Washington: What Is It With The Coaches From Idaho?

For those of you who have been following the assistant coaching hires at the University of Washington, there is a certain trend that seems to be linking all these coaches together, and that is playing or coaching for the University of Idaho.

The newest addition to the staff is former Purdue, and now Huskies, running back coach Joel Thomas. He is the Vandals' all time leader for career rushing, and was the co-offensive coordinator for the Vandals under head coach, and current Huskies defensive coordinator, Nick Holt. Not only that, Thomas played under recently released Husky linebacker coach Chris Tomey.

Of the currently assembled defensive staff, only one coach does not have ties to the University of Idaho, secondary coach Demetrius Martin. Johnny Nansen, the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator, was hired directly from the University of Idaho itself. 

Jeff Mills, the new safeties coach, spent eight seasons coaching the defense under Dennis Erickson at Idaho. Mike Cox, the new linebackers coach, was a player at Idaho from 1983-1986 and a coach there from 1987-1994.

So it's firmly established that the UW likes the coaching pipeline through Moscow, Idaho. At the same time, so do a lot of other people throughout the football world. Scott Linehan, former St. Louis Rams head coach, was a Vandal player under Dennis Erickson. As was Tom Cable, the current Raiders head coach, who also served a stint as head coach at Idaho.

The string that holds a lot of this twisted coaching tree together is that of Dennis Erickson, now at Arizona State. Erickson put the program on the map and made it a power in Division 1-AA. 

Erickson has been a success, discounting his two stints in the NFL, wherever he has been. Idaho was the school that gave him his start, and the program was a power in the Division 1-AA because of the foundation he set up. Moving to the WAC has been less kind to Idaho but the coaches are still highly regarded.

For many of the Husky fans who are desperate for success (myself included), poaching coaches from our next door neighbor's lesser program seems a little counter-intuitive. It's key to remember that all these coaches and players at Idaho are Northwest guys.

Now, more than ever, Husky football needs to reach back to its roots and re-create its identity. What better than with a bunch of men who grew up watching the Huskies dominate their home region under Don James.

Let's not forget these guys can coach. Many of them having coached all over the country after their time at the University of Idaho. Nick Holt went on to coach some of the best defenses in the country over the last three seasons. 

Steve Sarkisian may be a Southern California guy, but he is not bringing Southern Californian football to the University of Washington. The pro-style offense may be the same, but Coach Sark is molding something that is uniquely Northwestern and Washingtonian.  

Oh, and just for a little juicy gossip, Doug Nussmeier, the offensive coordinator is rumored to be in the mix for the QB job at Washington. Can you guess where he is from? Interesting food for thought.