Tyrone Willingham Biography
Tyrone Willingham (Lionel Tyrone Willingham) is a retired American football player and coach. He played college football at Michigan State University, where he was a defensive back and team captain. After his college career, he played briefly for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.
Tyrone attended Jacksonville Senior High School in Jacksonville, North Carolina and lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. He then attended Michigan State University where he played football. Baseball and graduated in 1977 with a degree in physical education.
Tyrone Willingham Age
Lionel was born on December 30, 1953 in Kinston, North Carolina. He is [agecalc birthdate=1953-12-30]
Willingham Wife
Willingham got married to Kim Willingham in 1980.
Tyrone Willingham Children |Â Cassidy |Â Kelsey
Tyrone and wife Kim have three children, Cassidy, Nathaniel, and Lesley. Cassidy was a gymnast at the University of Denver. And then Kelsey was a softball player at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Tyrone Career
After his playing career ended, Willingham began coaching and spent several years as an assistant coach at various colleges, including his alma mater Michigan State, Stanford University, and the University of Notre Dame. In 1995, he became the head coach at Stanford, where he led the team to four bowl game appearances in seven seasons.
In 2002, Notre Dame hired Willingham as the head coach, making him the first African-American head football coach in the school’s history. He led the Fighting Irish to a 10-3 record in his first season, and they named him National Coach of the Year. However, the team struggled in subsequent seasons, and Notre Dame fired Willingham after three years with a 21-15 overall record.
After that, the University of Washington hired Willingham as the head coach, and he coached there for four seasons from 2005 to 2008. He led the Huskies to two bowl game appearances, but his overall record was just 11-37, and they fired him at the end of the 2008 season.
In addition to his college coaching career, Willingham also spent one season as the head coach of the NFL’s Washington Redskins in 2000, where he led the team to an 8-8 record.
Overall, Willingham’s coaching career was marked by both successes and struggles, but he remains a respected figure in the world of college football.
Net Worth
The retired coach has not yet revealed his net worth.
