[yvonne]

There's a new book out on his Royal Ungratefulness. It sounds like Washington got a little of the royal treatment, but not in the form of ungratefulness!

Bow Down to W.illingham

The UW blog asks the question of whether white guilt gave HRU an extra year, but I'm not sure whether the book posits that. I think the situation before HRU, that is, the corruption of the program, if anything, led to his being kept on.

[yvonne]

There's a new book out on his Royal Ungratefulness. It sounds like Washington got a little of the royal treatment, but not in the form of ungratefulness!

Bow Down to W.illingham

The UW blog asks the question of whether white guilt gave HRU an extra year, but I'm not sure whether the book posits that. I think the situation before HRU, that is, the corruption of the program, if anything, led to his being kept on.

[Pastor]

So here's a reflective question for you...had we convinced HRU to stay, what would the football program look like today and how long would he have lasted at SU?

[Pastor]

So here's a reflective question for you...had we convinced HRU to stay, what would the football program look like today and how long would he have lasted at SU?

[Pastor]

GG...that's an easy one, whatever it took to have the Harbaugh season last year was worth any price, even those two galoots (as CI would say).  It was the glorious season of a lifetime.  Every piece worked and was getting better.  But we have now paid that price (and it was a high one).  I am not willing to pay it again.

I agree with your assessment of W.illingham but I also feel that NDU pulled the trigger sooner than they would have with another coach (see Weis).  The dynamics behind that could be more than simple racism.  NDU has to live in total fear trying to live up to a reputation from so long ago.

[Pastor]

GG...that's an easy one, whatever it took to have the Harbaugh season last year was worth any price, even those two galoots (as CI would say).  It was the glorious season of a lifetime.  Every piece worked and was getting better.  But we have now paid that price (and it was a high one).  I am not willing to pay it again.

I agree with your assessment of W.illingham but I also feel that NDU pulled the trigger sooner than they would have with another coach (see Weis).  The dynamics behind that could be more than simple racism.  NDU has to live in total fear trying to live up to a reputation from so long ago.

[needle]

Sometimes I think that an older coach is less effective in relating to college players than someone closer to their age.

When Willingham was at Stanford, he was in his 40s.

I recall published reports of his doing conditioning drills with players. I don't want to make too much of that factoid. But I do think it's possible that for a few/some/many coaches, their age--no doubt compounded by the stress of the job--takes out some of their youthful EUTM and makes them less effective in motivating players.

[needle]

Sometimes I think that an older coach is less effective in relating to college players than someone closer to their age.

When Willingham was at Stanford, he was in his 40s.

I recall published reports of his doing conditioning drills with players. I don't want to make too much of that factoid. But I do think it's possible that for a few/some/many coaches, their age--no doubt compounded by the stress of the job--takes out some of their youthful EUTM and makes them less effective in motivating players.

[Mick]

That's an excellent question, one I've pondered a good bit. I continue to think Will.ingham did a basically good job at Stanford. Good, not great. Four of his seven teams went to bowl games, and it probably would have been five of seven if Randy Fasani hadn't missed so much of the 2000 season. He's the only coach to get us into the Rose Bowl in the past 40 years.

He had weaknesses, to be sure. His disengagement made him an ineffective booster for a program with listless fan support. His recruiting was weak at first, though it improved considerably: The 2001 Seattle Bowl team was composed exclusively of Will.ingham's own recruits.

But his coaching skills, when he was with us, produced much better results than at Washington or the University of South Bend. What happened to them? It seems to me that some of his post-Stanford problems resulted from a swollen ego, a belief that he had some kind of magic touch that could not be judged by mere mortals. Perhaps if he had stayed with us, that wouldn't have happened. On the other hand, the recruiting holes he left behind at Stanford (particularly on the offensive line) suggest the possibility that he had already mentally checked out, that if he hadn't taken the the University of South Bend job he would have been looking elsewhere.

Bottom line: I don't know. Another interesting question -- was the grief caused by his departure (Buddy, Idiotface) worth it in order when you take into account the final result, Jim Harbaugh?

I think it would have depended entirely upon the assistants he selected later in his career.

[Mick]

That's an excellent question, one I've pondered a good bit. I continue to think Will.ingham did a basically good job at Stanford. Good, not great. Four of his seven teams went to bowl games, and it probably would have been five of seven if Randy Fasani hadn't missed so much of the 2000 season. He's the only coach to get us into the Rose Bowl in the past 40 years.

He had weaknesses, to be sure. His disengagement made him an ineffective booster for a program with listless fan support. His recruiting was weak at first, though it improved considerably: The 2001 Seattle Bowl team was composed exclusively of Will.ingham's own recruits.

But his coaching skills, when he was with us, produced much better results than at Washington or the University of South Bend. What happened to them? It seems to me that some of his post-Stanford problems resulted from a swollen ego, a belief that he had some kind of magic touch that could not be judged by mere mortals. Perhaps if he had stayed with us, that wouldn't have happened. On the other hand, the recruiting holes he left behind at Stanford (particularly on the offensive line) suggest the possibility that he had already mentally checked out, that if he hadn't taken the the University of South Bend job he would have been looking elsewhere.

Bottom line: I don't know. Another interesting question -- was the grief caused by his departure (Buddy, Idiotface) worth it in order when you take into account the final result, Jim Harbaugh?

I think it would have depended entirely upon the assistants he selected later in his career.