James Ralph Lambright (April 26, 1942 – March 29, 2020) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He served as the head coach at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

for six seasons, from 1993 to 1998, compiling a record of Prior to becoming head coach, Lambright served as an assistant on the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

coaching staff for 24 seasons.

Early years

Born and raised in

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

, Lambright's father was a

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for head coach Jim Ennis at Everett High School and graduated in 1960. Lambright earned a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, where he lettered as an undersized

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for head coach

Jim Owens James Donald Owens (March 6, 1927 – June 6, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Washington from 1957 to 1974, compiling a record of in 18 seasons. Owens played college football at the U ...

, earning all-conference and All-Coast honors as a senior for the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

Coaching career

Following graduation, Lambright was an assistant coach at

Fife High School Fife High School is located in Fife, Washington. FHS is the only high school in the Fife Public Schools system. History Fife High School initially consisted of the upper grades of the general Fife School, founded on December 23, 1899. In 1904, a ...

for a season in 1965 and then at

Shoreline Community College Shoreline Community College is a public community college in Shoreline, Washington. It is located in a residential area east of Shoreview Park. The college contains over 80 acres and continuously serves 12,000 full- and part-time students. It o ...

. In 1969, Owens hired him as an assistant coach on the Huskies' staff. New head coach Don James retained him in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and Lambright became the team's

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, and assistant head coach in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. Lambright was an assistant coach for the Huskies for 24 seasons when he was elevated to head coach in late August 1993, following James' sudden resignation in protest of sanctions against the program from the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

and

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

, namely a two-year bowl ban. Lambright's initial contract as head coach was a four-year deal with a base salary of $150,000; he was earning $95,400 as James' chief assistant. He signed a contract extension in January 1998 that brought his compensation to over $500,000 annually. As the Huskies' defensive coordinator Lambright designed the team's "Purple Reign" defensive schemes. After six seasons as head coach and three decades on staff, Lambright was relieved of his duties by

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

Barbara Hedges in late December replaced by

Rick Neuheisel Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. (; born February 7, 1961) is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washi ...

in January 1999. Lambright died from complications of dementia on March 29, 2020.Longtime College Football Coach Has Died At 77
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Head coaching record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambright, Jim 1942 births 2020 deaths Washington Huskies football coaches Washington Huskies football players High school football coaches in Washington (state) Sportspeople from Everett, Washington Players of American football from Washington (state)