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Articles
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The enigmatic Craig Chambers Why is he leaving Washington? Richard Linde, 5 December 2005
Reportedly, he is transferring from Washington to a Division I-AA school. The circumstances surrounding Chambers' departure are clouded with mystery, considering what could have been a bright future at Washington. Was he unfairly stereotyped under Keith Gilbertson's reign as a gamer, one who sloughs off during the week's practices and comes to play on Saturday? Was transferring his only way to escape this image? Obviously, the parade of coaches at Washington over the last two-and-one-half years had to affect Chambers' decision. Out of Mill Creek, Washington, Chambers was one of the marquee players that Rick Neuheisel recruited in 2003, in a class ranked eighteenth in the nation by Scout.com. Before Chambers ever played a down for Neuheisel, the UW fired him in July 2003 and promoted Keith Gilbertson to head coach a month later. Gilbertson lasted 15 months, over the course of two seasons, and was replaced by Tyrone Willingham in December 2004 just after Notre Dame fired him with two years remaining on his contract. In the main, Washington fired Neuheisel for lying to NCAA investigators, who, incidentally, ambushed Neuheisel in violation of their own rules, even though he told the truth about his participation in a March Madness gambling pool the same day he allegedly lied about participating in the pool. Later, Neuheisel remembered that an internal UW memo permitted participation in March Madness pools as long as it was done outside the athletic department. (See the Neuheisel Chronicles for the sequence of events, starting in June 2003). In 2005, his successful lawsuit and settlement against Washington and the NCAA most likely vindicated him in the eyes of his recruits. By then, the thrill of playing for Washington -- and the players' coach Neuheisel -- had all but vanished in the collective mind of his three classes. Chambers (6-feet-3, 205) red-shirted his first year under Gilbertson, in a 6-6 season marked by underachievement. The Neuheisel imbroglio -- and its negative press coverage -- had taken its toll on the team. Chambers played the next two seasons, one under Gilbertson (2004) and one under Willingham (2005). In the last four games of 2004, Chambers, as a red-shirt freshman, caught 19 passes for 408 yards. According to the Seattle Times, he officially started six of the last nine games this season and had 31 catches for 573 yards and a team-leading six touchdown catches. In the 2004 Apple Cup, Chambers caught 4 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown. With 4:04 remaining in the game, Chambers caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Isaiah Stanback and was on the receiving end of a two-point conversion, bringing Washington within 3 points of the lead in a 28-25 loss. Reportedly in the last two seasons, Chambers didn’t practice as hard as he should have, meaning that his playing time was limited since coaches generally start the ones who look the best in practice. “They (the coaches) felt like I could work a little bit harder to improve my game, and I didn't disagree, but I said I thought there were still some situations where I should have been playing and I wasn't,” the Seattle Times recently quoted Chambers as saying. “We just had two different opinions about what was going on.” "He wasn't consistent enough catching the football and as an overall route runner," the Times quotes offensive coordinator Tim Lappano as saying in reaction to Chambers not getting more playing time. At that time, a week ago, Lappano thought Chambers would stay at Washington. During the 2004 practices at Evergreen State College, I noticed that Sonny Shackelford, the UW's leading receiver this season, got a lot of extra attention from his position coach, working repeatedly on a hands and reaction drill. Maybe, the coaches should have worked harder with Chambers. In Washington’s opener against the Air Force this season, a game the Huskies should have won, Chambers caught just one pass for 19 yards, which came at a desperation moment on the next to the last play of the game. His heroics in the 2004 Apple Cup had been lost on his new coaches, except when they needed him, and he wasn't even on the two-deep depth chart for the game. After the debacle against the Falcons, reportedly his mother, Susan, called a Seattle radio station to complain about Craig's playing time. Never really getting out of Gilbertson’s Dawg house, still in place under Willingham, may have led to Chambers' departure. Once a person is stereotyped, whether it's fair or not, it’s almost impossible to change his/her image, especially when the media broadcasts it, as they had with Craig. Some players can get away with lackadaisical practices – I’m thinking of UW's most notable, Hugh McElhenny, for example – but Chambers couldn’t; this assumes he wasn’t giving an all out effort from Monday through Friday, as some people have said. On Saturdays he was one of the UW’s few playmakers. I know that much for real. Going from Rick Neuheisel, derisively known as Coach Kumbaya during his time at Colorado, to Keith Gilbertson must have been a cultural shock for most of Rick’s recruits at Washington. No more loud speakers blaring rock and roll music at practices symbolize the transition. Rick was always fair with his players and he expected achievement to come from within, not from a lot of haranguing and badgering by the coaches. Although a nice fellow, Gilby, 56, was from the old school, acting like Woody Hayes during some of the practices I attended. Geez, Gilby, ease up a bit. Ugh, and end those Lombardi-like bear crawls. This isn't boot camp, you know. Over the course of his time on the field, Gilbertson’s patience may have been worn thin by too many players that had not given him the old college try. A further adjustment was needed for Rick's recruits under Willingham. As a product of a military town, does Willingham expect his players to say, "No excuse, sir," when they screw up? Maybe "Paint-dry Ty," as he is called by the media, wasn't communicative enough with Chambers when they met a few days ago to discuss Chambers' situation? This all adds to the mystery surrounding his departure, especially considering that only the first 25 minutes of Husky practices are open to the media. If the media can't see it, they can't report on it. If the future doesn’t work out for Chambers in the way he expects, will he always wonder whether he made the right decision? If I read the Internet message boards correctly, the current betting line is that his decision may haunt him for the rest of his life. For certain, he will never forget the 69-yard, Hail Mary pass he caught for the touchdown that led to a win over Arizona in Tucson this season. Craig can always tell his grandchildren about that play, and that’s what I’ll always remember him by -- not as a quitter. We wish him the best of luck. ----------- Photo above, Craig Chambers at Picture Day 2005. Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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Some
guys keep throwing snake eyes even though the dice are loaded for seven. Wide
receiver Craig Chambers may be one of those guys, not really getting a fair
throw of the dice at Washington. Is he a quitter, as some people are saying now,
or is he the victim of the coaching carousel at Washington, of an unfair stereotype,
or of too little playing time?