Suspended Washington head coach Jimmy Lake allegedly shoved player in 2019

Washington head coach Jimmy Lake is alleged to have shoved a player back in 2019, numerous eyewitnesses tell the Seattle Times.

Washington Huskies head coach Jimmy Lake was suspended for this week’s game against Arizona State after he hit linebacker Ruperake Fuavai in the helmet and shoved him in the back during their contest against Oregon the week prior. This is allegedly not the only time Lake had shoved a player.

Five eyewitnesses told the Seattle Times, via Mike Vorel, on the condition of anonymity that Lake allegedly shoved wide receiver Quinten Pounds into a locker at halftime of Washington’s game against Arizona on Oct. 19, 2019. Lake was the defensive coordinator at the time.

“Lake comes in on just a complete rampage pretty much, picks up Quinten Pounds and throws him into a locker,” one eyewitness said, via the Seattle Times. “Those lockers there were wooden lockers, and it was violent. It really caught everyone by surprise. It was really unprompted. He just kind of did that and then went on a tangent about how the offense needs to start playing better.”

Jimmy Lake denies allegations of shoving player in 2019

Lake issued a statement to the Seattle Times regarding the allegations, which he vehemently denies.

"“I absolutely deny anything improper went on at halftime of the University of Arizona game in 2019. There were numerous witnesses in the game — from equipment room, to football staff, to strength and conditioning coaches, and no one came to me with concerns after halftime, after the game, never.“To my knowledge there’s never been any complaints launched by anyone related to anything that happened during that game, and nobody from the university has ever raised any issues with me about what occurred in the locker room at halftime.”"

While the five eyewitnesses provided similar accounts of the alleged incident, an anonymous current player on the team said that he was standing next to Lake at the time and that “nothing malicious happened.”

The Seattle Times requested comment from Washington athletic director Jen Cohen, where they received a statement attributed to the department that said “one individual mentioned an alleged incident involving Coach Lake during the 2019 football game at Arizona” during their investigation into Lake’s incident with Tuavai.

“This is the first time (the) athletic department administration had been made aware of the alleged 2019 incident and we began to review that allegation; that work is ongoing,” the statement said, via The Seattle Times.

You can read the full accounts of the anonymous players in Mike Vorel’s article, linked above.

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