SEATTLE — Justin Wilcox doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would like to make everything better with the snap of his fingers. The University of Washington’s new defensive coordinator enjoys the process too much.
“Being a defensive coordinator is a great job,” the Huskies’ 35-year-old assistant coach said Wednesday, “but it’s difficult.”
Taking over a defense that is coming off one of the worst statistical seasons in program history certainly won’t be an easy task. But Wilcox and UW’s new defensive assistants are motivated to make strides as quickly as possible.
“We’re going to do our very best to improve the product from last year,” said linebackers coach Peter Sirmon, one of five new assistant coaches who were officially introduced to the media Wednesday. “I don’t think any of us are patient.”
Wilcox, the former defensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee who also has worked at Boise State, said patience might be a key early in the process.
“It’s not a one-week process. It’s not a two-week process,” he said. “I wish it was. But it’s going to take some time. I can’t wait for spring football.”
Wilcox, who brought Sirmon with him from Tennessee, was wooed to UW by head coach Steve Sarkisian. After letting go three longtime assistants, and seeing two others take parallel jobs at other schools, Sarkisian put on his recruiting hat and went out to bring in a new group of young, energetic assistants whom he believes can take the Huskies to the next level.
“Couldn’t be more excited to have these guys on board,” Sarkisian said Wednesday.
Wilcox and Sirmon traveled the farthest. UW’s three other defensive assistants moved over from Pacific-12 Conference rivals. Defensive-line coach Tosh Lupoi and offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau both came from Cal and defensive backs coach Keith Heyward came from Oregon State.
Wilcox did not know Sarkisian before being contacted early last month. The former Tennessee assistant said he received an “out-of-the-blue” call from Sarkisian late on a Saturday night, spent the following day calling colleagues to ask about the Huskies’ coach and was on the UW campus by 11 a.m. Monday morning.
“It was an easy decision,” Wilcox said, adding that he’d had no plans to leave Tennessee before taking Sarkisian’s call. “Everybody I talked to — about the university, the athletic director and Sark (Sarkisian) — said the same thing. There was not one negative thing — and I talked to a lot of people within this conference. I did my homework and it was very easy and clean.”
Recruiting also was a factor in Sarkisian’s search for new coaches. Lupoi waged some epic recruiting battles against Sarkisian while at Cal.
“Tosh, quite honestly, has been a thorn in my side on the recruiting front,” Sarkisian said Wednesday. “The old adage: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
Lupoi said the $350,000 salary was a factor in his hiring but added that he’d turned down more money than that for similar jobs before. Joining Sarkisian and a rising UW program was enough to pull him away from his alma mater and to a Pac-12 rival.
“It was obvious throughout that process that he does a great job as a recruiter,” Lupoi said. “… I thought Sark did a great job of staying away from the glitz and the glamour and the hype and just approaching it from a fact standpoint and really selling what he and this place represents. That played a major role for me.”
Lupoi, whose reputation as a recruiter has overshadowed his abilities as a position coach, knows that bringing in four- and five-star athletes will be a big part of his job at UW. Being able to recruit is something upon which he prides himself.
“It’s about being genuine and honest, and then having the effort to do so,” said Lupoi, a 30-year-old assistant who played defensive line at Cal. “I think there’s a little bit of an ability to relate to young men better than others, perhaps, simply because of the age.”
Sarkisian, who never had to make a single coaching hire during his first three seasons at UW, seemed genuinely excited about his new staff. And for three of them, he didn’t have to look far. Being able to pluck some assistants away from Pac-12 schools could help the Huskies in the long run.
“In general, it’s pretty hard,” Heyward said of luring coaches away from conference schools. “We’re all pretty loyal to the program we came from. But each guy has his own story. … It comes down to this being the opportunity we were looking for. We all have the same common goal, and that’s to win.”
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