Here’s an e-mail I received from “H and J.” He is one of our northwest cousins who is happy with this website's support of coach Tyrone Willingham.

“There used to be a day when Washington talked of dismissing a coach for a 7 - 5 season.  Or a 6 - 6 season.  What's changed?   The blame game, like Washington D.C. today?

“Talk has shifted from why to who, other than Ty, caused Washington to field the worst team in the Pac - 10 over the past four years.

“Today, it's all about coaching due to scholarship parity.  And Washington has a coaching staff that has never done better than average.  In fact, a record above 500 for this group is rare.  And one that Washington would welcome.

“Please continue the campaign to keep Ty and his group. Beavers and Ducks love Ty. Yes, we need the "sure win" on our schedules for the next three years.   But we like the stability he has brought to the Husky program!

“ But the really, really big hug and kiss goes to your defensive coach....will Hawaii throw for 1,000 yards?  I predict yet another record to be set on helpless Huskies.”

Signed:  H and J from Beaver and Duck country.

This is my reply to H-and-J’s e-mail.

We fans don’t have much choice other than supporting the coach. Bringing in a new coach at this time has a "Charlie Weis" written all over it.

I’m guessing that Tyrone Willingham (11-24, 6-20 Pac-10) probably gets most of the two years remaining on his contract no matter what happens with his W/L record. However, most of the current fan base needs to continue its financial support of the athletics program -- otherwise, he’s out and a "Charlie" is in.  [*]

In his third year at Washington, Coach Willingham deserves a chance to build a team around Jake Locker without any impediments along the way. I like to think that UW has higher ethical standards than Notre Dame, which fired Willingham shamelessly in 2004. We alumni and supporters of the university should be proud of our continuing support of Willingham because his job is not over; what was left dangling at Notre Dame will be finished successfully at Washington.

Tyrone Willingham was hired to repair a program that was in shambles. He’s respected by the national media, the local press, the NCAA and UW’s upper campus, where learning rules the roost rather than football. 

Seemingly, to the eggheads on the upper campus, UW is the Stanford of the north, whether it is or not. ;-)

I’m guessing that most of the upper campus will point proudly to UW’s last-place finish in the conference, especially if it’s shared with the Cardinal this season. UW is second in the conference next to Stanford in graduating its players. As I understand its policy, the UW registrar will not accept PE majors out of JCs – this as an example of a scholastic limitation imposed on the athletics program.

Willingham must coalesce the learned types, the football nuts and the "Internet half-brains" into one loving family and produce a well-rounded football program that is winning most of its games. He's on the road to doing just that. 

The emerging football program at Washington should be a paradigm for NCAA honcho Myles Brand to acknowledge and bless. That is, preparing each and every student/athlete for a successful future either in athletics or in some other field of endeavor should be the goal of every university in the NCAA.

I believe that mission can be accomplished, concomitantly, with success on the gridiron. Other schools, however, need to follow the Washington paradigm, lest UW play on an uneven field.

Ranting, raving, and criticizing the coach will only make matters worse at Washington, especially in the recruiting area where Willingham needs an infusion of talent this recruiting season.

I’ll take a careful look at his next recruiting class and see how each member of it fills a particular void on the team, using my unqualified expertise as judge. ;-)

If the class is mediocre and UW plays poorly next season, my website will recommend that Coach Willingham be asked to resign his position as head coach or else be fired, this happening, if it does, near the end of the 2008 season most likely. I'm guessing that won't happen.

If Willingham can bring in a top 20 class in February, I’ll likely support his retention until the end of his contract, which terminates in December 2009, unless, of course, the roof caves in on the football program. 

A diminishing fan base severely impacts the athletics program at Washington, and that peril needs to be weighed carefully by the AD on a continuing basis. Husky Stadium is in rotten shape and needs rebuilding. Its refurbishment is complicated by two mass transportation projects that will physically impact the immediate Stadium area.  Other than a dire emergency, moving to QWEST Field is not an option during the remodeling years.

Because of the enormous amount of money needed to remodel the stadium, the mass transportation complications and an eroding fan base, my current thinking is that moving to QWEST is the only option. And that move should happen quickly. With an ultramodern stadium in hand, the AD and football coach can concentrate on producing a winning team at UW. Neither of them need channel their energies into raising funds for what seems likely to be an unsuccessful fund-raising campaign or, short of money, a renovated stadium that falls short of emerging standards in college football.

Because of parity in college football and considering the football team’s competitiveness this season, my personal feeling is that Willingham is just a few players away from fielding an upper echelon team in the Pac-10. That means he needs to add a few 4-and-5 star recruits to his 2008 class, a class that will be mostly signed in February.

Thanks for writing and good luck to the Ducks and Beavers. ;-)

Richard Linde, editor/publisher, 4malamute.com

P. S.,

Playing Ohio State this season seemed mercenary at the time and to the detriment of the team; the scheduling of Hawaii was just plain stupid – unless we win.

UW had its chances to win both the OSU and WSU games in their last few minutes. However, the offense imploded and turned the games over to a worn-out defense.

In fact, the offense has self-destructed in the second half in most of the games, the last stanzas rife with three-and-outs.

The onus for a losing season should rest mostly with the offense and not entirely with the defense.

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[*] A rotten metaphor, isn't it? Losing coaching continuity -- pulling a "Charlie" -- at this time ensures more losing seasons, which stands at four in a row now.