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Has the ND job really lost its prestige?
UHND.com - Travis Donnelly - Used courtesy of IrishToday.com
1/19/2002
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The popular buzz in late December was that Notre Dame was
no longer the prestigious job that it used to be. As more candidates denied interest in
the media, the media came down harder on Notre Dame. Then the Irish chose Tyrone
Willingham and many quickly pointed fingers at the Golden Dome. They said the Irish
couldn't get a pro coach so they "settled" on Willingham. The luster was gone,
they said.
As Notre Dame and Tyrone Willingham began their business, Steve Spurrier dropped the
bombshell of the sports year by, without warning, resigning as top dog of the Florida
Gators. The media frenzy this time said, "Now here's a prestigious job that superstar
coaches want!"
Florida's AD, Jeremy Foley, much more vocally than Kevin White, hit the road in search of
a replacement. He contacted Bob Stoops and, despite Foley's denials, reportedly offered
him the job. Bob Stoops was staying in Oklahoma. So Foley shot to Denver, where every
major media outlet was reporting that Mike Shanahan was indeed leaving the Denver Broncos.
When the press conference arrived that day, Shanahan informed everyone that he was going
nowhere.
Finally, Jeremy Foley returned home with his head coach. The "ultra-prestigious"
job was filled by a defensive coordinator, Ron Zook. An NFL assistant with Florida ties
but also more of an unknown than Bob Davie was five years ago.
Now my intention is not to knock on the prestige of the Florida Gators program. Quite to
the contrary, I believe it is a top college football job as well. The point is that the
prestige of a school is not determined by the name recognition of the coaches interviewed
or hired, like the media would make it out to be.
This is the way it usually goes. Big names like Stoops and Shanahan and Gruden and
Mariucci get circulated about. In the end, those guys rarely leave the jobs they have,
because they already have great jobs. They have security and a big paycheck. For one of
these heavy hitters to leave, the timing has to be absolutely perfect and, in reality, it
rarely is.
A school's prestige is gauged by its history and heritage and, ultimately, the number of
football games won. It is not valued by big rumors or name-dropping. I'm sure Ron Zook
will do a fine job at Florida. I'm also very happy to have Tyrone Willingham at Notre
Dame.
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