Outside of what appears to be a firmly entrenched Bud Foster, there's been no defensive coordinator in the ACC that's been as sought after in the past few years as John Tenuta. Even as Georgia Tech's offense could be most generously described as "erratic" under Reggie Ball and "competent" under the stewardship of Taylor Bennett, the Yellow Jacket defense could be relied on for its aggressiveness, possibly due to the pent up rage that comes from spending time in one of the south's few public school with almost no hot chicks.

And yet, after a rather inauspicious cameo as GT's head coach in this year's Humanitarian Bowl, Tenuta was not retained under the new Paul Johnson regime. Even more shocking was that Chan Gailey managed to land a job first, Basically, if you're a BCS school with a DC opening, Tenuta may have already been rumored as going to you. Originally, he was a blue and maize lock until the whole Les Miles thing went to sea (yuk, yuk). Then it was South Carolina. Or was it Arkansas??? And just this morning, Washington denied any involvement, so the question must be asked- where you at, Virginia?

Tenuta's ultimate ambitions are unclear, and I have no idea what kind of interview he is, so it's difficult to say that he'll take a position that can lead him to that plum head coaching gig. I mean, Ty Willingham supposedly has one year left to get it together, but then again, Tenuta's Pac-10 roots are almost nil, and the furthest west he's been as a coach was SMU in the '90s.

Here's why athletic directors are frowning this morning...

We've been saying it for years: snowballs are just a gateway weapon to screwdrivers and knives: Two Utah football players and a recruit they were hosting at a university-sanctioned party are recovering after being attacked by knife- and screwdriver-wielding assailants on Friday. The escalating factor in the scuffle? A snowball.

Freshman defensive end Paul Kruger (same name as his father), junior defensive lineman Greg Newman and Kruger's younger brother David, a recruit who plans to sign with the Utes next month, told the men to "shut up" and "get out of here." Kruger's father said Newman threw a snowball at the car during the exchange and the occupants then got out of the vehicle.

As mentioned in the article, the Deseret News obtained all the information about the attack from the father of one of the victims. That's not so great if you're looking for unbiased information (Paul, he explained, then ran over to the men and said, "Look this is not worth getting into a scuffle over."), but awesome for things you'll never hear east of the Continental Divide (Kruger's father said Meredith (he couldn't recall her last name) saved his son's "bacon" by immediately calling 911 for an ambulance when his blood pressure began to drop).

Despite a Pac-10 cellar finish for the Washington Huskies, despite an underwhelming 11-25 record over the last three seasons, and despite a ton of fan angst openly wishing for former Atlanta coach Jim Mora, it appears Tyrone Willingham has survived. Washington has announced a 2 PM PST press conference today to confirm that Tyrone Willingham will in fact remain as the head coach of the Huskies.

While there is no immediate word, there is speculation that UW will "clean house" in regards to the defensive coaching staff. That would include the ouster of longtime Willingham defensive coordinator Kent Baer among others. The Husky defense was not only one of the worst in the conference and the nation in 2007, but it was the worst in school history in terms of yards allowed.

Why keep a coach who has gone 11-25 and finished at the bottom of the conference? Why not make a change when you've just seen Willingham become the first coach in school history to roll out three consecutive losing seasons? There are a few reasons. Mainly three million of them, as in the amount of money it would take to buy out Willingham's remaining two years on his original five-year contract. There's Jake Locker, the redshirt frosh who burst onto the scene to become the conference's Freshman of the Year, a rising star in the Tim Tebow mold. The idea to shake things up at this point might hurt Locker's development. And, on the plus side of the ledger, Willingham has really done well this year in recruiting, especially the last few weeks. Washington has been securing some of the top recruits in the state, and currently project to have the 18th ranked class in the nation this year. Even better, there are more verbal commitments rumored to be on the way over the next few days. So in the end, UW President Mark Emmert and athletic director Todd Turner decided to keep things as they are. Will it pay off as UW tries to return to national relevance? Much to the chagrin of many Husky fans, we'll have to wait at least through the 2008 season to know the answer.

If you thought the officiating was bad in last year's Oregon-Oklahoma game, the Pac Ten officials have taken incompetence to a new level in last week's Washington-Oregon State game, and Pac Ten Commissioner Tom Hansen is not amused:

"Our review of the game included study of the game tape by Coordinator of Football Officiating Dave Cutaia, Director of Instant Replay Verle Sorgen, football administrator Jim Muldoon and me, review of game reports from the officiating crew and instant replay officials, communications with the two institutions and follow-up communications with the referee of the game.

"We regret that there was flagrant misconduct on the part of some players which led to four ejections from the game, that there was an injury to Washington quarterback Jake Locker which increased the emotions of the players and that the instant replay crew failed to stop the game to review the play at the goal line with just under three minutes to play. On the play, it was ruled Oregon State's Yvenson Bernard fumbled. However, it appeared his knee had touched the ground before he lost the ball...

"We do believe the instant replay officials did not perform properly on the Bernard fumble play. There was human error in that while reviewing the available replays the crew failed to notify the game officials to stop play before the ball was snapped for the next play. It was not the fault of the equipment. The game should have been stopped and the play reviewed. The members of the IR crew have been reprimanded."

On Saturday night, Washington QB Jake Locker took a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit on a run -- which somehow never drew a penalty. He was out on the turf for fifteen minutes while he was immobilized on a stretcher and taken to a Corvallis hospital. While the worst was feared initially, it turned out to be a neck stinger and a muscle strain.

Locker actually made it back to the stadium and the Husky sideline with a few minutes left in the game. He was in street clothes and wearing a neck brace, but at least he was walking on his own.

Washington, however, has stated that they will not be rushing Locker's return. He will be undergoing rehab and with a 3-7 record with three games remaining (Cal, Washington St. and Hawaii), it is unlikely he will play again this season. Frankly, there is nothing to be gained by rushing him back at this point. The Huskies have no chance of going to a bowl and Locker has a very bright future ahead of him.

All year I've had a running conversation with my colleague Charles Rich about what conference has the worst officials. He's made good points about certain situations in the ACC and I can name plenty of Pac-10 situations beyond the obvious Oregon/Oklahoma fiasco.

Tonight's performance may top that.

I didn't immediately see it, but a friend did and what follows is a piecing together (along with what I'm reading on various message boards) of the play in dispute between Oregon State and Washington.

Jake Locker was carted off the field late in the 1st half of the Washington-Oregon State game. The Washington QB took a helmet-to-helmet hit while running with the ball and went down hard.

The reports are spotty, but his head was immobilized and there was concern about an injury to the neck and spine. He was being taken to a local hospital for x-rays and possibly a cat scan.

The later reports are saying that Locker is feeling pain in his neck. Something that is actually a good thing. Just an absolutely scary hit and injury. Hopefully it isn't anything long term.

As if you didn't know already, the sidelines of a football game can be hazardous. It seems like every game there's always a photographer or sideline reporter that gets taken out in the heat of the action. But you always think "nah, that would never happen to me." Here's a first-hand view of what happens when a videographer named Joel Shapiro gets wiped out last Saturday during the Arizona's comeback 48-41 win at Washington:

So much for the departure of UW running back J.R. Hasty. Last week it was widely reported that Hasty quit the Huskies, and would likely head for a I-AA school like Montana. Never mind. Hasty's family sat down with Tyrone Willingham and offensive coordinator Tim Lappano on Monday night and basically cleared the air. J.R. now intends to be at practice, most likely today.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking to see if I could play somewhere else or to see if I could get more opportunity, and I sat down with the coaches," he said. "We cleared some air out, all spoke our piece and things are going to change.

"We kind of ironed the whole thing out. They broke it down to me, why I wasn't getting a lot of practice reps. They said a lot of guys are trying to get the same, and I'm not trying to be selfish. I have a strong relationship with my teammates, and I never quit at anything -- especially football -- and not on the team and the state I love."

That clearly doesn't sound like a kid who wants to bail, but there was a strong lack of communication here. There's still five games left in the season, so if Hasty does his job and competes the rest of the way it's very possible he'll get more playing time. But this is really an unexpected twist. You'd think they might have wanted to have the discussion before he quit the team and his dad bashed the coaching staff. I guess it took quitting the program to get their attention.

Highly touted running back J.R. Hasty, a top recruit from 2005, has left the UW football program. Hasty was slated to be the primary backup to senior Louis Rankin this season, but it just didn't work out. Hasty was actually passed on the depth chart by true frosh Brandon Johnson for the Oregon game last week, and that was the final straw.

If you aren't familiar with Hasty, he was an all-state running back out of Bellevue High School, a football power in the state of Washington. His senior year alone he rushed for over 2500 yards and set a state record with 50 rushing TD's. He came to UW as a highly rated recruit in 2005 and redshirted, all the while claiming scout team player of the year honors. Hopes were very high that Hasty was the real deal. But Hasty disappointed many last fall when he surprisingly became academically ineligible before the year and had to miss the 2006 season. Hasty got his act together and rejoined the team this year, but for reasons that some still don't understand, he never saw significant action.

You may recognize the last name, Hasty. As in, the son of long-time NFL defensive back James Hasty. While J.R. didn't have a whole lot to say on Thursday, father James didn't hold back his feelings about Tyrone Willingham and the UW program:

J.R. Hasty did not practice Wednesday, Willingham said. James Hasty said his son was pondering his future, but that he was "appalled" that no one from the coaching staff called to determine if Hasty was safe.

"No one called to even ask about his whereabouts. No 'Are you safe?' 'Are you OK?' 'Why aren't you at practice?' That was the most appalling thing," he said.

"It was appalling to see them play with kids' heads like that," James Hasty said.

The Huskies do have the luxury of depth at this point, as Brandon Johnson and fellow frosh Curtis Shaw will now be the primary guys behind Rankin. But the loss of Hasty isn't a good sign for Willingham. Hasty was regarded as one of the top players in the state when he came out of high school, and one of the big criticisms of Willingham thus far is that he has had trouble getting the true elite talents in-state to play at Washington. The Seattle Times ran a story yesterday about the state of Washington and the recruiting going on at UW, and how important it is for UW to win the recruiting battles at home. Time will tell if this will hurt Willingham with the various high school programs around the state, but some may view this as a coach running a player off the team for various reasons. Most likely Hasty will head for division 1-AA, possibly Montana, but his final destination is not yet known. In the end, it's too bad Hasty didn't work out at the Pac-10 level.