TYRONE
WILLINGHAM
Age:
55
School:
University of Washington
Alma Mater:
Michigan State, 1977
Conference:
Pac 10
Salary:
$1,470,000
Official Bio:
GoHuskies.com
Years Coaching: 13
Career Record:
76 - 76 - 1 .497
Years at School:
3
Record at Washington:
11 - 25 .306
2007 Record: 4 - 9 .308
2007 Cost per Win:
$367,500
Attorney/Agent: Ray Anderson
Contract:
December 2008 Buyout:
$1,000,000
COACHING
RECORD -
WINNING
- LOSING
RECORDS
Year |
School |
Record |
Bowl |
1995 |
Stanford |
7-4-1 |
Liberty |
1996 |
Stanford |
7-5 |
Sun |
1997 |
Stanford |
5-6 |
|
1998 |
Stanford |
3-8 |
|
1999 |
Stanford |
8-4 |
Rose |
2000 |
Stanford |
5-6 |
|
2001 |
Stanford |
9-3 |
Seattle |
2002 |
Notre Dame |
10-3 |
Gator |
2003 |
Notre Dame |
5-7 |
|
2004 |
Notre Dame |
6-5 |
Insight |
2005 |
Washington |
2-9 |
|
2006 |
Washington |
5-7 |
|
2007 |
Washington |
4-9 |
|
Career |
|
76-76-1 |
.497 |
|
Washington |
11-25 |
.306 |
2008
SCHEDULE
Date |
Opponent |
Location |
2008 CHS Prediction |
Result |
8/30/08 |
at Oregon |
Eugene, OR |
L |
|
9/06/08 |
BYU |
Seattle, WA |
L |
|
9/13/08 |
Oklahoma |
Seattle, WA |
L |
|
9/27/08 |
Stanford |
Seattle, WA |
W |
|
10/04/08 |
at Arizona |
Tucson, AZ |
W |
|
10/18/08 |
Oregon State |
Seattle, WA |
W |
|
10/25/08 |
Notre Dame |
Seattle, WA |
W |
|
11/01/08 |
at USC |
Los Angeles, CA |
L |
|
11/08/08 |
Arizona State |
Seattle, WA |
L |
|
11/15/08 |
UCLA |
Seattle, WA |
W |
|
11/22/08 |
Washington St. |
Pullman, WA |
W |
|
12/06/08 |
at California |
Berkeley, CA |
L |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Coaches Hot
Seat Prediction |
|
6-6 |
|
Coaches Hot Seat Analysis
Wow! Talk about a tough
football schedule, Washington starts with: at Oregon, BYU, and
Oklahoma in 2008! Just when Ty
Willingham needs a big season he is faced with one of
the toughest starts to a football season that we have
ever seen. The 2008 season for the Huskies will
turn on three things:
1. The development of Jake
Locker - To us Jake Locker looks like he can
be better than Tim Tebow, if he can develop some passing
and game management skills. Locker is not afraid
of sticking
his nose into anything on a football field and his task
in the offseason will be to make his ability to throw
the ball downfield a credible threat to opposing teams. If Locker can become a solid passer,
and he will need the UW receivers to really step up
their games, Washington will then have an offense that
can put teams back on their heels, something that has
not been seen from the Huskies in years.
2. Reestablish Husky Stadium
dominance
- Before you can go on the road and win big games you
must prove you can win those games at home.
Willingham is 6-13 in three seasons at Husky Stadium,
and that record just does not feed the bulldog.
With 7 homes games in 2008 a winning record among those
games is a must, and there is no reason that UW
shouldn't beat Stanford, Oregon State, Notre Dame, and
UCLA at home. If Washington does have a losing
record among its games at Husky Stadium, then the season
and possibly Willingham's career will be lost.
3.
UW must beat teams they are more talented than on the
road - Washington plays 12 games in 2008 and
they have as much or more talent than 6 of those teams,
and wins on the road against Arizona and Washington
State are a must to a successful '08. Mike Stoops
is on his last legs in Tucson and the October 4 game
between UW and Arizona will go a long ways in
determining whether Stoops or Willingham will return for
the 2009 season.
4.
Beat Notre Dame - If there ever was a
symbolic football game it is the October 25 Washington -
Notre Dame game at Husky Stadium. In one fell
swoop Willingham can both bury his experiences in South
Bend and reestablish Washington as a serious football
program. If Notre Dame can improve at all in '08
they will have a real chance to arrive at Husky Stadium
undefeated and there would be no better time nor place
for Willingham to prove once and for all that the Irish
made a mistake by not giving Ty the opportunity to coach
out his entire contract. Can Washington beat Notre
Dame in 2008? Absolutely, and we believe they
will.
5.
Play defense
- In football everything starts and ends with the
ability to stop the other team, and for some reason
playing defense has been a serious problem for
Willingham at UW. Washington football is known for
a lot of things, but anyone that has been paying
attention over the last couple of decades knows that a
tough, unrelenting, nasty, in your face, take no quarter
defense is a trademark of the great Husky football
teams. If you think the Southern Cal players will
lay a lick on you, then you haven't seen Washington
defenses in their glory days. Willingham and his
new defensive staff must reacquire that toughness that
has been a trademark of UW defenses, because there is
only one way you are guaranteed of beating the other
team: Making sure the other team doesn't score.
We will all know early on if Washington has come to play
football in 2008 when they face off against Oregon in
the opener, because that is the time and place that
Washington needs to lay down a marker that it is not
going to put up with other football teams in the Pac-10
pushing them around anymore. If we see Oregon
players confused and stunned with the intensity that UW
has brought to that game, then Washington football will
be on its way back. If Oregon rolls over
Washington, then 2008 will be off to a disastrous start
for the Huskies.
Coaches Hot Seat
Bottom Line
We are
predicting a 6-6 record for Willingham and Washington in
2008. There are several keys games
along the way, but defending Husky Stadium will be a
must, along with beating with Washington State in the
Apple Cup. If Willingham and UW are sitting with a
record of at least 6-5 after winning the Apple Cup, with
only a trip to Berkeley to play Cal, then Willingham
will have certainly made a fairly large stride over his
first 3 seasons in Seattle. With one of the
toughest schedules in the country, a 6-6 or 7-5 record
by UW, along with the first Washington bowl trip in
years will be quite an accomplishment and we believe
that will show enough improvement to UW President Emmert
to allow Willingham to at least coach the full-length of
his contract. The people that support Washington
football are mightily proud of their grand football
tradition, as they should be, and they rightly expect
that UW football will consistently compete for the
Pac-10 conference championship and will also be a
perennial Top 25 football program. Ty Willingham
must show that he is making progress in his rebuilding
of the Washington football program and at least a .500
record will be the kind of step that will demonstrate
that his style of football will have some staying power
at the University of Washington. Anything less
than a .500 record for UW in 2008, and there will be a
new head coach on the sidelines for Washington in '09.
We couldn't find what we believe to
be a Lou Holtz quote, but we think Coach Holtz said
something like, "On every play you either are going to
hit someone or they are going to hit you. Resolve
that on every play you are going to be the person that
is doing the hitting." If Washington starts really
hitting people, and we mean
slobber-knocker type hits, Washington has an
opportunity to make 2008 a year of rebirth for its
football program in the grand city of Seattle.
2008
Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:
6-6
Will Willingham be back for the
2009 season?
YES
|