Inside The Huskies

UW Could Be On the Verge of Losing 4th Assistant Football Coach

Linebackers coach Robert Bala reportedly is interviewing with Florida.

Dan Raley

Linebacker coach Robert Bala, seated next to Taylor Mays, takes part in a media session held to introduce new program faces.
Linebacker coach Robert Bala, seated next to Taylor Mays, takes part in a media session held to introduce new program faces. / Dan Raley

On Monday, Jedd Fisch held a mid-winter media briefing for the most part to introduce newly arrived University of Washington football coaches and players, if not keep interest going in his program rebuild well in advance of spring practice.

It was a gathering typically not held before at the UW, smack in the middle of basketball season. Yet it ironically might have served as a chance to say goodbye, too.

That morning, second-year linebackers coach Robert Bala sat at the far end of a table with the entire Husky defensive staff, next to new safeties coach Taylor Mays and three seats away from new defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. He spoke about restoring a linebacker position group that needs to replace both starters with transfers and freshmen.

"I'm really excited about the young guys," Bala said. "We like playing guys early [and] throw them into the fire and see what they can do. You can have the continuity over three, four or five years."

Those could have been famous last words, especially the continuity part.

By Wednesday, Bala reportedly had traveled all the way to the University of Florida to interview for the Gators linebackers job, according to multiple outlets that cover the team.

These days, players aren't the only ones making college football an increasingly transient game and proving willing to leave someplace in a moment's notice.

While Bala can't be faulted for trying to improve his career situation, and even return to the SEC after previously coaching at Alabama for a season under Nick Saban, plus possibly make more money, what's disturbing is he represents possibly the fourth of Fisch's 10 UW assistant coaches to exit Montlake since the season ended with the Sun Bowl.

That's a 40 percent staff turnover rate, which does nothing to promote Husky player development and keep recruiting efforts intact.

Previously, former UW defensive coordinator Steve Belichick and offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll left to go work with their high-profile fathers, Bill and Pete, now the head coaches for the University of North Carolina and the Las Vegas Raiders, respectively.

Former safeties coach Vinnie Sunseri departed the Huskies to become defensive coordinator at Jacksonville State in Alabama, then pivoted a few weeks later to Florida to become a co-defensive coordinator and the safeties coach, an increase in roles for him each time. No doubt he and Bala have been talking, too.

While family bonding, an increase in coaching responsibility and large pay hikes are valid reasons to move on, the question needs to be raised: what about building the Washington football program -- just a year removed from appearing in the CFP national championship game -- back into something formidable again?

What happened to that stated mission and the Fisch coaching connection?

Also, wouldn't second-generation Belichick and Carroll finally want to build their coaching reputations based on their own merits rather than fall back under the considerable shadows of their fathers, which both of them did before?

After all, people still really don't know if Steve Belichick is a talented coach in his own right or just using the family name to stay employed.

Do four coaches potentially bailing on Fisch all at once say something about his leadership abilities? Probably not.

It seems as if Fisch bent over backward to promote the careers of all of these guys. He made Belichick and Carroll coordinators for the first time. He provided nice landing spots for Belichick and Sunseri once the Patriots ended Bill Belichick's long coaching run and their jobs.

Fisch actually talked Bala into leaving Western Michigan after the latter spent a few weeks as that school's new defensive coordinator for a more prestigious Power 4 position.

Although he will never say anything to the contrary about these exiting coaches, and publicly only congratulate them for their career moves, Fisch couldn't be faulted at all for thinking he probably deserved more than a year from each of these guys in his Husky rebuild.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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