The World According to Oatney

Tyrone Willingham fired at Notre Dame

Tyrone Willingham has been fired, ESPN is reporting. Willingham had a record of 21-15, including a 6-5 mark this year. The Fighting Irish lost 41-10 to No. 1 Southern Cal on Saturday. (NOTE: Since USC is Notre Dame's biggest rival, my guess is that wealthier members of the strong Irish circle of alumni had as much to do with this as did Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White.)

I did think Willingham was a mediocre coach, and I thought he might eventually be asked to leave. However, Notre Dame has always operated with class, at least up to this point. I believed that if Willingham were removed from his position, the on-paper reason would be because his contract had expired, that ND would simply refuse to extend his contract, thus obligating him to leave, and neither firing him as Head Football Coach nor forcing him to resign. Since Tyrone Willingham's hiring was a sensitive matter anyway (he was ND's first black coach), it might have been more appropriate to let him go by simply letting his contract run out. Notre Dame has chosen to fire him instead, which may invariably bring on a boycott by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

I am in no way disputing that Willingham deserved to be fired. Notre Dame has traditionally been the measuring stick of NCAA football, winning more AP national championships (the last in 1988) and Heisman Trophies than any other school. Notre Dame has grown over the years to expect excellence from its football program, and in recent years, ND has lost much of the measure of national (and world) stature it once held for its football excellence. Notre Dame fans have a right and a duty to expect great performances from their coaches. Tyrone Willingham did some good things as coach, but he couldn't turn the corner. From a fan perspective, it was time for Willingham to go. Tyrone Willingham was not hired at Notre Dame just because he was black. He was not fired because of racism. He was fired because it was time for something different. I believe Ty Willingham will be a great coach some day, somewhere, I just don't know where that would be right now.

Speculation now turns to Utah coach Urban Meyer, many already saying that he'll be on his way to South Bend after what he's done for the Utes. We'll keep updating this story, because there will be more to come...


ESPN wire services contributed to some parts of this post report.

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 5:20 PM