ESPN College Football

SEATTLE -- Washington coach Tyrone Willingham has his coaching staff set on one side of the football.

Willingham on Monday announced the hiring of five assistant coaches -- four of them on defense.

Three of the assistants -- Kent Baer, Steven Wilks and Mike Denbrock -- worked with Willingham at Notre Dame. Randy Hart and Chris Tormey are being retained from former Washington coach Keith Gilbertson's staff.

"I've been very patient about the process. I think it's something you don't have to rush into," Willingham said.

He still has four positions to fill on his coaching staff, including offensive coordinator.

Willingham was hired on Dec. 13, two weeks after he was fired at Notre Dame. He replaced Gilbertson, who was 1-10 in 2004, the worst season in UW history.

Willingham said he made initial contact with his entire staff at Notre Dame shortly after becoming a candidate for the Washington job. He did not rule out the possibility of other former Irish assistants joining the staff at Washington.

All three coaches coming from Notre Dame coached the Irish in the Insight Bowl against Oregon State last week. Baer was the interim head coach as the Irish lost 38-21 to the Beavers.

Baer will be Washington's defensive coordinator. It is the fourth Pac-10 school where Baer has held that position. Previously he worked with Willingham at Stanford and coached at California and Arizona State.

"It's been a long month," Baer said. "It's nice to know where you're going and what you are doing."

Denbrock, who worked with Willingham at both Notre Dame and Stanford, will coach Washington's offensive line. Wilks served as Notre Dame's defensive backs coach in 2004.

Hart and Tormey will retain their positions coaching the defensive line and linebackers. It will be Hart's 18th season as an assistant at Washington, after joining Don James' staff in 1988. Tormey returned to Washington last year after a pair of head coaching stints with Idaho (1995-99) and Nevada (2000-2003).

"They are pros at their job and they do their job very well," Willingham said. "They understand the 'X's' and 'O's' of the profession, they understand the emotional ups and downs of the profession and they establish great relationships with the young men."

Willingham said all the assistant coaches will be out recruiting in the coming days.

Willingham also hired Erica Genise as director of football operations. Genise worked for Willingham as an administrative associate from 1998-2001 and as Notre Dame's director of football operations from 2002-2004.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press