Scott Woodward got a new job Wednesday, but that wasn’t the employment issue most folk wanted to discuss at his introductory press conference.

The biggest questions for the University of Washington’s newly named director of athletics involved the job status of football coach Tyrone Willingham.

Woodward, who was the interim athletic director, said no decision has been made.

“We’re going to discuss the season after the season,” he said. “And it’s going to be collaborative with (university president Mark Emmert). … But I do have a philosophy that you judge a body of work at the end of the season, and that’s how we’ll do it.”

Woodward praised Willingham as “a fabulous person and a fabulous coach.” And he indicated that he doesn’t favor mid-season coaching changes except in extraordinary circumstances.

But he acknowledged that a commitment one way or the other – either extending Willingham’s contract or hiring a new coach – is more likely during the offseason than simply allowing the status quo to continue into the fifth and final year of Willingham’s contract.

Willingham is 76-79-1 in his 14th season as a head coach, and 11-28 in his fourth season at Washington.

The Huskies stand at 0-3 with nine games remaining before the regular season concludes Dec. 6.

Woodward said he has no minimum number of wins in mind for Willingham to retain his job, but he agreed there haven’t been enough in recent seasons.

“I’m not happy,” he said. “Neither is Coach Willingham. Nor are the student athletes who participate in football. No one’s happy. … (But the players) are working hard, they’re nowhere near quitting, and they’re going to give it their best. This is early in the season, and it’s premature to talk about anything but supporting these Huskies and supporting them as best we can.”

Woodward has served as interim athletic director since January, when Todd Turner left the position under pressure. Woodward, 45, has not signed a contract, but Emmert said Woodward will likely receive a five-year contract with pay roughly in the middle of what Pacific-10 Conference ADs make.

Emmert appointed a committee to help him find a new permanent athletic director. Over the nine-month search, Emmert interviewed a dozen candidates of various backgrounds, and he recommended about half of those to the committee for closer consideration.

In the end, he decided he had the right man in Woodward, who he met in the fall of 1999 when Emmert was chancellor of Louisiana State University and Woodward was a lobbyist recommended to him by state politicians.

Woodward, a graduate of LSU, worked at his alma mater as director of external affairs in the office of the chancellor from 2000-04. His responsibilities included serving as liaison from the chancellor’s office to the LSU athletic department.

Under Emmert and Woodward, LSU won 10 NCAA national championships, including the 2003 football championship. Three times the school finished in the top 11 of the Director’s Cup – which measures athletic success in all sports.

Woodward will oversee Washington’s 23 sports teams.

“Scott is a talented administrator who knows higher education and understands the place of intercollegiate athletes at a university like this,” Emmert said. “He is student-oriented, and as his background in athletic suggests, he is high competitive and puts a premium on winning.”

Woodward’s political background could serve him well in another of his chief tasks as athletic director: securing $150 million from the Legislature as part of a proposed $300 million renovation of Husky Stadium.

Woodward stressed Wednesday that public money – which would come from existing King County taxes that helped build Safeco and Qwest fields – would be used only for safety-related improvements. UW would raise the rest from donations, seat licenses and athletics department sources.

He also said that a major facilities-improvement announcement regarding the baseball program is expected soon.

On other issues, Woodward said:

-- He believes in working openly with the public and collaboratively with the people who report to him.

-- He likes the idea of more openness for the football program, but he understands why some coaches prefer closed practices. However, he said he views Willingham as the chief operating officer of the football program and will support his decision to close practices.

-- He believes the football team’s three out-of-conference games should typically be mix one big-time opponent, one lower-level BCS program, and a non-BCS team.

-- The university will continue to recognize the 1960 football team as a national champion – a status introduced last season by Turner.