the West Coast Philosophy

Some of those announcers are pretty sharp and while I will try to find the source of my newfound wisdom, that is not important.  If not through him, I am certain I can find it elsewhere on the web.  It is such a great concept.  Others must preach or write about, and probably someone in particular takes credit for it.

Then we will get to Chris Peterson.

I am referring to the west coast offense desire to spread the defense.  In a Michigan game earlier this year, Michigan sent 2 or 3 receivers downfield in fly patterns.  The analyst referred to it as 'An old west coast offense play, just send them downfield.'

What it means is that is the endpoint, the endzone.  Even if you don't complete it, that is the goal.  Every yard and first down culminates in that.  And now it will be easier now that we have that much space in between.

I believe at the time Brian Cook on mgoblog.com wrote that it is a play he had never seen Michigan run before.  It was early in the season, before the offensive renaissance. 

"In order to fully grasp such an intricate philosophy..."  That is a quote from a primer on the west coast offense found online.  IDK.

Martz's offense was the Air Coryell philosophy, running deeper than deep comebacks and posts skinnier than the skinny post, stressing defenses both horizontally and vertically.

That is better and it makes sense.  Stretch the field.  Go after the homerun on strike one.  Try and sell it for a higher price first.  Don't call it a crime, say it is a RICO conspiracy.

There sure are a lot of metaphors.  To call it philosophy in more than just football is probably giving it too much credit, but there are a lot of examples.  I won't bore anyone with them.

Which brings us to Chris Peterson.  He really was or is a Husky because no one else would do it like that.  Again, you cannot attribute it to Zen or any other religion or concept.  It is something to think about and remember.

Funny, I don't even see it in this link.  This one goes first as it is better.

This is what what publicized much more widely.  The quotes about anxiety and stress only put Peterson in a bad light.  Obviously that goes with the territory and Peterson must be very good at handling it.

Some of the quotes in the Seattle Times piece are also distributed elsewhere and they were gleaned from a press conference.  Here is what I remember:

Petersen said he came to realize his passion was waning after last year's Rose Bowl. Petersen said he didn't appreciate the grandeur and history of playing in the game and was too caught up in the stress of the matchup with Ohio State.

"You worked your whole life to get there. And I didn't really appreciate the week, I didn't appreciate the game like I need to as a kid growing up looking at that game," he said. "And I think that was one of the things that really hit me loud and clear, and you start to pay attention to that."

I have been lucky to have spent some time in the Pacific Northwest, and I believe that kind of mentality is more common there.  Peterson did not stay long (8 years) and he still seemed like a bit of outsider.  For years he refused every rumor of a top coaching job and stayed at Boise State.  He was waiting for just the right offer.  Washington was it and there is a reason.

Kudos to the ESPN blurb for what it didn't mention, which is 4-5, 7-5 in 2019.  Four and five in what is not exactly a power conference is not a good look.  Probably it adds to the anxiety.

It shouldn't, a down year is nothing to lose your job over, but it does increase the stress, particularly if you don't have the energy to rebuild the team.

Will he be back?  Some more words of wisdom are that everyone is expendable or replaceable.  When you quit they are not waiting for you to come back.

But it is a fair question because Chris Peterson did not achieve national glory at Washington.  He is remembered by those of us who follow but don't know, as a meticulous, perfectionist person who is 100% clean as a college coach.  Those traits were hugely successful at Boise State and not so much with the Huskies.