Many a Notre Dame hater can now get back to the business of rooting against the Fighting Irish football team. Coach Tyrone Willingham, the first black man to hold the head football coaching job in South Bend, Ind., was dismissed as head coach on Tuesday.
The SportsEYE salutes Notre Dame football players who are considering not playing in the Insight Bowl following the firing. They know Willingham will lead a college football team to national prominence, and it will not be Notre Dame.
Now, how is this for hypocrisy.
Athletic director Kevin White says the program hasn’t made the progress on the field that he, alumni, fans and students wanted. But he went on to say, the team’s academic standing is outstanding, saying “from Sunday through Friday” the program has exceeded all expectations, but it has struggled on Saturdays.
Willingham finished 21-15 overall in his three seasons (2002-04) as Irish head coach. He was competing at a school that had rigid academic standards that cost him prized recruits and made the job of creating a national power nearly impossible. However, he led the team to a pair of bowl games in his three seasons, and was 5-7 in 2003.
Willingham, always the gentleman, said Tuesday “
Notre Dame had accepted an invitation Sunday to play in the Insight Bowl in Phoenix against a Pac-10 team on Dec. 28.
Success came during the first half of the 2002 season, but the Irish were inconsistent and struggled for the next two and a half seasons.
Floyd Keith, executive director of the Black Coaches Association, told the AP he is disappointed with Notre Dame’s decision.
“In three years, I think he has done everything, short of winning a national championship and I don’t think he inherited national championship talent,” Keith said.
A veteran of 27 seasons of coaching experience at the collegiate and professional levels, Willingham is in his 10th season as a head football coach after serving in that role at Stanford for seven seasons (1995-2001) before moving to Notre Dame.
Obviously, the victories over Michigan and Tennessee were not enough to save Willingham’s job, which he lost after being dismantled by rival USC 41-10 last Saturday.
Don’t weep for Willingham, though. He could return to Stanford, which fired Willingham’s replacement Buddy Teevens on Monday. There are also the Florida and Illinois jobs open, and a few more coaches will be fired come season’s end.
Also, if overmatched Rams coach Mike Martz should get the boot, John Shaw should at least call the guy for an interview
Nash dashes from Pinkel persecution
Coach Lou Holtz spent two seasons with the Minnesota football program before moving on to the prestigious Notre Dame job. He helped turn the Gophers’ doormat of a football team into a Big Ten winner. During a preseason press conference in 1985, Holtz said recruiting is a key, but so is retaining the players you inherit. “If you lose many of your players when you take over, it makes the job that much tougher.” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel is learning that lesson with the abdication of starting running back Damien Nash. Nash quit the team within hours of the Tigers’ victory over Iowa State last Saturday afternoon. To say his relationship with Pinkel was strained is quite the understatement. In fact, it’s obvious the two men can’t stand one another. Nash’s departure comes after he was suspended from the biggest game in his collegiate career, the road loss to Nebraska, for basically telling the truth. Pinkel’s play calling was puzzling, his coaching decisions were questionable and his demeanor was often classless. Pinkel wasted a year of Temple’s eligibility by playing him for one game in Nash’s absence. Those controversial moves polarized the team and left many Tigers at odds with their coach. What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago, the Tigers were bowl bound. A mystifying loss at Kansas cost Missouri a Top 20 ranking last season, but that was the lone blemish on an outstanding campaign. However, sometime over the summer, Pinkel became aloof to the media – and more importantly – to his team and it showed in the Tigers’ inconsistent effort. Pinkel’s attitude cost him a senior starting running back on 2005. That’s a high cost to pay for any coach. Especially one who now finds himself one poor season from the unemployment line.
As for Nash, he should drop the “go pro” talk and transfer to a Division 1-AA program where he can play next season. Nash who, counting Riverview Gardens and East St. Louis High Schools, will have played for five teams in about five years if he does transfer to another college. He is not physically or mentally ready for the NFL or Canadian Football League.
The EYE isn’t blaming him for marching away from Mizzou, but warns the young man that it would be a major mistake to renounce his eligibility, fail to make the NFL and find himself in a no-win situation next fall.
Calm down, coach, and dad
Whether it’s a kindergarten daughter scoring her first-ever goal or a high school son single handedly delivering a state championship to his school, a parent with the honor of being on the sideline must never forget sportsmanship.
Clayton High School quarterback Jairus Byrd was a one-man wrecking crew in the Greyhounds’ thrilling 27-26 win in overtime against Webb City in last week’s Class 4 title game at the Edward Jones Dome.
Byrd passed for 165 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for 84 yards and a TD and also made several key defensive plays including an interception.
Meanwhile, armed with a camcorder and a photographer’s media credential was St. Louis Rams assistant defensive coach Gill Byrd, Jarius’ proud papa.
Byrd was constantly cheering for his son – and sometimes Clayton – throughout the game. Someone should have reminded him that coaches coach, players play and fans sit in the stands. The media credential he wore stripped of his right to be partisan. The EYE realizes that this is a tough thing to do, but the San Diego Chargers career interception leader has been around enough sidelines to know that his cheering was out of place on the sidelines where professional journalists were at work.
Byrd has reason to cheer for his son, a truly outstanding athlete. However, he should have done it from a seat in the Greyhounds’ cheering section, not the sideline.
