Yet here's an even more difficult piece of the puzzle. No matter who coaches the Huskies next year, they'll be working with short-handed senior and junior classes, thanks in part to the upheaval surrounding the program following Rick Neuheisel's firing in 2003.
You want tough numbers? Of the 22 recruits signed by Gilbertson in the wake of Neuheisel's dismissal, only nine will still be in the program next year as fifth-year seniors. Of those, just two -- offensive guard Casey Bulyca and safety Mesphin Forrester -- were full-time starters this year.
Two others, safety Darin Harris and linebacker Trenton Tuiasosopo, stepped into starting roles when teammates were injured.
Adding to the depth problem, when Willingham was hired to replace Gilbertson, his late arrival led to a small 2005 recruiting class of 13 players. Eight of those remain in the program as next year's fourth-year junior class and just three were position starters this season -- left tackle Ben Ossai, linebacker E.J. Savannah and defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim -- along with kicker Ryan Perkins.
In other words, between the critical senior and junior classes next season, the Huskies have just five returning starters, plus the two injury replacements.
It's not that Gilbertson recruited poorly. His 2004 class was ranked 19th in the country by Rivals.com. But circumstances ravaged the group that should be the heart of next year's UW team.
