Inside The Huskies

Both Husky Coordinators Have Fighting Illini Connections

Ryan Walters coached at illinois and Jimmie Dougherty wanted to play there.
Dan Raley|
Ryan Walters signals for a first down while coaching Purdue against Northwestern.
Ryan Walters signals for a first down while coaching Purdue against Northwestern. | Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

Once Illinois comes out for Saturday's game at Husky Stadium, University of Washington defensive coordinator Ryan Walters and offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty each might glance over at the Fighting Illini and consider days gone past.

Walters, 39, spent two years coaching the Illinois defense and considers it the most crucial stop in his career path.

Dougherty, 47, was an all-state quarterback in Illinois who wanted to play for the Fighting Illini but it didn't work out.

In 2021, Walters left Missouri and joined the new staff put together by current Illinois coach Bret Bielema and they shared in 5-7 and 8-5 seasons that were chalk full of defensive accomplishments.

"That was probably my most important stop in my career -- was going from Missouri to Illinois," Walters said of working for Bielema. "He's a great manager of people. He sees the game in a certain way and definitely he poured that into me and was probably the biggest influence on sort of how I see the game, how I prepare, how I study it and how I call it on game day."

In 2022, Walters' Fighting Illini defense ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring at 12.3 points per game and No. 2 in total defense by permitting just 263.8 yards per outing. He had six players earn some sort of All-Big Ten recognition, including cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who was a consensus All-America selection and is now with the Seattle Seahawks.

Walters, of course, left Illinois to become the head coach at Purdue. While the Boilermakers struggled during his rebuild that lasted just two years, they beat the Illini 44-19 in Walters' first season and lost to them 50-49 in overtime during the second.

Jimmie Dougherty is back for his second stint as a UW assistant coach.
Jimmie Dougherty is back for his second stint as a UW assistant coach. | Dan Raley

Dougherty emerged from Edwardsville High School, where he played for his father Tim, and was an all-state quarterback in 1996. He wanted to play for an Illinois football program led by a new coach in Ron Turner. He ended up at Missouri instead.

"I wanted to go to Illinois and I got passed up for another guy," said Dougherty, adding jokingly, "so there's some added motivation for me there."

His hometown of Edwardsville is 160 miles southwest of Champagne, home to the Fighting Illini.

"It's obviously my home state," Dougherty said. "They did recruit me, I want to summer camps all the time and spent a lot of time on that campus."

So now he and Walters will try to use some of that familiarity to beat the Illini on Saturday.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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