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Ahem, Ahem! AHEM!!! Richard Linde, 3 May 2005
I’ve listened to Romar speak a number of times, but not Willingham, so my focus is on the football coach. Since the Willingham persona is somewhat of an enigma, I was hoping that the video replay would answer some questions about his personality. I’d read reports that he is dull, taciturn, and torpid, a Zombie of sorts. That’s not true at all. Instead, Willingham is bright, witty, talkative (almost glib) and has the semblance of being an inspiring leader. In that regard, he has an affinity for speaking in platitudes at times. Quoting journalist David Brinkley, he likes to say, "A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." Clean shaven now with closely cropped hair, Willingham presents a military image. He grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, which is near the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base. However, according to scuttlebutt, Willingham has never drunk more than a half-cup of coffee in his lifetime, which is most un-military like. Don’t military planes fly on chow-house Java in the absence of JP4? Answering one question about how integration affected him in the sixties, he responded, “Honestly, not much. We were brought up in a community with a war-time thought. There was always this feeling of the greater good (in our community); it was never about you, but about the good of the community. It was about your community; it was about your family; it was about your country.” He says he’s a coach of flexibility, not discipline, of understanding and respect. He has the ability to turn his personality on and off. He is a charmer when he meets the public and is laconic with the media. In the latter case, Willingham has closed his practices to them, limiting them to the first 25 minutes of practices, at a time when he answers their questions. In that regard, Willingham said he’s never ducked a question, answering each and every question posed by the media. During the Town Hall meeting, Newnham said that the Times has received a number of complaints about its imbalance of college football coverage, that seemingly it is publishing more stories concerning Washington State than its cross-state rival, Washington. Willingham responded that the media thrives on controversy, that controversy sells papers. The nattily attired Willingham -- wearing a suit and tie -- said that creative writers will find ways to write good stories. "You're challenging us?" Newnham asked. "Yes, I am," Willingham replied with a smile. Though not his role to be argumentative, Newnham, then, might have countered with a zinger of his own, quoting Brinkley by saying, "Numerous politicians have seized absolute power and muzzled the press. Never in history has the press seized absolute power and muzzled the politicians." As fans see it, tormenting the media is a reverse of what it has been over the last decade or so with respect to UW football coaches On the lighter side, Romar asked Willingham if he ever played Caroms as a kid. Willingham replied that they played Caroms in the basement of their house, along with ping pong and other games. The city didn’t have a community center, so the Willingham basement served that function. Later, the family donated property across the street for a community center. After graduating from high school, Willingham said that he sent one hundred hand-written letters to various schools, asking for chance to play on their football teams. Only two schools sent responses, one a rejection, the other an offer by Michigan State to walk on. Willingham stood 5-foot-six and weighed 139 pounds when he walked on as a Spartan, pun intended. After graduating from Michigan State in 1977, Willingham continued with the Spartan program as a graduate assistant under head coach Darryl Rogers. Responding to a question involving fan support, Willingham said, “If you say you love the Huskies, the best time to show your love is when the team is down. When the team is down, that’s when the real Husky fans need to step up. All the pretenders are there when you are 10-or-11 and 0.” In answer to a question from the audience about the option, Willingham said that the option is not dead at Washington. “(But) it will not be a staple in our system. The option forces the defense to balance up.” Washington will use the option to keep these defenses honest, he went on to say. Before answering a question from the audience concerning the speed of this year’s team, Willingham cleared his throat three times, the last two episodes increasing in volume. Romar laughed at the first “ahem” but looked shocked after the last voice of decibels in that it was not fit for Emily Post. Juxtaposing his noisy AHEMs with his two quiet sneezes at the beginning of the forum says something about the urgency of the situation. “We’re lacking in certain areas,” Willingham said. “You never get fast enough. That is something you’re always seeking.” Then he mentioned the impressive speed RB Louis Rankin showed during spring practices. After the scrimmage that concluded spring practice, the coaches remarked on how slow and sluggish the team looked. Willingham certainly punctuated those impressions before answering the question on speed. Being influential and charming as well, his personality almost wears a political hat. What are his politics? I would guess somewhere along the lines of Tiger Woods’ and Condi Rice’s, whatever their political bent may be. Coincidentally, at Stanford, he posed for separate pictures with Rice and Woods, and he says that Woods is his friend. In the past, several UW coaches went into politics after their coaching careers were terminated. Willingham’s future is worthy of speculation; taking over a 1-10 team might expedite a future role as a public servant. Let's hope Willingham lays a firm foundation at Washington with the bricks Notre Dame threw at him.
A reader’s comments on Willingham: After attending a recent UW faculty breakfast, featuring Willingham as a speaker, one of our readers wrote, “He (Willingham) is quite a charismatic speaker and has a good sense of humor. I came away with the distinct impression that he views winning as a kind of necessary evil second to the main goal: Developing young men. This philosophy is his central focus and he hammered away on it.... He said that he had four goals, the first being to win a championship because he values/wants to keep his job. The rest of the goals are in the ‘develop-fine-young men’ line of goals. One of the main goals was to develop pleasant men because ‘there are enough jerks out there' "He also said there were still four quarterbacks in the race. "He definitely views his role first and foremost as an educator of 'young men.' "The origins of the collegiate game were basically that everybody was going to go out and have a good time on a fall Saturday. And... the best way to have a good time is to win as we all know! At some point the game became pretty serious. "In a way it seems to me that Ty has shifted this goal with sleight of hand, toward the game being primarily an education tool (not that I mean he intends sloppy football). He is very clear in his philosophy in so much as he wants to develop the guys. "We will see how it turns out. It's tough as a fan to say that the emphasis should be first and foremost on producing a contender and winning when you know it is in the best interests of the player to see him develop as a person. I recall though that Neuheisel pretty much viewed this first and foremost as 'an opportunity to compete... and when the team plays together, glory will happen like you won't believe.' Eventually all this will sort out. Ideally you'd like equal emphasis on personal development and producing a contender, since to produce a contender you have to have teamwork, dedication, etc." Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com |
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