Washington Huskies

Thanks, Tom!

Tommy Tuberville’s decided to resign from Auburn University recently; at least, that’s what the AD says. Whether he quit or was fired, though, this is bad news for the University of Washington. After the Tennessee job was filled, UW could at least position itself as the job vacancy with the most reflected glory attached to it; after all, UW has half of a national championship to its name in the last twenty years, and has been bowl-competitive in the last decade. True, the current sustained awfulness makes the job a lot less desirable to anyone who doesn’t want a massive clean-up job, but Huskies could at least kid themselves into thinking that  Mike Leach, for example, would see a once-proud Pac-10 program as an upgrade from Texas Tech.

Now, though, that’s just ridiculous. At least until Auburn gets filled, the idea that a successful coach with dreams of performing on a bigger stage would take an 0-12 Pac-10 doormat over a 5-7 Auburn team that was competitive even this year, nevermind the recent past, is absurd. (h/t Andy Schlafly.)  Which takes us back to my previous advice (’cause this is all about me, never forget…) that UW find itself a smart, hungry assistant from an established program and give them a bigger promotion than they might normally deserve. Taking a chance on somebody with good intangibles but no resume is their best shot at a fast(ish) turn around.

As has been widely reported, Tyrone Willingham is stepping down at the end of the season. If you’ve been following UW football at all this year, this is absolutely no shock to anyone. Many folks were surprised that he kept his job after last year, and as the losses piled up the expectations grew that he’d be fired in the middle of the year. UW, however, doesn’t think of itself as that kind of institution, and so they offer him a graceful exit. That’s fine; as a caller to KJR said, there’s not much difference between an interim coach with no shot at the job and Willingham playing out the string.

The problem, as I listened to KJR (I love the sports radio in Seattle), is that Husky fans think that they’re going to hook a 1st rate, established coach. The head coach at Missouri(!), Gary Pinkel, came up a couple of time. Folks, get real. Washington has been awful for years now, it has outdated facilities, and it has to recruit against Oregon, Cal, and USC in the Pacific Northwest; no established, successful coach is going to want this gig right now.

I have three words for you, Husky fans: Mark Muthafuckin’ Richt.