Willingham fills spot at Washington

SEATTLE -- Tyrone Willingham agreed to become Washington's third football coach in four seasons, just two weeks after being fired by Notre Dame.

"I am excited about being here," Willingham told reporters Sunday evening before meeting with players on campus.

Willingham was 21-15 in three seasons at Notre Dame -- but after an 8-0 start in 2002, the Irish went 13-15. Willingham is familiar with the Pac-10, going 44-36-1 and reaching a Rose Bowl with Stanford from 1995-01.

He refrained from answering questions -- including what he would say to the team -- until Monday's news conference.

"As you know with me, it always stays within the locker room," he said with a grin. "What you say to the team is really important, so I'll make sure it's their ears and my ears."

Washington athletic department spokesman Jim Daves announced the hiring in a statement earlier Sunday.

The Huskies are coming off a school-worst 1-10 season, and Keith Gilbertson stepped down after two years as coach. He replaced Rick Neuheisel, who was fired for gambling on NCAA basketball.

Willingham served the shortest tenure of any full-time Notre Dame coach in 70 years. He had three years left on his initial contract. Notre Dame had made a tradition of allowing its coaches to at least work through the length of their first contract.

Last week, outgoing Notre Dame president the Rev. Edward Malloy criticized Willingham's firing and expressed concern over a growing trend of schools that are searching for "messiah coaches."

Washington athletic director Todd Turner and new university president Mark Emmert met last week with Boston College coach Tom O'Brien. He and Willingham were the only known candidates interviewed for the position, but O'Brien withdrew Friday.

Willingham's firing also drew criticism from the Black Coaches Association. He was one of only five black head coaches in Division I-A last season. That number dropped to two after Tony Samuel was fired at New Mexico State, Fitz Hill resigned at San Jose State and Willingham was let go.

The hiring makes Washington the only I-A school with black head coaches in the two major sports. Men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar is in his third season leading the Huskies.

Willingham's connections on the West Coast should be an asset to a Washington program rebuilding from the bottom of the Pac-10.

Turner, hired last summer, and Emmert hope to restore national prominence to Washington's football program, which shared a national championship in 1991 but has fallen to the conference cellar since Neuheisel's dismissal in 2003.

Neuheisel spent four seasons at Washington, going 33-16, including an 11-1 record in 2000, when the Huskies beat Purdue in their first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1992 season.

Neuheisel has sued Washington and the NCAA over his firing. The NCAA did not impose sanctions against him, saying a former school compliance officer had written erroneous memos that said such gambling was allowed.

Gilbertson was Neuheisel's offensive coordinator and stepped in after the midsummer firing, just weeks before the 2003 opener. Former athletic director Barbara Hedges didn't have many options for finding a coach.

The Huskies went 6-6 in Gilbertson's first season, then fell to 1-10 and 0-8 in the Pac-10 this year. Turner announced Nov. 1 that Gilbertson would step down at the end of the season.

Turner is also moving to initiate an ambitious stadium renovation that could cost up to $150 million by some preliminary estimates. Emmert knows the importance of a successful football program -- his last job was as president at last season's national co-champion, LSU.