Tuesday is the day of the Pac-10 coaches teleconfernce, and many of the coaches were asked about yesterday’s news that Tyrone Willingham is out at the end of this season.
Oregon’s Mike Bellotti
“I have great respect and admiration for Tyrone Willingham, both as a friend personally because he and I have coached against each other for many years, and he’s been in and out of this conference. He’s done a tremendous job representing football coaches across the nation. He’s the president of the American Football Coaches Association and in that role, I think his leadership has been essential for us continuing to move forward.
“He has been a guy I respect as a coach, I like and admire as a person, and it’s always difficult to see when things don’t go right how it happened. I don’t have the understanding of the inner workings of that thing, but I thought they handled it in a manner that allowed him to finish the season and coach his players, and I think that’s really important. He certainly had a choice not to do that and, knowing Tyrone, there’s no other way he’d go out but coaching his guys and doing it the right way.
“I’ve always felt Washington is a scary situation. They’ve had great recruiting years each of the last couple years in my opinion. A lot of kids that we would have liked to have had stay in the state. I can’t say anything more that. He’s done a good job in that regard. But as he said himself, if you don’t win enough, it’s not going to matter.”
Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh
Asked about feelings about Willingham at Stanford, where he coached before going to Notre Dame.
“Coach Willingham is very much respected here at Stanford. I have not heard one negative thing about Coach Willingham here. He brought a great legacy here to Stanford and did a great job coaching here. That’s the same throughout the profession, coach Willingham is a well-respected man first and also as a coach.”
UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel
“Any time we in this business have a peer go through what Tyrone is going through right now it’s difficult. We all understand the stakes when we get into this racket, but we certainly hate to see that happen to good people.”
Asked if this news caused his mind to wander back to his firing from Washington, he said:
“My mind can’t wander very far from the task we have here, so no, I haven’t. I wish him well and I know he’ll land on his feet, he’s a proven entity as a football coach.”
Arizona’s Mike Stoops
“Well I’m glad that he’s going to finish out the season. Tyrone has been a great friend and a great leader in the Pac-10. I’ve really enjoyed his company and enjoyed what he stands for.
“I understand the situation very well because I’ve lived it, I understand how difficult it is. I understand Washington has to do what’s best for their program and Tyrone. I’m sure it’ll work itself out and, like I said, he should be very proud of what he’s done. He’s just a good person and you hate to see things like this, but they happen in this business unfortunately. I’m sure he’ll be very peaceful when he walks out.”
USC’s Pete Carroll
Asked how this news could affect his team heading into a game against Washington:
“It doesn’t affect us at all, but I think it’s going to affect them considerably. I think their players that have been recruited by coach [Willingham] and all of that, they’re going to give everything they’ve got and it will probably be a very emotional expression of their concern about his feelings and everything. We’re probably going to get a heck of an effort from these guys.”
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