Jimmy Lake joined Dave Mahler and Dick Fain today on a segment for KJR, and we took a few notes on what he had to say on the air.

Lake said, now that he’s taken over, the first priorities were check off three  boxes:

Keeping the (then) current recruits committed and then signed.

Win the bowl game and “send Coach Pete out the right way”

Retain the coaches on staff (who weren’t released). Lake elaborated on that saying that there were lot of programs (and NFL clubs) who regularly try to “pluck off” members of the coaching staff, and added that it happens all the time, “It’s the nature of the business”.

Lake said that now that those boxes are all checked, it’s time for the next phase; which is to get the team back into the weight room.

Softy was belaboring the fact that practices have been closed the past few years to the media, and Lake said if injuries weren’t reported, the media could come in, “There’s other people in the media who do love to report (on them), we don’t need that out there.”

Lake said things like that and too-detailed practice reports are problematic for the program, and that coaches from every program read their opponent’s practice reports all the time.

Lake said that Will Harris and Terrance Brown will be pretty autonomous with the DB’s, but that he will always be around to check on and coach up the DB’s, but also every other position group on the defense, What he’s really looking forward to, however, is getting to be around the offensive players more.

“I’m excited to cheer on the offense”, he said, noting that he’s always gone against them in practice.

Lake said they will keep the “culture” that Chris Petersen implemented; meaning Built for Life, and the “anchors that have held this program down”. He also talked about having a “brick-layer attitude”.

He wants to see a “state of growth and improvement” and will continue to explore new trends from the NFL.

As for what may be different? Lake talked about the Husky offense, and said that there’s a “mentality that’s been missing”. He wants to see more attacking, “I want defenses to have to deal with our stuff.”

He wants Washington’s offense to be physical; an offense “who will run the ball down your throat”.

As for the controversial (to the fans) hire of John Donovan, Lake said he spoke to many contacts in the NFL and Donovan’s name just kept coming up; contacts from Green Bay, Tennessee, Seattle, etc., “My whole world changed when I coached in the NFL”, Lake explained, “I became a better X and O guy, a better leader, and after doing all the research and interviews I know this will be the same for John Donovan.”

Lake continued to reiterate that Donovan’s ideas are “in line with what I want to see: physical, bruising attack with tight ends and fullbacks, empty sets and to be able to throw the ball.”

Lake finally said, “John is a brick-layer and I can’t wait for him to construct the offense.”

Lake wants to have the same success getting offensive guys to the NFL that he’s seen with defensive guys at Washington.

He said Donovan will have autonomy, but will get input from the entire offensive staff (which is normal).

As for the defensive coordinating, Lake said he has complete faith in Pete Kwiatkowski and Ikaika Malloe.

Now’s where it got interesting: Softy asked Lake if he had thought about who will be lining up behind center when the team takes the field against Michigan, Lake said “We only have two on the roster right now (aside from incoming freshman Ethan Garbers)”, but then he got about as candid on the subject as he could get when asked about the transfer portal, “I’ll say this..the best QB that ends up on the roster in August will be the starter for September 5th.”

On the subject of the transfer portal, Lake said it’s primarily a good place to look for quarterbacks.

Asked if there’s anyone more who will be added to the recruiting class? “Yes, we really do hope to — couple positions and some guys that we’ve had on trips prior or who are still going through the process, a couple others too.”

Finally, Lake made a big announcement when he declared that there will be a proper, formal spring game this year (for the first time in nearly a decade) and he hopes to see the stands packed and for it to be a big event for fans.