Inside The Huskies

Willingham Has New Assignment — No, He's Not Coaching Again

The former University of Washington football coach has resurfaced with new duties.

Dan Raley

Willingham Has New Assignment — No, He's Not Coaching Again
Willingham Has New Assignment — No, He's Not Coaching Again /

Tyrone Willingham has resurfaced once more on the college football scene, accepting a second stint as a member of the CFP selection committee, which all seems a bit ironic considering his struggles at the University of Washington, his final coaching stop.

In four years in Seattle, no one was farther away from the national championship game than this one-time Husky leader. 

Willingham will help choose the four teams that compete to be the college game's best after his final coaching assignment brought about the worst season in the UW's 131-season history.

Who can forget 0-12 in 2008?

In Seattle, everyone tries to.

Willingham will serve the final year for R.C. Slocum, the former Texas A&M coach who has been forced to step down and was recently hospitalized because of serious health reasons. 

Tyrone previously served in this same CFP capacity in 2014-17, joining the selection committee a half-dozen years after bottoming out in Montlake.

Willingham, after enjoying previous football success at Stanford and Notre Dame, suffered through 2-9, 5-7, 4-9 and 0-12 seasons at the UW.

Fired by the Fighting Irish, Willingham was hired by athletic director Todd Turner and took over a sliding Husky football program that bottomed out to 1-10 under Keith Gilbertson.

The uncompromising Willingham proceeded to alienate the Husky fan base, media and a good portion of his teams while winning just 11 games in four seasons.

In his waning days on campus, a visibly upset Willingham could be seen at times talking things out with Husky basketball coach Lorenzo Romar, one of his few athletic department supporters.  

Since leaving the UW, the former coach has been retired and living in the Bay Area. 

 

Find Husky Maven on Facebook by searching: HuskyMaven/Sports Illustrated

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Football