FIRE KARL DORRELL!
Firing Karl Dorrell, UCLA’s marvelously inconsistent coach, will be difficult for a number of reasons. The new coach will have to be good but cheap, because UCLA’s never really splashed out the cash for a head guy. Those are not easy to find. The new guy will also have to immediately pick up the recruiting trail from Dorrell against Pete Carroll, a move comparable in difficulty to handing off an F-15 mid-barrell roll to a novice pilot.
The administration, too, will face one possible claim: that they fired Dorrell and his 34-25 record because he is black.
Dorrell’s firing–not an inevitability but a highly probable event at this point–will evoke the Willingham saga all over again, but in a more diminished way because UCLA doesn’t have the gravitational media pull Notre Dame has. If there are whispers that Dorrell wasn’t given another year that a white coach might be given, the rancor won’t spread as it did when Willingham was let go. Also, Dorrell probably won’t go on ESPN claiming he was fired because he was black. He could, of course, but that all depends on how acrimonious said firing process is.
Nevertheless, those who would believe this will believe it anyway. Assuming someone was fired because they’re black/gay/fat/left-handed is an act of faith that can never be disproven, since the only evidence lies in the impenetrable inner thoughts of the AD and President who make the decision, or in a smoking gun memo that says “WE NEED A NON-BLACK COACH, SIGNED, UCLA PERSON.”
In that vein, we offer the following suggestion for a PR campaign for UCLA just to counter such rumors–since those who believe race played a factor will believe it no matter what you say.
There. Free PR, on the house. Sometime we’re astounded at how useful we are to this world.*
*Hey! It’s satire! Or an attempt at it, at least! We don’t actually think either of them was fired for being black. We’re making fun of those who assume anything involving a black coach being fired instantly equals racism! Now, Gary Barnett was fired for being black, and that’s the truth. Aren’t you glad you read footnotes?
Filed under: Coaches, the BCS, scandals, arrests, and other eccentri, College football, Pacific 10 Conference, coaching coup by Orson Swindle
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Hey, Jebus!
Whatever happened to the UCLA Assistant Football Coach with several priors who was arrested for burglary this past summer? Did it go away as Dorrell “predicted”? Actually Dorrell is having a very successfull season. Many sportswriters wrote before the season that the Bruins are the team to beat and almost all of their opponents have.
Comment by Bwana — November 10, 2007 @ 12:01 pm
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And Weis obviously spends more time eating than he does coaching. I wish I could use the excuse of the previous guys fault as an excuse for every bad that that ever happened in my life whether it was my own fault or not.
Comment by Lawrence Ross — November 9, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
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Willingham was fired because he spent more time playing golf than he did recruiting.
I wish I could use the color of my skin as an excuse for every bad thing that ever happened in my life whether it was my own fault or not.
Comment by azthecheat — November 9, 2007 @ 3:27 am
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Spartymike, re: your no. 63…
Yay! By that measure, it means Northwestern’s off the hook until at least 2050. I never thought I’d thank God for Denny Green, but there you go.
Comment by PJ from NU in SF — November 8, 2007 @ 3:13 pm
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the NCAA, which unlike today ([cough] Reggie Bush [cough]) was still interested in enforcing its own rules.
You know, getting that 2005 loss vacated isn’t going to make you feel any better about this season.
Many thanks to ND for beating UCLA though; hope that SC can manage to do the same this year. That would be embarrassing otherwise.
Comment by DC Trojan — November 8, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
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Lawrence: Minor Point…..I would rank Davie and Willingham about the same, mediocre, “C” grade. Weis and Faust, though, I would rank as below average, “D” or “F”.
Comment by Stacy Keibler Luvs Me — November 8, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
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Geronimo,
Thanks for the reply. Without reposting your note, I’ll respond. But first, and this is not directed at you, but other posters, I think it’s ironic that those who accuse people of “crying racism” love to then declare people to be “Notre Dame haters” or even more offensive, “Catholic haters”. Nothing further from the truth. One, I am Catholic. Two, I’m a twelve year Catholic (Jesuit) school vet. So I have no inherent prejudice against ND or against Catholism (my eight year old wouldn’t go to Catholic school if I did).
Now, to the reply:
1. One, you assume I don’t follow ND football. That would be a mistake. ND is a national team so you have to follow it along with your own team. From the Holtz years to the present, it’s not only easy to follow ND, good or bad, but much easier than your own team if you live out of town.
2. The reasoning for why Davie’s received five years is based on assumptions. The extenuating circumstances in the ND athletic department are neither here nor there. Turmoil or relative calm, football pays the ticket for most sports on most campuses. And when Willingham was fired, it was quite clearly done because of pressure from those OUTSIDE the athletic department, as you have noted. If it was no time to fire Davie after White was hired, how was it suddenly time to fire Willingham in the same scenario? As you probably have noted, many ND fans hold Willingham responsible for this last class, however it can also be said that by hiring an NFL coach who could recruit full time until the end of the playoffs, ND created their own mess.
3. One of the arguments for Charlie Weis is that he took ND to two BCS bowl games before this disaster of a season. That’s a fact. But could it be argued that in every game Weis has coached against a team either equal in talent or better, he’s lost by huge margins? And that he’s rewarded for a close loss to USC. Whereas Willingham, in his final year, he beat a top ten Michigan and Tennessee in an inconsistent year.
3. Hope for Weis: I agree that three years is too soon to judge a coach. But I’m consistently puzzled on how ND fans can project future success for Weis in a year where his teams have no underperformed against top and bottom talent, while Willingham is thought to have no shot at guiding his juniors and seniors to BCS type records, despite the fact that they would go onto do so. What you want people to do is prove a negative in that if you think Willingham was a bad coach and recruiter, then he couldn’t possibly have success in the future. While in spite of the evidence today, you want people to be an optimist when it comes to Weis’ future on the basis of Weis’ development, or lack thereof, of his own recruits.
4. Extension: Again, the reasons for regretting extending a coach are curious. White is sick about giving Davie an extension. Fair enough. So he doesn’t give Willingham an extension. Fair enough. But he then gives Weis an extension. Whoa. Let’s first get something straight. Extensions have nothing to do with deterring the NFL. The NFL gets whoever they want. The NFL makes a profit, a huge profit, without a single fan purchasing a ticket. So buyouts don’t deter them. Buyouts DO deter other colleges to a bigger extent, but Top 25 schools can overcome those too. So what are buyouts? Buyouts are votes of confidence in coaches. It says that we’re trying to tell recruits that we have laid a firm foundation and this guy is our coach. That’s why Weis, in the face of a 1-8 season, can say he’s going to be at ND for a long time. So did ND, after Willingham went 8-0 in a season most people figured he would have a 2007 Weis season, think that Willingham wouldn’t be at ND long term? Curious.
5. Someone once said that to end racism, it’s not that people have to get the same opportunity to be great, but the same opportunity to be mediocre. Most people in this world, including college coaches, are mediocre. I would include Willingham, Faust, Davie and Weis in that column. How they got treated side by side, with circumstances that are remarkable similiar (once you get rid of the rationalizations) then you can point to race as being a factor in decision making. And if you can’t figure that out, then it’s pretty difficult for me to believe that you’d ever objectively recognize it.
Comment by Lawrence Ross — November 8, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
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#43 - Bob Gomez for Presidint: Jason Whitlock is not a racist. More like a flame-thrower. But, his stuff is entertaining to read, especially when he is dead-on.
#71, 72 - Geronimo: Ty W was fired not because he is Blaaque, but because Urban Meyer was available and making googlie-eyes at his favorite univ in the whole wide world (ND). Subsequently, Meyer left ND at the altar.
It is like a middle-aged man leaving his frumpy wife for the hot secretary. Only to find out too late that the slutty secretary was interested in someone else. So, the middle aged sap is left with a hefty alimony bill and a bunch of could-woulda-shouldas.
You have to admit that ND lost something when it went against its long-standing tradition and firing someone after three years.
Former Notre Dame president Theodore Hesburgh made no secret of his disapproval of the decision. In his 1990 autobiography, Rev. Hesburgh wrote that if his football coach graduated players and followed NCAA rules, “he would not have to worry about alumni pressure. If he lost some games, or even had a losing season occasionally, I would take the heat, not he. If hired, he would be assured of a five-year contract.” *
* http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3097324&sportCat=ncf
Comment by Stacy Keibler Luvs Me — November 8, 2007 @ 2:02 pm
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*uninformed
DOH!
Comment by Matt Leinart's 2006 bowl win — November 8, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
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#72
Can you clarify that point? I blame Notre Dames collapse on the DaVinci Code and Mary Magdalene…
There is a conspiracy here at Notre Dame, I think something along the lines of the Crusades are in order….Riddle me this…..how does ND get a BCS bowl bid automatically being in the top 8? WTF is that all about?
All in all, I blame Ron Powlus and Beano Cook..One of the most heavily-touted prospects in the history of high school football…. After Powlus signed his letter of intent with Notre Dame that year, ESPN analyst Beano Cook predicted that Powlus would win the Heisman Trophy twice. Proving my theory, hype + hype+bullshit=
1-10 season. You have the most overhyped QB in Notre Dame History coaching the 2nd Most overhyped QB in Notre Dame history. Notre Dame doesnt need a black coach, they need a Dennis Dixon at QB….
Comment by Mr Pelican Pants — November 8, 2007 @ 1:58 pm