Notre Dame? Notre Shame!
You know how you just see something and it doesn’t surprise you. As much as you want to be surprised, shocked, or angry it just doesn’t surprise you? Well that happened to me this weekend when I learned that the first year Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis was given a ten year extension making him coach in South Bend until 2018 or something like that.
Now I like Weis. Just like me he is a big guy who despite being offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots for their three super bowl wins, and winning rings as a coach with the New York Giants, nobody would even interview him because they felt that he had a weight problem. He became so frustrated that he went and had the gastric bypass surgery to help him slim down. Unfortunately there were complications and he has serious problems walking now. I’ve always thought he was a nice coach.
My problem is with Notre Dame. The same school that everyone wants to hold to a higher standard, the same school that has its own TV deal with NBC, the same school that feel that their football program is too good to be affiliated with any conference has just shown a blatant sign of racism.
Things have been good at Notre Dame. The team has a 5-2 record, they should’ve beaten USC two weeks ago and their offense looks 100% better than it did the previous year before Weis took over. Everyone is very excited about the way things are going.
Three years ago everyone at Notre Dame was very excited as well, when a coach came in and turned things around and helped Notre Dame start out with a 8-0 record with wins over USC, Michigan, and Purdue. The school was applauded after giving their new coach a chance breathing hope into a dying program and taking a tremendous stride towards helping college football become more diverse.
That coach was Tyrone Willingham and for those that don’t know he is black. He accepted the Notre Dame job after others didn’t want it and another coach was hired and fired within ten days after learning that he had lied on his resume. Back then everyone praised Notre Dame for giving a black man a chance. A year later they couldn’t throw him out fast enough.
Granted Tyrone’s last two years weren’t as good as his first season. He signed a five year deal and told everyone even when they were winning that he is going to need time to get his players in and get his system working. In his second year Notre Dame had a 5 and 6 record and boosters asked for Willingham to get fired, even going so far as to threaten the school by not giving them money. In his third year he was 7-4 and had a invitation to a bowl game. He had signed some big named recruits and looked to be on his way to turning things around in the next year or two. But they fired him before he even coached his last game. The school wanted to go after former Utah and current Florida Gator’s coach Urban Myer so they had to fire Willingham first. Myer went elsewhere and they reluctantly ended up with Weis.
After seven games, not the undefeated 8 games that Willingham had and still with the potential to duplicate last years record with 7 and 4, Notre Dame opens their checkbook and signs him to a new ten year extension. Why? I think we all know why, but will the media say it? Probably not.
I wish Weis well, but to be honest the move didn’t surprise me. If anything this is more of a reason to support HBCU athletics outside of homecoming, classics, and that lone rival game. There was a time when school’s like Notre Dame wouldn’t even let us on the field to play, yet our best players have to go there because they have all of the money, support, and resources to help them get to the NFL.
Now I like Weis. Just like me he is a big guy who despite being offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots for their three super bowl wins, and winning rings as a coach with the New York Giants, nobody would even interview him because they felt that he had a weight problem. He became so frustrated that he went and had the gastric bypass surgery to help him slim down. Unfortunately there were complications and he has serious problems walking now. I’ve always thought he was a nice coach.
My problem is with Notre Dame. The same school that everyone wants to hold to a higher standard, the same school that has its own TV deal with NBC, the same school that feel that their football program is too good to be affiliated with any conference has just shown a blatant sign of racism.
Things have been good at Notre Dame. The team has a 5-2 record, they should’ve beaten USC two weeks ago and their offense looks 100% better than it did the previous year before Weis took over. Everyone is very excited about the way things are going.
Three years ago everyone at Notre Dame was very excited as well, when a coach came in and turned things around and helped Notre Dame start out with a 8-0 record with wins over USC, Michigan, and Purdue. The school was applauded after giving their new coach a chance breathing hope into a dying program and taking a tremendous stride towards helping college football become more diverse.
That coach was Tyrone Willingham and for those that don’t know he is black. He accepted the Notre Dame job after others didn’t want it and another coach was hired and fired within ten days after learning that he had lied on his resume. Back then everyone praised Notre Dame for giving a black man a chance. A year later they couldn’t throw him out fast enough.
Granted Tyrone’s last two years weren’t as good as his first season. He signed a five year deal and told everyone even when they were winning that he is going to need time to get his players in and get his system working. In his second year Notre Dame had a 5 and 6 record and boosters asked for Willingham to get fired, even going so far as to threaten the school by not giving them money. In his third year he was 7-4 and had a invitation to a bowl game. He had signed some big named recruits and looked to be on his way to turning things around in the next year or two. But they fired him before he even coached his last game. The school wanted to go after former Utah and current Florida Gator’s coach Urban Myer so they had to fire Willingham first. Myer went elsewhere and they reluctantly ended up with Weis.
After seven games, not the undefeated 8 games that Willingham had and still with the potential to duplicate last years record with 7 and 4, Notre Dame opens their checkbook and signs him to a new ten year extension. Why? I think we all know why, but will the media say it? Probably not.
I wish Weis well, but to be honest the move didn’t surprise me. If anything this is more of a reason to support HBCU athletics outside of homecoming, classics, and that lone rival game. There was a time when school’s like Notre Dame wouldn’t even let us on the field to play, yet our best players have to go there because they have all of the money, support, and resources to help them get to the NFL.
Nice story!