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Rourke O'Brien is mighty impressed with Don James' Rose Bowl ring.
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Don James, Hall of Fame and retired University of Washington football coach, relived his 18 years as head coach of the UW football
team. In his amazing run as head man, his Husky teams appeared in 14 bowl games, 6 of those in the Rose Bowl. He has the all-time best record for wins at Washington.
“I was on the staff at Kent State University, when I was contacted about the UW job. There were three
other finalists, and I made the cut. My first season at Washington saw us lose the first three games, but then we improved and beat USC, Oregon, OSU, and WSU on successive weekends for a
fairly respectable season. I remember the California alums saying to me, ‘Please be competitive,’ and I always kept that in mind.”
James had a 4-year contract at $24,000 a year. There was some rumbling about buying out the last year of his contract. The first
four games of the season were against ranked national opponents … “We were 1-3 coming home, having lost to Syracuse and Minnesota. But, I had to ask myself, ‘What can I do
to help this team?’” He asked himself that question everyday, while preparing for Oregon. “Whatever I did must have worked, because we beat the Ducks by 55 points … it was the most
dominant game of my career.” The Huskies went on to become champions of the PAC-10, beating Michigan that year in the Rose Bowl.
In 1977, the Huskies prepared for Arizona State. Frank Kush was the coach, and he liked to rub it in. “ASU was up by two
touchdowns; they drove in the last minute to our one yard line, called time out and then scored with one second left. Next year, in 1978, it was payback time, when we humbled the Sun Devils, 41-7.”
James then counted off the ensuing years with the type of season each team had. In 1979, the Huskies went 10-2 and beat Texas
in the Sun Bowl. In 1980, they beat Iowa in the Rose Bow,l and in 1981, lost to Michigan in the Pasadena oval.
“In 1982, we were on the way to another championship and played WSU in our last game. We played bad, lost 28-24, and
played in the Aloha Bowl.” In 1983, the Cougars came to Husky Stadium and beat Washington … but it still was a good season.
In 1984, “We had a really good team with a top defense. We went 11-1 and beat Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.” In ’85, the
Huskies went to the Freedom bowl with a 7-5 record; in ’86, went 8-3-1 for another bowl appearance; in ’87, the Independence Bowl against Tulane; in 1988, the team, a mostly senior squad,
went 6-5 and played in the Freedom Bowl.
In 1989, the Huskies appeared in the Rose Bowl once again; in ‘91, went unbeaten with a 12-0 season; had a respectable
season in ’92; and in ’93, lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl. “This was the year that problems befell the program. Billy Joe Hobert accepted a $50,000 loan from a fellow from Idaho … it wasn’t
illegal, but it made for bad publicity. What really hurt were allegations of selling drugs at the crewhouse.”
In 1994, sanctions were in the wind from the PAC-10. Washington hired two Kansas City lawyers to do an independent,
internal investigation. Cost: $800,000 – and they found minor infractions. “Still the league gave us a two-year sanction, cutting scholarships. They did give us back our TV money, but I felt the
UW administration didn’t go to bat for us, so I handed in my resignation.”
In answer to a question, James said that the “Oregon State Beavers are legit.” Must be right, after that wild Saturday game
won by the Huskies 33-30. Thanks to Bob McNulty for his introduction.
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