Husky Practice Draws Coaching Icon as Hart Comes for a Look

The defensive-line coach spent 21 of his 46 seasons at the UW for five different leaders.

Randy Hart has a college football coaching resume that resembles a poor man's Top 10 poll.

He had stops at his alma mater Ohio State, Notre Dame, Iowa State, Purdue, Tampa Stanford and Washington.

Retired for six seasons, Hart, 73, spent 46 years in the business, 21 with five different head coaches for the Huskies, tutoring defensive linemen such as the great Steve Emtman, Jason Chorak, Larry Tripplett, Terry Johnson, Dennis Brown and Tyrone Rodgers.

He was a fun-loving guy away from the field who could be as tough as any coach on it, demanding high-level performance. 

On Monday, Hart came out for a look at the current class of Huskies and he liked what he saw as he watched the proceedings with fellow retired UW coach Dick Baird or alone off in a corner. 

"I love the numbers," Hart said. "You've got a great bunch of guys out here. Looks like they can afford to run several different drills at one time and they're getting a lot done in practice."

Any talent out there?

"I think there is," he said.

Hart carries the distinction of winning national championships both as a player at Ohio State (1968) and as a coach at Washington (1991).

Don James brought him to Washington in 1988 from Ohio State. The two had coached against each other in the 1972 Tangerine Bowl, James for Kent State and Hart in his first job at Tampa. 

Hart still keeps in touch with many of his players, including Emtman, the former NFL No. 1 draft pick and All-America defensive tackle, who now lives in Florida. 

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