Sunday, December 12, 2004
Huskies hires fired Notre Dame football coach
By TIM KORTE
AP SPORTS WRITER
Tyrone Willingham has agreed to become Washington's third head coach in four seasons, the University of Washington confirmed today.
"I can confirm that Tyrone Willingham has accepted the head coaching position at Washington," UW athletic department spokesman Jim Daves said in an e-mail statement Sunday afternoon.
Fired from Notre Dame two weeks ago, Willingham will be introduced by the Huskies as their new coach at a press conference Monday morning.
The decision makes Washington the only I-A school with black head coaches in the two major sports. Men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar is in his third season leading the Huskies.
Willingham was 21-15 in three seasons at Notre Dame, but his Nov. 30 firing was controversial. He had the shortest non-interim tenure of any Fighting Irish coach in 70 years, raising questions about whether he was given enough time to succeed.
After an 8-0 start in 2002, his teams went 13-15 over two-plus seasons.
His firing also drew criticism because Willingham was one of only five black head coaches in Division I-A last season. That number dropped to two after Tony Samuel was fired at New Mexico State and Fitz Hill resigned at San Jose State.
Last week, outgoing Notre Dame president Rev. William Malloy criticized Willingham's firing and expressed concern over a growing trend of schools that are searching for "messiah coaches."
Boston College coach Tom O'Brien and Willingham were the only known candidates interviewed for the UW position, but O'Brien withdrew late Friday.
Atlanta Falcons coach Jim Mora Jr. confirmed he was approached by Washington officials but declined to be interviewed, saying he's happy with the job he has. He is a former Washington player.
Willingham is known as a law-and-order coach who emphasizes discipline. He's also familiar with the Pac-10, compiling a 44-36-1 record and reaching the 1999 Rose Bowl in seven seasons at Stanford from 1995-2001.
He was 0-5 against Washington as Stanford's coach.
His connections on the West Coast should be an asset to a Washington program coming off a 1-10 season, the school's worst ever. Keith Gilbertson stepped down after two turmoil-filled seasons.
Gilbertson replaced Rick Neuheisel, who was fired for gambling on NCAA basketball.
