Inside The Huskies

UW Coach Comparison: Dougherty Retraces Steps in Montlake

He previously was part of Steve Sarkisian's Husky coaching staff.

Dan Raley

Jimmie Dougherty puts the departed Dermaricus Davis through a drill to test his concentration.
Jimmie Dougherty puts the departed Dermaricus Davis through a drill to test his concentration. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Jimmie Dougherty was this gangly 6-foot-4, 190-pound quarterback for Missouri, a sophomore who started all 11 games for the 4-7 Tigers in 1999, someone who seemingly would have many more chances to succeed.

However, he injured his throwing elbow and played in just two more games. He was recruited by Larry Smith, who previously coached at Arizona and USC, but finished up with Gary Pinkel, the former University of Washington offensive coordinator, who returned Missouri to power but couldn't salvage Dougherty's career.

So the native of Edwardsville, Illinois, in the St. Louis suburbs, became a coach. He did this at the same time, in the next state over in Iowa and 400 miles apart, from Ryan Grubb, who came off a hog farm and turned to the coaching profession, as well.

Now more than two decades later, Dougherty, 45, has replaced Grubb, 48, as the UW quarterbacks coach, though not as offensive coordinator, while returning for a second stint with the Huskies as part of Jedd Fisch's staff.

Both of these quarterbacks coaches find their careers on an uptick. Grubb used two years of helping turn Michael Penix Jr. into a first-round draft pick for the Atlanta Falcons and the Heisman Trophy runner-up, plus calling ingenious plays as a coordinator, to turn down a chance to coach at Alabama this past winter but accept an opportunity to join the Seattle Seahawks.

Meantime, Dougherty was credited with getting Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita ready to play and selected as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after the redshirt player completed 241 of 333 passes for 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns while making just nine starts.

Dougherty arrived in Seattle for the first time in 2009 as part of Steve Sarkisian's new Husky coaching staff and stayed four seasons before leaving to become the San Jose State offensive coordinator.

He later would twice coach with Fisch -- first at Michigan, where he was an offensive analyst for Jim Harbaugh while Fisch was the QB and receivers coach; and at UCLA, where Dougherty was the receivers coach and Fisch was the offensive coordinator, with both answering to former UW linebacker Jim Mora before the latter got fired as the Bruins head coach.

With similar career coaching arcs emanating out of the Midwest, Dougherty and Grubb, as quarterbacks coaches only, are almost a wash at who's better in terms of getting players to perform at a higher level.

Jimmie Dougherty is back for his second stint as a UW assistant coach.
Jimmie Dougherty is back for his second stint as a UW assistant coach. / Dan Raley

Dougherty also helped Jake Locker become a first-round NFL draft pick during his first stint at the UW while Grubb spent considerable time at Fresno State with ex-Husky Jake Haener, who recently became a fourth-round draft pick for the New Orleans Saints.

When you get a second chance to coach at the UW and four opportunities to coach alongside Fisch, such as Dougherty has, you must be doing something right.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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