henry was pretty overrated as a player. Tough to say given he's a terrific kid and a great representative of the UW but he wasn't that good. Plain and simple. D. Smith was there for what 3-4 games? And yes its partially up to the DC to generate pressure but given our weakness in the secondary it was risky to bring pressure as you're probably have 1 or 2 guys matched up in solo coverage depending on how many receivers are out there. There was "talent" i suppose but it never came together for Nzegwu and guys like Kelly and Gilbert have just now started to come on in the last 5-6 games. Ash/Partridge had little to work with last year. Guys are a year older and it shows. Southward, Johnson, Gilbert, Kelly, Smith, Cromartie and Beau Allen have all improved mightily this year which speaks to the coaching. Given Ash coaches the secondary i'd say he's deserving of a ton of praise (not double the salary type praise).

columbusbadger wrote: Henry wasn't reliable in the secondary? Devin was there for a while. Isn't it up to the DC to find a way to generate pressure, or are you saying he didn't have any talent to work with?

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--- JamaicanJake wrote:

About as well as could be expected with a team that could generate no pressure and could rely on about one guy in its secondary (Fenelus).

columbusbadger wrote: And how did he do last year?

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--- uwwbadger wrote:

combatsports4life wrote: I've liked Ash from day 1.  I think he's a hell of a coach and will end up being a good head coach someday.  I know a lot of people probably disagree with me, but I wouldn't have been upset if he would have been named.

Agreed, actually. I thought he did an incredible job with the defense this year when they needed to step up.

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