Willingham

[NDblitz]

Still bitter. Blaming skin color rather than his lack of ability as a head coach. Met him in 2007 he was recruiting one of my players. I told the kid he would be better off at ASU with Erickson. He went to ASU. Was not impressed with Willingham. Even less after reading this.

Black coaching pioneer Tyrone Willingham wants success for Penn State’s James Franklin, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman

The more I’ve listened to Marcus Freeman and James Franklin, the more I’ve thought about Tyrone Willingham. Freeman is the 38-year-old head football coach at No…

andscape.com

 

[tbonesays]

On Thursday, Freeman and Franklin will make history when they become the first African American head coaches to face each other in a national semifinal game.

Wait what?

 

[BGI User 1596]

Another bitter serial failure…..what was his Washington record?

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

Willingham was a rush hire by Kevin White--who I always thought was in over his head as AD--after the George O'Leary fiasco. Willingham flopped badly, and ND took a lot of flack from the national media for terminating him before his contract was up. Then he went to UW and compiled an 11-37 record, with a 6-29 conference record. He just wasn't a good head football coach, plain and simple.

 

[melstew]

I love it when racial/gender barriers and ceilings are broken down, when we see that skin pigment is so unimportant in the big picture, where we can celebrate our commonality as human beings. I also think it is fair for those that have endured hardships to share with the rest of us so that we can understand that perspective and try to improve. That said Ty Willingham is part of the problem. He was given an opportunity and he failed for merit reasons that were particular to him. Disgraceful comments.

 

[burmafrd1943]

Willingham was a rush hire by Kevin White--who I always thought was in over his head as AD--after the George O'Leary fiasco. Willingham flopped badly, and ND took a lot of flack from the national media for terminating him before his contract was up. Then he went to UW and compiled an 11-37 record, with a 6-29 conference record. He just wasn't a good head football coach, plain and simple.

And of course none of the national media ever admitted that.
Their excuse was that we gave Faust a five year contract and did not fire him. Which everyone pretty much agreed was a mistake and he should have been let go early. But because Willingham was black being fired early was of course racism.

 

[scubastevefl]

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

And of course none of the national media ever admitted that.
Their excuse was that we gave Faust a five year contract and did not fire him. Which everyone pretty much agreed was a mistake and he should have been let go early. But because Willingham was black being fired early was of course racism.

It wasn't just the Gerry Faust comparison; as I remember it was also pointed out that Bob Davie also proved to be a poor head coach and yet he was allowed to fill out the full term of his contract.

The real problem with the Willingham hire was that Kevin White did an absolutely terrible job of evaluating whether Willingham was a good fit at ND. The linked story says that Dave Duerson, a former ND and NFL great, was on the ND BOT at the time and advocated for the hiring of Willingham, so maybe White felt he was backed into a corner. Whatever the reason for his hire, I don't think Willingham ever bought into the ND culture, and I remember reports at the time were that Willingham's wife absolutely loathed living in South Bend. You know the saying: happy wife happy life. Well, the opposite is also true. And then Willingham turned out to be a poor recruiter and a mediocre game day coach. Not a recipe for success. Willingham's subsequent failures at UW confirmed that ND made the right decision in letting Willingham go.

I think it was the media, not Willingham, who stoked the racial bias narrative, though Willingham probably didn't do much to dispel that narrative.

Kevin White left behind a pretty forgettable legacy during his time as ND's AD: the Bob Davie and Ty WIllingham hires, the George O'Leary debacle, and the premature 10-year extension on Charlie Weis's contract. Ouch.

 

[Telx1]

We get this BS from Willingham, and by contrast, great perspective on race from Freeman. Paraphrasing…but Freeman basically said he is proud to represent the black community…proud to follow guys like Dungy…pointed out that their accomplishments much more than the color of their skin…and gave a shout out to his mom and the Korean community he also represents.

 

[Telx1]

It wasn't just the Gerry Faust comparison; as I remember it was also pointed out that Bob Davie also proved to be a poor head coach and yet he was allowed to fill out the full term of his contract.

The real problem with the Willingham hire was that Kevin White did an absolutely terrible job of evaluating whether Willingham was a good fit at ND. The linked story says that Dave Duerson, a former ND and NFL great, was on the ND BOT at the time and advocated for the hiring of Willingham, so maybe White felt he was backed into a corner. Whatever the reason for his hire, I don't think Willingham ever bought into the ND culture, and I remember reports at the time were that Willingham's wife absolutely loathed living in South Bend. You know the saying: happy wife happy life. Well, the opposite is also true. And then Willingham turned out to be a poor recruiter and a mediocre game day coach. Not a recipe for success. Willingham's subsequent failures at UW confirmed that ND made the right decision in letting Willingham go.

I think it was the media, not Willingham, who stoked the racial bias narrative, though Willingham probably didn't do much to dispel that narrative.

Kevin White left behind a pretty forgettable legacy during his time as ND's AD: the Bob Davie and Ty WIllingham hires, the George O'Leary debacle, and the premature 10-year extension on Charlie Weis's contract. Ouch.

Not sure others felt this way or are willing to say so, but at the time I was very bullish on Willingham’s hire. He had just coached Stanford to a surprising 9-3 record, and the assumption was that he would be more successful with the quality of athlete ND attracted compared to Stanford. It quickly became apparent that he thought the ND brand would recruit by itself, and he gave little attention or effort to recruiting, and he failed miserably. I can’t recall another ND coach who felt so entitled and gave less effort to recruiting or to the alum network or to the university in general than Willingham. I don’t recall him crying about race when he was fired, but the media was quick to criticize ND and make the racist accusations. Surprised and disappointed with his take decades later.

 

[TXNDFan88]

Willingham had to go before the end of his contract because of recruiting. His 2004 class had 6 Two Star recruits in it, and 2 four stars, who were both busts. And two OL! Two! Both QBs were 2 Stars! This would have been a bad class for Rutgers

 

[Pennick4]

Still bitter. Blaming skin color rather than his lack of ability as a head coach. Met him in 2007 he was recruiting one of my players. I told the kid he would be better off at ASU with Erickson. He went to ASU. Was not impressed with Willingham. Even less after reading this.

Black coaching pioneer Tyrone Willingham wants success for Penn State’s James Franklin, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman

The more I’ve listened to Marcus Freeman and James Franklin, the more I’ve thought about Tyrone Willingham. Freeman is the 38-year-old head football coach at No…

andscape.com

The guy is a loser.... He was lazy. Go away TW.

 

[Shakin' Down the Thunder]

It wasn't just the Gerry Faust comparison; as I remember it was also pointed out that Bob Davie also proved to be a poor head coach and yet he was allowed to fill out the full term of his contract.

The real problem with the Willingham hire was that Kevin White did an absolutely terrible job of evaluating whether Willingham was a good fit at ND. The linked story says that Dave Duerson, a former ND and NFL great, was on the ND BOT at the time and advocated for the hiring of Willingham, so maybe White felt he was backed into a corner. Whatever the reason for his hire, I don't think Willingham ever bought into the ND culture, and I remember reports at the time were that Willingham's wife absolutely loathed living in South Bend. You know the saying: happy wife happy life. Well, the opposite is also true. And then Willingham turned out to be a poor recruiter and a mediocre game day coach. Not a recipe for success. Willingham's subsequent failures at UW confirmed that ND made the right decision in letting Willingham go.

I think it was the media, not Willingham, who stoked the racial bias narrative, though Willingham probably didn't do much to dispel that narrative.

Kevin White left behind a pretty forgettable legacy during his time as ND's AD: the Bob Davie and Ty WIllingham hires, the George O'Leary debacle, and the premature 10-year extension on Charlie Weis's contract. Ouch.

Well remember it was George O'Leary who was hired first and then that fell apart. Sometimes there are no clear cut strong candidates to hire. I think it takes an exceptional coach and person to be HFC at ND and very few can succeed at it.

 

[BGI User 756]

As usual it was the MSM that stoked the racial narrative. Has been the Soros game plan for decades. Lots of schmucks fell for it. Anyone that spent 10 mins with Ty saw his superficial nature

 

[BGI User 756]

And absolutely Ty is part of the problem

 

[NDblitz]

When he failed miserably at UW, it vindicated ND ejecting him from the HC position early. I went to the 2008 ND vs UW game. There were "Fire TY" flyers and posters everywhere. Somehow UW escaped the "Racism" narrative. Yet nobody really talked about how below average he was his entire tenure as a HC.

 

[Pennick4]

If he genuinely cared about the cause, he would have busted his ass at his job. He is a fraud and a loser.

 

[burmafrd1943]

When he failed miserably at UW, it vindicated ND ejecting him from the HC position early. I went to the 2008 ND vs UW game. There were "Fire TY" flyers and posters everywhere. Somehow UW escaped the "Racism" narrative. Yet nobody really talked about how below average he was his entire tenure as a HC.

Lets face it, Notre Dame being a private Catholic College was part of the media hate.

 

[tbonesays]

I love it when racial/gender barriers and ceilings are broken down, when we see that skin pigment is so unimportant in the big picture, where we can celebrate our commonality as human beings. I also think it is fair for those that have endured hardships to share with the rest of us so that we can understand that perspective and try to improve. That said Ty Willingham is part of the problem. He was given an opportunity and he failed for merit reasons that were particular to him. Disgraceful comments.

I thought Ty's post-ND comments were rather tame in the grand scheme of fired coaches and racial undertones. He may not have corrected media talking heads, but to my knowledge Ty never said that ND was racist for firing him.

When he failed miserably at UW, it vindicated ND ejecting him from the HC position early. I went to the 2008 ND vs UW game. There were "Fire TY" flyers and posters everywhere. Somehow UW escaped the "Racism" narrative. Yet nobody really talked about how below average he was his entire tenure as a HC.

Lets face it, Notre Dame being a private Catholic College was part of the media hate.

Also true.

 

[BGI User 756]

I thought Ty's post-ND comments were rather tame in the grand scheme of fired coaches and racial undertones. He may not have corrected media talking heads, but to my knowledge Ty never said that ND was racist for firing him.



Also true.

He never put those to rest. And it was purposeful.

 

[NDblitz]

I thought Ty's post-ND comments were rather tame in the grand scheme of fired coaches and racial undertones. He may not have corrected media talking heads, but to my knowledge Ty never said that ND was racist for firing him.



Also true.

He didn't but the media did. And he's saying it now.

 

[melstew]

I thought Ty's post-ND comments were rather tame in the grand scheme of fired coaches and racial undertones. He may not have corrected media talking heads, but to my knowledge Ty never said that ND was racist for firing him.



Also true.

Not trying argue with you but did you read the article? "How was your time at ND?" "Just another day in America." How's that for a dog whistle. And "was anyone against your hiring?" "Maybe, I don't know but probably, yes" Such BS. Never really bothered me when he let the media run with the narrative. But now has welcomed the warm, addictive, embrace of full on victimhood. Disappointing.

 

[savvyandsassier]

Willingham was a rush hire by Kevin White--who I always thought was in over his head as AD--after the George O'Leary fiasco. Willingham flopped badly, and ND took a lot of flack from the national media for terminating him before his contract was up. Then he went to UW and compiled an 11-37 record, with a 6-29 conference record. He just wasn't a good head football coach, plain and simple.

How come you guys don't bash him to no end? They did fire him after three years and he got the hook pretty quick, purportedly because he was such an indifferent recruiter, that he represented some sort of existential threat and so he didn't get the usual five years ND prides itself on. Even though Weis came onto the scene and took those same players and went to back to back BCS bowls. But, before Weis himself fell out of favor, those same shitty recruiting classes could be leveraged to get Weis off the hook for his shocking 3-9 season, because we had to start like, Paul Duncan or something on the OL. And Weis in spite of his Super Bowl rings and ND-grad status, and his schematic advantage of course, ended up doing almost more damage than TW himself.

Anyway, TW didn't do to badly at Stanford. I guess that's why he got the ND job in the first place. And he got two jobs, from two different desperate programs, on the strength of his 'molder of men' reputation.

 

[melstew]

How come you guys don't bash him to no end? They did fire him after three years and he got the hook pretty quick, purportedly because he was such an indifferent recruiter, that he represented some sort of existential threat and so he didn't get the usual five years ND prides itself on. Even though Weis came onto the scene and took those same players and went to back to back BCS bowls. But, before Weis himself fell out of favor, those same shitty recruiting classes could be leveraged to get Weis off the hook for his shocking 3-9 season, because we had to start like, Paul Duncan or something on the OL. And Weis in spite of his Super Bowl rings and ND-grad status, and his schematic advantage of course, ended up doing almost more damage than TW himself.

Anyway, TW didn't do to badly at Stanford. I guess that's why he got the ND job in the first place. And he got two jobs, from two different desperate programs, on the strength of his 'molder of men' reputation.

He's no Jimmy Johnson, but he is moving up my naughty list. For now I have him at #9 right behind Fielding Yost, and before Mark May. Brian Kelly is #21.

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

How come you guys don't bash him to no end? They did fire him after three years and he got the hook pretty quick, purportedly because he was such an indifferent recruiter, that he represented some sort of existential threat and so he didn't get the usual five years ND prides itself on. Even though Weis came onto the scene and took those same players and went to back to back BCS bowls. But, before Weis himself fell out of favor, those same shitty recruiting classes could be leveraged to get Weis off the hook for his shocking 3-9 season, because we had to start like, Paul Duncan or something on the OL. And Weis in spite of his Super Bowl rings and ND-grad status, and his schematic advantage of course, ended up doing almost more damage than TW himself.

Anyway, TW didn't do to badly at Stanford. I guess that's why he got the ND job in the first place. And he got two jobs, from two different desperate programs, on the strength of his 'molder of men' reputation.

I didn't become a member here until after Willingham was let go, but I visited the board often before then and seem to recall that Willingham was under daily attack by posters here pretty much after his first year as HC. Remarkably, Willingham started his first season at ND 8-0 but then flamed out badly, finishing 13-15 over his next 2-1/2 seasons. There was frequent criticism about his recruiting efforts, which were undeniably bad. Your calling him an indifferent recruiter is overly generous. And I don't know if it is true or not--if it is on the internet it must be true, right?--but there were several posters who claimed that Willingham's golf handicap actually went down during the football season, suggesting he was fiddling while Rome was burning. In any case it became abundantly clear Willingham was not up to the job, and so he got sacked. So yes, he was bashed here, frequently and vociferously.

 

[christophero]

I live in Washington and remember the Ty years. He burnt a once proud program (and national runner up last year) to the ground.

 

[savvyandsassier]

I live in Washington and remember the Ty years. He burnt a once proud program (and national runner up last year) to the ground.

LOL! I know, those were some down years. And he was supposed to like, stabilize the program or something. Maybe not take them to the Rose Bowl, but simply restore the dignity, wasn't the previous coach fired under scandalous circumstances? Rick Nueheisal. And then you got Seven win Sark! But you know in fairness, what could he be expected to do, in the aftermath of the infamous molder of men. But I don't think they recruited too terrible with TW, nothing that bad. But maybe that's what got Sark hittin' the bottle. He'd never seen a program in such disarray!

 

[christophero]

Rick was fired but I cannot remember why, He got caught lying about something. Sark did okay and then jumped ship to USC first chance he got.

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

Rick was fired but I cannot remember why, He got caught lying about something. Sark did okay and then jumped ship to USC first chance he got.

He was fired because he participated in a March Madness betting pool and then apparently lied to the school about it. Probably half the guys in the country have participated in a March Madness office pool, so it seemed pretty silly to me, but I guess you don't want your head football coach bringing "scandal" to the school. He has done alright for himself as a talking head on sports shows since then.

 

[Domer7]

He joins several other race bating hustlers who just can’t let it go. It’s always someone else’s fault. All of them are best ignored.

 

[wi_hoosier]

Rick was fired but I cannot remember why, He got caught lying about something. Sark did okay and then jumped ship to USC first chance he got.

Neuheisel violated NCAA rules by visiting high school players before the approved date. Then he brought more sanctions from gambling, which really was just playing in a March Madness neighborhood pool. I'm guessing his neighborhood was pretty nice and the pool money was large enough to cause NCAA problems. IIRC, he also lied to investigators about it. His program was also married by several player crimes. In 2003, Neuheisel interviews for the 49ers job, but lied about doing so. After the Seattle paper reported it, the AD to him that she would not allow for anymore lies. Once she found out that the NCAA was going to sanction him with a "show-clause", the AD fired him.

BTW, Neuheisel won a 4.5M lawsuit against the NCAA and UW for wrongful termination. I guess the NCAA failed to turn over what was deemed as crucial information.

 

[christophero]

The word around Seattle is he lied about quite a few things.

 

[Patrish]

let’s not forget that he had a worse won-loss record than the guy he replaced.

He was a default hire who was at the right place at the right time

 

[savvyandsassier]

He was fired because he participated in a March Madness betting pool and then apparently lied to the school about it. Probably half the guys in the country have participated in a March Madness office pool, so it seemed pretty silly to me, but I guess you don't want your head football coach bringing "scandal" to the school. He has done alright for himself as a talking head on sports shows since then.

That's right. I was thinking it was the Super Bowl. But it was the men's BB tournament! That's how you know the NCAA is a serious institution, interested in the steady application of truth and justice. Destroy a coach's career, not just a player this time, for an effin' march madness betting pool. I remember I did those in like 7th grade, I picked for my mom, in her office pool. I didn't know I could get her fired for that.

 

[BGI User 756]

How come you guys don't bash him to no end? They did fire him after three years and he got the hook pretty quick, purportedly because he was such an indifferent recruiter, that he represented some sort of existential threat and so he didn't get the usual five years ND prides itself on. Even though Weis came onto the scene and took those same players and went to back to back BCS bowls. But, before Weis himself fell out of favor, those same shitty recruiting classes could be leveraged to get Weis off the hook for his shocking 3-9 season, because we had to start like, Paul Duncan or something on the OL. And Weis in spite of his Super Bowl rings and ND-grad status, and his schematic advantage of course, ended up doing almost more damage than TW himself.

Anyway, TW didn't do to badly at Stanford. I guess that's why he got the ND job in the first place. And he got two jobs, from two different desperate programs, on the strength of his 'molder of men' reputation.

We are bashing him now, because he is opening his mouth now. Just like Kelly

Try to keep up

 

[NDblitz]

Rick was fired but I cannot remember why, He got caught lying about something. Sark did okay and then jumped ship to USC first chance he got.

Nope. He was in a basketball pool.