Irish Opt to Get Rid of Their Ty

Three years after the school made history in naming Tyrone Willingham its first African American head football coach, Notre Dame made unprecedented news again Tuesday when it fired Willingham with two years left on his contract.

The announcement sent shock waves through the college ranks and sent a signal that Notre Dame, which has won a record eight Associated Press national titles but none since 1988, is taking a new hard-line approach in the increasingly competitive, bottom-line world of college football.

“From Sunday through Friday, our football program has exceeded all expectations, in every way,” Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White said at a news conference. “But on Saturday, we’ve struggled.”

Notre Dame is 6-5 this year, and Willingham leaves with a three-season record of 21-15.

He started 8-0 his first season, prompting a “Return to Glory” T-shirt revival, but was 13-15 after that.

Historically, Notre Dame has allowed coaches to fulfill the terms of their contracts.

Gerry Faust, considered one of the least successful coaches in school history, completed all five years of his contract, as did Bob Davie, Willingham’s predecessor. Faust was 18-15-1 after his first three seasons, Davie 21-16.

The rationale for firing Willingham?

“We just weren’t manufacturing the momentum, the progress that we felt we needed to have, to move this program back to the elite,” White said.

Behind the scenes, there had been a growing dissatisfaction among alumni over Willingham’s performance.

Student groups had planned a campus rally Tuesday evening to call for Willingham’s ouster.

White would not say whether the pending rally influenced his decision.

“I think what makes Notre Dame Notre Dame is the fact that people care about it and are so passionate about it and so emotional about it,” White said. “At the same time, I’d like to think we tend to distance ourselves from making knee-jerk decisions and look at things over some reasonable time horizon.”

The website ndnation.com, which is not affiliated with the school, hailed Tuesday’s news with the posting, “Notre Dame renewed its commitment to excellence by firing head coach Ty Willingham and his staff.”

Notre Dame’s lopsided loss to archrival USC on Saturday night at the Coliseum marked the fifth time under Willingham that the Irish have been beaten by 31 or more points. Lou Holtz, who led the Irish to their last national title in 1988, never suffered a loss by that margin in 11 seasons.

Notre Dame’s recruiting classes under Willingham have been considered substandard by many recruiting analysts, and the team’s play could be generously described as inconsistent.

Notre Dame opened this season with a loss to Brigham Young, which finished 5-6, yet won games against Michigan, the Big Ten champion, and Tennessee, champion of the Southeastern Conference’s East Division.

Willingham was informed of the decision about 11 a.m. Tuesday. Soon after, players were called out of their classes and told the news.

White said, “I think they were stunned.”

He added that the decision to fire Willingham was made by senior university leadership, led by Father Edward “Monk” Malloy, the school’s president.

White said he’d been “in and around” the process but added, “Father Malloy and select officers tend to make most of the policy decisions.”

Malloy will step down as president on June 30, to be replaced by Father John I. Jenkins, who also was involved in the decision.

White said a search for Willingham’s successor would begin immediately.

Utah Coach Urban Meyer is considered the leading candidate, although former Notre Dame player Charlie Weis, offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, is reportedly interested in the job.

Led by the 40-year-old Meyer, Utah has an 11-0 record this year and became the first team from a non-major conference to earn a berth in a bowl championship series bowl game -- Rose, Sugar, Orange or Fiesta.

Utah appears headed to the Fiesta Bowl, but it’s possible the Utes could end up in the Rose Bowl and play Michigan.

Meyer, who grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio, spent five seasons as a Notre Dame assistant coach, from 1996 through 2000, before being named head coach at Bowling Green, which he led to records of 8-3 and 9-3 before taking over at Utah in 2003.

Meyer has a clause in his Utah contract that allows him to leave for three schools -- Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame -- without the hiring school having to pay Utah a buyout.

There has been speculation that Notre Dame fired Willingham now to make a run at Meyer, who is considered a prime candidate for the vacant job at Florida.

Meyer did not return a phone message left on his cellphone.

Asked by Associated Press about his possible interest in the Notre Dame job, Meyer said, “I won’t comment on it.”

Notre Dame also announced that Willingham would not coach the Irish in the Insight Bowl on Dec. 28, if the team plays in it. A decision on whether the Irish will participate is expected today after a players meeting.

Willingham was named Notre Dame coach in December 2001 after George O’Leary, the Irish’s first choice to replace Davie, quit after five days because he’d lied on his resume.

Willingham was Notre Dame’s first black head coach in any sport, and his hiring was hailed as courageous and important.

Willingham’s departure reduces the number of black coaches among 117 Division I-A schools to two -- Karl Dorrell at UCLA and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. Last week, Fitz Hill resigned at San Jose State and New Mexico State fired Tony Samuel.

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Irish Crew

Overall record for Notre Dame coaches since 1918:

*--* Year Coach Record 1918-30 Knute Rockne 105-12-5 1931-33 Hunk Anderson 16-9-2 1934-40 Elmer Layden 47-13-3 1941-43,’46-53 Frank Leahy 87-11-9 1944 Ed McKeever 8-2-0 1945; ’63 Hugh Devore 9-9-1 1954-58 Terry Brennan 32-18-0 1959-62 Joe Kuharich 17-23-0 1964-74 Ara Parseghian 95-17-4 1975-80 Dan Devine 53-16-1 1981-85 Gerry Faust 30-26-1 1986-96 Lou Holtz 100-30-2 1997-2001 Bob Davie 35-25-0 2002-04 Ty Willingham 21-15-0

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Note: Winning percentage of Rockne (.881) and Leahy rank one-two among all coaches according to NCAA figures. Leahy’s official mark is .864 on a 107-13-9 record that includes a 20-2 mark as Boston College coach in 1939 and ’40.

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Three and Out

Tyrone Willingham’s coaching record in his last three seasons at Stanford and his three at Notre Dame:

*--* Year, School W L T PCT. AP Rank Bowl 1999 Stanford 8 4 0 667 -- Rose 2000 Stanford 5 6 0 455 -- -- 2001 Stanford 9 3 0 750 15 Seattle

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*--* Year, School W L T PCT. AP Rank Bowl 2002 Notre Dame 10 3 0 769 16 Gator 2003 Notre Dame 5 7 0 417 -- -- 2004 Notre Dame 6 5 0 545 -- Insight

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