Oh I agree. What I find surprising is so many candidates passing on the job. Meyer to Florida rather than ND? Ten years ago that would have been unthinkable. All these great coaches seem to be 'afraid' to take the job. With the right coach, I'm sure ND can be a powerhouse. Holtz was a great success jsut recently.
I think it has to do with ND's present image. They rolled over and gave in to the Black Coaches Association when they hired Willingham in the first place. That makes them gutless in my opinion.
Who the hell wants to work for an organization they perceive as gutless?
Granted they took a first step when they fired the guy but they have a long way to go to redeem themselves in the eyes of the best coaches out there.
It's telling to me that in his first year there with basically none of the starting players being his recruits he did well. Then his recruits get into the game and ND becomes everyone's cake walk. My guess is that it will take ND about 4 years for them to undo the damage Willingham did with the right coach. With the wrong coach it will take a hell of a lot longer than that.
2005 SCHEDULE
Sept. 3 - at Pittsburgh
Sept. 10 - at Michigan
Sept. 17 - MICHIGAN STATE
Sept. 24 - at Washington
Oct. 1 - at Purdue
Oct. 15 - USC
Oct. 22 - BYU
Nov. 5 - TENNESSEE
Nov. 12 - NAVY
Nov. 19 - SYRACUSE
Nov. 26 - at Stanford
Next year's coach will start out 2-4. And it doesn't get any easier through 2007. Given ND's reluctance to stick with Willingham, the next Irish coach will be shown the door before the schedule's difficulty is eased. I think Bob Davie is right; as a coach you go where you can win so your stock remains high. Any coach going to ND now is likely to find himself with less market worth in 3-4 years than he has right now.
Actually, Meyer to Florida makes a helluva lot more sense for a hot young coach than ND. Ron Zook might not be the greatest gameday coach, but he could recruit with anybody in the country, and the cupboard is definitely brimming over with talent in Gainesville.
Notre Dame is not going to be the year-in year-out powerhouse it was under Holtz because of the academic restrictions on recruits, and the fact that prep bluechips aren't awed by the mystique of the Golden Dome anymore. They'd rather play for a USC or Miami or Oklahoma that can pretty much guarantee a BCS bowl every year or so. The Irish haven't appeared in a BSC bowl in 4 years, and they were blown out by OREGON STATE of all teams.
Also, the way they handled Ty Willingham's firing is going to send red flags up with any prospective coach. They should have had Urban Meyer signed, sealed, and delivered before dumping their coach. Instead, they came off looking both arrogant and amateurish.
ND will never be a powerhouse again. You know why? They now make every freshman take Calculus. They no longer compromise academic standards for football players. End of story. Why go to ND and be forced to take real courses when you can go to Ohio State and take "Theories of Coaching Wrestling" and "AIDS Awareness." Touchdown Jesus may as well put his arms down.