Father of five-star Huskies LB Sav'ell Smalls calls for Jimmy Lake's job

After a rough first half against a winless Arizona team, Joseph Butler, father of Washington linebacker Sav’ell Smalls, called for Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake to be fired.

“I’m crushed right now watching this debacle!! It’s completely over and I don’t care what you diehard UW fans and alumni say,” Butler said. “Jimmy & Company need to be fired now!!”

Washington trailed Arizona 13-0 at halftime Friday night before rallying with a 21-3 run in the second half, including 14 points in the fourth quarter, to defeat the Wildcats 21-16.

Washington now sits at 3-4 on the season. The Huskies entered the 2021 season with lofty expectations, but eight weeks into the season, the Huskies already have losses to FCS Montana, a blowout loss at Michigan, a close contest at Oregon State that resulted in Washington’s third loss of the season and a loss to UCLA in week 7.

Sav’ell Smalls, a five-star recruit in the 2020 recruiting class, has six tackles on the season, including three against Arizona. Smalls has seen action in every game this season, but has yet to make a start. As a freshman, Smalls made one start and appeared in four total games, recording seven tackles in an abbreviated season.

Smalls starred at Eastside Catholic as a freshman and again as a senior, having attended Garfield High as a sophomore and junior. Sav’ell Smalls was NPSL’s defensive lineman of the year in 2019, recording 40 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, three sacks and an interception as a senior. As a junior at Garfield, Smalls was named the defensive MVP of the Metro League Mountain Division.

Jimmy Lake is in his second season as head coach at Washington. Lake, 44, has been with the Huskies program since 2014. He joined the program as the defensive backs coach in 2014, was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2016, and was named defensive coordinator in 2018. Chris Petersen announced he would step down as Washington’s head coach at the end of the 2019 season and that Lake would be his successor. As head coach, Lake holds a 6-5 record. The Huskies went 3-1 in Lake’s first season, an abbreviated season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.