For Gilbertson, the son of a high school coach in Washington who grew up watching the Huskies practice, it made sense to come home nearly a decade after he last ran the Husky offense. The guys coming at you are better. The game has become more complex. The way we teach is better. The players are bigger and faster.
Nutrition is better.
I remember when 4.6 was fast and 260 was a big guy. Now we can't recruit that guy. If he doesn't blow the top off a stopwatch and weigh 300 pounds, nobody recruits the guy. In addition to his line-coaching duties, Gilbertson also served as assistant head coach. That means he was Neuheisel's liaison to Husky Nation.