A few of the local reporters that cover the Huskies talked earlier today to Tyrone Willingham as well as new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.
Donatell, a graduate assistant under Don James in 1981 and 1982, sounded excited to get back to Washington.
“I wish I was there in person to tell you all how excited I am to come back to the University of Washington and be a part of their football program,” he said on a conference call. “It’s a dream come true… As a young man this was the only place I wanted to be in the world. If you would have told me I could have come right here and stayed the rest of my life, I would have done it. It was good for me to go out for a little while. I got to see a lot of things. It’s been a great journey, an education that gets me plenty prepared to do this.”
He said Husky fans should expect to an aggressive defense next season.
“I’m really excited for the challenge and we’re going to bring a style of defense you’re really going to like. It’s based on speed and explosion, high energy, enthusiasm, attacking style. We’re ball-hawkers. We’re going to create takeaways. Most of all, it’s going to be something the kids can. It’s going to be multiple but simple.”
After working as a defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons, Donatell spent last season as a special assistant with the Jets.
“I look at is, what I really did was I went up and got my PhD in 3-4 defense,” he said. “I’ve been a one-gap, 4-3 coach primarily for most of my career. After my tenure with the Falcons, I wanted to do something totally different and expand my skill sets, so I went up there. It was awesome. It is very directly tied to Bill Belickick, so you are as current as you can be, on the cutting edge of what is going on.”
Donatell said it’s too early to know what his defense will look like at Washington, because he needs to get a better feel for what he has to work with. There has been speculation, however, that the Huskies will move to a 3-4 defense because they have much more experience at linebacker than on the defensive line.
“Everywhere I go, I evaluate what I have,” he said. “I always think, players, then plays. You want to see what pieces you have, then you want to position them where you can enhance their strengths, and that’s what we’ll do. First we want to get to know them, then we want to think of a vision of how they can fit together and improve together and be a great unit. We will mix both packages no matter what because it’s harder on offenses.”
Both Donatell and Willingham said that the rest of Washington’s defensive staff will remain the same.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
