Jim Owens, coaching legend of UW football, dies at 82

Jim Owens, who coached University of Washington football for 18 years and led a renaissance of the sport on the West Coast, died this morning at 82 at his home in Bigfork, Montana.

Owens, who coached Huskies from 1957-74, was one of the school's enduring icons, a larger-than-life figure whose accomplishments were reflected in the placement of a statue in 2003 near the UW athletic offices on Montlake Boulevard.

"What can you say about Jim?" former UW player Don McKeta asked rhetorically. "I can't put it in words. Just like in your life, when you meet somebody that was so dominant, who does so much to create a positive image in your life, and you try to emulate that guy.

"I think Jim was that to a lot of people."

Owens was only 29 when he took over the UW program in 1957. He had played for the legendary Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma.

By the 1959 season, Owens had molded — through notoriously tough, arduous practices and conditioning — a team that went to the Rose Bowl, and throttled Wisconsin, 44-8, in one of the most shocking games in the history of the bowl.

"Coach never really said anything about his accomplishments," said McKeta. "I do remember him saying Coach Wilkinson had called him and said that was the finest-prepared football team he'd ever seen. Jim was really proud of that."

The Huskies returned to Pasadena the next season and upset top-ranked Minnesota, 17-7. The consecutive Rose Bowl victories came after the Big Ten had held a long domination of West Coast teams in the game, winning 12 of 13.

In 2007, Washington moved to recognize that 1960 team, which finished 10-1, as national champions.

Owens' 1969 team was torn by the racial strife that affected many teams across the country. That team finished 1-9.

In 1970, Owens introduced a sophomore quarterback, Sonny Sixkiller, and went to a predominantly passing offense. Washington went 22-10 in Sixkiller's three seasons, and then in Owens' final two years (1973-74), the program went 7-15 and he was replaced by Don James.

Owens was 99-82-6 at Washington.

His son Steve said his father had been in poor health in recent years, with some problems related to his heart and high blood pressure.

"The past month, he took a real turn [for the worse]," Steve Owens said.

Owens' son, his wife Martha, and his three daughters — Kathy, Leslie and Martha Sue — were with him at his home when he died at 9:55 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time.

"He had a nice, peaceful passing, as those things go," said Steve Owens.

Services are pending.