[Mick]

That's an excellent question, one I've pondered a good bit. I continue to think Will.ingham did a basically good job at Stanford. Good, not great. Four of his seven teams went to bowl games, and it probably would have been five of seven if Randy Fasani hadn't missed so much of the 2000 season. He's the only coach to get us into the Rose Bowl in the past 40 years.

He had weaknesses, to be sure. His disengagement made him an ineffective booster for a program with listless fan support. His recruiting was weak at first, though it improved considerably: The 2001 Seattle Bowl team was composed exclusively of Will.ingham's own recruits.

But his coaching skills, when he was with us, produced much better results than at Washington or the University of South Bend. What happened to them? It seems to me that some of his post-Stanford problems resulted from a swollen ego, a belief that he had some kind of magic touch that could not be judged by mere mortals. Perhaps if he had stayed with us, that wouldn't have happened. On the other hand, the recruiting holes he left behind at Stanford (particularly on the offensive line) suggest the possibility that he had already mentally checked out, that if he hadn't taken the the University of South Bend job he would have been looking elsewhere.

Bottom line: I don't know. Another interesting question -- was the grief caused by his departure (Buddy, Idiotface) worth it in order when you take into account the final result, Jim Harbaugh?

I think it would have depended entirely upon the assistants he selected later in his career.

[Mick]

That's an excellent question, one I've pondered a good bit. I continue to think Will.ingham did a basically good job at Stanford. Good, not great. Four of his seven teams went to bowl games, and it probably would have been five of seven if Randy Fasani hadn't missed so much of the 2000 season. He's the only coach to get us into the Rose Bowl in the past 40 years.

He had weaknesses, to be sure. His disengagement made him an ineffective booster for a program with listless fan support. His recruiting was weak at first, though it improved considerably: The 2001 Seattle Bowl team was composed exclusively of Will.ingham's own recruits.

But his coaching skills, when he was with us, produced much better results than at Washington or the University of South Bend. What happened to them? It seems to me that some of his post-Stanford problems resulted from a swollen ego, a belief that he had some kind of magic touch that could not be judged by mere mortals. Perhaps if he had stayed with us, that wouldn't have happened. On the other hand, the recruiting holes he left behind at Stanford (particularly on the offensive line) suggest the possibility that he had already mentally checked out, that if he hadn't taken the the University of South Bend job he would have been looking elsewhere.

Bottom line: I don't know. Another interesting question -- was the grief caused by his departure (Buddy, Idiotface) worth it in order when you take into account the final result, Jim Harbaugh?

I think it would have depended entirely upon the assistants he selected later in his career.