One final post for the night before I wrap it up:

--- A lot of you have asked about Pete Carroll's reaction to all of this. Here it is from Scott Wolf at the LA Daily News and it's really not all that much. Sadly, for those wanting a public feud, he's taking the high road.

--- Here's a good quote from Nick Holt today that I didn't get in earlier when he was asked why he wanted to take the UW job amid the perception he's leaving the best defense in the Pac-10 for the worst: "That's a good point (laughter). A lot of people are probably looking at this move and scratching the heads. ... So why did Nick Holt leave and come join this staff? It's really simple, it's because you guys got a tremendous, tremendous football coach in coach (Steve) Sarkisian, and I know it better than you guys because I've been around him for six years and had to practice against this guy. Fifteen days of spring football and 30 days in fall camp, and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday's going against this guy --- he is the best offensive mind in college football without a doubt, and I wanted to be a part of that. I knew he'd be a head coach someday and it's very fortunate that the powers that be here at the University of Washington saw this guy, because he's a rising star, and I wanted to be a part of that. This is an awesome place. This is the only other school in the Pac-10 that's won a national championship in the last 25 years; this place and the University of Southern California. This place has awesome alumni, it has awesome tradition, it has awesome people like you, and this is a sleeping giant. I know coach Sark can get this done and he's hiring the right guys and I wanted to be a part of that. So I'm so excited to be a part of that. Like I said, when I got off of Alaska Airlines and I stepped foot into Sea-Tac and came up and saw the stadium up on my left and Beacon Hill on my right and then coming down the little hill there and seeing the stadium on my right. I've been here, my folks live up here. You guys don't know what people from the other universities like where I'm coming from think about this place. And it's only a matter of time before it's going to happen here. I'm just excited that Steve made it happen with the athletic director, the president, just everyone that made it happen for my family to be here. I guess that's a long way of answering the question, but this is a great opportunity, I'm working for the best head coach in America now.''

--- With all the chatter about the salary Holt is making, thought it might be worth it to look at the salaries of the coaches on last year's staff vs. those on this year's staff. So here goes:

2008 staff --- defensive coordinator Ed Donatell $334,008; offensive coordinator Tim Lappano $243,564; RB coach Steve Gervais $162,000; tight end/special teams coach Brian White $192,000; WR coach Charlie Baggett $206,064; OL coach Mike Denbrock $186,012; DL coach Randy Hart $185,988; DB coach J.D. Williams $188,460; LB coach-recruiting coordinator Chris Tormey $206,040. Add that up and the total is $1.904 million. And that's exactly what UW AD Scott Woodward told us today was the total pool of money for assistants last season. (These are all the figures straight off their contracts for the 2008 season).

This year, Woodward said, the total pool of money for assistants is $2.1 million. So far, here is how it has been spread around: DC Nick Holt $600,000; OC Jim Michalczik $350,000; DL coach Johnny Nansen $110,000; secondary coach Demetrice Martin $100,000. The total of that for next year is $1.16 million, meaning the Huskies have about $1 million left to hire the remaining five coaches on the staff.

--- To clear up a misconception on the money one more time, the UW athletic department is self-sustaining, meaning all the money it spends is money it has brought in. It's one of 17 or so athletic departments in the country that is self-sustaining. So again, there is no "general university fund'' money being used on these salaries.

--- My favorite quote of the day came from Sarkisian when he was told by a reporter that the reporter wanted to ask him an "off-the-wall recruiting question.'' Said Sarkisian with a smile: "Ask me any question you want.'' That's not exactly how the previous head coach would have approached it.

--- The overriding buzz afterward was about the energy and passion and downright intensity that Holt displayed during his press conference. Another thing that's a far cry from the general tenor of the previous staff (Hart being an obvious exception). That led one reporter to ask Sarkisian about Holt's intense manner. here's what Sarkisian said in response: "What's exciting for me is that our practices are going to be open and people are going to be able to see who we are and what we are about. This guy has a presence on the football field and the kids will feel him, not only the defensive football players but the offensive football players will feel him. He's a tremendous teacher, an intense guy but through his intensity and his teaching ability the kids are going to love to play for him. You want those 11 guys to want to play hard and play with passion and play for the guy and he is going to get that out of him. He does a great job of maximizing their talents, getting the most out of their abilities. He's an intense guy, a fiery guy. You are going to feel him on the practice field, feel him on game day. He's aggressive with an in-your-face attitude, but at the end of the day he's a great teacher and that's what we need to get these guys to do the right thing. But he's a tremendous presence on the football field.''

--- Finally, hope you what we have on our sports page as there is an updated story on Holt as well as a two-minute video.

All for now.