After a morning away from the net, I logged back on today and saw Twitter blowing up because college football fans expect Chris Petersen to be Paul the Apostle, and when he actually acts like a real football coach, they’re shocked.
The news is that former Husky quarterback, Colson Yankoff (who transferred to UCLA this spring) was denied the opportunity to play this season at his new home in Westwood.
Let’s first consider this: The networks will never show Petersen any love. This is just another episode of crying over the big bad wolf up in Seattle: Chris Petersen.
(Last year Tuitele Fa’atui was a 5-star prospect — then he began leaning to Washington and he was demoted by a star).
Chris Petersen recently re-tweeted Deion Sanders, however, taking a swipe at the whole star-ranking system:
Deion’s right again! Couldn’t agree more with him. https://t.co/8octxOBH0Z
— Coach Petersen (@CoachPeteUW) July 31, 2019
The networks have become the puppeteers where these recruits are concerned — particularly now with the explosion of social media. Those stars have become the golden carrot that is dangled under the noses of teenage kids — and fans too. Fans get so lathered up that if a guy who doesn’t have all those stars commits, fans believe he is a nobody and then complain about the coaches not being to get “elite” players.
But “elite” by whose standards? For every 5-star guy who Washington didn’t get, I can give you several 3-star guys who went far and beyond what anyone expected of them.
Look at Nick Harris. I remember the belly-aching that was voiced over Washington’s acquisition of his pledge several years ago. Now, he’s considered one of the best centers in the country for 2019.
So having said all of that, let’s go back to this Yankoff situation.
I had learned that back earlier in the summer that Yankoff was appealing a denial for him to be eligible to play immediately at UCLA after having left Washington via the transfer portal.
I actually didn’t think it was a big deal. It’s not the firs time and won’t be the last time. It’s not like Petersen was blocking him from going to a same-conference school, as Nick Saban has been famous for (see link), and some would even argue that this was out of Petersen’s hands.
But even if it wasn’t, there is a strategy to all of this and fans, while being emotional anyway, need to chill out and see it for what it is.
** Colson Yankoff…Very nice young man, great family, lovely people.
** Coach Pete…protecting his team and program. Now that Yankoff is at UCLA he can tell Chip Kelly some of the tendencies of what Washington does. And that’s not unusual. Again, Saban completely blocks guys from going anywhere in the SEC.
** This is a player who signed with Washington, practiced two springs and an entire season with Washington. Benefited from the weight room, conditioning program, coaching, and everything Washington had to offer. He was told he would have every chance to compete for a starting position and knew, coming in, that Jacob Eason was transferring in.
** Trevor Yankoff, Colson’s father has been a good friend of mine. He (before Colson signed) expressed some concerns about whether or not his son would get the same opportunity now that Eason was transferring in. But one thing that he knew about Petersen is that Petersen is that he would play guys who were the best on the field regardless of what class they were. Afterall, Colson was unique in that he had speed and was mobile.
** Last season he brought this up to me again, my answer was that I had no idea, as a friend I told Trevor that the best players would play.
** During the spring, we spoke again and I was told that the Yankoffs were “in it for the long haul”. But immediately following spring, Yankoff entered the transfer portal.
Please understand, I love that family and this is not an indictment against the Yankoffs, it’s just the background and what may have been the thought processes going on.
I was surprised that Colson decided to leave, but I understand why.
And so does Chris Petersen, but fair or not fair, old school coaches don’t like when a player transfers to a fellow conference school. Now with the portal, players can be granted immediate eligibility for the coming season.
If Bru McCoy can sign with USC, enroll in classes, get out of his LOI, then sign with Texas, enroll in class, and then leave again and transfer back to USC — and if he ends up playing this year…then these fans who act like they know what they’re talking about are so full of hot air it’s laughable.
There isn’t a coach in the country worth a grain of salt who would support a star player transferring and gaining immediate eligibility to a intra-conference school.
Tracy Pierson and the Whiners of Westwood can cry in their beer all day, as I said on Twitter: It’s college football. Get a helmet.
