Loading ...As soon as Jon Gruden was fired by the Buccaneers on Friday, rumors linking him to Notre Dame after Signing Day began to popup. Since the rumors were not going away and were actually picking up steam, Notre Dame responded to Blue and Gold Illustrated on the matter.
“It’s ridiculous that this rumor has even gained the traction it has over the past few days. I hesitate to respond to it at all because by dignifying this ‘report,’ I set myself up to be forced to set the record straight on future rumors. But it’s obvious that some people out there are trying to sabotage our recruiting efforts and it’s unfortunate that their agenda has been published and reproduced in recent days.”
The original source of the rumors was CollegeFootballTalk.com which immediately began speculating that Gruden could end up in Notre Dame. The New York Daily News then chimed in on the subject and eventually even made its way to SI.com’s Truth and Rumors.
It didn’t take much foresight to see that the rumors were completely false since Notre Dame spent the last week announcing two different new assistant coaching hires, but that didn’t stop the rumors from spreading around the internet like wild fire this weekend. It doesn’t seem like Hardin’s statement is not sitting well with the folks over at CFT either, but I say good for Hardin for coming out and making a strong statement.
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Comments to this Article
JC commented on January 21st, 2009 at 12:08 am
Media-backlash, imagine that? It was entertaining while it lasted. Just goes to show how fragile CW’s National image is. Who caused that?
I wonder if we’ll do another CW performance appraisal in the media again at the end of the season? It has to be good for recruits and coaches?
Administrative tenet: Silence can’t be misquoted.
ND broke the rule now live with it! It was pretty obvious CW was put on notice.
Duh, “Would you be happy to return next year?” Oh yeah, I accidently tore up my 10 year contract yesterday.
When the adminstration dictated some of it’s expectations for the football program in the media - what the hell did they expect?
Well, get use to plenty of speculation and rumors, you opened the barn door.
Oh darn those media guys, let’s just blame them. We have to maintain some type of dignity.
Sabatoge out there? What a joke, look at where you shot yourself in the foot with public chastising of your Head Football Coach.
“We must win and be in the discussion for a BCS Championship Bowl.” I’m sure this is a new concept to Charlie.
With the affirmation CW received at the end of the season who needs enemies?
Although, I am not happy with Charlie’s four year results, I must say:
NO ONE DESERVES THAT TYPE OF TREAMENT, I MEAN NO ONE!
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Brown Rice commented on January 21st, 2009 at 7:49 am
Anyone who believes that ND would keep Weis through signing day and then fire him and hire another coach is crazy. That said, I have no problem with Hardin’s comments. We are 2 weeks from signing day and can’t afford to lose anyone else from this class.
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Brandon commented on January 21st, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I am glad the rumors were shot down. Yes i like Gruden and i think he is an excellent coach. I just like Weis a lot because he recruits, and mainly because i believe he is what ND stands for. He is a good person who actually has a heart.
I also believe that if gruden became the coach he would only stay for 2 years and then go back to the nfl, and i dont want that. With Weis I believe that he has loyalty and would stay throughout his contract and even longer, sort of like a Joe Paterno.
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Justin commented on January 22nd, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I agree with a lot of brandons points. I really like Gruden as well and I think he’d work well with the kids. I believe he has been affiliated with the senior bowl on numerous occasions right?
But, to me, this is Charlie’s team and Charlie’s school. He is a tremendous recruiter, and he deserves a chance to win with his recruits. Go Weis
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jason_h537 commented on January 23rd, 2009 at 12:02 am
i know im in the minority in this but i do not like gruden at all. just today jeff garcia taklked about how much the players disliked him. that is not the type of personality i want around our students. he is someone who believe that football is biggerthan life and death. Notre Dame is better than that, im sure hes a great coach, but he can coach elsewhere in my opinion
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dan commented on January 23rd, 2009 at 11:56 am
I would just love Charlie to start winning and coach here for 20+ years.
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David commented on January 23rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I dont know if anyone would disagree with yout there Dan. As long as the man wins, I see no problem with Charlie staying around for the next 10 years (given he will need to drop some weight to make it to that point).
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