Perspective
I had to share Mike Coffey's eye-opening comparison between ND's roster woes to the NCAA sanctions received by the '95 Miami Hurricanes. In a post below, I said, "Things would not be any worse had ND been hit with a major infraction and the NCAA cut our scholarships in half for 2 seasons." Coffey's research confirms that thought. Essentially, it's as if Weis walked into a program reeling from the 3rd harshest NCAA penalty ever issued! Check it out...
In his article on Sunday, Coffey explains,
"When the NCAA penalized Miami in 1995 after the Pell Grant scandal and other illegal payments, they lost 24 scholarships over the next two years, knocking them down to 61 scholarships overall. That was the second harshest penalty the NCAA has ever levied after the SMU death penalty.
When Weis arrived, he inherited only 68 scholarship players. Now there are only eight scholarship players in the current senior class [I thought it was 6] and 13 in the junior class. Had ND's roster size been an NCAA penalty, it would have been the third harshest ever levied."
The Notes from the Geetar go on to explain that to make matters worse... the 2-year NCAA-imposed penalty on Miami left them with low quantity, but some high quality (4 & 5-star players). The 2-year Willingham-imposed penalty on Notre Dame left them with both low quantity and low quality (apparently Tyrone decided to compete for players with Stanford, Northwestern, North Carolina, etc.).
Butch Davis took over after these penalties and won 8 games in his first 2 seasons (Charlie won 9 and 10 respectively). In his third year, (when the empty shelves became upperclassmen) Davis won only 5 games and none of them were against the caliber of teams ND has played so far. Miami improved in years 4 and 5, winning 9 games in each, and when the smoke had cleared, competed for the Championship in 2000 and won it '01.
I know recruiting details are only for geeks like me, but it boggles my mind how a majority of the media is so ignorant of these vicious sanctions imposed by Ty Dubya. I'm sure some are well aware, but conveniently choose to ignore. Either way, they would much rather have you believe these are all Charlie's guys and Ty was fired because the University is racist. More on that below.
In his article on Sunday, Coffey explains,
"When the NCAA penalized Miami in 1995 after the Pell Grant scandal and other illegal payments, they lost 24 scholarships over the next two years, knocking them down to 61 scholarships overall. That was the second harshest penalty the NCAA has ever levied after the SMU death penalty.
When Weis arrived, he inherited only 68 scholarship players. Now there are only eight scholarship players in the current senior class [I thought it was 6] and 13 in the junior class. Had ND's roster size been an NCAA penalty, it would have been the third harshest ever levied."
The Notes from the Geetar go on to explain that to make matters worse... the 2-year NCAA-imposed penalty on Miami left them with low quantity, but some high quality (4 & 5-star players). The 2-year Willingham-imposed penalty on Notre Dame left them with both low quantity and low quality (apparently Tyrone decided to compete for players with Stanford, Northwestern, North Carolina, etc.).
Butch Davis took over after these penalties and won 8 games in his first 2 seasons (Charlie won 9 and 10 respectively). In his third year, (when the empty shelves became upperclassmen) Davis won only 5 games and none of them were against the caliber of teams ND has played so far. Miami improved in years 4 and 5, winning 9 games in each, and when the smoke had cleared, competed for the Championship in 2000 and won it '01.
I know recruiting details are only for geeks like me, but it boggles my mind how a majority of the media is so ignorant of these vicious sanctions imposed by Ty Dubya. I'm sure some are well aware, but conveniently choose to ignore. Either way, they would much rather have you believe these are all Charlie's guys and Ty was fired because the University is racist. More on that below.
Ryan: I am suprized at the comments you have made against T. Willingham. Unless you have walked a mile in his shoes, really understand what it means to be an African American Male in the United States, and let's add the historical perspective of the Hoosier State... I would only say be very very careful. I love working for Notre Dame University and Love you as Frank's big brother, but must you be so crule.
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Hi Sherry, thanks for weighing in on the subject. Trust that my angry tone is directed at the media, not Tyrone. I know (or at least think) Willingham would be the first to admit that he did not live up to the job performance expectations at ND. He underachieved with the players he had, and signed undoubtedly the worst two recruiting classes in history (both in quality and quantity).
I know that racism certainly exists in all corners of our country, and the University of Notre Dame is not immune to this fact, sadly. However, I become very frustrated when the media proclaims race as the reason Ty was fired after year 3 and Charlie will not be. Looking at their job performance with any level of depth proves otherwise. Race was not a factor when Ty was hired in the first place, nor was it a factor when Notre Dame Nation was ready to build a statue of him when he started 8-0. How could it be a factor in his firing, when he lost to teams with far less talent, and could not recruit young athletes for the future?
One final thought on why I believe it is unfair to hit Notre Dame with the "institutional racism" tag like so many writers have done in the last few weeks: While ND graduates 90% of its black football players, most top programs (i.e., Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Georgia, Texas, LSU, Alabama, etc.) graduate, on average, less than 40% of their black players. That, I believe, is racism. Where are those headlines? Furthermore, the media also fails to mention that ND is the only team (out of 119) in the country to currently employ African Americans at both the Offensive and Defensive Coordinator positions.
Thanks again for commenting. I truly hope you do not take offense to my commentary. Notre Dame has been taking a beating on this subject, and I am merely trying to defend my beloved university. I'd love to talk with you more on this issue.
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