Thursday, August 14, 2008

Wise words from Don James

This Seattle Times story is full of wise words from former Husky coach Don James. For readers not in Seattle, Don was the coach during the glory days of Washington football, a period that included my undergraduate years from 1980-1985, a national championship and multiple Rose Bowl victories over Michigan.

I would emphasize two points. First, the non-league schedules are crazy. There should not be three top 20 non-league teams on anyone's schedule. I would also not go completely the other way, which is what Michigan does other than its annual game with Notre Dame (which was an easy win last year but usually is not), and schedule only very weak times like Eastern Michigan. One really tough team and a couple of teams that are good enough to provide a real challenge but not in the top 20, say Purdue or Maryland, seems optimal to me.

Second, I think Don is right that Ty is a good coach with good assistants and some great young talent. His head should not be on the chopping block this year if he only gets five wins, given the schedule and the youth on the team at a lot of positions.