There was nothing at stake when Tyrone Willingham approached the 18th tee at Washington National Golf Course during a recent round of golf.
The Huskies football coach didn’t have money or a tournament on the line, but he still wanted to put pressure on himself. So before hitting his final drive of the day, Willingham tallied up his 17-hole total and decided that he needed par to salvage an acceptable score.
Asked why he would want to know his score when the typical golfer wouldn’t want the extra pressure, Willingham said, “Because then you know what you need. That way the pressure is on.”
When Washington starts football practice today, less than one month before its Aug. 30 opener at Oregon, Willingham will face all the pressure he could possibly want. Following a 4-9 season that dropped Washington to 11-25 in his three seasons on Montlake, Willingham starts the 2008 season on the hottest of hot seats.
At an end of the year press conference last December, it was announced that Willingham would be back for this season. But it also seemed clear that 2008 was a win or else season for Willingham.
“Everyone understands we need to become more competitive,” UW president Mark Emmert said in a statement released that day. “And I am confident Tyrone will do what it takes to make that happen.”
Willingham has long maintained that the pressure has always been there.
“Every year is win or else,” he said at that year-end press conference. “That’s the life of a football coach or any other coach and that’s the way I approach every season.”
Still, given that a 6-6 record seems like an absolute minimum for Willingham to keep his job, this season figures to be as pressure packed as any he has faced. His players and fellow coaches, however, say that pressure won’t be any different from any other season.
“He doesn’t allow it to be a distraction for him, and he wants us to look at it the same way,” quarterback Jake Locker said. “We have the same goals that we did last year and two years ago, and we have the same purpose in every game that we play, and that’s to win the ballgame. I don’t think that’s going to change whether his job’s on the line or not.”
How much Locker can improve as a passer, and how effective an offense inexperienced at the skill positions can be could go a long way to determining Willingham’s future, but Locker said those thoughts won’t change the way the team goes about its business.
“In past years there was a sense that we had to win for the school, for the tradition, for all of that stuff, so we’ve been in that position for a long time now,” he said. “It’s not something we’ve really talked about much. We all have the intent of winning, and winning solves everything.”
And even in this make-or-break season, don’t expect a different version of Tyrone Willingham on the sidelines.
“I’ve been around some of the best coaches that have coached college football, and Tyrone Willingham is the best guy I’ve ever been around at being flat line,” said offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. “He’s never too high, he’s never too low. He’s steady. He says stay the course, and that’s what he does. He does it damn good.
“You know the saying, don’t let them see you sweat? Nobody sees him sweat. That’s why I enjoy working for the guy, he’s not up and down. You get the same guy all the time, and I’ll tell you what, not many guys can do that. I’ve learned a lot from him in that regard. I’m an emotional guy, and not many people can do that. My hat’s off to him, I respect that so much. You won’t see any different Tyrone Willingham this fall than you’ve ever seen, because that’s the strength that he has.”
That steady approach is critical to keeping a young team focused, Lappano said.
“We can’t worry about it, that’s just our business,” he said. “If we give into that pressure and read all the crap that goes on around that, the players sense that. They feel if coaches are confident, they feel if they aren’t, and they feed off of that. So it starts with us, and I think we all know that. I think we’re a veteran staff, and I don’t see that being a problem.”
Winning games this year is important not only to Willingham’s future but also the program’s. The Huskies so far have just one verbal commitment for the class of 2009 in Bellflower, Calif., quarterback Keith Price, and the belief is that many recruits are waiting to see how the Huskies do before picking Washington.
“I think it’s really important that we come out and get some wins early, because that’s going to give a young football team nothing but confidence and a lot of momentum,” Lappano said. “And recruits are waiting to see what we’re going to do. How we’re going to come out in September, are we going to win some football games?
“The positive thing about recruiting is that nobody we’ve gone after is just flat telling us no. There are still some highly recruited kids that are not saying no. They’re going to wait and see. That’s the position that we’re in right now.
“We’re still in it with a lot of good football players and we could have a great recruiting year.”
A winning season and a good recruiting class seem to be requirements for Willingham to keep his job. The pressure is on for Tyrone Willingham. Just don’t expect him to show it.
Oh, and that 18th hole? Willingham made his par.
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com/huskiesblog
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