It's the most demanding, relentless job in football coaching. Tougher than Ron Zook's quest with the Florida Gators or Tom Coughlin's challenge with the New York Giants or what Bill Callahan faces at tradition-rich Nebraska.
Tyrone Willingham had a meteoric 8-0 start at Notre Dame in 2002. Golden Dome echoes roared. Irish hearts wanted to believe the magic of Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian, Devine and Holtz was reborn.
Since then, Willingham has been conked by 21st century realities. For generations, the Irish were seldom outmanned but now they can neither run nor hit with USC, Oklahoma, LSU, Michigan, FSU and maybe a dozen more schools.
Notre Dame, like no other football power, aggressively recruits from Pacific to Atlantic to the gulf. It has unique magnetism. But now, supremely gifted athletes, many with NFL fantasies, opt for programs they deem better personal vehicles. Places where national championships are now a shorter reach.
South Bend has been suffering.
Following the sweetness of 8-0 has come Irish sour, losing 10 of 17, including a ghastly 5-7 record in 2003 when Notre Dame was embarrassed by Wolverines (38-0), Seminoles (37-0) and Trojans (45-14) while also losing to BYU and Boston College.
History is a major subject at Notre Dame, so the next Willingham chapter is absolute. Ty's third season is vital. Rockne, Leahy, Devine and Holtz all won national championships in their third Irish autumns. Conversely, Terry Brennan went 2-8, Joe Kuharich was 5-5 and Gerry Faust 7-5. Each one of those lasted two more seasons and was Dome gone.
Willingham, 50, isn't apt to be No. 1 this year, but I don't see him wasting away like Terry, Joe and Gerry. Tony Dungy recalls Tyrone as an early '90s assistant with the Minnesota Vikings. "I was defensive coordinator," said the former Bucs and current Colts coach. " Denny Green was the boss. But the best coach on our staff was probably Willingham."
Nice words, but Ty's numbers must be greatly enriched if he is to walk among Notre Dame's heavenly coaches. "After last year, expectations are not high," said Eric Hansen of the Irish Sports Report, "but a huge positive is that Brady Quinn is developing fast at quarterback and, if a questionable secondary isn't a killer, Notre Dame could be one of the country's strongest surprises. Finally, there is talent to operate the West Coast offense that Tyrone loves."
Jolted by '03 slaughterings, Willing-ham has used offseason hours to study Knute, Frank, Ara, Dan and Lou. By nature, Ty is a Dungy type; hugely modest, restrained demeanor and slow to celebrate individual performances.
"Tyrone read up on methods of the N.D. coaching icons," Hansen said. "Most were more demonstrative than Tyrone. He seems to be asking himself, "Do I really need to do that?' We'll see if Willingham decides he should try to be more dynamic."
Dungy would tell his old friend, "Be yourself." Willingham also coached under a more ego-strong fellow, three-time Super Bowl winner Bill Walsh at Stanford. The Genius recently observed, "This coming season, Tyrone needs to show something."
As always, the N.D. schedule is heavy with power. Willingham needs to find ways to stun a well-endowed Michigan or Tennessee or USC. He cannot afford to get whipped again by BYU or B.C. I'm a Ty guy. I'll say a 7-4 record and call it a step forward. An 8-3 would be smashing.
E-MAIL ERUPTIONS: "You've got to be a historical idiot, Mizell, to compare today's Cardinal sluggers ( Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds) to the '27 Yankees," blares Boots Brady of New Port Richey. "When you mention Ruth and Gehrig, you could add a loser like you, Mizell, and it'd still be a better slugging threesome."
Mark Moore of Clearwater Beach suggests, "Stats of modern hitters should be reduced by 40 percent, then comparisons with old-timers might be valid. Barry Bonds isn't in the league with Babe Ruth, Roger Maris or Hank Aaron. Lively baseballs, short fences, diluted pitching and illegal stimulants make many modern numbers suspicious."
From Denise Compton of Tampa, however, came: "I'm a New York native who married a St. Louis man and you are accurate in writing that Cards fans are most savvy, most dependable. More solid in their backing than Yankees or Red Sox fans.
"Sad to say, now that we're bay area people, that it's clear the Devil Rays will never have a constituency as large or involved as masses who follow our Redbirds. We like our new neighbors, but few are into baseball."
