Seattle ? Tyrone Willingham agreed to become Washington’s third football coach in four seasons Sunday, just two weeks after being fired by Notre Dame.

Washington athletic department spokesman Jim Daves announced the hiring in a statement.

Willingham was 21-15 in three seasons at Notre Dame; after an 8-0 start in 2002, the Irish went 13-15. Willingham is familiar with the Pac-10, going 44-36-1 and reaching the 1999 Rose Bowl with Stanford from 1995-01.

He will be introduced by the Huskies at a news conference today.

The Huskies are coming off a school-worst 1-10 season, and Keith Gilbertson stepped down after two years as coach. He replaced Rick Neuheisel, who was fired for gambling on NCAA basketball.

Willingham served the shortest tenure of any full-time Notre Dame coach in 70 years. He had three years left on his initial contract. Notre Dame had made a tradition of allowing its coaches to at least work through the length of their first contract.

Last week, outgoing Notre Dame president Rev. Edward Malloy criticized Willingham’s firing and expressed concern over a growing trend of schools that are searching for “messiah coaches.”

Washington athletic director Todd Turner and the university president met last week with Boston College coach Tom O’Brien. He and Willingham were the only known candidates interviewed for the position, but O’Brien withdrew Friday.