Irish Musings
#5
Friday, October 29, 2004
"Outlined against a rainy blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Peterson, Adams, Kiwanuga and Toal. They formed the crest of a Chestnut Hill cyclone before which another fighting Irish team was swept over the precipice at Notre Dame Stadium this after-noon as some 80,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out on the green plain below".
Charles T. Kenny, October 23, 2004
With apologies to Grantland Rice
I never thought I would mock the Irish like this, especially profaning the most famous sports paragraph ever, but somehow it seems appropriate to do so. The Willingham led Irish have built a new swamp for Irish fans to wallow in. Ah, the bittersweet ignominy of it all!!
Where to begin?
Here at Irish Musings, we have focused on the poor quality of coaching that has characterized Irish teams for the past eight seasons. As part of that critique we have emphasized the lack of a coherent offensive strategy and play calling. And we have zeroed in on poor fundamentals. These problems are self evident and well known, but now it is time to recognize an awful truth that Notre Dame fans simply do not want to admit—ever. The fans do not want to admit that the players quit last year at Syracuse! They do not want to admit that they were not ready for BYU! Finally, the denial became all too evident watching the bewilderment of the faithful as we all witnessed a lethargic Irish squad struggle against an ordinary Stanford team. For two years now it has been impossible to figure out which of the many Irish teams will show up for a game, for a half or even for a single series on defense or offense.
We now believe that the leadership of this team is defective, that it starts at the top with the head coach, that it is manifested in a rigid, phlegmatic, overly self-determined countenance that lacks inspiration and imagination, that it continues through the ranks of assistant coaches who have failed the players by not teaching them the fundamentals of blocking and tackling and that it affects the players’ psychology. And that it is manifested by the players themselves.
One of my best friends here in Memphis says that the key to it all is that Willingham conveys his emotional state to the players and they pick it up, internalize it and play the way he looks.
Do you think I am being too critical? If so, look at these comments after the Stanford game:
“It was a barn burner, and what was probably most difficult for me was not the fact that we were trying to burn the barn down, but the fact that we were not playing in the manner that I think our football team should play,” Tyrone Willingham said.
“Whatever the reason, we couldn’t get it going. Fortunately in the second half, we were able to make some plays and put ourselves in good position. But I’m still uncomfortable with just how it came about.”
"I just don't know that we had a lot of energy when we started," said Baer. "That's something we talk about and certainly have to address going into next week."
"I hope we can get out of this week-to-week situation and we can get consistent with our running game because that is critical to our success," Coach Willingham said. "Having a running game allows us to be a better football team, that's the bottom line."
From Blue and Gold: “One aspect of the game Notre Dame is trying to eliminate this week is a slow start. Excluding the Washington and Michigan State games, Notre Dame has been outscored 32-3 in the first quarter. Many of the players were upset after the flat start against Stanford.”
"The energy wasn't there," running back Ryan Grant said. "As a unit, I think we were kind of lethargic out there."
"When they're not there, I've got to find ways or buttons to push to get them there," Willingham said. "I recognized that we were not there when we went up the tunnel after warm-up. Then it becomes a matter of myself and our coaches starting to try to do the right things to get our football team back where we need to be. I don't think we reached that point until after halftime."
Huh??
Could someone translate, please?
These are not the comments of coaches who know how to lead and to motivate young players. They are the comments of befuddled coaches who do not seem to realize that they are sending their young players into the lion’s den without preparing them emotionally, physically and fundamentally.
Why do Boston College players always look like they want it more than our players? Year after year!!! We did not want any of their players, so they resent it and take it out on us—this is certainly part of it, but all it does is explain why they are so charged up. Lesser athletes nearly all, and yet they embarrass us, always showing more fire in their bellies, because they have more fire and because our coaches don’t have the faintest idea how to model all-out gutsy determination, faith in their players and the highest of expectations at all times.
Those of us who had the privilege of attending Notre Dame know that there is something ineffable about Our Lady’s University that instills standards of excellence and expectations of all an all out performance every time that last a lifetime. Why don’t these coaches instill the same spiritual stuff in the players? If we had Chemistry professors or History profs that did not do it, they would not get tenure—they would be GONE, GONE, GONE!!!
The mediocrity in the program is pervasive. It starts at the top and it is evident to all. After a 5-7 and a 6-5 season (assuming a win over Pitt, although this is by no means certain and of course assuming drubbings in the two away games to come), the Irish will be 11-12 over two years. It is not just this record of wins and losses. It is how the Irish look and how they play and how they lose. There is no progress with this team. There has not been any offense for two years and now there is no defense!!
The coaches deserve the lion’s share of the blame, but the players need to accept responsibility too. The pass defense in the second half is the worst since the Chinese Fire Drill against Hawaii in 1992, causing Lou to take over the defensive coaching from the hapless Gary Darnell. At least when Lou did that he was signaling that such random play is simply unacceptable. What will Ty do to send this message to his coaches and the team?
Do you know that Leahy's Lads always say that Saturday was a day off for them!!!!
And do you know that Ara's boys talk about him as though he was and is God!!!
We cannot know the answer, but we just wonder how the players feel about Ty Willingham. It cannot be a very good feeling.
These coaches will all get jobs somewhere else. Meanwhile, the players are losing their four years of eligibility—fun and achievement robbed from them by coaches who do not know what they are doing. Or, is it a mix? Do we have some players who do not know or do not care? If we do, then this too starts at the top!
Whether or not there are some players whose mouths are bigger than the stomachs that they have for sucking it up and putting it on the line, the coaches repeatedly blame the players for the team’s lack of aggressiveness. What kind of leader does that? An ineffective incompetent leader that is who!! W. Edwards Deming, the father of statistical process control, and the greatest teacher of quality and excellence in business history made it abundantly clear that failures in quality are always the fault of management at the highest level in the organization. You never blame it on the workers.
Gosh, I hate to do this, but I need to cite the Bear. He knew. He never blamed the players after a loss. Some of you may remember that awful day for Bama fans when an inferior Auburn team blocked two Alabama punts in the fourth quarter, costing them the game and a possible national championship. The Bear blamed himself, saying that he had not prepared them properly. When Bama won, the Bear always gave the players all the credit!!
I say I hate to use the Bear as a model, because I hated Alabama so much for so long, as most Irish fans did and do. But there is more to the story. Where do you suppose the Bear learned his football judgment and leadership? Why from his college coach, Frank Thomas, of course. And who do you suppose was his coach? By now you may have guessed it if you did not already know, the one and only Knute Rockne!!
Now we come full circle to the oracle, to the origin, to the patron saint of Fighting Irish football. This is the problem. The current regime does not deserve to walk in the footsteps of the Great One.
Think of the great coaches we have had since the Rock:
Frank Leahy, the second greatest of them all
Ara Parseghian
Lou Holtz
Bernie Crimmins
John Ray
Paul Shoults
Tom Pagna
Barry Alvarez
Mike Stock
Urban Meyer
Bob Mc Bride
Doc Urich
Joe Yonto
Joe Moore
George Kelly
George Sefcik
Moose Krause as an assistant
Hugh Devore as an assistant
Jim Johnson currently defensive coordinator of the Eagles
Greg Blache
Sadly, the current staff does not measure up. And if they were the faculty in a department on campus, their lack of productivity would earn them pink slips at the end of the year.
Which brings us to what must be said and what must be done and what the alums must say to the powers that be. Three years of mediocrity is two too many. The staff must be sent packing, not just because of the record but because it is clear that they are not moving the team back to national prominence—there is no progress to speak of. Yes, we are a bit better than last year, but not by much. And at this rate, it will be the year 2047 before we are back in a BCS bowl!!
Tom Prister, writing in the Blue and Gold, says that it is not appropriate for him as an alumnus to call for Ty’s dismissal. And he says that it would do no good because he has a five year deal. All this is nonsense.
We must point out that the emperor wears no clothes when it is clear for all to see, especially when it is clear that he surrounds himself with equally myopic assistants.
As regards the five year standard, that is a myth. There is a performance clause in all contracts with head coaches, and so there is no automatic five years. Coaches have been fired before for lack of improvement in less than five years. Joe Kuharich comes to mind. And coaches have been “encouraged to leave” when their team has been playing far better than Ty’s. Lou Holtz comes to mind, and so does Dan Devine, although that story is murky at best. The only case that could be made now for Ty staying is if it could be argued that the program is showing evidence of growth and improvement, for once the CEO knows that an executive is not cutting the mustard, he owes it to that person and to all the stakeholders to let that person go. To do otherwise is worse.
See the original of the Grantland Rice column below and also look for a very strange quote from the Navy coach, Paul Johnson.
Fighting Irish History
"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of a South Bend cyclone before which another fighting army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo grounds this after-noon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out on the green plain below".
Grantland Rice, October 19, 1924
Mysterious put down quote of the year:
“It’s not like they're beating Southern Cal 41 times in a row," Navy coach Paul Johnson said. "They're beating an academy."
Charlie Kenny
Class of 1963
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