Egg on Notre Dame's Face

[olddog75]

Included in Ship Bayless's ESPN.com article on the Norte Dame stituation was a reference to us:

"But wasn't it just six years ago that one of the hottest young coaches in the country was Gary Crowton, who turned little Louisiana Tech into a giant-killer with a whiz-bang offense? Beating Notre Dame this year didn't save Crowton's job at BYU. "

We don't see those comments anymore.

[glm47]

I guess...I don't really think it gets any better than what he's got right now. He's the highest paid coach in the NCAA and he's won a national championship. I just can't see him taking another college job. My prayer is that he'll decide to revive the New Orleans Saints...just a dream. He sure knows about dealing with an inept quarterback. Of course, with Benson at the helm, he'd probably have to take a pay cut.

His base at cleveland will be twice what it is at LSU and with incentives could reach 3 times his current pay. He will be given a lot, but not complete control over personnel and he has close ties to that area.

Mark it down, he's a brown.

[hookdown]

Mark it down, he's a brown.

Which means he is Luke's next coach!

[dawg80]

I know one pretty die-hard fan. I personally like to see Notre Dame win...I guess that means my green square will disappear.

I like ND too. Until this week, ND has always honered contracts with their coaches, no matter what. Remember Davie and Faust... but, college FB is changing even MORE into a billion-dollar industry and even ND must try to keep up with the Joneses. Willingham was not, and could not, get the job done. Of course, he'll get paid every penny, but letting a coach go early is unprecedented in ND's history.

Personally, I think college FB has passed ND by. As long as they wish to maintain those high academic and moral standards, a lot of athletes will choose to go elsewhere. This is not the 1960's or 70's anymore.

College football has totally sold out to the almighty dollar. Now, as a conservative business-minded person, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing :icon_wink , but it is a reality. And as someone else posted, today's kids don't care one iota about Rockne, "win one for the gipper" or Rudy.

[johnnylightnin]

I like ND too. Until this week, ND has always honered contracts with their coaches, no matter what. Remember Davie and Faust... but, college FB is changing even MORE into a billion-dollar industry and even ND must try to keep up with the Joneses. Willingham was not, and could not, get the job done. Of course, he'll get paid every penny, but letting a coach go early is unprecedented in ND's history.

Personally, I think college FB has passed ND by. As long as they wish to maintain those high academic and moral standards, a lot of athletes will choose to go elsewhere. This is not the 1960's or 70's anymore.

College football has totally sold out to the almighty dollar. Now, as a conservative business-minded person, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing :icon_wink , but it is a reality. And as someone else posted, today's kids don't care one iota about Rockne, "win one for the gipper" or Rudy.

Well said. What they did to Ty was wrong and in another post I believe I wished them a poor season. With Meyer going to Florida, I'm pretty sure they're going to get what they deserve.

[markay714]

Huh . . . because it's Notre Dame!?

Don't get me wrong, I hate Notre Dame, but name another school that has their own T.V. network and a national fan base like they do. Even with the last crappy ten years they are still on their own level.

E.J., don't show your wife this post. :icon_wink

I lived 15 minutes from Notre Dame for a year and Notre Dame is definitely more popular nationally than they are in South Bend. Baton Rouge folks are 15 times more excited about LSU football than they are in South Bend. And, I'd have to say that they're at least 10 times more excited in a bad year for LSU (DiNardo/Curley eras).

[Dawgbitten]

ND did Ty wrong. I hope they continue in the cycle that they currently find themselves in.

[dawg80]

We all want Bick canned for poor performance (in our opinions), so why is ND wrong for axing a coach they thought was performing poorly?

Some of you anti-ND people need to get a major grip and view it objectively, or else just move on to another subject.

[Rooster]

We all want Bick canned for poor performance (in our opinions), so why is ND wrong for axing a coach they thought was performing poorly?

Some of you anti-ND people need to get a major grip and view it objectively, or else just move on to another subject.

He needed another year or two. This was only his 3rd year. His 1st year, it wasn't none of his recruits. He got the shaft

[johnnylightnin]

We all want Bick canned for poor performance (in our opinions), so why is ND wrong for axing a coach they thought was performing poorly?

Some of you anti-ND people need to get a major grip and view it objectively, or else just move on to another subject.

Here are a few reasons I can think of:

1. They'd never axed a coach before his contract was out (if Ty deserved it, Davie deserved it)
2. Willingham inherited a sub-par team in the first place
3. They should've been ultra-cautious in how they handled the situation since he was one of the first African American head coaches of a nationally respected program
4. He was never allowed a complete cycle with his guys that he recruited
5. He led them to their first 10-win season in a long time

I see your point as well, but the above are the reasons I believe he should've stayed. Of course I'm sure someone could produce a similar list spelling out why JBIII deserved to keep his job here and they would be absolutely wrong, so there's a chance that I'm wrong here.

[dawg80]

As I mentioned previously, the landscape of college FB has changed, and even ND must play the game, or be left behind. The AD at ND specifically mentioned "not repeating the Davie mistake." They stayed with Davie too long and it wrecked ND's program.

And, on a side note, I don't think Willingham's race did, or should have, played a decision in his hiring or his firing. I am happy to see that finally! our society is indeed moving past the "race" issue. ND hired Willingham because of what he accomplished at Stanford, another private school with high academic standards, and they fired him because, in their opinion, he could not get the job done in South Bend.

[HogDawg]

He needed another year or two. This was only his 3rd year. His 1st year, it wasn't none of his recruits. He got the shaft

And ironically, just like Jack Bicknell, Ty Willingham's first year --using somebody elses' players-- was his BEST!!!!!

ND fired Ty for the same reason LA Tech SHOULD have fired Bicknell a long time ago: The overall DIRECTION of the program was moving DOWNWARD instead of upward. The Irish should be applauded for taking action NOW instead of sitting on their hands like Tech's administrators are doing.

With millions of dollars at stake in the form of national TV contracts (e.g., ND's NBC pact) and BCS Bowl payouts, schools can no longer tolerate a "5-yr ramp plan" from a coach. The new coaching timeline is 3 years. You win in 3 years or you are out.

And if you don't like it, there are always coaching jobs available in Div 1AA, Div II, Div III and at the high school level. The bottom line is, if a coach wants to run with the "big boys" and earn millions, he must take the pressure that goes with it.

HD

[johnnylightnin]

As I mentioned previously, the landscape of college FB has changed, and even ND must play the game, or be left behind. The AD at ND specifically mentioned "not repeating the Davie mistake." They stayed with Davie too long and it wrecked ND's program.

And, on a side note, I don't think Willingham's race did, or should have, played a decision in his hiring or his firing. I am happy to see that finally! our society is indeed moving past the "race" issue. ND hired Willingham because of what he accomplished at Stanford, another private school with high academic standards, and they fired him because, in their opinion, he could not get the job done in South Bend.

I agree that race shouldn't play a role, but in the court of public opinion, it always does.

[HogDawg]

I agree that race shouldn't play a role, but in the court of public opinion, it always does.

That's a rediculous statement. If Willingham's Notre Dame team was 11-0 or 10-1 right now, you would have NEVER made that statement.

No, it's only when a guy falters that people start making excuses and want to rely on the "old crutch", and accuse people of racism.

NEWSFLASH: Some black people fail at jobs JUST LIKE some white people do. That's what happened here.

HD

[johnnylightnin]

That's a rediculous statement. If Willingham's Notre Dame team was 11-0 or 10-1 right now, you would have NEVER made that statement.

No, it's only when a guy falters that people start making excuses and want to rely on the "old crutch", and accuse people of racism.

NEWSFLASH: Some black people fail at jobs JUST LIKE some white people do. That's what happened here.

HD

I never said I'd support the statement, I just said that it's true. It's naive to say otherwise. I don't think it's right, but it's true. And yes, race would matter to the public if he was 10-1. I've rarely heard a peice on Notre Dame football since they hired Ty where they didn't refer to his race (yes, even in the 10-1 year). That's just a fact. It would be rediculous to say otherwise. Notre Dame didn't lose any stock with me because he's black, but I'm not naive enough to think that they didn't lose stock with others.