An interesting comment Scott Woodward made today in his announcement that he would not pursue the AD job permanently is that he worried there was maybe an "acceptance of mediocrity'' in the department.

"I worry about some complacency and some acceptance of mediocrity,'' he said. "People were assuming that doing the right thing and winning were mutually exclusive and they're not. ... Winning is a very important core value of what we do. The other things --- being compliant, doing things in the best interest of the student-athlete --- are underpinnings.''

Meaning, those things should be taken as givens and not as things that detract from the effort to win.

Former UW athletic director Todd Turner had said he thought there was too much of a focus on winning after he was forced to resign in December.

Scott Woodward announced today that he will not pursue the AD job at Washington, saying he will stay in his current role as VP of external affairs.

Woodward, who has been the acting athletic director since Jan. 31, said he had "numerous, long conversations'' with UW president Mark Emmert "who convinced me that he thought I'm needed in external affairs because we have a big year fiscally coming ahead and a lot going on in marketing.''

Woodward said Emmert "expressed to me not in emphatic terms but in subtle ways that he needed me in my current job and I understand that and I get that.''

He said he had "mixed emotions'' about not pursing the AD job but ultimately concluded that "I'm a team guy'' in deciding that "the best place for me to serve the university is in my current position.''

Woodward had been considered the leading candidate if it had been decided that he should pursue the job.

Now, the school will have to look elsewhere to find a new AD to replace Todd Turner, who resigned under pressure last December.

The school has established a 14-member search committee to select candidates and has also hired an Atlanta search firm, Parker Executive Search, to aid in the process, paying a reported $75,000 for its services.

One source told the Times that the search committee has been "making calls and seeking candidates'' in recent weeks.

Woodward said he will remain "intimately'' involved in the effort to secure state funding for a renovation of Husky Stadium. The school plans to mount another full-court press in the 2009 Legislative session for $150 million in public money to go along with another $150 million or so that the school would raise to fund the project.

The school seeks to use the same King County hotel-motel, restaurant and rental car taxes that are already helping to fund Safeco Field and Qwest Field.

"We have a good case to be made for that,'' Woodward said, adding that having more time to put a plan together to sell package will hopefully mean a better result than this year, when the issue was not seriously considered.

Woodward said the school plans to sell the legislature on "just how important we are to the tourism economy in King County. We just didn't do a good job of that in the last session because of the time. We needed to move in a hurry. Now we have time to do it and do it strategically and very thoroughly.''

The Miami Dolphins officially announced the signing of former Husky receiver Marcel Reece today.

Here's the link though the Dolphins might want to brush up on the spelling of his first name (maybe it's that sort of attention to detail that has them where they are).

Looks like Reece will have a lot of competition as the Dolphins signed five receivers in the group of 14 announced today, including Davone Bess of Hawaii who had five catches against the Huskies last Dec. 1.

There had been pre-draft talk that Reece could be used at other positions (tight end, H-back, fullback) but he is officially listed as a WR by the Dolphins.

Scott Woodward, who has been serving as UW's acting athletic director since Jan. 31, will announce today whether he will officially enter the candidate pool to become the new permanent AD.

Woodward has said on several occasions that he is "leaning toward'' wanting to become the new AD. If he does, many consider him the favorite to become the new AD.

However, UW president Mark Emmert has also wondered aloud if Woodward might not be more valuable to the school in his current position as Vice President of External Affairs (read Woodward's bio here). Woodward and Emmert were expected to meet this week to discuss the situation, leading to Woodward's announcement today.

We reported two weeks ago that the school has hired an Atlanta search firm, paying a reported $75,000, to help with the process.

One source told the Times this week that the search committee has indeed been making calls and searching out candidates around the country.

Here's a story I wrote on Woodward and the UW AD situation in March.

Once Woodward makes his intentions known today I will pass that along here.

Reports out of Eugene today say that the Ducks will sign quarterback Jeremiah Masoli of City College of San Francisco. That's newsworthy because he will apparently enroll immediately and join race to be the team's QB for next season.

Here's more on Masoli from The Oregonian.

Hard to figure a JC guy would step right in and start against UW Aug. 30, but Oregon's QB situation is pretty wide open right now.