I’m biased.
I know this because I publicly came out in support of Tyrone Willingham when he was hired by Notre Dame, noting that the color of his skin would be both good for the program and good for minorities in coaching.
Color made a difference to me in the way I thought about future performance on the job and in image. And in a profession overwhelmingly controlled by white males coaching black athletes, I genuinely thought that Willingham might be a leader who would open doors and change what I viewed (and view) as a backward dynamic. I bought into the vision that Willingham was a boundary-breaking hire.
I was wrong.
I now think Willingham is a detrimental force to the cause he no doubt deeply believes in.
When Willingham publicly decried the lack of head coaching jobs for black Americans this past weekend, he made an irrefutable point…that something in the system is broken. Willingham further points to the good ol’ boy network as a culprit, which would appear to have validity in my opinion.
"You've got to explain the numbers,” said Willingham. “There's more than one answer. But it's alive and well in certain places, yes."
He should be pointing the finger in the mirror.
Willingham has done as much to hurt the cause of minority coaches as any single coach in recent memory. I would argue that he’s created new minority roadblocks others must now overcome—and in some respects, Willingham closed far more doors than he opened…if he opened any to begin with.
Let me explain my beliefs and my frustrations. The stepping stone to a head coaching position is a coordinator position. Now granted, Willingham skipped this step on his way to the head coaching position at Stanford, but being a coordinator is almost a prerequisite to the head coaching position (note that it certainly doesn’t guarantee success).
Yet in his six years at Notre Dame and Washington, Willingham has hired exactly zero minority coordinators.
Zero.
Zero into the position that is the stepping stone to the head coaching chair. In contrast, since Willingham left, Notre Dame filled both of its coordinator positions with black coaches. Now, I’m not saying that Corwin Brown or Mike Haywood were hired for their color, but their positions at Notre Dame will make them prime candidates to step into the head chair at another school.
By contrast, IN SIX YEARS, Willingham couldn’t find one minority worthy of being his second?
There would have been no better way to further the cause of minority coaches than by the notoriety gained by being a coordinator at Notre Dame. I don’t know what the minority pool looks like for head coaches, but theoretically you would think there has to be a bigger pool to choose from when hiring for a coordinator position.
Yet, Tyrone Willingham hired whites for those key positions…again, the ones that make up the pool for the next head coaches.
But his worst transgression, by far, was legitimizing the idea that it’s okay to blame racism without cause for personal failures.
Willingham was given the biggest stage in the college football world and failed. There’s no loss of dignity in failure. There is great loss of dignity in blaming racism without cause or proof.
Worse, he did it the coward’s way, by not challenging charges of racism in the press that he knew had no factual support, even while put on the spot by John Saunders. All the while, he banked millions from Notre Dame with the knowledge that he had already contacted the University of Washington about leaving Notre Dame. By the way, that is grounds for firing with cause (read, no buyout).
And be clear on this: Notre Dame fans wanted Willingham to succeed.We needed to him to succeed.
We were, in fact, desperate for him to succeed.
But when wins and recruiting nose-dived simultaneously while Willingham talked in sweeping platitudes about nothing and perfected his lob wedge, those of us who followed the program closely knew Notre Dame was on the precipice of a virtual death penalty.
Willingham, despite one very good class, was considered a lazy recruiter (as noted in the Chicago Tribune) who was letting the program rot from underneath.
We were treated to the results on the field last year, as Willingham’s last two classes were the juniors and seniors. Don’t get me wrong, he was a great recruiter when he got into a family’s living room—but unlike Weis, Willingham expected the talent to come to him.
It didn’t. Even at Notre Dame, you have to work for it.
But this isn’t just one data point. Willingham’s pattern of blame has continued at Washington. Last year, Willingham’s job was all but over after Washington President Mark Emmert had decided to go in a new direction. Again, Willingham, without having to do the dirty work himself, played the race card.
Athletic Director Todd Turner intervened, lining up power brokers while James Bible, president of the Seattle-King County NAACP, requested a meeting with Emmert to discuss "the value of Coach Willingham to this community."
The Turner/Willingham end-around forced Emmert’s hand.Willingham won again—but the subversive actions of Turner in support of Willingham reportedly cost him his job.
And at what cost to other aspiring black coaches?
If you can’t fire a black head coach with cause (and an enormous payday), then what signal does that send to other schools who might hire a minority head coach?
I’ll answer.
To a school, it means you may not be able to fire him when you want to, despite performance on the field. And that equates to a much riskier long-term hire, which tilts the scale away from prospective black head coaches.
I know this because “fireability” is a key employment proposition at every major company. It’s the very reason many companies won’t do business in Spain and France, because changing out talent mistakes become incredibly costly. But in college football, it’s not just cost which is prohibitive, but also the negative publicity that comes with firing a minority head coach.
Willingham’s passive-aggressive, tacit approval of racial attacks on Notre Dame showed everyone how painful a process that can be. It would have been far more beneficial to those who came after him to just keep quiet without the benefit of proof.
So if you’re an AD on the sideline, you’re thinking, “Do I need this headache? I just want a winning team.”
Not only isn’t Willingham filling the minority pipeline with potential head coaching candidates, he’s created a giant hurdle for others like him by selfishly protecting his own reputation and job.
I wanted Tyrone Willingham to succeed at Notre Dame more than anybody.
He didn’t and that’s a shame.
That he sees fit to drag others down with him by playing the race card again and again is a crime.
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about 1 month ago
I agree that playing the race card is never the right move. Regardless of the case it comes across as whining and excuse making. I didn't realize that Willingham didn't hire a single black coordinator until now, that was quite surprising. As I told another writer, the key is deeper than just coordinators, GA's and position coaches are the head coaches of the future and they are overwhelmingly white. More black coaches have to fill the entry level positions, the culture won't change from the top down, it will only change from the bottom up. Good article.
about 1 month ago
Excellent article, Rock. Performance is the leveling stick for all coaches. The Black Coaches Association gives hiring grades annually. After the Willingham firing, Notre Dame and Washington both got the same grade - B - with only 5 schools out of 30 that year received As. http://www.fanblogs.com/ncaa/006096.php
Weis also hired John Latina, as you know, a Lationo/Hispanic minority. The BCA hopes that "hiring trees" are established similar to Tony Dungee's in the pros, where African-American assistant coaches are placed in situations that optimize their opportunities for success and exposure. The BCA noted in this report that an opportunity for such a hiring tree "might exist" at Univeristy of Washington.
http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/bca/genrel/auto_pdf/07-hiring-report-card (p.15)
Such a hiring tree exists at Notre Dame.
Another good article is in NDNation "Note from a Guitar" in Sept 2006 comparing Willingham and Weis.
about 1 month ago
Excellent, insightful article.
about 1 month ago
Let me preface this comment by saying I am glad ND has several minority coaches on their staff. I think it is great that CW hires minority candidates.
I have an issue with your assumption that Ty Willingham plays the "race card" to help him, yet doesn't make any effort to hire black coaches. When Willingham took the Washington job, the Huskies had just finished a 1-10 season. Willingham went 2-9 in his first season and 5-7 in his second. He had a bit of a set back last season, but I think if any fans would be sympathetic to set backs and not living up to your potential, it would be ND fans.
Read this article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskies/2004116851_uwemails10m.html?syndication=rss
It pretty much disputes your notion that the UW president kept Willingham becuase he was black and the so called "power brokers" won him his job back. I have searched high and low the past hour to educate myself about Willingham playing the "race card." There is no evidence in any article published that says Willingham asked those people to grand stand for him. It also states that Willingham's retention had nothing to do with Turner losing his job.
here's another article to read: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/sports/ncaafootball/03willingham.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/W/Willingham,%20Tyrone
When it comes to hiring black coaches, I'm sure Willingham does his best to hire black coaches. But if his job is on the line this season, which it seems it is, Willingham, now more than ever, needs to hire the best candidate, white or black. Did CW hire the coordinators he has simply because they are minorities or because they are the best fit for the team? I am gonna assume that CW wants to win and is going to hire the best coach available, regardless of race.
What I did find were several articles suggesting that ND hired and fired Willingham because he was black. They also suggest that the reason ND hired black coordinators is because it is trying to save face in the wake of firing Willingham. Some state that they feel Willingham was treated much differently than the white coaches before him and CW after him. Is that the case? No but there is another side to this story.
Willingham is the American Football Coaches Association president, which he was elected to this past winter. The AFCA represent 10,000 coaches nationwide. Do you think that the AFCA would hire someone who is a hypocrite? I don't think so.
I also challenge the idea that Willingham was less of a coach at ND. In Willingham's three years at ND 21-15 while Weis is 22-15. And recruiting suffered? Willingham recruited Brady Quinn, Jeff Szamardia, Maurice Stovall, and Tom Zbikowski. Now maybe he wasn't able to attract the athletes Charlie Weis has, but in no way was it Willingham's fault that ND was 3-9 last season. Also last years seniors were the only remaining class from Willinghams recruiting tenure. The 2004 class would be seniors for the 2007 season or possibly red shirt juniors. The 2004 class played or was red shirted for the 2004 season. Weis's 2005, 2006, and 2007 classes were on the team last year, so the majority of talent on the team was from CW's recruiting classes.
The real truth is Ty Willingham is an upstanding individual and a good football coach. Willingham has the most wins out of any black head college football coach in Division 1-A football. He has not hurt the cause, he has improved it. The problem is several ND fans see the double standard of the athletic department and try to justify it by bashing Willingham as Pat Forde of ESPN states in this article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/storycolumnist=forde_pat&id=3013932&sportCat=ncf&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1
from about 1 month ago
Chris,
You raise several outstanding points that will be difficult to argue. I agree with your takes and that there is more than one side to the story. Excellent feedback.
about 1 month ago
Good Read, Rock. That was an excellent and insightful article.
about 1 month ago
Wow. This is obviously not an easy topic to write about, but you somehow did it well. I respect a man who is bold enough to tackle something of this magnitude. Not only that, but you wrote it in a very thought provoking and sort of terrifying article. It's terrifying because it's a great look at some of the low points of our society and our use of crutches. It's sad that somebody who gets their feelings hurt just because they were not able to do their job well will instantly resort to blame and charges of racism to make themselves feel better. Being a Mississippi State fan, it makes me wish that there were more men of character like Sylvester Croom around who can help build a more positive view of minority coaches. Sad that we get hung up on the negative views, isn't it?
Anyways, I started rambling. Very well written. Given me some good things to think about. Thanks.
about 1 month ago
Chris,
I think you intend to do an honest and fair job at presenting your points. I do not fault you for that or any point you make.
A few points you miss out on. If you go to the ABC Archives, you'll find where Ty sits with John Saunders while Saunders plays the race card. Ty could have squelched it, yet he sat idly by.
Ty also allows the BCA to carry the race card for him.
What you miss out on is that Ty doesn't go there, his henchmen do it for him.
You also miss the point that he was voted as the president of the AFCA simply because typically, no one wants it. I'd imagine that he figured it was a great way to get onto a few extra golf courses.
You are 100% correct that Notre Dame fans wanted him to succeed. So do UW's. The fact of the matter is, Ty is a Shi Ty coach. If you've been to the UW boards, you'll see that most of them already realize this.
One thing that many are quick to point out (I'm not saying you are) is that ND was racist for firing him, yet ND gets no credit for hiring him in the first place. Notre Dame was foolish to hire him, but not racist for firing him. Most claim that no white coach was ever fired after three years, yet they know nothing of the name Hunk Anderson. Willingham's white counterpart at Notre Dame during the 50s -- he also a worthless coach.
To reference the comments about the NAACP, those were not Notre Dame generated, those were actual topics on Dawgman.com, a UW Scout site. In fact, I just checked and there is a long thread there now on the front page that references the discussion back during the week that Dorrell was hired.
To your credit, you do a good job at appearing to temper the article. It's just that the temperance is not there (no fault of your own) and the original post simply set out to shed some light where most had been in the dark.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the counter Rico. You made some good points.
The main thing is that the BCA would grand stand for any black coach who is a member. Whether or not he is a good coach is up for debate, but I think that is definately hasty to say that Ty secretly contacts the NAACP and BCA to save his job. The BCA spoke to the Michigan AD before he fired Tommy Amaker too. Amaker had more than three years with Michigan basketball. Willingham has always said that he wants to be hired on his merits rather than the color of his skin. But the NAACP did not meet with President Emmert and if you read the article I posted before, Emmert admits he didn't even remember the email from the NAACP President. If that was posted on the UW website, it is untrue according to all the published reports.
As far as the John Saunders situation, I can't defend Ty on that. However he feels about the ND thing is his perogative and he can feel how he wants to feel. I am not a minority so I can't say he is wrong for feeling that way. ND fans also have their right to be angry about it.
What the article suggest is that Willingham is a bad coach who always plays the race card when his job is in trouble. It also suggests that he is obligated to hire black coaches as coordinators because he is black. That is faulty reasoning. Willingham should be allowed to hire whoever he wants, even though the article does fail to mention that Willingham has three minorities on his staff at UW. The author claims Willingham is wrong because he blamed racism without cause or proof for his firing at ND. But he is justified in his thinking based on the prior and post situations that have been established by the ND athletic department and more importantly Kevin White.
My problem is the double standard set up by White. I would beat this point to death even if Willingham was not black. Willingham was 21-15 in three seasons and Weis is 22-15. Bob Davie's teams consistently under acheived during his tenure. Davie was 21-16 after his first three years. His record is almost identical to Ty's. But Davie stayed on for two more seasons. Willingham never lost nine games in a season and he never won less than five. Willingham had a better record after his first season than Charlie Weis. Weis got a ten year extension. As far as UW boards calling for Willingham to be fired, I would counter that with the CanCharlie.com website. Are they right? There are fans at UW out there who like Ty too, and I bet there are ND fans who liked him too, when he was fired. I think there is plenty of room for debate, but I think it's clear there is a huge disparity in the way White dealt with Willingham and has dealt with Davie and Weis.
about 1 month ago
I would be remise if I didn't echo the sentiments of my fellow posters and commend Rock on writing about this sensitive topic. I may not agree with you but you got guts to put your neck out there and write about such a divided issue.
about 1 month ago
Chris --
Thanks for the conversation. A couple of notes:
White did not want to fire Willingham. That came from the ND BOT and new president. White was in Ty's camp.
Willingham wasn't just fired for his record, but because he was leading ND into a downward spiral. In fact, Willingham told ND to expect no better than 5 wins in 2005 (Weis won 9) meanwhile he met with Washington while still HC at ND. Those were more than enough grounds to fire him right there. He was telling the powers that be that he wouldn't win and was courting offers from others schools while he was failing and not recruiting. It was really an absurd situation.
He wasn't just failing on the field, his recruiting after Quinn's year was just awful. Kids didn't even get offered until it was too late while other schools were locking up key recruits.
Willingham often bragged about his early and late tee times and the fact the he could get golf in in the morning and in the afternoon. He took his job and position for granted. He would have missed Quinn if Quinn wasn't just about forced into his lap.
Willingham was fired for underperformance on the field, under recruiting off it and and for double dealing behind Notre Dame's back.
Yet, he still could have left for the UW no strings attached, but he chose not to.
Did he do it on principle or because he would receive a big buyout if he was fired?
In the end Willingham had the heartiest last laugh. He was paid out over 5 large by ND while at the same time banking his UW salary and playing woe as me to the media without having to utter a word.
TW was the highest paid coach in college football for two years. Shed no tears for Ty.
As for three versus five years? ND fans see no difference between Ty and Bob Davie. Both were users who never cared one iota for ND. If Ty came before Davie, Davie would have got three years.
Interesting that my buddy sat in a box at a Mariner game and listened to Ty badmouth ND. Four years previous his good friend told him how Ty used to badmouth Stanford (who played for Stanford.)
Woe is Ty.
No school is good enough.
Oh, and Ty did hire one minority coordinator back in 1995. He fired him three years later.
There's not a lot to like in Tyland.
from about 1 month ago
Stanford was my home golf course (for high school) from 1998-2001, and I went to Notre Dame from 2001-2005.
From firsthand experience, definitely true that Ty knew his way around the courses...
from about 1 month ago
My apologies to Kevin White for accusing him of firing Willingham.
Again I am going to continue to disagree with you, and I guess we will just have to agree to disagree. I think the big thing that is glaring is the double standard. Alot of the arguments posed are speculation or second hand accounts from your buddies. I am not saying they are lying, but I am imagining your buddies are ND fans and have a predispotion to not like Willingham. The facts don't lie. 21-15 for Ty and 22-15 CW. If the reasons for Willingham's firing is downward turn of performance on the field, I would argue that Willingham was 6-5 and went to a bowl game the year he was fired. The third year Weis had a sharp decline in winning and was 3-9.
Over the three seasons look at there numbers comparing Weis and Willingham
vs. USC vs. UM vs. Top 25 vs. Top 10 big losses of 20 or more points
Ty: 0-3 Ty: 2-1 Ty: 7-8 Ty: 3-5 Ty: 13
CW: 0-3 CW: 1-2 CW: 4-8 CW: 1-7 CW: 10
You can't say there wasn't a sharp field decline if you compare the numbers between the two coaches. CW has had three recruiting classes and hasn't done anything with those classes. He had one class remaining from Willingham's tenure and that means that the majority of the players recruited are CW's. The argument that outside of BQ's class ND was not good is incorrect too. Bottom line is it's not where your class is ranked but how the team is. Willingham's 2002 class and 2003 class went 29-6 as juniors and seniors. Doesn't sound like too bad of a class.
I still don't agree with the notion you have to hire black coaches simply because they are black or minorities. He comments on hiring practices because he is a representative of the BCA. He should be able to hire qualified candidates for positions just like any other coach.
And Willingham got five million from ND because they signed him a 5 year deal. When you fire someone early that is breach of contract and by law ND is obligated to pay a severance package. You can dislike Willingham all you want. That is your right, but you can't say that ND is that much better off with CW by looking at those numbers.
With all that said good luck in the fall.
about 1 month ago
First and foremost, I will be upfront about my sincere and deep-rooted disdain for all things Notre Dame sports. I am surprised that they haven't changed Touchdown Jesus to "Touchdown Weiss."
That is not the point. The point is the best coaches should be getting the jobs. You cannot on one hand say "Why did Ty not hire black coaches" and on the other say "Coaches need to be getting the jobs they deserve." Willingham should have been hiring the best coaches he could get, regardless of race. If he did not get qualified black or minority candidates, then he should not hire him and that is the sole criterion here.
Also, Willingham can coach. How about a Pac-10 Championship and four bowl games (including a Rose Bowl) in seven seasons at Stanford, not to mention the most wins by a coach at Stanford in 60+ years. Now Ty is back in the Pac-10 and rebuilding that program that was in a free fall. In fact, in 2006, they started 4-1 before losing their starting QB.
I'm glad you prefaced your article by saying that you are biased, because clearly you are. I find it hard to believe you gave Ty a chance, because I've spent time at ND, know players that played for him, met him, and watched him work with football players. The guy can coach and he knows how to lead men. He gets paid to win football games, not play with the media. Lets remember Charlie Weiss won games with the players Ty so lazily recruited.
about 1 month ago
Willingham is a terrible coach. The year he took Stanford to the Rose Bowl, they also lost to San Jose State! San Jose State!! The Pac-10 had a terrible year that year and Ty lucked out, but he is not a good coach. His lack of Xs and Os knowledge is glaring and there's a good reason he was never a coordinator (hint, it's because he doesn't have a clue what makes a good offense or defense).
about 1 month ago
Ty was not a good coach by ND standards.
He was a slightly above average coach by Stanford standards.
He is a terrible coach by UW standards.
Those are unbiased facts.
Another fact, his recruiting at ND was not going to get ND to the next level. That is another unbiased fact. Same at UW, btw. It was the same at Stanford.
I was biased FOR Willingham.
about 1 month ago
Ummm.... Willingham did offer the d-coordinator job to Dewayne Walker after he fired Kent Baer. So, he offered the job to a black guy after he fired a white guy. Walker didn't accept the position. You can't fault Willingham there. He also replaced Eric Yarbers, who is black, with DJ Williams who also is black. You have to tell the whole story. Leaving these details out sort of renders your article useless.
about 1 month ago
Erik --
Interesting comments, but they don't alter the facts. Ty has not hired a minority coordinator in six years and only one in his entire career (and fired him.)
Those are facts. The details of coulda, woulda, shoulda don't change those facts. There have been hundreds of qualified black candidates available to to Ty, he chose to go in a different direction. Dewayne Walker is a poor example, he was already a coordinator, so Ty wouldn't have been growing the pool at all. The point isn't that Ty doesn't like black coordinators, it's that he hasn't hired them when he's had multiple opportunities.
More to the point, I'm holding Willingham to his own threshold. "You've got to explain the numbers,” said Willingham.
Every school who hasn't hired a minority as a head coach can cite details as to why they didn't, it doesn't change the overall fact that there is lack of black head coaches in in college football and there has been a lack of black coordinators under Willingham.
Those are the facts as Ty himself has used them.
What you're saying is that there are legitimate excuses, there may be, but in the end the numbes don't lie. Ty hasn't hired a black coordinator since 1995 and fired the one he did hire in three years.
Ty could have helped create a larger pool of qualified black head coaching candidates and he didn't.
He's at best, negligent to his own cause. He's at worse, a hypocrite.
about 1 month ago
Should Willingham have kept the coordinator on longer than 3 years even though he was bad?
How would the numbers look if each head coach hired a black coordinator every 13 years vs. many of them never hiring black coordinators at all?
Keep in mind that Ty has had black assistant coaches who potentially could've been coordinators but left for better opportunities (that has to count for something right?). Trent Miles is now the Head Coach at Indiana State, his DB coach (forget his name) left his staff to be the DB coach for the Chicago Bears, and Eric Yarber left to work for Dennis Erickson again since he has been with Erickson no matter where he went.
By the way, how many games does Weis have to win to keep his job? Word is that Willingham has to win at the very least 6 games (enough for a bowl game) to keep his.
What if this reasonably happens and Weis goes 5-7? Sure some games can go either way but would Charlie get canned after another bad year?
Sept. 6 SAN DIEGO STATE (W)
Sept. 13 MICHIGAN (L)
Sept. 20 at Michigan State (L)
Sept. 27 PURDUE (L)
Oct. 4 STANFORD (W)
Oct. 11 at North Carolina (L)
Oct. 18 Open Date
Oct. 25 at Washington (L)
Nov. 1 PITTSBURGH (W)
Nov. 8 at Boston College(L)
Nov. 15 at Navy (Baltimore) (W)
Nov. 22 SYRACUSE (W)
Nov. 29 at USC (L)
about 1 month ago
I think it's fair to point out a few things from a Washington perspective.
Ty came to Washington under much different circumstances than at any of his previous jobs. Our program was definintly headed in the wrong direction as far as the quaility of kids Rick Knew-Weasel was bringing in (look at our police blotter from 2000) (I still can't believe UCLA hired him - His previous stops at Colorado and Washington ended in total disaster).
We were looking at another probation situation after we just got healthy from the 1993 probations.
Ty was basically asked to come in and clean-up this program player wise. To that regard he has exceeded all expectations Recruiting has gotten better year after year and last year Scout.com ranked our class 14th in the Nation.
This year has not seen the same success (so far) however. My thought though is that our President-Mark Emmert, did not help that situation at all when he publically stated that Ty must win or else. That comment, I'm sure, is being played by every coach who is recruiting the same kids Ty is going after.
That being said - If Ty does not win this year (7-5 is a must to keep his job),I think he hired his replacement in Ed Donatell.
about 1 month ago
The TW/CW argument isn't germane. It's a good debate, but not one that has a place in this conversation.
To answer your question, I don't think Charlie will get canned unless the season is a disaster (sub .500) and even then I doubt it. He's basically been dealt a death penalty with regard to numbers and caliber of recruits left behind and his first class is just now Juniors.
His Junior and Senior classes last year were historic lows in number and quality for ND, so there's good rationale to let him build the program back up.
about 1 month ago
Dewayne Walker is not a poor example. It doesn't matter if he was already a coordinator or not. The fact is Willingham did offer him a job. He also interviewed Ron English. Willingham has employed several black coaches. Bob Simmons, was a head coach before he came to UW, so I guess that's going in the opposite direction. He hired Charlie Baggett as the WR coach. He is giving opportunities to black coaches, but if he doesn't feel they are the right fit for the job, you can't fault him. The fact is he is giving plenty of opportunities to them.
Washington has 3 black head coaches for their top three sports. How many does Notre Dame have? I think someone else should look in the mirror on who is being detrimental.
about 1 month ago
how is it not? you are criticizing Ty for as quoted in the article "But when wins and recruiting nose-dived simultaneously while Willingham talked in sweeping platitudes about nothing and perfected his lob wedge, those of us who followed the program closely knew Notre Dame was on the precipice of a virtual death penalty.Willingham, despite one very good class, was considered a lazy recruiter (as noted in the Chicago Tribune) who was letting the program rot from underneath." The only comparisons I have is CW and Bob Davie.
Again your math is off. The 2004 class (ty's last class) plays the 2004 season not the 2005. So the 2004 class would've either been red shirt juniors or true seniors last season. Meaning only red shirt seniors remain for this season from Willingham's last class. CW's first class the 2005 class is either redshirt juniors or true seniors this year.
about 1 month ago
Erik - The record of hiring is Ty's. He bemoans the lack of head coaching hires, but no matter what qualification you bring, he's hired exactly one person in 13 years (and fired him) into the position that creates head coaches. By his own numbers standard, he's failed. The math is indisputable. You can make up any excuse or alibi you want, but you should then afford the same excuses and alibis to the rest of college football. You can't have it both ways. Willingham has hire and fired one black coach in thirteen years, meanwhile he criticizes others for doing the same thing he's done.... hired no black coaches. You can't have it both ways.
Chris - Ty's last two classes were the junior and senior classes. As you know, recruiting is a year long process. His abysmal recruiting was one of the reasons he was fired and the main reason ND collapsed in 2008. It's not a point of dispute. Ty recruited all but three people in this year's coming senior class and all of the 5th years and they are.... terrible by any measure and small in number.
It doesn't really matter much, since ND has now recruited at a completely different statosphere since Ty left.
Proof will bee seen (or not) on the field.
Cheers.
about 1 month ago
collapsed in 2007... that is.
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