Tag: Jimmy Lake

Oct 16, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake watches pregame warmups against the UCLA Bruins at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Falcons name Zac Robinson, Jimmy Lake new coordinators

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Zac Robinson and Jimmy Lake are following Raheem Morris from the Los Angeles Rams to the Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons announced Robinson as their new offensive coordinator and Lake as their next defensive coordinator on Monday. Atlanta also said it has retained Marquice Williams as special teams coordinator.

Morris was the Rams’ defensive coordinator for the past three seasons before the Falcons named him their next head coach last Thursday.

Robinson, 37, worked with Morris in Los Angeles for all three of those years. He joined the Rams as an assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019, moved to assistant receivers coach in 2020 and shuffled back to assistant QBs coach in 2021. Los Angeles promoted him to passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022.

Lake, 47, was the University of Washington’s head coach in 2020 and 2021 before being let go before the end of his second season. He joined the Rams as assistant head coach for 2023 and has a background coaching defense at the collegiate and NFL levels.

Williams, 38, will return for a fourth season as Atlanta’s special teams coordinator. Two seasons ago, Atlanta had two special teams touchdowns, one on a blocked punt and one 103-yard kick return by Cordarrelle Patterson.

The Falcons have scheduled Morris’ introductory press conference for Feb. 5.

–Field Level Media

Oct 16, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake watches pregame warmups against the UCLA Bruins at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Report: Rams hire ex-college head coach Jimmy Lake

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Rams have hired former Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake for an undetermined role on Sean McVay’s staff, NFL Network reported Thursday.

Lake, 46, who has a history of coaching defense, would likely help coach the Rams’ defensive backs with the departure of Jonathan Cooley to the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday.

Lake was fired after 13 games as Huskies head coach after he pushed and struck one of his own players, Ruperake Fuavai, while trying to break up a sideline scrum. He finished with a 7-6 record from 2020-21.

Lake was an assistant DBs coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions from 2006-11. He was also the assistant defensive coordinator at Washington from 2016-19.

–Field Level Media

Nov 6, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake signals for his players to go to the locker room following a 26-16 loss against the Oregon Ducks at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Washington fires coach Jimmy Lake

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Washington fired head coach Jimmy Lake before the end of his second season at the football program’s helm, Yahoo Sports and The Athletic reported Sunday.

Lake was suspended for one game after a sideline altercation with one of his players, Ruperake Fuavai, on Nov. 6. That game, a 26-16 loss to then-No. 4 Oregon, turned out to be Lake’s last game in charge of the program.

Reports said Lake was terminated without cause and Washington therefore owes him a $9.9 million buyout.

Lake appeared to strike Fuavai in his facemask as a scrum between Washington and Oregon players was subsiding. Lake also was seen on the national television broadcast pushing Fuavai.

“I didn’t strike him. I separated him,” Lake said after the game, but he later posted an apology to social media.

Washington athletic director Jen Cohen said the university investigated the incident and determined that Lake’s actions weren’t “intentional or deliberate,” but still thought his conduct required a suspension.

Lake was a defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator for six seasons at Washington before being elevated to head coach before the 2020 season. The Huskies went 7-6 under Lake, including 4-5 this season (not counting Saturday’s loss to Arizona State, when Lake was suspended).

–Field Level Media

Oct 16, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake watches pregame warmups against the UCLA Bruins at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Washington coach Jimmy Lake suspended 1 game over incident

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Washington suspended head coach Jimmy Lake for this week’s game — without pay — over Saturday’s on-field physical altercation with one of his players.

Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will serve as the Huskies’ acting coach for this week’s game against Arizona State. Lake will be reinstated Sunday.

The suspension stems from Lake striking walk-on Ruperake Fuavai in the facemask while separating the linebacker from a sideline scrum in the Huskies’ 26-16 loss to Oregon. Lake also was seen on the national television broadcast pushing Fuavai.

“Our staff has spent the last 24-plus hours reviewing video of the incident, as well as speaking with Coach Lake, the involved student-athlete and several other student-athletes and members of the staff, and I have made the decision to suspend Coach Lake for next Saturday’s game against Arizona State,” Washington athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement Monday.

“President (Ana Mari) Cauce, our Faculty Athletics Representative, Alexes Harris, and members of our executive staff are in agreement that while we do not believe that his actions were intentional or deliberate, we can have no tolerance for a coach interacting with a student in the manner Coach Lake did. We have high expectations of conduct for our coaches, and we will not shy away from those expectations.”

Lake said after the game that “I didn’t strike him. I separated him.”

The incident came after a first-half kickoff in which Fuavai briefly was mixed up with Oregon’s Jaylon Redd near the Washington sideline. Replays show Lake thrust his right hand, which was holding a sheet of paper, into the helmet of Fauvai and then he followed up with a shove.

Lake, 44, has guided the Huskies to a 7-6 record in two seasons, including 4-5 this season.

He was promoted to head coach after Chris Petersen resigned following the 2019 season. Lake was defensive coordinator and a protege of Petersen, who encouraged the Washington administration to hire Lake.

Lake also created a stir during the week by mocking Oregon’s academic reputation.

The Huskies once were the elite program in the Pacific Northwest but were surpassed by the Ducks earlier this century. Oregon’s victory on Saturday was its 15th in the past 17 meetings with Washington.

–Field Level Media