Ty Willingham: Stay or Go?

[QueensNY]

Originally Posted by irishtexan

OK, I just saw the Irish drive in the #1 team in the country and score. Why cant we play like that all year. I am so confused right now im getting pissed.

Look how they later adjusted. Why can't our coaching staff ever adjust late in games. Didn't take Carroll long. he had it fixed in the second quarter. I hope he goes back to the NFL....

[IrishMarine03]

Come on folks…this is not even a debatable issue any more. He must go and go now IOT allow recruiting to go forward with any semblance of enticing quality talent. The loss to USC on a National Stage, and the way it was prosecuted, has all but killed ND in the eyes of graduating players with any thought of going to ND. This has become a second-tier program with little hope of a rapid return to the national stage. GO GET URBAN MEYER…regardless of the cost and get him now. I have been a die-hard fan for years…however, if no immediate action is taken…ND will never again darken my TV set!

[Indyfan]

Everyone is talking about Urban. What about Jon Gruden?

[jiggafini19]

The problem here is that Gruden's season is currently in progress, which would make negotiations difficult. Do you wait another 4 weeks for the season to end, then go after him? What about recruits on the fence?

As for Meyer, it is no secret that he covets three jobs and ND is number one on his list. I'm going to guess that if he gets offered the job, he'll take it. Then we wait and see what happens. In two or three years, with either guy, we could be right back to where we started from and we'll be back here demanding another change.

Gruden covets the ND job too and the former NFL coach route is doing USC quite well as of late. Get it done, Mr. White. The time is now.

[Vince Young]

Jon Gruden? You mean the same Jon Gruden who took Tony Dungy's players to the Super Bowl the first year and then took the exact same roster to the cellar the next year? To echo the frequent cries of the Fire-Ty crowd, when you have championship talent on your team but can't win, the coaching is the problem. And the Bucs sure ain't looking too sharp this year either. Yeah, he's just perfect for turning Notre Dame around, sure.

At least Urban Meyer made Bowling Green and Utah better in his 2 years at each school, but so what? The MAC and MWC conferences aren't much to crow about. And as embarrassing as it was to watch Ty lose to BYU this year, it could've been worse: it could've been a division I-AA team. Just ask Urban Meyer about losing to South Florida some time. Then there's his tenure as receivers coach at Notre Dame, and I don't recall his receivers exactly terrorizing opposing defenses. Urban Meyer still has a LOT to prove.

Oh, Gruden and Meyer both love Notre Dame? Well, so did Gerry Faust and Bob Davie. 'nuff said.

Firing a head coach is disruptive to a team. If you're going to do it, you have to be darn sure the new guy is going to be better, or else all you've done is sacrificed stability in exchange for an even worse record. (6-5 is bad, but it can still be worse.) In 1958, Irish fans figured that ANYBODY could coach better than Terry Brennan had, but Joe Kuharich was about to prove them wrong... big time.

[QueensNY]

Originally Posted by Vince Young

Jon Gruden? You mean the same Jon Gruden who took Tony Dungy's players to the Super Bowl the first year and then took the exact same roster to the cellar the next year? To echo the frequent cries of the Fire-Ty crowd, when you have championship talent on your team but can't win, the coaching is the problem. And the Bucs sure ain't looking too sharp this year either. Yeah, he's just perfect for turning Notre Dame around, sure.

At least Urban Meyer made Bowling Green and Utah better in his 2 years at each school, but so what? The MAC and MWC conferences aren't much to crow about. And as embarrassing as it was to watch Ty lose to BYU this year, it could've been worse: it could've been a division I-AA team. Just ask Urban Meyer about losing to South Florida some time. Then there's his tenure as receivers coach at Notre Dame, and I don't recall his receivers exactly terrorizing opposing defenses. Urban Meyer still has a LOT to prove.

Oh, Gruden and Meyer both love Notre Dame? Well, so did Gerry Faust and Bob Davie. 'nuff said.

Firing a head coach is disruptive to a team. If you're going to do it, you have to be darn sure the new guy is going to be better, or else all you've done is sacrificed stability in exchange for an even worse record. (6-5 is bad, but it can still be worse.) In 1958, Irish fans figured that ANYBODY could coach better than Terry Brennan had, but Joe Kuharich was about to prove them wrong... big time.

Gruden does a great job with average Qb's. Look what he did with rich gannon turned him into a mvp, did a good job with brad johnson, and look at how well Griese is doing, he couldn't even start for the dolfins last year. Gruden would help Brady big time!

[Vince Young]

A good job with Brad Johnson? Are you kidding me? Johnson was average at best during Gruden's first year and was consistently cited as the weakest link on the team. During the 2nd-year meltdown, Gruden didn't do a good job with anybody, let along Johnson, and he finally had to bench him this year in favor of Griese, who really isn't doing all that much better. The Bucs had obviously lost confidence in Johnson, and Griese looks better than he really is... and he didn't look all that good on Sunday.

Gruden is not the guy for the Irish. Taking the exact same roster into a free-fall after winning the Super Bowl does not instill confidence in one's coaching abilities.