Rose Bowl among Willingham goals

SEATTLE, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Tyrone Willingham says one of the things he wants to do as the new coach at Washington is take the Huskies back to the Rose Bowl.

Willingham, fired two weeks ago by Notre Dame and introduced Monday as Washington's coach, takes over a team that was 1-10 this season, including 0-8 in the Pac-10. He replaces Keith Gilbertson, who resigned.

"For me to stand before you as the head coach at the University of Washington is a special opportunity and a special honor," Willingham said at a news conference. "It is tradition-laden and if you think of that tradition, you think of great success, great players, you think of Rose Bowls. What I would like to do is go back to all those great things."

The Huskies last played in the Rose Bowl in 2001, beating Purdue 34-24.

Willingham's Notre Dame teams were 21-15. He previously coached Stanford to a record of 44-36-1 and four bowl games.

"I want to get back to the toughness," Willingham said. "I remember coming into this stadium many times and leaving beaten. What I'm looking forward to is getting (the Huskies) back to that kind of football."