Link Well, it looks like its not a good day to be a football coach. First Butch Davis, now Willingham. Tuesday, November 30, 2004 ESPN.com news services The University of Notre Dame announced Tuesday that Tyrone Willingham will not be retained as its head football coach, according to the school's Web site. Willingham's teams were 21-15 overall in his three seasons as Irish head coach. A 4 p.m. news conference is expected. With Willingham out -- and after the recent firing of New Mexico State's Tony Samuel and resignation of Fitz Hill from San Jose State -- there are now only two black head coaches in Division I-A: Karl Dorrell at UCLA and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. Notre Dame (6-5) has accepted an invitation to play in the Insight Bowl in Phoenix against a Pac-10 team on Dec. 28. In 2002, Willingham became the only first-year Notre Dame coach to lead the program to a 10-win season, posting a 10-2 regular-season record and earning a trip to the Gator Bowl. The Irish went 5-7 in 2003.
Honestly, I am surprised. I mean is 3 seasons enough time? That's barely any time to recruit your own guys! With the yearly schedule that ND plays and with the requirements to get into that school they are living in a DREAM world if they think they can be a 10-1 or 11-0 team. ND needs to wake up. This isn't the 80's. All the players that USED to go to ND are getting scholorships in many other schools.
Problem is that he hasn't been recruiting well at all. Notre Dame has academic restrictions that keeps them from recruiting some of the top athletes. Their last few recruiting classes have been average at best. Texas, OU, A&M, and even LSU have locked down all the top recruits in Texas over the last few years. As a result, the Nebraskas and Notre Dames have suffered.
Well, I did mention the academic restrictions in my previous post. Which is part of the problem. As you said, because of that restriction it keeps ND's talent level down. How is this Ty's fault? Is another coach going to change this? No.
The ND coach still needs to bring in a few top recruits (4 or 5-star) every year, something that Willingham was incapable of doing. Granted, they do have a tough schedule, but the money, prestige, and facilities they have down there, they should at least win 8 games a year. http://rivals100.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?Sport=1&Year=2005&School=55
I bet the quick turnarounds that guys like Urban Meyer and Mike Price really set the bar a little higher.
This reminds me of a hilarious sign that somebody was flashing behind the GameDay desk last weekend: "Even God hates Notre Dame" Come to UT Ty. At the very least, you won't whine to the camera about your team and players deserving things.
Actually, no. Prestige doesnt mean jack. Their facilities are probably not markedly better than some of the other top schools. And money? Unless you are paying the players what does that have to do with anything? They SHOULDN'T win "at least 8 games a year" with the schedule they have. The days of the "all mighty" ND are over. We are in 2000 now and teams like Utah can go 11-0 and recruit decent talent. It wasnt like that 20 years ago. Not only is ND's game schedule tough but their competition for recruits is at an all time high! Perhaps Willingham didnt get as many recruits as he could have. I dont honestly know. But I am doubtful that unless some OTHER things change that ANY coach would be able to recruit all that much better than the past ND coaches did.
Perhaps. But I bet if ND played in the WAC they would have a much better chance of going 11-0 than they do right now!
Don't feel bad for Ty. He can go back to Stanford who fired Buddy Teevans. There are a lot of quality head coaches out there...too bad we will stay with Mattress Mack Brown who wets his pants every October.
I don't think they would have fired Ty if they didn't already have a deal in place with Meyer. He is hot right now so if they want him they needed to move. His contract has an out clause for ND and his love for the school is common knowledge.
True, but he wouldn't be able to bring in the talent that Mack has. For all his shortcomings, Mack is still a tremendous recruiter.
More money typically translates into better facilities and amenities for athletes. Kids used to dream of playing ball for ND. Personally, I'm glad they suck now. They were damn arrogant back in the late 80's - early 90's. FWIW, he did manage to beat Michigan and Tennessee this year. But 6-5 isn't good enough after finishing 5-7 last year. Maybe it's time ND joined the Big 10, who's wanted the Irish for a long time.
Ty was a token hire after O'Leary & ND got caught with their pants down. He's just not a good game day coach. The guy punts on his opponents 35 yd line, goes for two point conversions in the 1st quarter, and used the green jersey. Worst of all he's so empathtic pointing his finger in the air to signal 1 point attempt after a TD, like he's making a big game day decision. I hope Rev Jesse and Al doesn't give ND a hard time.
I really hope people don't make this into a racial issue. The guy just did not get the job done. Period.
