Huskies program tumbles downward
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
9/5/2006
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After winning a national title in 1991, UW has been plagued with problems.
NORMAN -- There was a national championship, followed by dorm room shenanigans, probation, a coaching change and, finally, a sharp decline in the success of the football program.
Oklahoma, yes. But the same thing happened at Washington.
The biggest difference is that the Huskies still make residence at rock bottom.
"It's a good coaching job," insists UW coaching legend Don James. "It gets great support. It's a great university. And it's a delightful area to live. It just needs continuity."
James points out that this year's seniors are on their third head coach, Tyrone Willingham, who went just 2-9 last season in his inaugural year.
Here's how far Washington football has fallen:
In James' second season (1976), the Huskies finished 5-6. They didn't have a losing record again until 26 years later, when they went 1-10 in 2004 -- the worst season in school history.
Last year marked the program's first back-to-back losing records since 1973-74. If this year's team finishes where they're picked -- at the bottom of the Pac-10 Conference -- it'll be the first three-year losing skid since 1947-49.
Attendance for last weekend's season opener -- a 35-29 victory over San Jose State -- was 52,256. That's the lowest Husky Stadium crowd since 1981, when 50,410 turned out to watch a game against Arizona State. The 2005 attendance was down almost 10 percent from '03.
Willingham's teams at Stanford and Notre Dame were just 1-6 against the Huskies. He said he never envisioned in those days that a program like Washington would fall on such hard times.
"Even good programs around the country go through ups and downs," Willingham said. "Hopefully it's very minor and short-lived, as I hope the run will be here with my program."
Washington's woes can be traced back to James' early 1990s teams. Not long after the Huskies went 12-0 and won the 1991 national championship, quarterback Billy Joe Hobert revealed that he had accepted a $50,000 loan from a family friend (not a coach, a booster or anyone affiliated with the university, James said). That sent the Pac-10 and the NCAA into an intensive investigation.
Four players testified they had been paid for jobs at which they didn't work, and another player was arrested for selling drugs in the dorms (charges were later dismissed). James said no player ever took an illicit dime, and he said no coach or player sanctions were ever meted out.
"We had the great year," James said, "then we just had the most negative publicity you could ever get."
James said the Pac-10 initially handed down a one-year probation, but when the league added another year and paid the university for lost TV money, "I said screw it. For all we'd done for this league? You've got not one coach's violation and not one player's violation, and you're going to do that? I'm done with this university, and I'm done with this league.' "
After 18 years, James resigned prior to the '93 season, taking his 153-57-2 record and six Pac-10 titles with him, and the program hasn't been the same since.
Jim Lambright went 44-25-1. Rick Neuheisel came in 1999 and in four seasons went 33-16. Neuheisel was 11-1 in 2000, with a Rose Bowl crown and a No. 3 national ranking, but observers say that was a mirage because quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo willed the Huskies to victory several times in seven close games.
Neuheisel's last two teams were 8-4 and 7-6, and he was fired after participating in an NCAA basketball tournament office pool. (Neuheisel later received $4.5 million in a wrongful termination lawsuit against UW.)
Keith Gilbertson replaced Neuheisel, but by then the Huskies were sliding into oblivion. UW finished 6-6 in 2003 and 1-10 in '04. Players that Neuheisel recruited were not on board with the change.
"I don't think they were getting players that were dying to be Washington football players," said former UW quarterback Hugh Millen. "They were getting players who were wanting to play for Rick Neuheisel.
"Rick's message was, 'Come to Washington and you'll have the greatest college experience you can have.' I don't think that's the message Bob Stoops is selling in living rooms. I think he's saying, 'Come to Oklahoma and it may be the hardest experience you ever had, but you'll be in the winning locker room.' "
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John E. Hoover 581-8384
[email protected].