MCINTOSH, RAPP THE LATEST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT THE LAST, IN LAKE'S BURGEONING DB LINEAGE

By Rich Myhre

By Washington Huskies

September 25^th, 2018

It is believed the nickname was first used by Kevin King, a University of Washington cornerback from 2013-16 who now plays for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League.

DBU, that’s what King said. As in, Defensive Back University. As in, a place where elite defensive backs are recruited, developed and polished to a level of excellence for their years at Washington and later in the NFL.

It has a nice ring, doesn’t it? It certainly has authenticity, too, because the Huskies have produced five pro defensive backs in the last five years alone, including four selected in the first two rounds of the draft. And given the quality in Washington’s current defensive secondary, there will likely be more NFL-bound players in the near future.

At last summer’s Pac-12 Conference media day, senior safety JoJo McIntosh was asked if Washington’s secondary had a nickname. Something akin to The Legion of Boom, as formerly used by the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.

With a smile, McIntosh replied, “DBU.”

MCINTOSH, RAPP THE LATEST, BUT DEFINITELY NOT THE LAST, IN LAKE'S BURGEONING DB LINEAGE

OK, said the questioner, but there are actually a number of DBUs. After all, other college programs have claimed the same nickname.

McIntosh was unconvinced. “Nah, there’s only one DBU,” he said.

Asked to clarify, he explained, “I’d say the whole DB room (at Washington) is starters. Everybody can compete, everybody can play. There’s no drop-off. If somebody gets hurt, next guy up. … We just have a good group.”

To that statement, who can argue? Two years after sending three secondary starters to the NFL – cornerbacks King and Sidney Jones, and safety Budda Baker, all in the second round – Washington’s 2018 defensive backfield looks as good as ever. McIntosh seems certain to have a pro career, as does fellow starting safety Taylor Rapp, a junior who will be draft eligible after this season. Starting cornerbacks, senior Jordan Miller, junior Myles Bryant and redshirt-sophomore Byron Murphy, certainly seem to have NFL futures. In addition, some of the program’s younger secondary players also have likely pro potential.

Of course, other positions at Washington are churning out pro players, too. But there is a particular connotation – or at the very least, a nickname – for those in the defensive secondary.

As McIntosh explained in another recent interview, “The mindset of DBU is to be the best. That means we have to prepare like we’re the best and we have to play like we’re the best. It’s a mindset that we’re going to be the best in the nation.”

“It means having high expectations and high standards,” agreed Rapp. “When I first got here, I was thrown into the fire (by first playing and later starting as a true freshman). That’s how we continue to keep being DBU. We hold the young guys up to our high standards and we also hold each other accountable. It’s about having the mindset of being the best.”

The man in charge of DBU is defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake. It is Lake, Rapp explained, who “holds us to the highest standards possible. He wants us to be the best and he knows we can be the best.

“If we’re not doing our job correctly, his job is to critique us. And he’s not soft on us. He gets into us because that’s his job. He definitely holds us to those high expectations and those high standards.”

“Coach Lake is a great coach and a great man off the field,” McIntosh added. “I’ve had conversations with him about stuff going on in my life outside of football, and he’s always been there for me. But on the field he’s very competitive. He’s the most competitive coach I’ve ever played for. He wants to win and his mindset is to win. It’s not to tie, it’s not to lose and it’s not to cut it close. He wants to dominate.”

On a daily basis, McIntosh went on, “he’s giving us the tools we need to be the best. He wants us to be the best and he preaches that. So when we go out there every Saturday, we want to play like we’re the best.”

All true, Lake confirms, though he refuses to embrace the DBU moniker.

“I never say that,” he stressed, “and I don’t ever want to put that on our defense or on our defensive backs. That’s great if writers and other people – and I’m sure our (players), too – want to say that, but I’ve never said anything like that. And I never will.

“There’s a lot of other (programs) that also have good defensive backs,” Lake pointed out, “so I’m never going to proclaim anything. I just want our guys to keep working hard and then everything will take care of itself.”

Still, if we set aside the nickname and speak only to Washington’s tradition of excellence in its defensive secondary, Lake immediately warms to the topic.

“What we can always be proud of the last few years,” he said, “is that we’ve really played some tough, physical football. We’ve gotten turnovers and we’ve limited opponents’ big plays and touchdowns. Now those things are facts, so I can actually talk about that and be proud of that.

“Along the same line, we’ve also gotten some guys drafted that are now playing and starting in the National Football League, and then some guys (this season) that in the future will probably follow in those same footsteps. So those are things that we can be proud of that are facts.”

Great coaching is obviously foundational to an elite program, but recruiting is actually where the whole process begins. Like all college teams, the Huskies are constantly in search of top prospects, though their approach may be slightly different from some rival schools. Because in Lake’s mind, what sets apart an elite recruit goes well beyond the raw numbers of height, weight, speed and statistics.

“Without giving away all of our secrets, I’ll share one,” he said. During the evaluation phase, “the one thing I’m looking for is toughness. We try to stick to the formula that football is about hitting and tackling, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I always feel that if I can find a tough individual who enjoys contact, who enjoys tackling and who enjoys competing, then we can mold him into a really good football player.”

The toughness factor usually shows up in game tapes, or sometimes at the high school practices that Lake likes to attend. After that, some verbal conversations will often provide the confirmation that a player has the additional traits – the intangibles, if you will – to become special.

In those talks, Lake wants to be sure that a prospect “loves football.” Because to excel at Washington and beyond, he said, “these guys have to love it.”

What becomes clear during evaluations, Lake said, is that “some (recruits) enjoy just being a football player. They enjoy being a part of the team. They love the recruiting process and they love being told how great they are.”

By contrast, he went on, “there are other players that want to make it to the next level. They want to be All-Pac-12, they want to be an All-American, and they want to be a first-round (NFL) draft pick. They want to be coached and they want to be developed. I gravitate to those players because NFL players are very similar.”

Last spring, Lake sent out a Twitter message that neatly summarized his philosophy. It read: “Prospects do you want to get ‘recruited’ or ‘developed’? If you want to be a Dawg and play in (the NFL) your answer must be the latter. If it’s the former please commit to our rivals!”

Reminded of this, Lake smiled. He then spoke again to the mindset that makes certain recruits good candidates to be future Huskies.

“They want to be the best,” he said. “They’re highly competitive. They’re some of the most highly competitive individuals in any sport. And that’s what I’m used to coaching. They’re guys that love information and they want to get better every single day.

“If I can get guys into this building that have same desire,” he said, “then I think we’re on the right track.”

UW head coach Chris Petersen uses a slightly different definition, though it all comes back to the same thing. As Petersen often says, the Huskies want OKG’s – Our Kinda Guys – which begins with football, but then encompasses much more.

“They want to recruit good guys,” McIntosh said, explaining the Washington approach. “Guys that are going to buy into the program and this culture. Coach Pete builds a really good culture so if you’re a guy who’s good at football and you’re doing good things in the community, just a good person, those are the guys they want. Those guys will be more than just good football players. They’ll be good men and they’ll represent the football team well.”

Who fits in at Washington? “Good character people,” Rapp replied. “People who have integrity. People who always do the right thing and do extra stuff out in the community and are just good people overall. But it’s also people with no egos. They’re people who want to get coached and who want to get better.”