Thursday, July 27, 2006 9:25a.m.

The witness was identified as the victim's football coach. He was interviewed in his office on the University of Mississippi campus. The interview was recorded on a portable audio tape recorder with the witness's knowledge and consent.

SM= Det. Sam Murphy
TA= Det. Ted Armstrong
RT= Reginald Tunney

SM: Thank you for talking to us today.

RT: Certainly. Anything I can do to help you folks.

SM: Can you please state your name and address?

RT: I am Reginald Tunney and I live at 1088 Augusta Drive. In the Grand Oaks subdivision, off the golf course.

SM: As you know, we're investigating the death of Jamie Washington and we'd like to see if you have any information that can help us.

RT: I don't see how I would have anything to offer, but okay.

SM: When did you join the Ole Miss football staff?

RT: David Metherall hired me in July of 1997.

SM: And you were not actively coaching at the time?

RT: No. I had been out of the game for two years at that point.

SM: So you started here in 97. When did you first meet Jamie Washington?

RT: Shortly after I started. One of my assistants had been down around Moss Point looking at a linebacker. But he came back talking about this Washington boy. He was really excited about the prospect. So Henry continued watching him throughout the season and was showing me tapes of the boy. I actually met Jamie about midway through his senior season.

TA: And you ultimately offered him a scholarship, correct?

RT: Yes, full-ride.

SM: And how did he perform when he got here?

RT: He did extremely well at first. He had decent size for a receiver and pretty good speed. He had all the physical gifts to be a good player, but I always had to stay on him about his mental mistakes.

TA: Like what?

RT: He just didn't focus. You can't go to battle with unfocused troops. They simply must pay attention to the smallest detail. That boy never could seem to focus in completely. He'd line up in the neutral zone or something dumb like that. Or, he'd run a post pattern when it should have been a fly. Absolutely drove me crazy. There's no room for mental mistakes in sports.

SM: It seems like the little things really get under your skin.

RT: You're damn right they do. I can handle it if we get beat by a physically superior team. There's nothing you can do about that. With the receivers they have down in Gainesville, the Gators can just run circles around us. Not a player on my team has that kind of speed. So, if one of those speed demons just blows by one of my boys, that's okay. But if that receiver blows by my kid because of poor footwork, that's not acceptable.

TA: Do all coaches share your beliefs?

RT: The coaches who win ball games share those same beliefs. Do you know what John Wooden did on the first day of basketball practice at UCLA?

SM: Uh, no.

RT: He taught the kids how to tie their shoes. Spent two hours teaching 20-year-old athletes how to tie their shoes. He let them know that there was a right way to do the fundamentals. The details! And if you take care of those, then you have a chance to win some'

TA: Okay, Coach. I get your point. But back to Mr. Washington ' how did he do?

RT: His first season went pretty well. He was progressing nicely and scored two touchdowns in the game against Auburn that year. I was pretty pleased with him at that time. He spent a little too much time with that church group, but for the most part, he did okay.

SM: You mean the Fellowship of Christian Athletes?

RT: Yeah.

TA: And you didn't like that?

RT: Not particularly. It distracted him. Took some of his focus off football. I guess it's better than going out and getting in trouble, but it still distracted him. If he needed fellowship, he could have gotten from his team. Your team is your family.

SM: What about his performance after his freshman year?

RT: He showed terrific progress in 2000. Blew everyone away and had the conference record for rushing. He was headed on an outstanding path, for a time.

TA: He didn't stay on the path?

RT: No, sir.

TA: What happened?

RT: He went to pieces, that's what.

SM: Uh, could you be more specific?

RT: That's pretty specific, isn't it? He sucked. He was a whiner and a complainer. He completely gave up on this program.

TA: Can you give us some more details? Exactly what happened?

RT: In the Red-Blue game, he got crunched pretty hard. Broke his leg. It was bad, I'll admit that. But he was never the same after that. The doctors cleared him, so what's the problem? But he just wouldn't compete.

SM: When did you first see his uh, unwillingness to compete?

RT: As soon as he got back at it. We devised a workout regimen to get him back in shape. He would half-ass it through his workout. He just never got into it. His mind was gone. He wouldn't focus, wouldn't work.

TA: And you ultimately revoked his scholarship. Why?

RT: Because I'm not going to pay for some kid who went AWOL on me and the team. That simple. The NCAA sanctions limited our number of scholarships and I'll be damned if I'm going to have kids out there sacrificing and busting their butts for the good of the team while one little whiner gets a free ride. So I took it away from him.

SM: Why didn't you also kick him off the team? Why keep him around?

RT: Because we needed bodies. Teams on sanctions don't have a bunch of All-Americans just hanging around. So I needed bodies to put in a uniform. If he didn't want to compete, then fine. He just gave my defensive backs a good target. Better than a tackling dummy.

SM: So you let him stay on the team so the other players would have a victim?

RT: It was his choice. If someone wants to walk out onto the battlefield and mope around and not protect himself, then he gets whatever he deserves.

TA: Why are you so hard on these kids?

RT: Kids? You're calling them kids?

SM: Well, they're what? Eighteen or nineteen years old, aren't they?

RT: Old enough to die for their country. These people are privileged! They get a full ride at a college education. They get tutors to help them with their schoolwork. They get doctors to help them if they get a cold. They get meal money, rent money, travel money. In past generations, these boys would have been dying on a battlefield somewhere. Or even now, half the team would be working in a factory somewhere if it weren't for football. They have been given a tremendous gift and a wonderful opportunity. I expect them to work for that honor.

TA: Is it also an honor for you to abuse players?

RT: I don't abuse players. I shape men. Look around my teams in the past. I've got kids that went on to become doctors and lawyers. I even got three in Congress. Not to mention the pro draft. My teams are clean. None of my boys get in the paper for raping some sorority bimbo. None of them get in trouble for drugs. I have one of the best graduation rates in college football. Am I tough? Absolutely. Do I get results? Absolutely.

SM: Did you know very much about Mr. Washington's life off the field?

RT: No. Don't get me wrong ' I take it as a point of pride to get to know my boys. To get involved in their personal lives. Last year when Randy Dickerson's dad hurt his back in a farming accident, I drove up to Kentucky and helped the family bring in the tobacco. They needed help bringing in the harvest and I went up there and helped them. But when Jamie Washington deserted this team, I had no use for him. Other than that church group, I don't know anything about his life.

SM: Tell us about the Red-Blue game of 2002. Why was Mr. Washington playing?

RT: Because Greg Urbanski got hurt. Plain and simple. If I had anybody else to put in the game, I would have. But Washington was the only option. He actually played pretty well. Scored the winning touchdown. I didn't think the boy still had it in him at that point.

TA: Anything out of the ordinary going on around that game?

RT: No.

SM: When did you last see Mr. Washington?

RT: It was that game. Spring practice was over. I saw him in the locker room and didn't expect to see him again.

SM: Did his performance in the Red-Blue game change your attitudes about him?

RT: No. He hadn't really participated at all during spring drills. He was still standoffish. I figured his catch in that game was just getting lucky. In fact, it seemed like he almost did it to spite me.

TA: And did you tell him that when you saw him in the locker room?

RT: Not at all. Look, at that point I was glad to see him go. I didn't have much else to say to him.

TA: Sounds like you had a pretty turbulent relationship. Why did you hit him back in 2001?

RT: At the time I still had hopes for him. It was clear he was falling apart, and I wanted to force him back on track. Things got a little out of hand, but it was nothing he couldn't take. He should have taken the experience and grown from it, but instead he wimped out. After that season I pulled his free ride.

SM: So do you have any idea of who might have wanted to hurt him?

RT: No. Not at all.

SM: Okay. Thanks for the time.

Interview ends 10:05a.m.