Notre Dame fires coach Tyrone Willingham
SOUTH BEND, India After three seasons in which he failed to restore one of the most illustrious football programs in the country to prominence, Tyrone Willingham was fired by Notre Dame on Tuesday.
Willingham’s record was 21–15, with a 6–5 record this year. On Saturday, the Fighting Irish fell to Southern California, ranked #1, 41–10.
Kevin White, athletic director, said, “We just haven’t made the progress on the field that we need to make.” “Nor have we been able to create the positive momentum necessary in our efforts to return the Notre Dame program to the elite level of the college football world.”
Some players are thinking about sitting out.
in the Insight Bowl on Dec. 28, and White said he didn’t know who would coach the game. Notre Dame accepted the invitation to the game on Sunday
“From Sunday through Friday, our football program has exceeded all expectations in every way,” he stated. But we had trouble on Saturday. We’ve moved a little sideways as well as up and down.”
On Tuesday, White and Willingham met with a few players to inform them of their termination.
You, as a player, believe that we are to blame. “We failed to complete the task at hand,” stated senior tight end Jared Clark. “I think Coach Willingham was a great coach and I enjoyed playing under him.”
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With their loss to USC on Saturday, Notre Dame became the fifth team under head coach Brian Willingham to lose by 31 points or more; three of those losses came against the rival Trojans. Lou Holtz and Dan Devine had zero such losses, while former coach Bob Davie’s team had just one.
Willingham was hired by Notre Dame from Stanford to succeed George O’Leary. He is the first black head coach in any sport for the Irish. Five days after taking the position, the former Georgia Tech coach resigned due to his resume’s fabrication of his academic and athletic accomplishments.
With Tony Samuel fired by New Mexico State and Fitz Hill resigning from San Jose State last week, there are now only two black head coaches in Division I-A: Karl Dorrell at UCLA and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State.
Floyd Keith, executive director of the Black Coaches Association, said he was 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.
In his first season, Willingham had many fans recalling Notre Dame’s glory days, taking over a losing squad and turning things around immediately. The Irish won eight straight games to start the season before finishing 10-3 and going to the Gator Bowl.
But during his second year, the Irish fell to 5-7, with four of their losses coming by 26 points or more. It was Notre Dame’s third losing record in five seasons, the team’s worst stretch in 115 years of football.
One coach certain to be mentioned as a possible replacement for Willingham is Utah’s Urban Meyer, an Irish assistant during 1996–2000. The Utes are 11-0 and ranked No. 5 in their second year under Meyer.
Meyer said he hadn’t heard about Willingham’s departure from Notre Dame until he was asked about it by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Asked whether he has had any contact with Notre Dame or whether he would be interested in coaching the Fighting Irish, Meyer responded, “I won’t comment on it.”
Notre Dame has won eight AP college football national championships, more than any other school, with the last in the 1988 season under Holtz. Players from the school have won the Heisman Trophy seven times, which is also the most in college football.
But the Irish haven’t won a bowl game since ending the 1993 season ranked No. 2 after beating Texas A&M 24-21 in the Cotton Bowl. Since then, the Irish have lost six straight postseason games.
