Tormey joins Cougars staff
Spokane native Chris Tormey will join the Washington State University’s football staff as linebackers’ coach, according to a report in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and confirmed by WSU athletic department sources Friday.
Tormey, who played at Gonzaga Prep and Idaho, where he was an All-Big Sky linebacker, will replace former coach Travis Niekamp, who took a new position in the football offices.
The 55-year-old Tormey has coached the University of Hawaii’s special teams and safeties for the past two seasons. Prior to that, he served three stints as an assistant at Washington, including a season as coach Jim Lambright’s defensive coordinator in the early 1990s.
He left that spot to become Idaho’s head coach, where he posted a 33-23 record and led the Vandals to a Humanitarian Bowl victory in 1998. From Idaho he moved to Nevada, where he was 16-31 in four seasons.
After being replaced at Nevada, he returned to UW under coach Tyrone Willingham, where he coached linebackers and was recruiting coordinator.