| Chris Tormey | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Football |
| Current position | |
| Title | Linebackers coach |
| Team | Washington State |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | May 1, 1955 |
| Place of birth | Omaha, Nebraska |
| Playing career | |
| 1975–1977 | Idaho |
| Position(s) | Linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1980–1981 1982–1983 1984–1994 1995–1999 2000–2003 2004–2008 2009–2010 2011-present |
Washington (GA) Idaho (assistant) Washington (assistant) Idaho Nevada Washington (assistant) Hawaii (assistant) Washington State (assistant) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 49–54 |
| Bowls | 1–0 |
| Statistics | |
| College Football Data Warehouse | |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1 Big West (1998) | |
| Awards | |
| Big West Coach of the Year (1998) | |
Chris Tormey (born May 1, 1955) is an American football coach. Formerly the head coach at Idaho and Nevada, he is currently an assistant at Washington State, coaching the linebackers. Tormey was an assistant coach for 16 seasons at Washington, 1984–94 and 2004-08; he also spent two seasons as a UW graduate assistant (1980-81).
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Tormey grew up in Spokane and attended high school at Gonzaga Prep. He played college football at the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he was an all-conference (Big Sky) linebacker (1976-77) and three-year letter winner for the Vandals under head coach Ed Troxel. He received a bachelor's degree in education in 1978.
Tormey had a brief stop with the Washington Redskins of the NFL, then began his coaching career as a high school assistant back at Gonzaga Prep, where he also taught geography. In 1980 his collegiate coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Washington in Seattle, a position he left in 1982 to coach the defensive line at his alma mater, serving under newly-hired Idaho Vandals' head coach Dennis Erickson.
After two years on the Palouse, Tormey returned to the Huskies in Seattle, where he would remain for 11 seasons, 1984-94, coaching tight ends, linebackers, and the secondary for Don James and Jim Lambright. UW shared the national championship (with Miami) in 1991. For the 1994 season Tormey was named acting defensive coordinator.
Following the 1994 season, John L. Smith left Idaho and Tormey returned to Moscow to succeed him as head coach. Tormey's first season in 1995 was the Vandals' last in the Big Sky and Division I-AA; Idaho joined the Big West in Division I-A in 1996.
In his five seasons at the helm in Moscow, Tormey compiled a 33-23 record (.589), including the Vandals' first-ever bowl appearance in 1998 in the Humanitarian Bowl, a 42-35 victory over 17-point favorite Southern Mississippi.[1] The Vandals earned the bowl berth by winning the Big West title with a dramatic one-point overtime win over rival Boise State, on the road in Bronco Stadium in Boise. The bowl victory propelled Idaho to an impressive 9-3 record in 1998, their third season back in Division I-A, and Tormey was named Coach of the Year in the Big West.
The Vandals went 7-4 in 1999, including a 28-17 win over neighboring Washington State, eight miles (13 km) to the west. It was Idaho's first football victory over the Cougars since 1965 in the Battle of the Palouse.
Following the 1999 season, Tormey moved south to Reno to coach the Nevada Wolf Pack, which was leaving the Big West to join the WAC. Tormey was the head coach for four seasons (2000-03), compiling a 16-31 record (.340). He succeeded Jeff Tisdel, a former All-American quarterback for the Wolf Pack. While Tormey's win totals improved each season (2,3,5,6), he was released from the fifth and final season of his contract at the end of the 2003 season, the final game marked by a 56-3 blowout loss at Boise State. Most notably, Tormey failed to defeat bitter in-state rival UNLV in the annual Battle for the Fremont Cannon, but his Nevada team did defeat the Washington Huskies 28-17 in Seattle that final season. Nevada's athletic director Chris Ault hired himself to succeed Tormey, his third stint as head coach of the Wolf Pack.
Tormey was quickly rehired at Washington in 2004 as a defensive assistant under head coach Keith Gilbertson, and stayed on with the new coach Tyrone Willingham, becoming the recruiting coordinator.
Following the dismissal of Willingham after Washington's winless 2008 season, Tormey joined head coach Greg McMackin at Hawai'i as an assistant coach for two seasons.[2]
Tormey returned to the mainland and the Palouse in 2011, joining the Washington State staff as the linebackers coach under fourth-year head coach Paul Wulff.[3]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Vandals (Big Sky Conference) (1995) | |||||||||
| 1995 | Idaho | 6–5 | 4–3 | L NCAA Division I-AA First Round | |||||
| Idaho Vandals (Big West Conference) (1996–1999) | |||||||||
| 1996 | Idaho | 6–5 | 3–2 | ||||||
| 1997 | Idaho | 5–6 | 2–3 | ||||||
| 1998 | Idaho | 9–3 | 5–1 | 1st | W Humanitarian | ||||
| 1999 | Idaho | 7–4 | 4–2 | ||||||
| Idaho: | 32–23 | 18–11 | |||||||
| Nevada Wolf Pack (Western Athletic Conference) (2000–2003) | |||||||||
| 2000 | Nevada | 2–10 | 1–7 | ||||||
| 2001 | Nevada | 3–8 | 3–5 | ||||||
| 2002 | Nevada | 5–7 | 4–4 | ||||||
| 2003 | Nevada | 6–6 | 4–4 | ||||||
| Nevada: | 16–31 | 12–20 | |||||||
| Total: | 49–54 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jim Lambright |
Washington Huskies Defensive Coordinator 1994 |
Succeeded by Randy Hart |
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