Tyrone Lionel Willingham addressed the media this afternoon and announced his resignation / dismissal at Washington. He expressed his desire to remain coach till the end of the season.
AD Scott Woodward said that Willingham would continue to coach till the end of the season. Woodward said he didn't want to orphan the team. He wanted to make sure that kids still went to school and had some consistency.
Tyrone hopes it will help dispel some of the negativity surrounding the program. Willingham hopes he can still lead the team in the correct way for the rest of the season. The announcement was made without a team meeting so the players are hearing this for the first time. Willingham said it was just a matter of timing.
Woodward said he and Willingham have been talking about this for a week. Willingham says he can lead better with the uncertainty eliminated and I think that makes a lot of sense.
Woodward won't rule out naming a new coach before the season ends, He says one advantage it gives them is head start in the process.
Willingham says it is a good strong program for someone to jump in and take over. He feels two more strong classes will get the program back to where it needs to be. It will take at least two strong classes in my humble opinion.
As far as the upcoming game Willingham says Senio Kelemente has some possible knee damage and they are still not sure of the extent of the injury. David Freeman is a continuing problem and they are not sure what he can do. Aieywa is in the same boat after injuring his groin in a different spot.
Quote of the Day
"It is my desire to complete and finish the football season and do that in the manner that I have done it unwavering in my approach and commitment to my young men," Willingham said today.
Softy show
I was listening to Scott Woodward on the Softy show and he affirmed what we all knew and that is due dilligence regarding a coaching hire has been going on for awhile. What that means is Washington has it's list and they want to publically start the hunt.
Softy asked him about Jim Mora Jr and Woodward sidestepped it nicely by accusing him of trying to get Jim in trouble again. Woodward showed Mora a lot of respect but didn't bite.