Huskies coach more notable than fans believe
September 18, 2008
By Jake Sudderth
While watching referees and the Huskies perform inconsistently in a losing effort against BYU on the other side of the nation I was struck by the comments emanating from Georgia, Alabama, and Florida fans. I was traveling so I was sitting in a sports bar and these denizens of the SEC were glancing toward my game during timeouts and commercials.
It was a humbling experience for a Pacific Northwest fan because Washington is simply not a relevant team. I was the only person truly paying attention to the contest.
Nobody knew anything about Washington. One person thought Jake Locker's name was "Looker." Contrary to Seattle lore he is not currently referred to as the "Tim Tebow of the West." However, everybody knew Tyrone Willingham and many of my new friends believe he is an excellent coach.
Were they talking about the same guy who is 6-21 in conference play at Washington? The same guy who has coached Stanford, Notre Dame, and Washington to a combined losing record of 76-78-1?
It always puzzled me that Washington was so enamored with Willingham when the school courted him in late 2004. His teams fared terribly against the Huskies while Willingham manned Stanford and, while he led the Cardinal to 4 bowls, he lost them all and his 1999 Rose Bowl team had the good fortune of playing at a time when the entire conference was mediocre. He coached for 7 years in Palo Alto and suffered 3 losing seasons, including one 3-8 campaign.
His Stanford teams did fare well against Notre Dame, winning 3 of 5 games. Apparently, this feat thrust him on the national stage because Notre Dame hired him and his stint with the Irish brought an even brighter glow from the national spotlight. Notre Dame officials liked the fact that he was had experience coaching at a strong academic school.
A loss in the Gator Bowl, a combined record of 11-11 his last two seasons, and weak recruiting compared to past South Bend performances led to his ouster.
But his firing even drew more attention. Notre Dame was said to never terminate coaching contracts early. Was the firing racially motivated? Since Willingham is clean cut and classy nobody ever believed he was sleazy. He just did not win consistently, or at least enough for Notre Dame officials.
"He's an underrated coach," said one Georgia fan as Washington drove for the almost tying touchdown against the Cougars.
By the end of the day I finally realized why Willingham had been pursued in 2004. He is indeed a bigger name nationally than I ever realized. People know all about Notre Dame and their treatment of the man of few expressions.
Washington officials did make a splash with his hiring. They hired a big name. And now the same leaders at Washington are confronting the same problem experienced in South Bend. Willingham is not one of the better coaches in his competitive circle. He is clearly in the bottom half of the Pac-10 and the program he leads is less notable than he.
But big names fall hard and if Willingham goes down the Washington program will lose the biggest name on their sideline. Coaches like to say that performance is more important than flash. Mediocre coaches do not follow this advice. Mediocre athletic departments and college administrators make the same mistake.
Willingham was sold to fans in Seattle as someone who would clean up the local football program while focusing on leadership, better academic performance, and stability. This commentary fooled no one. Everybody at the first press conference knew the coach was expected to win some football games. Local fans missed the now obvious downside which led to the ouster of former athletic director Todd Turner last December and left President Mark Emmert hoping a good season would bail him out of this mess.
Nationally, Willingham is worthy of star power and the University is not going to be the good guy if this marriage ends soon.
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