Realdawg.com has been covering Washington for 20 years, and we’ve broken more recruiting insider info than any publication in the country.

We want to remind all our readers, subscribers, and anyone else who’s reading this to “chill-ax”. 

Chill, and relax.

There is no better person right now who could take over Chris Petersen’s job than Jimmy Lake. I had personally thought Lake was going to be groomed to take over as the next Seahawk coach; he’s that good.

He’s been under the tutelege of Petersen for nearly a decade; he knows everything about the structure, discipline, and systems of how to run a program and have success at this level.

What he brings to the head coaching position is enthusiasm and energy — and this may be exactly what is needed right now to push Washington to the next level. 

As we all know, Coach Lake is one of the best recruiters in the country, period.

So we want to reassure our readers that there is no need to push the panic button; let recruits take this in. Let the players take this in. Let the shock.

The fact is: Jimmy Lake has been a head-coach-in-the-making since he was playing at Joe Albi Stadium for North Central High School.

Now is the time to thank Chris Petersen for what he has done for this program, and passing that baton to the right man.