SEATTLE — Tyrone Willingham begins his fourth spring practice Thursday with the usual lapdawgs nipping at his heels.
Following a 4-9 2007 that included a six-game losing streak, a come-from-ahead defeat to rival Washington State and an embarrassing, year-ending collapse at Hawaii, Willingham’s tumultuous off-season cost him his tight ends/special-teams coach, Bob Simmons, and longtime defensive coordinator, Kent Baer.
Of the two, Baer caught the greatest load of Husky fury as the one most responsible for a defense that played with record-breaking futility in 2007. So hapless were the stoppers, Baer’s firing was seen as a humanitarian act for everyone involved, including Baer himself.
Baer’s replacement: Ed Donatell, most recently the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in 2006.
Donatell, you see, bears a direct relationship to Willingham’s future employment at Washington. Should the defense turn a 180 in 2008 and starts showing that it finally gets it, UW President Mark Emmert should leave well enough alone, assuming an improved defense helps push the Huskies into a bowl game, hallowed land unexplored by Washington since the 2002 Sun Bowl.
Willingham chose Donatell to save his job. The clock starts Thursday.
And Emmert is watching.
“The first thing I’m looking for is the real passion to play defense,” Willingham said, describing what, too often, didn’t happen in 2007. “We need to see from our defense that real passion about playing defense, getting after it and hopefully doing two things we want: don’t let the other team score and take the ball away.”
It showed that rarely in 2007. Washington’s defense gave up 446.4 yards per game, easily the worst in Washington’s history.
Washington led at halftime in eight of its 13 games and was tied in another. The defense was largely responsible for many of the meltdowns.
Against Arizona, the Huskies led 41-26 with 12:32 remaining, only to watch the Wildcats score the final 22 points for a 48-41 victory. On that day, Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama threw for a school-record 510 yards, a week after Oregon had rushed for a school-record 465 yards on the Washington defense.
Then came the Apple Cup, when Washington appeared firmly in control, holding a 35-28 fourth-quarter lead. But that evaporated as well behind two late touchdowns from Alex Brink to Brandon Gibson, the last one with 31 seconds left.
Then the final blow. Washington jumped on Hawaii 21-0 and led 28-7, only to see the Warriors rally for a 35-28 win and a berth in the Sugar Bowl.
Whether Donatell is the one to instill the passion Willingham talks about will reveal itself in time. His most successful time with the Falcons came in 2004, when the Falcons led the NFL in sacks and held opponents to a league-low 30.2-percent third down conversions.
Donatell also has ties to former Washington coach Don James, which, for some reason, many who wear purple and gold PJs deem crucial. In 1979, he served as a graduate assistant under James at Kent State and again at Washington.
“That’s where I got a lot of my formal training,” Donatell said. “It’s familiar here. The actual site hasn’t changed much. The city’s grown enormously in that time, but this university still is a special place. I’m glad to be back here.”
Donatell saw the film of the grisly 2007 season. He didn’t resign, which says something for both his constitution and willingness to take on a huge — some claim impossible — challenge. Just one of four starting defensive linemen return. Six of the top seven tacklers return in 2008, which is either good or bad news. You debate that.
Donatell inherits five of the six who played in the rotation at linebacker. The secondary is the most experienced group, although last season’s disaster most certainly means that jobs are to be had.
“I’ve had a lot of experiences,” Donatell said. “I’ve worked a lot of different plans. I need to evaluate these players. I have some ideas. Then, we’ll see how we can put it together to have success.”
Donatell is saying all the right things. He genuinely wanted to return to Seattle. He recognizes the challenge ahead. He has great respect for Willingham.
“He didn’t give me any sales job,” Donatell said. “I watch guys in leadership positions. I look for consistency. I look for integrity. I can do anything if I have that.”
Most observers estimate that he has one season to do it.
Then Donatell can add “Miracle Worker” to his resume.
Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com. To reach Sleeper’s blog, “Dangling Participles,” go to www.heraldnet.com/danglingparticiples.
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