Willingham was an emergency replacement after O'Leary was cut loose over the resume' fiasco. Notre Dame can be a top 10 team - hell if they win 8 games they'll be top 10 - but they will never be dominant again because they have to recruit against a lot of heavyweights now. Also, they insist on maintaining their high academic standards (not that there's anything wrong with that) which adds a degree of difficulty to the process. Urban Meyer wanted 6 "gimmes", i.e. recruits who fall below the standards, and they wouldn't go for it, so Meyer skedaddled off to Florida. Notre Dame is no longer a factor and I, for one, couldn't be happier.
Took the words right out of my mouth also. Is Willinghoam a good coach? I don't know if anyone can answer that question just yet as he only had like one good season at Stanford and one at Notre Dame.
With strict admission requirements, it's almost impossible to grade Willingham's job performance...Though I can say that Julius Jones developed well in his two years under Willingham... They also suffer by not being able to recruit top flight juco's to "plug gaps" like other top teams can. Imagine our defensive line performance without the emergence of Bastrop's own and juco transfer Claude Wroten? We'd be up a sh!t creek without him, and Notre Dame doesn't have that luxury...Nor does Notre Dame have the luxury of a Prop 48 qualifier...
While I think that things may be tougher at Notre Dame, I don't buy that they can't win because of academics. Nick Saban has won a National Championship here by raising the average intellegence of the players he recruits. We no longer bother with players that won't make the grades. Yes, we do get JuCo's but only a couple a year. Besides, they are a disater waiting to happen if you don't handle them right--just ask Jackie Sherrill. I know LSU isn't Notre Dame, but I think it is insulting to say that today's athlete cannot compete in the classroom. It also leads to too many high schools overlooking serious academic deficiencies because someone can throw the ball well. I applaud Notre Dame for insisting that the academic standards of their school must remain. I wish more schools did--and I think LSU is getting better under Saban. As a bit of an ND fan, I am disturbed by the apparent division among their board of trustees. That to me is a bigger problem than the schedule or the academics. We know well what can happen when members of the board stick their nose where it doesn't belong. As far as Willingham's credentials, the team was very inconsistent all three years he was there. They seemed no closer to understanding the offense this year than they were in 2002. That doesn't bode well for his coaching abilities. Three 30-point losses to your top rival (SC) is going to get you fired anywhere. That said, I am saddened that he didn't get the chance to finish the original contract. Lastly, I am very relieved that ND didn't make a serious move for Nick. He's the type of coach who could succeed there. GEAUX TIGERS
I'll bet the mortgage Nick Saban never coaches at the University of Notre Dame, and hasn't entertained the idea.
Notre Dame has a high opinion of itself that isn't necessarily shared by the rest of the CFB world. Hence, the low-ball offer to Meyer when ND didn't even realize that a substantially better UF offer was 95% completed. The ironic thing is that they turned around and offered Weiss the big-money offer that they wouldn't give Meyer! (Weiss was, what- about the 5th candidate following 4 turndowns?) Regarding academics, ND's entrance requirements aren't the real problem. There are plenty of talented kids that can qualify. The problem is the course workload. ND requires 17 hours in core curriculum, and that's about 3 more than the typical 14 required at most D-1 institutions. And I believe the 3 extra hours must be split into 1 math, 1 science, and 1 language studies. Despite all the academic assistance and programs now available to today's athlete, most just don't want to carry that type of workload day-in-day-out.
It's not just about being more difficult in the classroom. Notre Dame, and many private universities, use higher admission standards than the mandated NCAA standards for student-athletes. These schools are losing out on the big recruits b/c many simply don't meet the admission standards. This is a big reason why many of these private schools can't compete in football. IMO, this why they are having a difficult time finding a big name coach in recent hires. These coaches know it'll be difficult to recruit with the big schools. And Notre Dame doesn't pay top dollar for coaches.
