To set the stage a little on Willingham's 1994-95 transition at Stanford, Bill Walsh – in his second and less-successful stint at Stanford – had a very good first year (1992) going 10-3 (including the 33-16 win over ND at ND -- the only loss for the Irish that year -- and drilling PSU 24-3 in a bowl game), but then was only 4-7 and 3-7-1 his next two years. The defense was pathetic even by Stanford's standards, giving up 34 ppg.

Willingham's difficulty at Stanford was not high expectations, but Walsh casts a long shadow over Bay Area sports. So, Willingham probably had to appear to be a bit deferential to Walsh's legend (and considerable ego). I had recalled Willingham retaining a good bit of Walsh's staff, but actually that turned out not to be true – he retained neither coordinator and only two position coaches.

Willingham's problem at Stanford was not as much offense as it was defense. In his first two years, he produced considerable results as Stanford went from giving up 34 ppg in Walsh's last two years to giving up 22.3 ppg in Willingham's first two. Stanford went 7-4-1 in Willingham's first year and 7-5 in his second, considerable improvements over Walsh's last two years. It was actually the next two years when Willingham hit the skids going 5-6 and 3-8, largely because his defenses became almost as bad as the ones under Walsh and while his offenses were still pretty good, they couldn't score enough points to overcome the defenses. Baer's hiring as defensive coordinator produced some reasonable improvement in the defense (the ppg dropped from over 30 ppg during the bad stretch in years 3 and 4 to about 28 ppg in years 5-7) and the offense really caught fire with Diedrick as the OC going from about 24 ppg during years 3-4 to almost 32 ppg in years 5-7. It was undoubtedly this 22-13 stretch in years 5-7 that got Willingham the job at N.D.

Here, for sake of comparison is how Stanford did against opponents that it played both in Walsh's last year and Willingham's first:

San Jose St.

Walsh: 51-20 (W)
Willingham: 47-33 (W)

Arizona St.

Walsh: 35-36 (L)
Willingham: 30-28 (W)

U.S.C.

Walsh: 20-27 (L)
Willingham: 30-31 (L)

Oregon St.

Walsh: 35-29 (W)
Willingham: 24-3 (W)

UCLA

Walsh: 30-31 (L)
Willingham: 28-42 (L)

Oregon

Walsh: 21-55 (L)
Willingham: 28-21 (W)

California

Walsh: 23-24 (L)
Willingham: 29-24 (W)

Anyway, I thought the following might make for some interesting reading as we await Willingham's first season at N.D.
 

Walsh a Sounding Board for Willingham

byline: Mark Soltau

Date: May 6, 1995

Bill Walsh may not be calling the shots at Stanford anymore, but his presence is still being felt.

New football coach Tyrone Willingham wants to run the ball more, and has capable backs in Anthony Bookman, Mike Mitchell, Adam Salina, Quincy Jacobs and Greg Comella.

But the forward pass remains an integral part of the offense, and much of Walsh's system has been retained by Willingham and offensive coordinator Dane Bible.

That was obvious during Stanford's spring practice. "Coach Walsh's short passing game and triangle system will still be a part of it," Willingham said. "We want to have a good, solid mixture that attacks the defense."

When Walsh resigned Nov. 28, he wasted little time clearing out his office. Although he vowed to help the program any way he could, Walsh purposely stayed away.

"I have distanced myself for Tyrone's sake," Walsh said. "So I'm not like the old coach lurking around. The transition had to be complete."

For more reasons than one. Walsh is now a consultant to the NFL, and left Thursday for Europe, where he will observe four World League games. When he returns, he'll conduct a seminar for retired players on how to work their way back into the mainstream, and will also do a coaching clinic for "eight to 10" NFL franchises on the Walsh offense in mid-June.

"Now that I'm working for the NFL, I can't have Stanford ties," Walsh said. "It would be breaking NCAA rules."

Nevertheless, Walsh has genuine affection for Willingham and the program. He got to know Willingham during a summer internship program he instituted while coaching the 49ers.

"I think he's a fine young coach and will do very well," Walsh said. "I'll always have an open door."

The two have talked on the phone and met for lunch. Willingham said he would be crazy not to use Walsh as a sounding board.

"It doesn't get much better than Bill Walsh," Willingham said. "In our conversations he's been very positive and supportive of the program."

What did they talk about?

"It was mostly about office regimentation and the athletic department," Walsh said.

Walsh sounded mildly surprised that Willingham hadn't settled on a starting quarterback. Fifth-year senior Mark Butterfield and junior Tim Carey shared time in the spring, but neither won the job.

"The longer it's not stated, the better chances the young quarterback would have," Walsh said. "If Mark Butterfield has not established himself, Carey can make a move toward the starting position."

Butterfield has an edge in experience, but Carey has a better touch, more mobility and made a better impression in the scrimmage.
"I really think the two guys are in a heated battle," Willingham said. "Somebody's got to step up. We've seen flashes from both."

Willingham wasn't sure what to expect this spring, but seemed encouraged by the results.

"I didn't know how far along we'd get," he said. "Overall, I'm pleased. We improved each and every day."

Especially on defense, an eyesore the past two seasons. Willingham saw a major improvement and hopes it's something to build on.

"I'm not one to jump to a great deal of conclusions," Willingham said. "They started playing with some emotion. That was evident. Now, if we can piggyback that with technique work this summer and get healthy . . . I like the direction we're going."
 
 

Willingham's Critics Have Their Own Quotas

Byline:  Scott Ostler

MY LIFELONG admiration for Stanford University was dashed to pieces recently, and then magically restored, news that surely will be cause for festive celebration in Palo Alto.

The dashing occurred during the recent Bill (Should I Stay or Should I Go) Walsh business when a fellow columnist noted that Stanford alumni contributions are heavily dependent upon the success of the Cardinal football team.

Bummer. As a kid I was a football fan of USC, now known as Yesterday U, but back then it was Today Tech. I realized that football drove the school, that O. J. Simpson sucked in more USC alumni money than any five of the school's Nobel Prize-winning professors combined. So did the white horse, Traveler, for that matter.

That was fine, every school needs a purpose. But I admired Stanford from afar as a true university, where pupils read books and learned stuff and went on to become something other than rich, snively buffoons who dole out their alumni contributions based on how much enemy fanny the football team is currently kicking.

It was depressing to learn that Stanford is just another football factory, with tweed and ivy camouflage hiding the smokestacks.

What, you are asking yourself, could possibly restore my faith in Stanford?
The hiring of Tyrone Willingham as head football coach.

It was a gutsy move. In making it, Stanford had to reach back for some of those crusty old college qualities, like lofty ideals, character and leadership.

Stanford will be criticized for hiring what some consider to be a lesser-qualified candidate in order to help rectify some vague racial imbalance among U.S. football coaches. A quota hire.

Media critics and alums whose assistant-coach pals were passed over for the job now have a convenient peg on which to hang their whimpers. And some folks just don't like this race issue intruding on their football fun. Hell, just hire the best man.

HE CAN COACH

One factor, however minor, in the decision to hire Willingham was his skin color. Not that he can't coach. By all reports, he can coach his ears off, and seems richly deserving of such a job.

But Willingham has never been an offensive or defensive coordinator, or a head college coach, so in the pure logic of football, Stanford took a zany gamble with the future of its football program, which, as we now know, is the foundation of the university.

And Stanford did it, in part, because it was the right thing to do.

Here was the choice: either take an active role in reversing an old and obvious pattern of discrimination, or don't.

Stanford had a perfect out. They could have said, ''Hey, we did our part. We already hired one. Dennis Green. Sent him on to the NFL. We gave at the office.''

Besides, in the current political climate, this quota and equal-opportunity thing is really uncool. It's funny, though, how much less controversial and stupid it seemed for all those decades when the quota was for white guys, and the percentage was 100.

CAMPANIS-TYPE SHOP

Willingham's hire will be seen by some as part of the cave-in to Jesse Jackson, widely considered to be the poster person for terminal annoyingness. But it's not like we didn't invite the Rev to the party by running an Al Campanis-type shop in sports for the last century or so.

Before the hiring of Willingham, three of the 107 big-time college football head coaches were black. The leaders of Stanford are smart enough to interpret that stat as an indication that something was out of alignment.

Willingham arrives at Stanford under a cloud, as do all newly hired black coaches anywhere, except in the NBA. Bill Walsh never had to answer questions like, ''Do you feel pressure to do well at Stanford in order to open up doors for other qualified white persons?''
It's a good thing he didn't, because Walsh already had enough on his mind without having to carry a banner for the Caucasian race.

It is often assumed that all black coaches are biological brothers. The success of one is proof that, hey, those dudes can coach! The concept that one good black coach will open (or close) doors for others is pretty funny, when you think about it. It's the kind of logic that exists when only 3/107th of your coaches are black, and each black coach stands out like a black coach.

When Lou Holtz revitalized the Notre Dame program, other schools didn't scramble around looking for twerpy spoiled-brats.

PERFECT CHOICE

But we digress. Once the sociological implications are dealt with and it's time to get down to football, everyone will see that Willingham is the perfect coach.

He's a tough disciplinarian, and that's exactly what the Stanford football program needs. Unless what the program needs is a sensitive coach who allows great individual freedom and has no set bus schedule, in which case Stanford is making a tragic blunder.

Either way, I'll be there for you, to tell you I told you so.

GRAPHIC: PHOTO,Stanford's decision to hire Tyrone Willingham to succeed Bill Walsh has been controversial , xx