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16 // VARSITY February 6, 2014 BY BARRY ALVAREZ // UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS BEHIND THE DESK A s a former head coach, I can't say your second recruiting class is more important than your first or third class. They're all important, and you can't make a lot of mistakes because you have to live with them. I know Gary was trying to im- prove the depth on the offensive line and the skill in the secondary and at wide receiver, and it looks like they've hit their needs. They've worked hard as a staff and covered the whole country. Gary is very thorough in film evalu- ation and he has recruited a really big class this year. I've never put much stock in how players are ranked by the recruiting experts. But I did put stock in guys that I felt could fit into our program and could help us win; guys that were tough and liked football. We made a living on walk-ons and those guys that we developed. We just don't have access to a lot of five-stars here. Ron Dayne and Joe Thomas were five-stars. So were running backs Carl McCullough and Royce Rober- son. We got them both in the same recruiting class in 1993. We also got Tarek Saleh that year. The year before, we got four Parade All-American linemen: Bryan Jurewicz, Jerry Wunsch, Rod Spiller and James Darby. Jamie Vanderveldt was also an All-Amer- ican. We also took a quarterback in that class, Darrell Bevell. He wasn't a five-star or a four-star. I don't think he had any stars, but he led us to a Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl. Now, as an athletic director, I still get to visit with the kids when they bring them in. I talk to them about the history and the tradition of our program. I feel like I can still relate to them because I've done it all my life. Most ADs are not talking with recruits, so I can add a little extra as an administrator. It's hard to judge someone in a 20-minute or half-hour visit. But you can tell when a kid is not in- terested or he's looking around the room and can't communicate. You can tell if guys want to be here or they just like the recruit- ing process and they're not really listening. I've seen that and I make sure to tell them (the coaches). That was obviously not the case with Russell Wilson. After watching him this sea- son ― and in the Super Bowl ― I think he will continue to grow. As impressive as he is right now, you know that he isn't satisfied and he will keep trying to get better and he will keep working on his game. I was very impressed with how a young guy like Russell ― in only his second year in the league ― was not overwhelmed on the big stage in the Super Bowl. On offense, Seattle was not go- ing to turn the ball over and they were not going to help you on defense. They were sound and you had to beat them. To be honest, I was very sur- prised. I was shocked that it wasn't a closer game, that it wasn't a contest. I was impressed how well Seattle was prepared in all phases and how they executed, including what Darrell did with Russell and the offense. I thought they were really good defensively. They really flew around. They got a push in the middle and they got pressure with a four-man rush. Whenever Peyton Manning dropped back, the pocket was collapsing and they got people around him that bothered him. The most impressive thing about their defense was their secondary. They're just so big and athletic and they're just so long and physical. They sent a message right away against Denver. When Kam Chancellor came up and knocked their big receiver, De- maryius Thomas, back five yards after he caught a pass on a crossing pattern, he got everybody's atten- tion. You're looking at a 6-foot-3, 235-pound safety and it was like he was saying, "This is how it's go- ing to be all day, boys. If you want to throw those checkdowns or you want to run those rub routes and under routes, you're going to get blown up." As a former defensive coordina- tor, I loved it. Our program doesn't put much stock into 'stars'