Aftermath of The Willingham Firing
In firing Willingham, the Notre Dame athletic department cited a relatively poor record of 21–15, a weak recruiting class, and three losses, each by 31 points, to rival USC. However, the Irish also hoped to entice Urban Meyer, the head coach of the Utah Utes, to lead Notre Dame. Meyer had just led the Utes to an undefeated season and he had a clause in his contract that stated he could leave Utah without a penalty to coach for the Irish. When Meyer instead took the head coaching position at Florida, the Irish were ridiculed in the media with claims that the Notre Dame coaching position was no longer as prestigious as it was in the past. After over a week without a coach, the Irish hired New England Patriots' offensive coordinator Charlie Weis as head coach. Weis was an alumnus of Notre Dame, and he became the first alumnus to coach the team since 1963. At least one sports writer stated that Weis was a choice that made sense for the program. Willingham, meanwhile, accepted a position as head coach of the University of Washington Huskies football team.
Read more about this topic: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Under Tyrone Willingham
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