Tyrone Willingham is living the dream

January 10th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

The general consensus is that Notre Dame is tough place to coach football. I can understand that generalization. The fans are demanding, the organizational expectations are always high, and recruiting is hampered by those silly academic standards that all Domers hold so dear. That’s not to mention the lack of conference affiliation and the traditionally tough schedule. There are difficulties here.

But in terms of fan support, Notre Dame fans can also be loyal. Really loyal. Japanese kamikaze-loyal. Charlie Weis-is-still-a-good-coach-loyal. So maybe Ty Willingham was mistaken if he thought he was going to be able to stay out of the spotlight at Washington. Turns out, boosters out west are even crazier:

But when Ed Hansen — lawyer, multimillionaire, University of Washington alumnus and former three-term Everett mayor — wrote UW President Mark Emmert six weeks ago, he abandoned all sense of delicacy.

Hansen, unhappy with the state of Huskies football, placed a price upon the head of the football coach and the school’s athletic director. His e-mail said:”By this letter I hereby pledge to contribute a minimum of $100,000 towards a law school scholarship within 90 days, conditioned upon the termination of Ty Willingham as football coach. In addition, I hereby pledge a second $100,000 towards a law school scholarship within 90 days, conditioned upon the termination of Todd Turner as athletic director. Also, I do not intend to contribute any further funds to the athletic department as long as these two gentlemen are employed by the University.”

Nope, it doesn’t look good for old Ty. This could work out in his benefit, though; maybe he and Mr. Hansen can work out some sort of a deal on the side. “Pay me — to stop working? What a generous offer! I accept.” Yep. That’s the dream.