Home Recruiting Keith Heyward to Washington

Keith Heyward to Washington

43

Beavs just lost their best recruiter, and a guy with solid LA contacts.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskyfootballblog/2017216683_sarkisian_on_new_coaches_—_a.html

Heyward recruited all three corners (Brice, Shelton, Wallace) among others. Expect de-commitments en masse.

I'm curious to hear Heyward's reasoning. If it was lifestyle related, then there was nothing OSU could have done. But if it was financial, then Riley/Bob D just made an epic pratfall (and made clear what they think of recruiting).

43 COMMENTS

  1. Oof. Seems like we should have been able to shell out enough $$$ to hold onto him…since we’re stuck with Riley for the long haul, might as well capitalize on him and his crappy OC/DC being cheap.

  2. I think the de-commits could happen, I think they may stick with their commitments to Oregon State but this definitely makes me nervous. Worst time for it to happen too with it being about three weeks till signing day. Beavers just weren’t paying him enough. I understand why he’s making the move.

  3. Great double move by UW, make yourself better, hurt a league rival at the same time. Not something Riley would ever pull off…

    Maybe riley’s double move should have been let banker go, promote heyward…

  4. He’ll need lots and lots and lots more money to live in Seattle; to buy/rent a house, sales tax, transportation, general cost of living. Does he have kids in school? That would be another dilemma.

    • Property values are way down up here, and NO state income tax.

      There may be valid reasons to compare Seattle unfavorably to Corvallis (he says with straight face) but cost of living disparity is not really a relevant factor.

  5. I don’t know any more about this than what I read in the article. But, a lateral move in this stage of Heyward’s career is not really a lateral move. As long as he continues to be successful he has just made himself more attractive to another program for a promotion. I hate to see one of our best recruiters go away, but it seems like a good move for him personally.

    And $124K in Seattle vs. $110K in Corvallis is not a raise.

  6. One other thought on this, new blood on the defense would not be a bad thing either. It can be hard for a guy from inside the program like Heyward to get things changed even if he knew there was a better way to do things. It would be much easier for a guy from the outside to come in and “ask” some hard questions of the coaching philosophy – especially if they can bring in someone from a successful defense.

  7. There is no reason to nickel and dime the assistant coaches, given the new PAC-12 TV $$. Especially foolish to underpay a guy like Heyward, who may have been OSU’s most effective recruiter.

    If Heyward was really the lowest paid assistant coach at OSU, and was really making “only” $105,000, then this may also be about ego and respect. Heyward likely feels that his efforts — especially in recruiting — were being undervalued at OSU. If Heyward requested a raise, was turned down, and felt “disrespected” in the process, this is a very effective way for Heyward to say “F-you” to Riley and BDC.

  8. Seems like our most dynamic people like Stansbury and Heyward are being pushed out or deciding to leave because their voices will be more appreciated at many other institutions where the stale and old doesn’t rule the roost like at OSU. Don’t like our priorities at all of overly rewarding the dinosaurs that don’t feel they have to do anything different and stifling the Young Lions with the most energy.

  9. No point crying over spilt milk.

    Who do we get to replace him?

    The habit is for Riley to go after unproven coaches with some kind of ties to OSU or OSU coaches’ other stops.

    But do we think he might use the opportunity to go after a JUCO coach like a Jerry Dominguez? Or will he actually make a search of the FCS and D2 ranks (outside of Linfield) for the best teacher and motivator in those ranks?

      • No, he has to have skill enough to teach the position and have good recruiting ties in probably the area vacated by Heyward. Jerry Dominguez comes to mind because he has ties in Arizona, which would free Cav to move over to Cali where I think he would be a more effective recruiter.\

        If I had a say in the matter, I would raid Rocky Long’s staff and grab Tony White. He handles a lot of high profile recruits for SDSU, and he usually only loses out because he’s at a mid-major. Devian Shelton is one of those recruits, and he still has him on the line. But best of all he’s a good coach who knows SoCal better than anyone we have (and probably better than Heyward).

        • That’s great knowledge, I don’t know anybodys assistants beside the coordinators. It seems like we probably have good ties with SDS, since Katz is transferring there. I don’t know if that is good or bad. We have good connections, but Riley being too nice would he vulture a coach from that staff?

          • I like White better for the LB coach, but he’s proven he can coach the corners. He was recruited to UCLA by Rocky Long, who I respect as both the former DC at OSU and as a head coach in some impossible locations. And White started his coaching career under Long and has followed him around ever since.

  10. Riley makes a million dollars or some such ridiculous figure and he pays one of our best assistants $105,000, and he leaves. That pisses me off. I sure hope this wasn’t a money thing. I feel like our program is circling the bowl.

  11. This class will crumble a little bit. What hurts even more is now we don’t have a presence in LA. So who can we get to replace him? The DB’s are crucial to Bankers Defensive scheme working. They did play better as the year moved on, but his biggest asset was his recruiting, which is our biggest Weakness.

    OUCH!

    • Brennan had a pretty good year in recruiting and he was from a California school prior to coming to OSU. I hope they bring in another good recruiter, but I don’t think Heyward is the equivalent of the sky falling.

      • One of the few glimmers of good news in the past two years has been the solid class they’ve put together this season. If two or three key guys bail as a result of Heyward leaving, that’s sky is falling level I think. If they keep the class intact, hopefully they can find a solid replacement and weather the loss.

  12. It could be that’s neither a money or lifestyle issue, but just a good career move. If he does a good job at UW, Wilcox could be a head coach in three years. Sark even still seems to be somewhat of a hot commodity. Riley and Banker on the other hand have gone as far as they will up the ranks.
    That being said, the timing is disastrous, and it seems being a Beaver fan is becoming an exercise in futility.

  13. Please, everyone take a step back off the ledge. There is plenty more in Beaver athletics to worry about right now then a coach taking a career advancement. Not everything that has to do with OSU athletics is because BDC has made a tremendous blunder. Heyward has had a great recruiting year and has really learned how to recruit over the past couple of years. But, that was part of his learning curve and it is very typical that when you hire a guy that you are going to have to develop, you pay him less. It is very hard in corporate america (which is what OSU is) to keep a specific persons pay aligned with their value as they are getting up to speed. It is much easier with a “seasoned” employee as they are not progressing fast. This is a normal part of coaching life, especially with up and comers like a Heyward.

    I certainly hope that we don’t lose any recruits over this, but I’m not ready to say that this is the final nail.

        • Allioti has fielded some mediocre defenses. He, and the D, benefit greatly from the awesome leads the offense gives them. nothing wrong with that at all, but during the Belloti years, after Harrington left, there was plenty of Duck mediocrity. There was several years there where they didn’t have the slow-start syndrome of Riley, but rather mid-season collapses. And remember, they had their own uninspired LV bowl loss to BYU.

  14. Sounds like the Poyer, Scoobz, Martin and RR found out via Twitter. Definitely seems like there was a falling out between Heyward and the powers.

  15. It seems like Heyward is sticking it to Riley. I could understand the job change, but it could have been taken with the understanding that it be announced after signing day. He knows what the consequences
    are with the news coming out during the home stretch for recruiting. I thought Sark and MR were on good terms. This should change that. Too bad Banker didn’t get the Hawaii job.

    2012 off to a great start for Beav football! How soon till the de-commits start?

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