Tyrone Willingham Defends Condoleezza Rice, Previews College Football Playoff
PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Former college football head coach Tyrone Willingham will be a member of the initial College Football Playoff Selection Committee in 2014. He joins Troy Clardy on Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan to discuss his duties, and why the playoff is good for college football.
The most controversial selection to the committee is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Willingham, who worked with Rice when both were at Stanford University, has no reservations about that appointment.
"If you start listing credentials, if you start listing qualifications, and you put Condi Rice up there, she has integrity, check. She has football knowledge, check. She has the ability to critically think, check. And you just keep going along that line and you say, 'What are these people talking about?'" Willingham said.
As for his own qualifications for the committee, Willingham said, "I hope that I bring a sense of purpose, a sense of respect and integrity to the game. Having been a coach, I owe my former players to get it right for all the right reasons. I have a responsibility to my players, coaches that I have worked with, and to our country to make sure we get it right. This is about the good of the game."
While Willingham is happy to be on the committee, he is also pleased to see college football finally implement a playoff.
"Competition is the best way to decide any champion," he said. "What we're doing right now, I think, is an evolution. We depended on the polls for a long time, then we got the BCS, and now we have the playoff. Hopefully the process that we're initiating will do nothing but get better as we look at it, and we can be focused on moving the game forward so that it is still America's very best game."
Willingham also discusses how important the eye test may be in evaluating teams, reacts to schools like Stanford and Northwestern finding success in college football, and reveals how difficult it is to be a college football head coach today.
For those thoughts, listen to the entire interview below and catch Troy Clardy Sunday mornings on Sportsradio 93.7 The Fan!
