Willingham Fired

[EnviedOne]

http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/n...ingham_frt.jpg

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Tyrone Willingham has been fired as coach at Notre Dame after three seasons in which he failed to return one of the nation's most storied football programs to prominence.

The decision to sever ties with the coach was made during an emergency meeting of the univeristy's board of trustees Monday night, ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel has learned. At the time seven assistant football coaches were on the road recruiting. Upon learning of the decision Tuesday afternoon, Willingham called his coaches and, according to one source, said to them "come on in, we're done."

Willingham went 21-15 during his tenure, including 6-5 this season. The Fighting Irish lost 41-10 to No. 1 Southern California on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear whether Willingham would coach the team at the Insight Bowl on Dec. 28. Notre Dame accepted the invitation to the game on Sunday.

Athletic director Kevin White scheduled a news conference for 4 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Sophomore free safety Tommy Zbikowski told ESPN.com's Wayne Drehs the team had scheduled a 5 p.m. meeting for Tuesday to dicuss bowl plans. Instead, the team attended an emotional meeting at 1 p.m. with Willingham and White who said "they decided to go in different directions."

"I feel bad for the seniors," Zbikowski said. "First they have to go through the (Bob) Davie firing, then the (George) O'Leary controversy and now this. Those guys have constantly helped the underclassmen and they've been so selfless, and now they have to go through this again. The other bad part is most of the coaches were out recruiting, so we didn't even get to talk to them.

"The best way to describe it is shock. You hear about this stuff on the message boards, but no one thinks it can happen and then there's a meeting called out of nowhere and it happens."

Willingham's departure comes after a season in which the Irish pulled off upset victories over Michigan and Tennessee but also were beaten badly by USC and Purdue. Student groups were planning a protest on campus Tuesday evening to call for Willingham's firing; he faced criticism from fans much of the season.

"The only way to look at this is as a fresh start," Zbikowski said. "We have to keep our heads on straight, move forward and get ready to play in the bowl game. It's part of college football, part of the business and when you're the coach at Notre Dame, you have to win."

Notre Dame's loss to USC on Saturday marked the fifth time the Irish lost by 31 points or more under Willingham -- including three against the rival Trojans. By comparison, former coach Bob Davie's team had just one such loss; Lou Holtz and Dan Devine had none.

Notre Dame hired Willingham, the first black head coach in any sport for the Irish, from Stanford to replace George O'Leary. The former Georgia Tech coach resigned five days after taking the job because he lied about his academic and athletic achievements on his resume.

With Tony Samuel fired by New Mexico State and Fitz Hill resigning from San Jose State last week, there are now only two black head coaches in Division I-A: Karl Dorrell at UCLA and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State.

In his first season, Willingham had many fans recalling Notre Dame's glory days, taking over a losing squad and turning things around immediately. The Irish won eight straight games to start the season before finishing 10-3 and going to the Gator Bowl.

But during his second year, the Irish fell to 5-7, with four of their losses coming by 26 points or more. It was Notre Dame's third losing record in five seasons, the team's worst stretch in 115 years of football.

One coach certain to be mentioned as a possible replacement for Willingham is Utah's Urban Meyer, an Irish assistant from 1996-00. The Utes are 11-0 and ranked No. 5. Meyer said he hadn't heard about Willingham's departure from Notre Dame until he was asked about it by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Asked if he has had any contact with Notre Dame or if he would be interested in coaching the Fighting Irish, Meyer responded: "I won't comment on it."

Notre Dame has won eight AP college football national championships, more than any other school, with the last in the 1988 season under Holtz. Players from the school have won the Heisman Trophy seven times, also the most in college football.

But the Irish haven't won a bowl game since ending the 1993 season ranked No. 2 after beating Texas A&M 24-21 in the Cotton Bowl. Since then, the Irish have lost six straight postseason games.

URL: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1935138

[AlbuquerqueIrishFan]

I wish Ty the best. I think he'd be a good fit for Washinton and he'd be back in the Pac 10 again.

I'm more concerned with a replacement. Urban Meyer we're calling you!

[NDLyght37]

I'd search a lil' bit longer than that for a replacement.

I think Meyer's a solid coach...but will his offense work in South Bend?
And for those who criticized Willingham's experience before he was hired...Urban has less than Ty.

Not to say that I wouldn't be happy with Merer, but I think there are better fits out there (Tedford, Gruden, Hawkins, etc.).

[GoinIrishSince85]

I think you're right there Albuquerque. Ty will be happier with a team like Washington. To be honest, Washington will open up a lot more recruiting opportunities then the ones he had with Stanford or Notre Dame. I think he's a great coach, but I don't think he's a good fit. As for Meyer, as impressive as his record is, I'm leery of hiring a guy with only 3 yrs of head coaching experiance, especially in the small markets he's coached in. Yeah, Utah is in the BCS, but could they compete with a USC or an Oklahoma or an Auburn? They're going to play Pittsburgh in the bowl game and despite the fact that Pitt has gotten lucky more than once this year, it's not gonna be a walk in the park for Utah. I don't want to take anything away from Utah, but I don't think they're proven yet. I'd rather see Meyer go to a bigger,more prominent program and then come coach the Irish (because I doubt this next coach is going to be here for Paterno years) and really prove himself. I'd rather see a coach like Ferentz or Butch Davis or even Ron Zook or Frank Solich (strange, haven't heard his name mentioned at all) come and coach this team.

[irishtexan]

Wait, were all 7 coaches that got fired in the process of recruiting on the road? If so, what the heck do we do now about recruiting, the deadline for commitments isnt too far away.

[jiggafini19]

Texan echoes a very important concern. What of the 11 verbals in hand and the other potentials in the bush?
Butch Davis brought Miami back with respect and integrity. His 11th hour recruiting skills there were top notch, a skill that Larry Coker has as well. Davis has brief NFL experience, but he has the ability to meet the standard that is Notre Dame Football. Urban Meyer is not the guy....right now.
Ron Zook is said to be interviewing in Champagin, IL this week. Can't see Ferentz leaving Iowa either, even with the White connection. Butch Davis or Jon Gruden? What about the Mooch up in Detroit? Harrington struggling, Lions all but out of the playoff hunt....could they get in touch with him again?

[QueensNY]

I'm hearing that willingham is going back to Stanford, I hope he doesn't take any of our committed recruits.