Who Will be the Next Coach at Notre Dame

What's he done that would cause grumbling? Not play for a BCS title? Please. Most Dogs fans were overjoyed with 2002 and 2005. Two much-overdue SEC championships bought a looong grace period for Richt.

One more thing: The heat this year -- remember, the first really down season that UGA has had under Richt -- has been directed largely in Willie Martinez's direction.

 

I think Mr. Farrar realized he overspoke a bit. And on a sports message board in season, a bunch of potential openings would ring up this many pages. I think bubbler's points have been spot on. This isn't an era when Lindsey Nelson's Notre Dame highlights show on Sundays was one of about three opportunities to see college football over a weekend. Texas/Florida/Alabama/Oklahoma/Missouri are the plum jobs now and will be for the foreseeable future. Notre Dame and Michigan are the ones to avoid: way overbloated sense of entitlement, a lotta hat with relatively little cattle.

 

I don't think it is not playing for a BCS title so much for Georgia as falling behind Alabama and Florida, and LSU. I give the program credit for actually scheduling decent teams from decent conferences, but Andy Staples said today things can go sideways in a hurry when it comes to SEC coaching jobs. One disappointing season fans can live with - two in a row and they see a trend.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/11/21/snaps-week12/index.html

 

I have no idea who Andy Staples is. I do know there is absolutely no attribution in his note -- just his unconfirmed thought that things might be "dicey" in Athens for Richt. He offers no evidence of this (except, of course, that Georgia's in a down year. That's obvious.)

The "heat," however, is on Willie Martinez and if the DC doesn't lose his job this offseason, then I might agree that there will be some grumbling directed at Richt.

That said, I fail to see how Georgia under Richt has "fallen behind" Alabama (LSU and Florida, I'll grant you, but so has everyone else.) Sure, 'Bama has had three very good years in a row, but the Tide still haven't won an SEC championship under Saban, nor played for a BCS title. Plus, there's that embarrassing loss to Utah on his resume. Richt's got two SEC rings and has won two Sugar Bowls out of three.

 

Stoops' bowl record, alone, is a huge negative.

 

I know when UT beat the Dawgs this year, a number of the boards on both sides were full of Richt-Fulmer comparisons; and, frankly, to this observer, a lot of the similarities were obvious...both have/had a hard time beating their nemesis, both have/had slipped on the recruiting trail compared to the other SEC schools...and both were overly loyal to undeserving assistants.

 

The Tribune suggests Kelly, Gay Patterson of TCU, Harbaugh, Butch Davis of North Carolina, and Tom Clements, the Green Bay Packers QB coach.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/chi-22-successors-notre-dame-nov22,0,4387822.story

 

I said gary patterson two weeks ago. (I'm not connected to the situation and have no evidece to point to it, but its just a hunch.)

 

Tom Clements name comes up EVERY time. In reality, never gets a real sniff.

He's burned a ton of bridges, has a rep (amongst the alum base) of having many of Charlie's "personality" issues, and hasn't been a head coach...just like Charlie and Davie. Can't fathom he'll get it this time, either...

 

He'll fit right in with us at ND then given our awful bowl record :-[

 

Tom Clements has the personality of a rock. Not what ND needs after abrasive Weis burned his social bridges around town.

Like Weis, he's a nice offensive mind, but ND can't take the risk of hiring another alum with no head coaching exeperience.

 

How many alums have head coaching experience?

While I'm sure they'd love an alum, I think their focus is on getting someone who "gets" Notre Dame -- who wants to be there, who gets the mission, and who isn't a mercenary.

Faust didn't go there, but boy did he love Notre Dame. Holtz didn't either, but he had an out clause in his contract with Minnesota that allowed him to take the ND job, and his son went to junior college (for the sole purpose of getting into ND) and then to ND before his father got there.

I'm not sure what other coaches feel that way about Notre Dame. Urban Meyer claimed to, but when push came to shove, he chose Florida.

Since I'm far from a college football expert, I really am curious if Skip Holtz is considered a good coach. He's an alum. He has head coaching experience, and he'd be a tie back to the last time the team was a National Champion.