SEATTLE – How prepared is Tyrone Willingham for Saturday’s season-opener against Air Force?
In a meeting with the press earlier this week, Willingham talked about his team, he talked about Air Force’s option offense, he talked about coaching his first game for the Huskies.
Then, he gave a detailed weather report for Saturday.
“That’s what I’m supposed to know,” said Willingham through what has become, among media members, a familiar smirk. “I am the coach.”
There’s been no question about that since the day Willingham took over in December from Keith Gilbertson. Willingham has put his stamp on every aspect of the program, from uniforms, to interview schedules, to hair cuts, you name it. Heck, he’s even on the field in practice throwing passes, demonstrating footwork, breaking everything down.
“From the time we met him in the first meeting, it was like, ‘Wow,’ ” linebacker Joe Lobendahn said. “I’d never been around a coach like him. He made it clear how everything was going to be, and nobody was asking questions. We all just walked out saying, ‘This guy knows how to get things done.’”
For a program in desperate need of direction, Willingham was the perfect fit. And for Willingham, who was fired from Notre Dame despite compiling a 21-15 record and two bowl games in three years, Washington may be the perfect fit for him.
“I was excited to come to a program with the tradition and history that Washington has,” said Willingham, 51. “It was an opportunity to come to a program that was trying to establish a foundation and that’s a challenge that I look forward to.”
Willingham began working toward turning Washington around the same way he did in his stops at Stanford and Notre Dame. In his first season at Stanford, Willingham turned a 3-7-1 team into a 7-4-1 team that went to a bowl game. At Notre Dame, he went 10-2 and went to the Gator Bowl in his first season.
“He has a way of getting kids to believe in themselves,” said Washington defensive coordinator Kent Baer, who has been with Willingham since 1995. “He knows what it takes to build a program, and that’s on and off the field. I don’t think he gets enough credit for being a great football coach. People focus on his character, which is deserved, but they don’t always see what a good coach he is.”
“If he doesn’t like what he sees, he’ll show you how to do it himself,” cornerback Roy Lewis said. “A lot of coaches, they say a lot but they don’t do a lot. He backs everything up, and that makes us want to follow him.”
Willingham grew up in North Carolina, overcoming racism and a lack of size (5-foot-6) to play both football and baseball at Michigan State. After serving as an assistant coach at five schools, he became the running backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings in 1992. In 1995, he was named head coach at Stanford, where he served as running backs coach from 1989-91. That first season, he was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, then won it again in 1999 after leading the Cardinal to the Rose Bowl. In 2002, he became the first African-American coach of any sport in Notre Dame history.
“I’ve always liked helping people succeed,” Willingham said. “To me, that’s gratifying. I had a lot of help, was given a lot of direction, when I was growing up. Whether it was my family, friends, coaches, no one gets there alone. If my players are succeeding, whether it’s in football or as students, and preferably both, I’m doing my job.”
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