Well, that's two coaches down in 2008. Ty Willingham's firing from Washington was certainly not as surprising as Tommy Bowden's ouster at Clemson, but the mid-season ax is always a bit shocking.
Of course, Notre Dame fans are excited because this gives them a scapegoat for last year's nightmare in South Bend - namely Willingham's recruiting. Ty's well-known lax efforts on the recruiting trail didn't help in Seattle, where UW is behind other school's in facilities and has a smaller recruiting base in the Pacific Northwest. UW just never had the depth or talent of opponents and when Jake Locker was called for that silly penalty that ultimately cost them an upset of top-10 BYU earlier this year, the Huskies never recovered.
And say what you want about Willingham's coaching ability, the guy's got cajones - or he's not really paying attention. The day he gets fired, he does his radio show, including an interview with the UW president on why he fired Ty. That's weird.
So, who's next to go?
I would say Syracuse's Greg Robinson, but frankly he's coaching as if he's already been fired.
The rumors continue to fly around Phil Fulmer and Tommy Tuberville in the SEC. Mike Stoops seems to have saved his gig for awhile after playing USC tough once again.
Lane Kiffin's name continues to be hot for a few of the jobs and his Pac-10 background would be a good fit for UW. But I question exactly what Kiffin has done to earn a shot at a premium coaching spot. At USC he took over for a year or two after Norm Chow left before Al Davis hired him on the cheap in Oakland.
The best pick would be Gary Pinkel, a Don James disciple who's turned Missouri around, but I don't see Pinkel leaving Mizzou at this point in his career. Possibly, Mizzou offensive coordinator Dave Christensen would be the right fit.
UW is a good job if a new coach can upgrade the facilities and recruit California.
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