Why Tyrone Willingham Is Alienating Longtime Washington Supporters

You might have noticed the Captain Queeg posts in the blog the past two days and thought to yourself, what the heck is going on?  What is this leading up to?  What does Captain Queeg have to do with Washington Husky football?

Well Husky fans, I have a very sad story to tell you.

Coach Tyrone Willingham has a new policy in place this year that the Tyee's who are invited to watch practices aren't allowed to post about their experience on the Internet.  Obviously they don't want anyone posting sensitive information that could result in an opponent gaining a competitive advantage.

I can respect that.  I do get information from friends that do attend practices and I do not post that information, even though it is secondhand.

A member over at Dawgman who is the nephew of Husky legend Bo Cornell went to a UW football practice last week.  He wrote a positive post about his experience that had very little, if any, information about the practice.

This guy was totally pro-Willingham, and up 'til last week he actually believed that Willingham should be given an automatic five-year extension.  This guy was Willingham's biggest fan, and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a signed Ty poster on the wall of his bedroom.

When Willingham became aware of the post on Dawgman, he had the athletic department track him down and permanently ban him from attending practices.  His family, who have owned the tickets for decades, were threatened with the restriction of their Tyee privileges as further punishment.

Here is the post that raised Ty's ire—you be the judge.  Was there a single thing in there that an opponent could use? Did it deserve such a harsh reaction?

"Was quite happy with the intensity and the effort that was being put forth by the players.

"Got a chance to watch Donatell and JD work together with the defense.  Lots of coaching and it was clear all the players were totally engaged and helping one another.

"Some players showed some serious fire.  Bulyca just exploded on a guy for slacking.  I watched each line going through drills and there was absolutely no screwing around.  Not putting anything out there, but I was quite happy to see a couple things.

"Chris Polk isn't the only Polk with speed....wow.  Chris Polk's family was there and they were having a good time.

"I personally really like this coaching staff.  Donatell is first class.  Gervais is a total stud.  I really hope it stays intact from the HC on down.

"I have seen the recruiting process first hand and I think from a recruiting standpoint they know what they are doing.  Regardless of what many say.

"If it is a four-win season I would still be inclined to see TW another year.  Though I don't think it would happen.  There is a certain player with the number 10 on his jersey who loves playing for Willingham.  Remember that when you bash the coach that there are others that take it personally and they know about it.

"Considering this coaching staff and the level experience and their level of desire to be here this staff will not fail.  Like Fleenor said we cannot pin the season on one player. They have got to put it together as a team."

He sums up his feelings about the ban with this comment.

"This is what I get for being a four-year typologist.......dirt kicked in my mouth for supporting Ty and his coaching staff.  I am saddened by this and have always looked forward to spending this time with Dad and getting a chance to go to practice.  I have shrugged off the mounds of complaints about Ty and didn't give them much weight.  I can only imagine what the big donors must feel like."

So you fly off the handle and permanently ban this guy from going to practice and threaten his family with the restriction of their Tyee privileges after they have been contributing to the program for over 30 years?

How hard is it to make a friendly phone call and remind the poster of their Internet practice posting policies and retain a friend of the program?

If this was an isolated incident, I wouldn't even bother posting it, but I get calls a couple times per week concerning the way Willingham treats current players, former Husky players, alumni, boosters, and in this case, the common fan who idolized him.

There are so many people out there that don't have a clue what the coach is doing behind his purple curtain.  It is high time that people started getting a glimpse of the real Ty Willingham.  It isn't very pretty.