By now, you’d have to be living under a rock to have missed the viral video of Jimmy Lake putting his hands on Ruperake Fuavai after there was a skirmish between Husky and Duck players near the sideline.

So what’s the word today?

The rumor mill has been on fire; John Donovan was fired weeks ago and has continued to sit as a lame duck offensive coordinator…Jimmy Lake will be suspended and investigated for the kerfuffle on the sidelines….etc.

But consider Jen Cohen’s position right now: Recruiting is a mess, and a viral video of a head coach putting his hands on a player during a game, being played by every coach in America in order to recruit against Washington doesn’t help.

Not to mention that anemic production of the Husky offense all season and some pee-wee-football-esque play calls during critical times against a team like Oregon.

Was Jimmy Lake in over his head when he took the job as head coach?

In a year when the likes of Phil Steele and Ryan Leaf were projecting this Husky team to (possibly) run the table and compete for a spot in the college football playoff, the Washington Huskies have no identity, no consistency, and a loss to an FCS team to start their season.

And now, they have a viral video of their head coach completely unhinged on the sidelines.

Lake said he did not strike the player, and many in the media said later that they felt “lied to”. And we can dissect that video and what transpired until the cows come home, but the bottom line is that it’s a terrible look for Lake and for the Husky program, in general.

We live in a society that is easily offended, easily triggered, and one that resents the existence of college football on all levels. We are far past the days when they would warn players not to scratch their crotch on camera, to keep their hands over their faces if they cursed, and those same standards went for coaches as well.

As someone who has covered recruiting for over 20 years, I can tell you straight up that a viral video like that can be devastating to recruiting.

So what’s the solution?

Jen Cohen’s first hire as an A.D. may be crashing and burning — and often the question has been asked  “Is Jen Cohen serious about Husky Football?”

One thing I know about Jen; she loves this program. But, just like everything else we “love” in this life — sometimes love isn’t enough.