| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1942-04-26)April 26, 1942 Everett, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | March 29, 2020(2020-03-29) (aged 77) |
| Playing career | |
| 1962–1964 | Washington |
| Position(s) | Defensive end |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1965 | Fife HS (WA) (assistant) |
| 1966–1968 | Shoreline CC (assistant) |
| 1969–1977 | Washington (assistant) |
| 1978–1992 | Washington (DC) |
| 1993–1998 | Washington |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 44–25–1 (.636) |
| Bowls | 1–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1Pac-10 (1995) | |
| Awards | |
James Ralph Lambright (April 26, 1942 – March 29, 2020) was anAmerican football player and coach. He served as the head coach at theUniversity of Washington for six seasons, from1993 to1998, compiling a record of44–25–1 (.636).[1] Prior to becoming head coach, Lambright served as an assistant on theHuskies coaching staff for 24 seasons.
Born and raised inEverett, Washington, Lambright's father was afisherman. He playedfootball for head coach Jim Ennis atEverett High School and graduated in 1960. Lambright earned ascholarship to theUniversity of Washington inSeattle, where he lettered as an undersizeddefensive end for head coachJim Owens, earning all-conference and All-Coast honors as a senior for theHuskies in1964.
Following graduation, Lambright was an assistant coach atFife High School for a season in 1965 and then atShoreline Community College. In1969, Owens hired him as an assistant coach on the Huskies' staff. New head coachDon James retained him in1975 and Lambright became the team'sdefensive coordinator in1978,[2] and assistant head coach in1987.
Lambright was an assistant coach for the Huskies for 24 seasons when he was elevated to head coach in late August1993, following James' sudden resignation in protest of sanctions against the program from theNCAA andPac-10 Conference, namely a two-year bowl ban.[3][4][5][6] 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.[7] He signed a contract extension in January 1998 that brought his compensation to over $500,000 annually.[8] As the Huskies' defensive coordinator Lambright designed the team's "Purple Reign" defensive schemes.[9]
After six seasons as head coach and three decades on staff, Lambright was relieved of his duties byathletic director Barbara Hedges in late December1998[10][11] after select alums advised Hedges to do so.[12] He was replaced byRick Neuheisel by early January of1999.
Known adulterer and abuser. Arrested for domestic violence.[13]In the decade before his death Lambright struggled from short-term memory loss. Lambright died from complications of dementia on March 29, 2020.[14] His brain was donated to the school's Medicine Brain Repository and Integrated Research (BRaIN) laboratory by Lambright's two children Kris and Eric to study forchronic traumatic encephalopathy. The study of his brain found high-stage CTE,Alzheimer’s disease, andLewy body disease.[15]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Huskies(Pacific-10 Conference)(1993–1998) | |||||||||
| 1993 | Washington | 7–4 | 5–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1994 | Washington | 7–4 | 4–4 | 5th | |||||
| 1995 | Washington | 7–4–1 | 6–1–1 | T–1st | LSun | ||||
| 1996 | Washington | 9–3 | 7–1 | 2nd | LHoliday | 15 | 16 | ||
| 1997 | Washington | 8–4 | 5–3 | 4th | WAloha | 18 | 18 | ||
| 1998 | Washington | 6–6 | 4–4 | T–5th | LOahu | ||||
| Washington: | 44–25–1 | 31–16–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 44–25–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||