Road trip: Winless Washington growing weary of Willingham

Text and photos by Joe Connor, our eco-friendly road trip correspondent.

1991. That was the year that Washington — yes, Washington — won the national college football championship. Hard to conjure, huh? The Tyrone Willingless Huskies were numero uno. In fact, it was so long ago that that also was the year I graduated from high school, which only goes to show you how little I've matured in nearly 20 years — considering I'm spending the next four months driving around the country in a car running on vegetable oil.

But back to the Huskies, where I took in their home opener Saturday against BYU. There are few givens in life, but here's one of them: Tyrone Willingham's chances of returning to Washington next year as head football coach appear about as likely as John McCain winning "American Idol." And to hear many Washington boosters and alumni tell it, the only question seems to be whether Willingham will be canned during this season. He certainly didn't help himself by losing to the Cougars, 28-27, which gets the Huskies off to another roaring start at 0-2.

Washington didn't sell out its home opener, with several pockets of empty seats on a glorious Pacific Northwest afternoon in Seattle. That can't be good for any business, especially among recruits and boosters. And the buzz in the south parking lot at Husky Stadium was not of high hopes with the dawn of a new season, but rather one of a crystal-clear consensus: Willingham must go. Did I mention the college football season is only two weeks old?

"You know when he was (the head coach) at Stanford, he never beat the Huskies," said Roger Anderson, a season-ticket holder since 1966 who will let you know he has been to every Washington Rose Bowl appearance and saw his first Huskies' game two months after being born in 1941. "He doesn't know Husky football. This is Willingham football."

Added another longtime season-ticket holder, Patrick Thrapp of Kirkland, Wash.: "He's already lost his job. Now, he's fighting to get it back."

Anderson, who incidentally graduated from Hamilton High School in West Los Angeles in 1959, longs for the days when the Huskies were defined by their defense. Like the time when Todd Marinovich and the  Trojans lost 32-0 at Husky Stadium. Anderson's tailgate includes a real Husky dog named Blue.

"I have a picture of Marinovich in my office with his quote to the newspapers, 'All I saw was purple,' " said Jim Lambright, who was the Huskies' defensive coordinator back then before becoming Washington's head coach (1993-99). Lambright, today a motivational consultant, tailgates with Anderson's crew, which boasts a decal on the back of its RV with directions to Washington State: "go east 'til you smell it, then south 'til you step in it."

At least the Cougars (both Washington State and BYU) boast a full-time athletic director. The same cannot be said of Washington, which is also looking to renovate Husky Stadium. And losing doesn't appear to be accomplishing those objectives. Neither does Willingham's closed-practice policies and general aloofness. But even worse, adds Mike Butcher of Vancouver, Wash., there appears to be a genuine disconnect between the Washington athletic department and its customers, which can't be good for any business either.

"There's a fracture between the fan base and the department as a whole," Butcher said. "There's a bunker mentality."

Many of the die-hard Husky fans I spoke to look at the enthusiasm that Pete Carroll brought to USC in resurrecting the Trojans as a model they need to follow in hiring a new football coach — and permanent athletic director.

Tom Poirer, 56, has been coming to Husky football games for nearly his whole life. When he was a kid, he would sell copies of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, one of the Emerald City's two daily newspapers on game day in front of Husky Stadium, so he would have money to buy a general admission ticket. Some 15 years ago, he began a tailgate not far from Anderson's RV that has since grown to 150 strong.

Now, Poirer is just hoping for a win next Saturday for the 0-2 Huskies when they play host to Oklahoma. It will be his 57th birthday.

"We'll celebrate," Poirer said. "But we won't remember the losses."

Up next: I'll provide some more bad karma to another Pac-10 team looking for its first win when I visit Oregon State for its home opener next Saturday against Hawaii.

—Joe Connor

For more from Joe, check out www.greenpowersportstour.com.