Lou’s Confessions: Remembering Bob Davie’s Hiring At Notre Dame
“I used to hear players say you appreciate Notre Dame a lot more after you leave. I do as well. Now I absolutely root for them every chance I get. You see how they do things, the magnitude of it all and the kind of people there … quite honestly, you wish you could do it again.
“I would embrace the pep rallies — even those Friday luncheons that at the time were such a hassle. I would embrace the pressure of the situation.”
— New Mexico head coach Bob Davie, the head coach at Notre Dame from 1997-2001, in an interview last week with The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein
I’ll confess that in 35 seasons at Blue & Gold Illustrated, I have not met a more amiable, approachable and refreshingly candid Notre Dame assistant to interview than Davie during his tenure as the Fighting Irish defensive coordinator from 1994-96.
Yet when it was time to name a successor for Lou Holtz following the 1996 season, I could not in good conscience endorse him as a first-time head coach at Notre Dame.
Yes, back then the 42-year-old Davie was much older and seasoned than 26-year-old Terry Brennan was when he was tabbed with the impossible task of succeeding Frank Leahy in 1954.
And yes, unlike Gerry Faust hired to replace Dan Devine following the 1980 season, Davie had two decades worth of coaching as an assistant at mostly the highest level of college football.
Still, my “Final Four” version to replace Holtz consisted of the following:
• Bobby Ross — The 49-year-old had been a college head coach for 15 years, highlighted by leading Georgia Tech to a share of the national title in 1990. He also guided the San Diego Chargers to the 1995 Super Bowl, but after so-so years in 1995-96, I felt it was the perfect opportunity for him to return to college football and win a second title at Notre Dame.
• Gary Barnett — The 50-year-old pulled off one of the great miracles in college football during the 20th century while leading Northwestern to consecutive Big Ten titles in 1995-96. But he was eliminated shortly after meeting with school officials.
“They wanted me to fall down on my knees to take the job,” Barnett told Greenstein in 2017. “I said, ’You have to convince me this is a better job than what I have at Northwestern.’ We both didn’t think it was a good match.”
Ya think?
• Gerry DiNardo — As a child of the 1970s, I had him as a sentimental pick because of my belief that the starting offensive guard and future All-American for the 1973 national champions would thrive at his alma mater. He was the offensive coordinator for the 1990 co-national champ (with Ross’ Georgia Tech team) Colorado Buffaloes, made Vanderbilt respectably competitive from 1991-94, and then took the LSU job — after the Tigers had six straight losing seasons from 1989-94.
DiNardo led LSU to a 7-4-1 mark his first year after whipping Nick Saban’s Michigan State team (45-26) in the Independence Bowl, and the following year the Tigers were 10-2. Perfect timing — plus his college quarterback, Tom Clements, could be his offensive coordinator.
• Barry Alvarez — The defensive coordinator for Holtz during the school-record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89, Alvarez took over a Wisconsin program that was 14-42 (7-33 in the Big Ten) from 1985-89. By Alvarez’s fourth season (1993) leading the Badgers, after a 1-10 start himself, they were Rose Bowl champions and finished No. 6 in the Associated Press poll with a 10-1-1 ledger.
However, I was later told by a Notre Dame administrator that Alvarez was not a candidate for a number of reasons, including a desire to not have too much of a Holtz influence with the next coach. (This was a tad confusing to me because if they indeed wanted to distance themselves from the Holtz regime, then why would they hire his top assistant?)
Besides, why hire a former Notre Dame defensive coordinator when the current defensive coordinator Davie was deemed a rising future head coaching star in the ranks? Reportedly, schools such as Cal, Oklahoma, Purdue, Maryland and Boston College were all interested in him.
No Attendance At Silver Anniversary
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Davie’s arrival at Notre Dame as its new defensive coordinator. This weekend’s matchup between his New Mexico Lobos at Notre Dame was supposed to be the top storyline, but a non-specified serious health scare during the 39-31 victory versus Sam Houston State Aug. 31 has prevented him from making the trip.
"We’re pulling for him, and hoping for a speedy recovery,” Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly said at the outset of his weekly Monday press conference. “It seems like he’s moving in that direction, and we hope for him to be back on the sidelines quickly.”
Davie came that winter of 1994 with ambitions to become a head coach. During his time at Texas A&M from 1985-93, the Aggies went through a golden age with an 85-24-1 record (.777 winning percentage) and seven AP top-15 finishes in nine years — but he was looking for an even bigger stage.
That opportunity arrived when Irish defensive coordinator Rick Minter became head coach at Cincinnati after only two seasons with the Irish. From 1988-93 under Holtz, Notre Dame was one of the top three programs in the country with a 64-9-1 mark (.872 winning percentage), including 5-1 in major bowls, a national title and two debatable No. 2 finishes.
From the outside looking in, Davie thought he was entering college football paradise. The reality was the infrastructure was gradually eroding. Recruiting was falling off starting in 1991, and it took hold when they were seniors in 1994, Davie’s first season in the program that ended with a precipitous drop from 11-1 in 1993 to 6-5-1.
Next, athletics director Dick Rosenthal — a close friend of Holtz — retired in 1995, the year Holtz became temporarily sidelined with neck surgery, and Davie was named the “acting head coach” for a few weeks. New athletics director Mike Wadsworth immediately became enthralled with the personable Davie and how well the players appeared to respond to his leadership and style.
Behind the scenes, the wheels had begun to be put in motion for a succession plan. Davie was considered the proverbial “breath of fresh air” compared to the tightly wound Holtz, who had become a victim of his own success and expectations.
Holtz’s time had run its course at Notre Dame, but I deeply resented the consistent veiled shots that 1997 preseason about how Davie had brought a new energy and vision the program so desperately needed after slumping to 23-11-1 from 1994-96.
Holtz stepped down in 1996, and promoting Davie to the position became a mere formality (especially after the Barnett fiasco), as he had ingratiated himself to the three-man search committee of Wadsworth, executive vice president Rev. E. William Beauchamp C.S.C., and assistant athletics director George Kelly.
There is not nearly enough space to adequately cover that ensuing five-year Davie era from 1997-2001 that ended 35-25, highlighted by 9‑3 finishes in 1998 and 2000, the latter resulting in a five-year contract extension (or buyout terms) through 2005 under new athletics director Kevin White.
Important to note is quite often Davie would state in a subtle (and sometimes overt) tone how Notre Dame football was lagging behind the times in so many areas of infrastructure: facilities, scheduling — both practices and games — admitting early enrollees, nutrition, sports science, salaries for assistants, etc.
Consequently, he was often castigated as a whiner and excuse maker who did not embrace Notre Dame.
It was not going to work with Davie for many reasons — including The Peter Principle — and far be it for me to defend the regime. Still, objectively and upon closer inspection, he was correct about many of Notre Dame’s failures of not addressing the 21st century future while getting stuck in its unrivaled, glorious past.
Twenty-five years later, the commitment, financially and internally, toward bringing all aspects of the program (sports science, facilities, early entrants, salaries, nutrition, etc.) back to championship level is far more conspicuous. It is the most pronounced I have seen in nearly 50 years of following the program. Maybe the 22-4 mark in 2017-18 provides the evidence of a renaissance. Maybe not.
On the field, it’s still a far cry from 1988-93, never mind other eras. Still, the decline that began in 1994 hopefully can come full circle with a new golden era again during this “silver anniversary.”
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