Head coach Tyrone Willingham will not be retained for 2005.

more certain than the sun rising tomorrow. i mean we all know that's a given.

 

I don't think that race has anyhting to do with it either. But as Tirk has pointed out Meyer is still available as is the Notre Dame job now. I am wondering if ND pulled this off in order to hire Meyer before he got hired by Florida, thus making him unavailable if they fired Ty in a year or 2.

By the way tirk, the other guys may like that broad but she scares the hell out of me!!!

 

i'm quite unsure myself. bring back the draft.

 

If notre Dame fired Ty because he is black as a few have insinuated, does that mean that Cleveland fired Davis because he is white?

And of course Stanford too, they didn't fire Ty but fired a white Buddy Teavens in the exact same time frame as Notre Dame, hhhmmm, we may have something here!!!

 

"the buddy system" from tulane didn't work at stanford either?

 

"Willingham Firing Sends Sobering Message To Black Coaaches" Michael Marot/ AP

Let the war begin! :dis:

 

:hihi:

 

I'm not trying to start anything here, but just try to look at this from a different perspective.

Being an African-American who also happens to have coached football at both the Highschool and Jr. High levels, I saw Notre Dame's hiring of Tyrone Willingham as a double-edged sword. If he had success, it would possibly open doors for others like me who aspire to coach at that level. If he failed, it could further the misperception that African-Americans don't have the mental capabilities to be head coaches. That being said, today is a sad day for me and other black coaches.
Is winning the bottom line in D1 football? Sure it is, but how about a fair chance to rebuild the program? If Notre Dame hasn't had a 1st round draft pick since 1993, I'm thinking that the problems with their program didn't begin with Ty Willingham. Most of the time in college coaching you hear that year 4 or 5 is when there should be marked improvement because the coach finally has a team made up of his players, therefore no excuses should be offered up at that point. Last time I checked this was year 3.
Am I saying that race was the deciding factor in this case? Not at all. However, anyone who is objective probably can reason that there were some factions in the ND community who were at least "uncomfortable" with Ty being the face of the program, especially in years that the Irish weren't in the BCS. If any of you think that there isn't a hiring problem in football, please explain why there are now only 2 African-American head coaches in D1 and only 3 in the NFL.

 

Coaches for large college football programs are drawn from a small pool. This pool is NFL failed coaches and asst's, and also college coordinators and succeeding coaches. Until a larger number of african americans prove themselves in these positions, I see this trend continueing. If Sylvester Croom won a National Championship next year, do you really think that no one else in the NCAA or NFL for that matter, wouldnt be foaming at the mouth to try and sign him. Or if Charlie Strong - DC for Fla and SC was on a Title team and had a rock solid defense... the same would occur. I don't know the statistics, but how many african american athletes that dont make it in the pros go in to coaching ? How many AA asst. and coordinators are there in the NFL and NCAA?


Even if Willingham's name was O'Leary and he had the same record, he would have been released... Notre Dame is used to being a perenial power and for years they have been a punching bag. ND made a decision based on performance and recruiting... really it shouldnt be difficult to recruit for Notre Dame especially having a minority head coach. He was able to get it done on the West Coast but unable to do it on the East.

 

I love the point that you are making. But ask yourself this? How long did Sly Croom have to "prove himself" as a NFL coordinator before a head coaching opportunity finally came? What about Romeo Crennel? He's been the DC on a two-time SuperBowl champ, yet he seems to get little mention. Marvin Lewis built the best defense in football while in Baltimore, yet had to be publicly snubbed by Tampa before getting a chance in Cincy. Did Art Shell not "prove himself" with the Raiders enough to get a 2nd chance? 3 playoff years out of 5 seasons, isn't good enough? Again, I see your point, but I would have to add that African-Americans have to get those coordinator positions first before they can actually prove themselves. I'm not one of those people who screams racism at everything that happens that I don't agree with, but you can't seriously tell me that there aren't enough quality African-Americans out there who want to be position coaches, coordinators, or head coaches.