Notre Dame's Next Coach Will Demand Lower Academic Standards

If the University of Notre Dame fires head football coach Charlie Weis, his replacement will demand the university lower academic standards for football players. It will be written into his contract.

If Notre Dame has decided to pursue an experienced college coach with national championship or BCS-bowl credentials, they will have to bend on the issue of academic eligibility and course requirements.

High-powered college football coaches are well aware of the difficulties in winning and the demands of winning at a school like Notre Dame. They will not be naive; they know what they need to get to a BCS bowl and beyond.

In 2004, all-time Notre Dame great Paul Horning made it clear that the school should ease up on academic restrictions. Horning told ESPN's Dan Patrick that former coach Lou Holtz showed him a list of the top-50 recruits and explained that the university's admissions office would only allow him to recruit three players on the list.

Horning felt in the late 1980s, when Notre Dame won its last national championship, that academic standards were eased. He used Tony Rice, the quarterback of that team, as an example. 

Horning explained that Rice, at that time, was one of only two Prop 48 players to ever play for Notre Dame. He told Patrick, "Tony Rice honored himself and graduated in four years."

Aron Gopal, of the Daily Grind, when talking about the Holtz era, said, "In the 1980s, Notre Dame wasn't much more than a football school. Consequently, Holtz could recruit anyone he wanted, including non-qualifiers like Rice."

In 2001, when Gopal made this statement, he said, "Notre Dame supporters have yet to grasp that things have changed at Notre Dame." He went on to point out that Notre Dame was on academic par with schools like Vanderbilt and Georgetown.

Regarding the calculus requirement for all freshmen, Gopal said, "It prevented Bob Davie from recruiting T.J. Duckett and David Terrell, both of who wanted to go to Notre Dame but couldn't pass calculus."

One of the names that keeps popping up as a replacement for Weis is Florida coach Urban Meyer. According to ESPN, Meyer told the media today that he wants to stay at Florida "as long as they'll have me."

Those words are similar to those of Nick Saban when asked if he wanted to remain as the Dolphins' coach in 2007. Saban left for the head coaching job at Alabama.

I don't know if Meyer would consider leaving Florida. If he did weigh the Notre Dame job, he'd be almost foolish if he thought he could win without the same recruiting advantages he has at Florida—one being the low academic standards they require of their football players.

In 2008, when the Atlanta Journal Constitution released their study on gaps between football players and students' SAT scores, they listed the University of Florida in the bottom 10 of their study, with their Florida football players averaging a score of 890.

In the top of their study were schools like Georgia Tech (1028) and Michigan (997). The study only included public universities. Notre Dame was not part of their findings.

Another name mentioned as Weis' replacement is University of Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. Kelly's four years at Cincinnati have been the best years in the history of the school. The Bearcats are currently No. 5 in this week's BCS rankings.

When the NCAA released the rankings for the 2009 Football Academic Progress Reports (APR) Notre Dame finished No. 10. Cincinnati finished No. 47.

It can be difficult understanding what the APR is trying to measure. It's based on eligibility, retention, and graduation of each scholarship athlete, but these are all relative to each school's degree of difficulty. For 2009, Notre Dame listed a 94 percent graduation rate while Cincinnati listed a graduation rate of 77 percent.

It becomes quite clear that Notre Dame's academic requirements are extremely difficult when compared to most schools in the FBS. This will not make it easy for the next coach to recruit—they have to be lowered.

Some will point to Jim Harbough coached Stanford, the school ranked No. 1 in every academic category for BCS schools, and say they are the exception. Stanford is 7-4 and just dropped out of the top 25.

In his third year as Stanford's coach, Harbaugh has led the Cardinal to their first winning season in eight years. He's beaten USC twice.  Maybe Harbaugh should be on the top of Notre Dame's list?

Notre Dame has some decisions to make. They have to decide if they want a new coach. If so, they have to decide on who that will be, but the biggest decision could be about lowering academic standards for football players.

Times have changed since the days when football powers didn't have to abide by the 85-man scholarship rule. There is more parity and more schools in the game—the money is good.

When former Notre Dame stars—some holding Heisman Trophies—say it's time to lower academic standards, it may be time for Notre Dame to listen.