Jimmy Lake is being benched by the program for his actions from last week.
The Huskies suspended the head football coach after a sideline altercation in which cameras showed him striking walk-on linebacker Ruperake Fuavai’s helmet during the team’s loss to Oregon on Saturday.
“Our staff has spent the last 24-plus hours reviewing video of the incident, as well as speaking with coach Lake, the involved student-athlete and several other student-athletes and members of the staff, and I have made the decision to suspend coach Lake for next Saturday’s game against Arizona State,” Washington athletic director Jen Cohen said in a statement.
“[We] are in agreement that while we do not believe his actions were intentional or deliberate, we can have no tolerance for a coach interacting with a student in the manner coach Lake did. We have high expectations of conduct for our coaches, and we will not shy away from those expectations.”
Washington is 7-6 under Lake since he was promoted in December 2019.
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“I separated him,” Lake told reporters when asked if he regretted the altercation with Fuavai. “I didn’t strike him. I separated him.”
Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory will reportedly serve as the interim coach against Arizona State.
