Sub-.500 Willingham vows to turn it around for UW
Washington’s loss to Oregon on Saturday not only dropped the Huskies to 0-1 on the season, it also dropped Tyrone Willingham below .500 over his 13-plus seasons as a college head football coach.
Willingham went 44-36-1 over seven seasons at Stanford and then 21-15 over three seasons at Notre Dame. However, he went 11-25 over his first three seasons at Washington, which dropped him to exactly .500 before falling to 76-77-1 on Saturday.
“I don’t like it,” Willingham said Monday. “I’m not comfortable with it. But as they say: What it is is what it is. We just keep working and get it back over, and we’ll get on one of these runs pretty soon that will be one of these great winning streaks.”
Some Willingham supporters note that Stanford is a difficult place to win. And that he was fired at Notre Dame before he could coach a team of his own recruits. Or that he inherited a 1-10 team when he came to Washington.
He was asked if those circumstances warrant any sort of mental asterisk to mitigate what is now a losing lifetime record.
“I guess an asterisk usually has a definition of some defining extra circumstances to it or something of that nature,” he said. “But no: It is what it is.”
Willingham began his coaching career with a loss: Texas blowing out Stanford, 69-17. However, the Cardinal won its next three games, and Willingham remained above .500 after the second victory – on Sept. 18, 1999 – until Dec. 1, 2007, when the Huskies’ season-ending loss at Hawaii returned him to dead even.
That career .500 record was used against Willingham when his job status came into question after last season.
And now the Huskies’ 44-10 loss to Oregon and his sub-.500 record have renewed calls for his job only one game into the new season.
“It’s part of the business I’m in,” Willingham said. “I understand that. Nowadays when a coach gets a job somebody buys the (website) that says ‘firecoach …’ from day one. That’s the world we live in.”
Willingham said he is used to it, and that while he can’t protect his players from the controversy, he hopes they won’t be distracted by it as they prepare for their home opener Saturday against No. 16 Brigham Young.
“It’s very difficult in the modern era to keep things away from your football team,” he said. “They are so connected with the Internet and all these forms of communication that it’s impossible to try to shield them from what’s out there. What I hope with our football team is that our football team always looks at its leadership and always sees where its leadership is focused. And my attention and my eyes have been on what’s next, and what’s next this week is BYU.”
Sophomore quarterback Jake Locker said the Huskies will try to follow their coach’s lead.
“He’s our head coach, he’s our leader,” Locker said. “We look to him. He doesn’t let it bother him, and we treat it the same way. He’s here to win games, and so are we. We all understand that, we all know that, and that’s our main focus. We don’t worry about all that other stuff.”
Extra points
Free safety Jason Wells sat out the Oregon game and may redshirt this season while continuing to recover from the knee injury that cost him the final eight games of 2007. … There was better news in the rest of the Monday health report. Willingham said tight end Michael Gottlieb, who missed the opener with a hamstring injury, is probable for Saturday. Willingham said no serious new injuries were suffered at Oregon. … Locker said his hamstring injury wasn’t a problem, although he acknowledged that he “didn’t feel as fast as I normally am.” … The UW depth chart released for the BYU game is identical to the one used at Oregon. … Eight true freshmen made their college debuts Saturday: Devin Aguilar, Jermaine Kearse, Senio Kelemete, Kavario Middleton, Chris Polk, Jordan Polk, Alameda Ta’amu and Everrette Thompson. That is more true freshmen than played in the entire 2007 season (seven) or in 2006 (two). … Coaches announced player of the week honors for performances against Oregon: Locker (offense), CB Quinton Richardson (defense), Chris Stevens (special teams), and Kurt Mangum, Terrance Dailey and Vince Taylor (service teams).
Don Ruiz: 253-597-8808
blogs.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
The Huskies’ opponent this week
NO. 16 BRIGHAM YOUNG Cougars (1-0) at Washington Huskies (0-1)
Noon Saturday at Husky Stadium; FSN, 950-AM.
Coach: Bronco Mendenhall (29-10 in fourth season at BYU).
Last week: Brigham Young extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 11 games with a 41-17 win over Northern Iowa. The Cougars raced to a 27-3 halftime lead. When Northern Iowa cut the lead to 10 in the third quarter, BYU sped away again. The Cougars had 563 yards of total offense, including 486 in the air. However, they fumbled five times, losing four.
Against the Huskies: Washington leads, 4-2 overall and 3-0 in Seattle. Brigham Young won the most recent meeting, 35-28, in 1999.
Washington connections: Freshman RB Jerry Bruner (Vancouver/Evergreen), freshman LB Spencer Hadley (Connell/Connell) and senior WR Bryce Mahuika (Vancover/Evergreen.)
Scouting report: The Cougars are two-time defending Mountain West Conference champions. They are considered among the best of this season’s mid-majors and a possibility for one of the BCS bowls. Their slogan this season is “The Quest for Perfection.” … The Cougars have earned a reputation as an explosive offensive team. This team should be no exception, with nine starters back from last year. … Quarterback Max Hall passed for a conference-record 3,848 yards last season. … Tailback Harvey Unga was a freshman All-American last season. … Dennis Pita ranks among the MWC’s top tight ends. … The Cougars lost eight starters from last season – seven to graduation and one to a church mission. However, UW coach Tyrone Willingham said the defense is tough and has good speed.
Returning statistical leaders
PassingAttCompPctYards TDInt
Max Hall413482.048620
RushingAttYardsAvg.TD
Harvey Unga18643.62
ReceivingRecYards Avg.TD
Dennis Pitta1121319.40
Austin Collie78011.40
Harvey Unga6477.81
Michael Reed47117.81
PuntingPuntsAvg.Blk
CJ Santiago342.70
Field goalsAtt MadeLong
Mitch Payne000
Schedule
Northern IowaW, 41-17
Saturdayat Washington
Sept. 19UCLA
Sept. 20Wyoming
Oct. 3at Utah State
Oct. 11New Mexico
Oct. 16at TCU
Oct. 25UNLV
Nov. 1at Colorado St.
Nov. 8San Diego State
Nov. 15at Air Force
Nov. 22at Utah
Did you know? BYU is 22-4 over the past two seasons, each of which was capped by a Las Vegas Bowl win over a Pac-10 school: Oregon in 2006 and UCLA last season.
Don Ruiz, The News Tribune
