Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

It was a big Monday for Washington football, especially the defensive side of the ball. UW Head Coach Jimmy Lake announced the following moves:

- Inside linebackers coach Bob Gregory has been promoted to defensive coordinator

- Defensive analyst Rip Rowan has been named defensive line coach

- Running backs coach Keith Bhonapha has added special teams coordinator to his duties

- Co-defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe has moved from coaching defensive line to outside linebackers

Jamal Bey and Mike Hopkins spoke to the media Sunday night after Washington lost to Washington State 77-62 at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Mike Hopkins and Marcus Tsohonis spoke to the media Friday ahead of Washington's game with Washington State. They spoke about the Hoop Dawgs finding some newfound confidence after back-to-back wins, tweaks to the defense, the emergence of Jamal Bey, and more

It feels counterintuitive, but there’s usually more going on during the off-season than during the season. And when it comes to Washington Football, that certainly seems to be true right now. 

Now only are the Huskies in the middle of a search to replace their defensive coordinator, Pete Kwiatkowski, who left to do the same job at Texas, but it’s all being done at the same time the news came down that Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott would be leaving his post at the end of June. 

In this exclusive conversation with Washington Athletic Director Jen Cohen, Dawgman.com’s Kim Grinolds asks Cohen for her take on the timing of the news, whether she would ever be interested in becoming Pac-12 Commissioner, and whether or not she could see former UW Head Coach Chris Petersen in the same post. 

Talk then turned to Kwiatkowski and what the Huskies can do financially to attract a top assistant to replace arguably one of the best defensive coordinators in the country. 

The 2020 season was a short one for the Huskies. They finished 3-1 in Jimmy Lake’s first year as UW’s head coach. Cohen talked about her take on the season and then gave her two cents - and a lot more - on the transfer portal, players dealing with the coronavirus bubble on campus, homesickness, and how all of that can take a toll on student-athletes. 

In the next segment of the conversation, Grinolds moves the talk to basketball and whether or not Men’s Head Coach Mike Hopkins is on the hot seat. Cohen gives an emphatic answer to that question. She also goes into some detail into not only the new basketball operations building, which will be built where the old swimming pool is on the east end of Hec Edmundson Pavilion, but also the new Softball Performance Center, which will be next to the Dempsey Indoor Facility. 

For the final segment of the conversation, Grinolds goes back to football to ask about whether or not Cohen envisions fans being in the stands for the 2021 season, and talk then turns to when the Michigan game will be replayed, future scheduling thoughts, and also information on some “virtual” events for Signing Day and Spring Football that will engage fans, despite not being able to attend due to the coronavirus.

Jamal Bey and Mike Hopkins talk to the media Sunday afternoon after Washington defeated Utah 83-79 for their second-straight win.

Now that the Washington Huskies have found the win column again - and for the first time in Pac-12 play - it was time for a conversation with Chris Fetters and the Dawgman.com Head of Hoops, Aaron Beach for an honest assessment. Was UW’s 84-80 win over Colorado a one-time thing? Or was it a sign of things to come for a Washington team battling like mad to find some form?

In part one of the podcast, they dig into the recent offensive resurgence. Has it been as simple as seeing the ball go in the basket? Has that been the catalyst for everything else? Or has it been more about finding offensive balance so the team doesn’t have to rely solely on Quade Green for their points every night?

Fetters and Beach talk about the improvement made by Erik Stevenson and Jamal Bey, the curious up-and-down season so far of Marcus Tsohonis, as well as the unexpected offensive contribution by 7-foot-4 Riley Sorn.

In the second half of the podcast, they delve into the problems with Washington’s zone, and how UW Head Coach Mike Hopkins has tried to tweak the formula in an attempt to find success. In his first three years, the zone was the straw that stirred the drink for Washington, the thing that drove everything else UW did on the court.

But this year it feels like the opposite is happening; instead of the defense catalyzing the offense, the offense is having to provide the spark to get the defense going. How can Hopkins keep that dynamic going, and what can Washington do on that end of the court despite a lack of length that has always contributed to takeaways in the past?

And in the final analysis, where does Beach see the team going down the final stretch of the season? One thing is for sure: Washington has a chance in their next four games to really make another jump forward. They host Utah Sunday, Washington State a week from Sunday, and then head south to play Oregon State and Oregon. Could they win two of the next four? What about three? And if they were able to continue their upward trajectory, how much would that mean not just for the end of the season, but for Hopkins moving forward? It's already assumed changes are going to be made this off-season. Will a positive push through to the end of the season help shape his plans?

The guys from Dawgman.com -- Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund -- sit down to give their immediate reactions following the news that Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott's contract will be terminated in June. How will this impact the conference and the Husky athletic department going forward? What type of person do they need to bring in to right this listing ship? Did Scott have any successes on the job?

All of those questions are answered and they also took the time to chat about what the loss of Pete Kwiatkowski means to the Husky football program and gave some thoughts on his future replacement.

Lastly, they focused on the basketball team's big win over Colorado last night and some possible reasons why this team has started to turn the corner during a tough season so far.

Here's post-game audio from Marcus Tsohonis and Mike Hopkins after Washington's 84-80 win Wednesday night in Seattle.

Erik Stevenson and Mike Hopkins spoke to the media Tuesday ahead of their game with Colorado. The Huskies and Buffaloes play Wednesday at Alaska Airlines Arena at 6 pm PT. The game is being shown on ESPN2. 

Washington Defensive Coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski is headed to Austin to take on the same role at Texas, which is massive news for the Huskies. It’s definitely not good news, but Jimmy Lake has a chance to reshape the defensive coaching staff if he so chooses. There’s a lot of options on the table.

In the first part of this emergency podcast, the guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - delve into Kwiatkowski’s move from Washington to Texas, how it makes sense for Coach K, and what they’ll be looking for down in Austin as the Longhorns get ready for their 2021 season under new head coach Steve Sarkisian. How much control will PK have over the defense? How much will he have to deal with the media? Will he be able to do basically what he did in Seattle? Obviously a ton of questions that need to be answered.

In the second part of the podcast, the talk turns back toward Montlake, and how Coach Lake could fill the vacancy left by Kwiatkowski’s departure. Will he hire from within? Will he look to his NFL connections or college coaches with ties to himself or UW? Or, will he do what he did with John Donovan and hire from outside the box? And how hard will he focus on recruiting with the new hire?