UW's Willingham is out, Seattle becomes official home of the lame duck coach

The University of Washington ended any further speculation about Tyrone Willingham’s future as head coach when they announced this afternoon that he will resign at the end of the season.

Willingham is 11-32 in four seasons at UW and the Huskies are 0-7 for only the second in school history. The Dawgs are currently on a nine-game losing streak that stretches back to last season.

Willingham joins another of the city’s football coaches in lame duck status: Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren. Holmgren announced in the offseason that he’d be stepping down after the 2008 campaign and Jim Mora would be taking over as head man. The Hawks improved their record to 2-5 with a win in San Francisco yesterday. Speculation of Holmgren’s future hiring in San Francisco hit a fever pitch last week when the Hawks found themselves in last place.

Willingham’s announcement today does a couple things. It allows the school to openly look for a replacement and it puts to rest continuous speculation over the coaches future. It also gives rival recruiters added incentive to pick off future Washington recruits who may be on the fence about coming to Washington. Of course, finding the right coach to replace Willingham is now priority No. 1.