Is this any way to treat the man who gifted Charlie Weis with his most successful Notre Dame squad? Following published reports of Ty Willingham’s “retirement”, The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta restates the obvious, ie. Ty was a ferocious flop at the University Of Washington.
Willingham states simply that he’s “retired” and has no intention of trying to work in coaching or any other capacity, such as being an Athletic Director. He’s also reported now living in San Jose.
Willingham has had little contact with most people at UW since being fired midway through the 2008 season, and leaving at its conclusion. He had been rumored in the running for a few jobs (such as New Mexico State) and was reported at one point to be on the staff of a team in the UFL. But he has not coached since leaving UW.
His 11-37 record and 0-12 season in 2008 made it obvious that what he was doing in Seattle wasn’t working. If the Huskies make an expected move back to the post-season this year, Willingham figures to get some credit for recruiting the bulk of the players who would make that happen. Some wouuld argue, however, that many/most of those players likely would have come to UW anyway (specifically all the in-state players, a recruiting subset UW has almost always dominated regardless of who is the coach). Chris Polk is probably the most significant player you could argue wouldn’t be at UW if not for Willingham.