- 07:07 PM
- 04/19/24
I can't believe many of you are eating up the crap ESPN is dishing out. Just like any other entertainment organization they're going to demonize people to get ratings, and it's working. Look harder. You're an idiot if you think Willingham's dimissal involved his race. He was not even close to getting it done or making significant progress. He's at best an average coach. Meyer hung ND out to dry. Not to say ND didn't put themselves in a vulnerable position, but they had a deal and Meyer pulled some last minute BS when he got scared. He asked to bring 6 JUCO recruits that had committed to Utah and wanted to recruit JUCOs in the future. This is something ND has never allowed and shouldn't. Monk Mally took something that was an internal issue to ND and publicized it like a whiny little child because he lost the argument and he knows he is out of there in July. I find that despicable. His loyalty should be to ND and instead he's feeding the media to bring his own school down. I wish they would give him an early exit. ND will be fine. They just need to get a new coach. Winning will fix everything.
posted by House at 03:23 PM on December 09, 2004
Chicobangs, rcade, et al... Do a little more reading into the matter. Willingham was fired because he was mediocre, prideful, and too loyal. The AD at ND approached him after the 5-7 2003 season and instructed him to hire new assistants. He refused. He was approached again on Sunday after the USC debacle and told to replace the OC and other assistants and he, again, refused. That's what prompted the last minute BOT meeting his eventual contractual buyout. The "ND always lets coaches finish their contracts" thing is BS. That's not always the case. Futhermore, neither Davie nor Faust ever improved after year 3, and I don't think any ND coach has improved their winning pct after year 3. Why continue to give them more time, especially when a coach refuses to make any staff changes? That's the definition of insanity. Notre Dame could not afford to have two mediocre coaches for 5 years back to back. As it stands, Davie and Willingham may have killed the program. If the order had been Willingham then Davie there would be no discussion, period. If anything, he got the job because of his race, not fired because of it. He was fired because he didn't get the job done, and he admitted as much in his press conference yesterday.
posted by House at 05:08 PM on December 03, 2004
Notre Shame
There are numerous graduates of ND that were JUCOs, but like Rudy, they were academic transfers from a Notre Dame affiliated junior college, Holy Cross College. Rudy earned his way into the school and then walked onto the football team. Completely different from JUCO athletes.