Should Ty Willingham get the ax at Notre Dame?

[Young Drachma]

Honeymoon is over for Ty (ESPN.com) (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=wojnarowski_adrian&id=1742132)

Thoughts?'

[HornedFrog Purple]

Absolutely not. At least see what he can do with his own players and his full system implemented first.

[dawgfan]

Absolutely not. At least see what he can do with his own players and his full system implemented first.

No kidding. Even with all the uproar over Frank Solich getting canned by Nebraska, at least he got 5 years there - enough time to make the team completely his own.

Notre Dame fans may be the most spoiled in all of college football...

[HornedFrog Purple]

heh half of the Nebraska fans are already calling for Callahan's head, and he hasn't coached a game for them yet.

I was reading the issue regarding recruiting and I truly believe Notre Dame needs to get off its holier than the rest of the NCAA snide and join a major conference.

Edit: as scholarships have been reduced, Notre Dame cannot have 110 High School All-Americans on its roster anymore, and can't nationally pull the recruits like it used to.

[MrBug708]

Ty won't suceed at ND as long as he tries to run the complex offense known as the WCO

[WSUCougar]

Slight threadjack here, but how did ND do in recruiting this year? I can't recall seeing or hearing anything on their class.

[dawgfan]

Slight threadjack here, but how did ND do in recruiting this year? I can't recall seeing or hearing anything on their class.

It wasn't a top-25 class according to theInsiders.com, but it looks like a pretty good crop - four 4* guys, ten 3* guys, four 2* guys. Not a big class (though I don't know how many schollies they had available) and it looks awfully light on linemen (2 OL, 1 DT).

[dacman]

Lemming ranked them 24th according to the article, but several others (theInsiders, CFN, rivals) did not have them ranked in the top 25.

[SteelerFan448]

He should get at least five years. It is tough to turn around a college football program quickly. I would be disappointed too if I were a big ND fan after last years performance.

[Noop]

Honestly they reason Notre Dame isn't as good as they use to be is simply no kid (black) grows up saying I want to play for the Irish. They can recruit a good recruit or two but you need about 50 or so good recruits to bring back the spirit of the Irish.

[JeeberD]

Good lord, give the man some time before you kick him to the curb...

[tucker342]

No kidding! He should at least have a chance to get his own recruits in there...

[vex]

That's also the problem, he isn't getting any recruits.

[Noop]

What vexroid said I co-sign

:)

noop

[BishopMVP]

That's also the problem, he isn't getting any recruits.
He got good ones the previous two years. Give the guy a break. He was starting a true Freshman at QB last year against one of the toughest schedules in the nation. This year or next the Irish will be back to 9-10 wins with Quinn and the WR's (Stovall/McKnight, etc.) maturing. Expecting more than that every year with the schedule they play and the academic requirements is pretty ludicrous. He made a mistake not choosing the offense that the talent dictated (Julius Jones was the only great offensive player last year) but ND will be better off in the long run as long as they don't fire him. Other than a Bob Stoops or Kirk Ferentz, Willingham is still one of the best college coaches out there, especially since he understands the academic side which is important to ND.

[k0ruptr]

Notre Dame will run the WCO solidly this year, I'd put my money on it. and next year they will be even better.

[vtbub]

9 wins or he's gone.

Until the Irish realize they aren't elite playing non-conference football anymore, they'll continue to underachieve.

[Solecismic]

With that schedule, 8 wins would be quite an achievement. While I personally love to see Notre Dame lose, Willingham hasn't exactly failed by any means. He deserves at least another couple of seasons.

[Easy Mac]

yes

[dawgfan]

Just for reference, here is Ty Willingham's record while at Stanford, along with prior and subsequent coaches:

1992 Bill Walsh 10-3 Blockbuster Bowl
1993 Bill Walsh 4-7
1994 Bill Walsh 3-7-1
1995 Ty Willingham 7-4-1 Liberty Bowl
1996 Ty Willingham 7-5 Sun Bowl
1997 Ty Willingham 5-6
1998 Ty Willingham 3-8
1999 Ty Willingham 8-4 Rose Bowl
2000 Ty Willingham 5-6
2001 Ty Willingham 9-3 Seattle Bowl
2002 Buddy Teevens 2-9
2003 Buddy Teevens 4-7

To recap, that's a 17-24-1 (41.7%) record for Walsh in 3 seasons, a 44-36-1 (54.9%) record for Willingham in 7 seasons including their 1st Rose Bowl since 1971, and a 6-16 (27.3%) record for Teevens in 2 seasons.

Give him a chance and I think he'll do quite well there...