Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Notre Dame fires coach after just three seasons ✓ By TOM COYNE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame’s return to glory under Tyrone Willingham was brief. Too brief 1 That’s why he was fired Tuesday after just three seasons at Notre Dame — the shortest tenure of any full-time coach since Hunk Anderson was there from 1931-33. “We simply have not made the progress on the field that we need to make,” athletic director Kevin White said. “Nor have we been able to create the positive momentum necessary in our efforts to return the Notre Dame program to the elite level of the college football world.” The school thought they found the perfect coach during Willingham’s first season. He got off to an 8-0 start — the second best start in school history — and after a surprisingly easy victory at Florida State, the Irish, at No. 4, had their highest ranking in eight years. Then they played Boston College. Fans wearing green “Return to Glory” T-shirts flooded Notre Dame Stadium, and the Irish wore green jerseys for good luck. The Irish lost 14-7, though, and the glory days were over. The Irish went 2-3 their last five games that season, including a 28-6 loss to North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl. They went 5-7 last season, losing by 30 or more points to Michigan, Florida State and Southern California. This season the Irish pulled off upsets of Michigan and Tennessee but also were beaten badly by USC and Purdue. They also lost games they were expected to win against BYU, Boston College and Pittsburgh. “We’ve been up and down and sideways a little bit, a little bit inconsistent,” White said. “I think the program is closer than when he arrived. I think we were making progress, by in my view and in the view of the university, we just didn’t make enough progress.” Players were considering whether to play in the Insight Bowl on Dec. 28, and White said he didn’t know who would coach the game. Notre Dame accepted the bowl invitation Sunday. White said he met Tuesday morning with Willingham to tell him he was fired, then both met later with some _._ m_ jetm - . -.-m- » . jk. JOE RAYMOND/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham runs onto the field with his team before a game against Stanford on Oct. 9 in South Bend, Ind. Willingham was fired Tuesday. players to tell them. Players were stunned. “I think it’s a shock to everybody,” tight end Jared Clark said. Other players declined comment, but were clearly surprised and saddened by the announcement. “As a player, you think it’s our fault. We didn’t get the job done,” Clark said. “I think coach Willingham was a great coach, and I enjoyed playing under him.” Notre Dame officials said Willingham had decided not to speak publicly Tuesday about his firing. White praised Willingham’s handling of the team, especially the Irish’s strong academic record. “From Sunday through Friday our football , program has exceeded all expectations, in every way,” he said. “But on Saturday, we’ve struggled.” The timing ofWillingham’s ouster broke with recent Notre Dame practice that even gave struggling coaches Gerry Faust and Bob Davie five seasons to prove themselves. “If it says anything, it’s an underscore of the notion that football is very important at Notre Dame and the competitive expectations are not downwardly negotiable,” White said. Notre Dame hired Willingham, the first black head coach in any sport for the Irish, from Stanford to replace George O’Leary. The former Georgia Tech coach resigned five days after taking the job because he lied about his academic and athletic achievements on his resume. With Tony Samuel fired by New Mexico State and Fitz Hill resigning from San Jose State last week, there are now only two black head coaches in Division I-A: Karl Dorrell at UCLA and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State. Floyd Keith, executive director of the Black Coaches Association, said he was disappointed with Notre Dame’s decision. “In three years, I think he has done everything, short of winning a national championship, and I don’t think he inherited national championship talent,” Keith said. So White, who conducted the searches that led to O’Leary and Willingham being hired, said he would set out Wednesday in search of a coach. He said he would head the search and likely would not talk to the media again until the search is complete. In Brief USC baseball inks 19 in early signing period The USC baseball program announced Monday the signing of 19 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the Nov. 10-17 early signing period. The class boasts 11 high school and eight junior college signees, including nine recruits from the state of South Carolina. “Our current team has seven seniors and as many as 10 underclassmen that are possible draft picks next June, so a large class was a necessity,” head coach Ray Tanner said. “We hope this group turns out to be one of the very best in the nation. This will be determined by how many of them make it to campus in August and then by how well they perform on the field. We expect them to continue our success in the SEC and nationally.” The team has already signed their recruiting class for this season and the class was ranked ninth in the nation. fSEC _ I m/ . News & Notes Clausen garners weekly honors for career game Tennessee quarterback Rick Clausen has kbeen named the SEC offensive football player of the week for his efforts against Kentucky. Clausen completed 26-of-41 passes for 349 yards, both career highs, with two touchdowns and two interceptions in (6 the Vols’ 37-31 win over the Wildcats. The Jr junior led Tennessee’s game-winning drive during the last three minutes of the game, which was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown tun by Gerald Riggs. Georgia defensive end David Pollack has been named the SEC defensive player of the week after totaling six tackles and two sacks in Georgia’s 19-13 win over Georgia Tech. Powell spotlighted for double-double USC senior forward Carlos Powell has been named the SEC player of the week. Powell recorded his fifth career double double against Temple with 22 points and 13 rebounds in the 60-46 win. Powell also posted 20 points and seven rebounds in the Gamecocks’ win over Winthrop. WADE PAYNE/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tennessee quarterback Rick Clausen throws down field against Kentucky. I-i—, ■ SWIM Continued from page 15 Mcllquham said. The USC women defeated Miami with ease, 202-98, before both teams fell to the University of Virginia just before Thanksgiving break. The Carolina men’s team fell to the No. 10 Cavaliers, 125-111, while the women fell to the Non 14 UVA squad, 126-93. The USC performances were impressive nonetheless, as the UVA men are 4-0 and the women are 5-0. Standing out for the women in the UVA match-up were the Skaggs sisters, junior Haley and senior Heather. Junior Justin Kata and freshman Dan White were the only men to earn individual first places before the men claimed first place in . the 400-yard freestyle relay that featured junior Reid Duff, junior Tamas Bathazi, freshman Evan Duffin-Barnes and sophomore Mack Colby. USC will look to these major contributors in the Auburn Invitational this weekend, as the Gamecocks will face the toughest opposition they have faced this season in the host Auburn Tigers. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu ■ SPURRIER Continued from page 15 have some input,” Spurrier said. “He’s the key guyi certainly one of the key hires for me.” According to GamecockCentral.com, Spurrier called North Carolina quarterback recruit Cameron Sexton just hours after his news conference last Tuesday. Sexton, a 6-foot-l-inch quarterback with a 40-yard dash time of 4.41 seconds, threw for 2,400 yards in his senior season and is listed by Rivals.com as the seventh-rated dual threat quarterback in the nation. Spurrier will see Sexton in an in-home visit this week. Another top quarterback recruit, Jonathan Crompton from Waynesville, N.C., has also been contacted by Spurrier. Crompton is ranked second by Rivals.com in pro-style quarterbacks. He has been committed to Tennessee for a while and seems to be firm in his commitment. The new ball coach at USC is also concerned about some bad habits that have surfaced in his Gamecock squad. “From what I understand, this team doesn’t eat correcdy, or hasn’t been eating correcdy, so we’re going to try to improve the nutrition also,” Spurrier said. When asked about the two fried chicken restaurants in close proximity to the stadium, Spurrier said, “Maybe once a week they can go to the fried chicken places, but a steady diet of it has proven not to be the best.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocksports@gwm.sc. edu veri mnwireless We never stop working for you* Tis the season to be silly Capture yopr holiday moments with a new camera phone Get Up To 4 Camera Phones LG VX6100 1st Phone $99.99 - $50 mail-in rebate = $49.99 With new 2-year agreement per phone. Shipping charges may apply. ^^ ® VERIZON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS STORES Opan Sundays. — COLUMBIA 7007-A Two Notch Rd. 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