[NU Sports] Notre Dame

[John Labbe]

>
> I have no doubt that at one time it WAS the premier job ... but I 
> really
> doubt it is anymore. Would Pete Carroll or Bob Stoops even return a 
> call
> from the Domers? Would Jim Tressel or Lloyd Carr swap spots? Bobby 
> Bowden
> and Philip Fulmer probably won't even notice that the position's been
> vacated.

I'm not sure what the answer to this is, but if ND is not the top job, 
then what is?  I don't think your analysis above is correct.  Fifteen 
years ago, Joe Paterno wouldn't have been interested in a job at ND 
either.  In other words, the best job for a coach who is already at one 
of the top dozen or so programs and has already established a winning 
record is probably where he already is.  The right question is what is 
the number one school where coaches hope to coach among coaches who are 
aren't already at top programs.  I think ND would still be up there.

>
> And the Irish's biggest edge used to be that they had a TV network -- 
> but
> that's not as big anymore either. We were on TV as much as the Irish 
> this
> past season ... ditto for Michigan, Florida, Texas and other schools.
>
I've heard you say this before, but no one else has nearly as many 
games nationally televised on a broadcast network as Notre Dame.  By 
nationally televised, I mean televised everywhere in the nation.  By 
broadcast network, I mean one you can get on the rabbit ears.  Every 
single home game and at least some of their road games (including last 
weekend's) fall into this category.

Like it or not, the Notre Dame football program is a national 
phenomenon like no other.  Two other points on this topic:  1) Sports 
Center spent the first 20 minutes on this subject tonight (it's very 
unusual for Sports Center to spend that much time on any topic); 2) 
We're talking about this on this list.

On the main subject at hand, yes, it was crazy for them to fire 
Willingham, but it makes for interesting news.