Washington Huskies release statement on parting ways with Jimmy Lake

The Washington Huskies formally released a statement on parting ways with their head football coach, Jimmy Lake this afternoon. Washington’s athletic director, Jen Cohen, made the announcement official that Lake has been relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Washington Huskie football program, effectively immediately. Washington will pay his full buyout of $9.9 million.

The official statement is below:

“Making a head coaching change in any sport is difficult, recognizing that the decision impacts coaches, staff, student-athletes and their families,” said Cohen. “However, as the steward of UW Athletics, I must always act in the best interests of our student-athletes, our department and our university. No one wanted Jimmy to succeed more than I when I hired him in 2019, but ultimately, this change is necessary for a variety of reasons, both on the field and off. I am grateful for Jimmy’s service to Washington, and we wish him the very best of luck moving forward.”

Assistant coach Bob Gregory will serve as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2021 college football season. This year was the first year for Gregory as the team’s new defensive coordinator. Previously, he’d had 15 years of experience as a defensive coordinator at a variety of schools across the country.

Gregory also has spent eight seasons at Washington as their linebacker coach. From 2016-200, he also served as the Huskies’ special teams’ coordinator.

Lake was relieved of his duties in less than two full seasons at Washington. He had mediocre on field results, a sideline incident with one of his players, and off-the-field media distractions.

Then today, more details came out about why he was fired from Brett McMurphy of The Action Network. A source told him that Lake “had to go” despite being the head coach for less than two full seasons.

“The recruiting was worst it’s ever been,” the source told McMurphy. “We were fearing we’d revert back to the (Ty) Willingham days. He had very few allies here.”

Jimmy Lake coaching bio

During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Lake led the Huskies to a 7-7 record overall. He played his college football at Eastern Washington from 1995-1998. Former Washington defensive coordinator Phil Snow once called Lake a “defensive backs guru”. From 2006-2007, he worked with Monte Kiffin under former Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden. In the 2010 and 2011 seasons he spent at Tampa Bay, he coached under former Tampa Bay head coach Raheem Morris.