Gregory Has Been An Interim Coach Before and It Didn't Go Well

Bob Gregory received a morning phone call from University of Washington athletic director Jen Cohen. The conversation was brief. She had an immediate need. He had a few questions. That was it.

On Monday, Gregory took over as Husky interim football coach, stepping into a tumultuous situation that brought a week-long suspension for Jimmy Lake for his sideline actions involving walk-on linebacker Ruperake Fuavai during the Oregon game.

Gregory, 58, becomes the UW's first temporary leader since quarterbacks coach Marques Tuiasosopo replaced USC-bound Steve Sarkisian and guided the team to a 31-16 victory over BYU in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco. 

Tuiasosopo and Sarkisian both are in their first years coaching in Texas now, with the former serving as the Rice offensive coordinator and the latter the Texas head coach.  

Of all the ironies, that Husky personnel shuffle eight years ago had a direct impact on Gregory, too. 

Once Sarkisian resigned back then, Chris Petersen took the UW job and left Boise State without a head coach for the Hawaii Bowl and its game against Oregon State. 

The Mountain West school turned to Gregory.

A Boise State linebackers coach and a lifelong assistant at several schools, he assumed the role of interim coach for the Christmas Eve game in Honolulu. Unfortunately for him, he was not nearly as successful as Tuiasosopo would be three days later in the Bay Area.

With Gregory in charge, the Broncos fell behind 38-6 before losing to Oregon State 38-23. His defense gave up 454 yards that day, though his offense generated 538 yards.

"Thanks for reminding me," Gregory said with a wince on Monday. "That was a long time ago. Completely different team. Completely different situation. We're not in Hawaii and I think that helps, too."

Gregory sat alongside Junior Adams, the newly elevated offensive coordinator from receivers coach following John Donovan's Sunday firing, and they answered media questions at mid-afternoon.

Both called Lake's suspension an unfortunate situation, neither defending nor chastising him. 

Gregory said he didn't learn of the incident — where the UW head coach raced down the sideline and crashed into people, including an official, and physically confronted Fuavai — until he got home that night.

A Fuavai family member on social media suggested that an Oregon player spit in the face of the 6-foot, 225-pound linebacker, setting off the ordeal, which involved words and shoves between the two.

"I think he's a little embarrassed by it," Gregory said of Fuavai.

Adams, previously an offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky in 2017 and 2018 before coming to Washington, was asked about Donovan's sudden weekend departure.

"My reaction was I don't wish that on anyone," he said. "He's a good friend of mine."

Pressed for what kind of change might take place for a UW offense that struggled under Donovan's direction, Adams threw out some caution for those expecting a total new look against Arizona State (6-3 overall, 4-2 Pac-12) on Saturday at Husky Stadium.

"It's too late in the season to go reinvent the wheel," Adams said. "We'll go back and look at the things that worked."

Gregory, a Spokane native same as Lake and a former WSU linebacker, is in his 34th year of college coaching, with 10 of them spent as a defensive coordinator at Washington (this year only), California (2002-09) and Boise State (2001). 

He's prepared to do whatever is needed to get the Huskies (4-5, 3-3) through this season filled with adversity, which is down to games against ASU, Colorado and Washington State in the Apple Cup.

Asked if it was possible he might be asked to retain this interim-coaching role for longer than a week, Gregory shrugged.

"I do not know — that's up to Jen," he said.

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