| | By Jeff Potrykus
Special to ESPN.com
So you think Nebraska coach Frank Solich might be a bit uneasy with the Cornhuskers ranked No. 1 in the country in both major polls?
|  | | The Irish haven't won a bowl game under Davie and have finished unranked in each of his first three seasons. |
Whatever. No college football coach in America, including Solich, will be under more scrutiny this season than Notre Dame's Bob Davie.
From the shadow of the Golden Dome to campus-area bars to chat rooms on the Internet, stories of Davie's impending demise are bountiful.
"Everyone here knows we lost our last four games," Davie said of his team's forgettable 5-7 record last season. "And at Notre Dame, the bottom line, that is unacceptable.
"It doesn't matter how it happened. Doesn't matter why it happened."
What matters is that the Irish are losing more often than school officials and influential alumni can stomach.
They are losing on the field, on the recruiting trail, and on NFL draft day.
Since finishing No. 2 behind Florida State in 1993, the Irish haven't come close to contending for a national title. Notre Dame's 5-7 mark in '99 was the school's first losing record in 13 seasons.
Davie's mark after three seasons as head coach is 21-16, a winning percentage of .567. Those numbers spark memories of the forgettable Gerry Faust years. From 1981-'85, Faust compiled a record of 30-26-1 and was shown the door.
In his first season as head coach, Davie became the first coach since Joe Kuharich to lose four consecutive games. With last season's four-game skid, Davie has accomplished that feat twice.
The Irish have had no first-team All-Americans since 1993. When highly touted quarterback C.J. Leak announced last February he had chosen Wake Forest over Notre Dame, he said he did so because he wanted to be part of a special program. Wake Forest?
There have been just two first-round draft picks since 1995. In 1994, a whopping 10 Notre Dame players were drafted. This past year, only one Notre Dame player was drafted. Arkansas-Pine Bluff sent two players to the NFL!
This year, the Irish couldn't even crack The Associated Press' Top 25 pre-season poll. That hasn't happened since 1986.
And have we mentioned the off-field problems and the fallout from the Kim Dunbar case?
Dunbar, a former booster, used $1.4 million she embezzled from a former employer to lavish Notre Dame players with all sorts of gifts.
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Not so golden
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Bob Davie is 21-16-0 (.516) with two bowl appearances, but no bowl wins in his first three years at Notre Dame. Here's a quick look at how Davie compares with other Fighting Irish coaches in their first three seasons.
Lou Holtz: 25-9 (.735) and won a national championship in his third season (1988).
Gerry Faust: 17-15-1 (.515) and won 19-18 Liberty Bowl game over Boston College.
Dan Devine: 28-7-0 (.800) and won a national championship in his third season (1977).
Ara Parseghian: 25-2-2 (.862) and won a national chamionship in his third season (1966).
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Although the NCAA penalties handed down in December were relatively minor -- two years probation and the loss of two scholarships -- school officials took swift action.
The Rev. Edward Malloy, university president, stripped the Rev. William Beauchamp of his role as overseer of the athletic department, a job he'd held for 13 years. Malloy also forced then-athletic director Mike Wadsworth to resign and brought in Kevin White from Arizona State to clean up the mess.
"Let's be honest," said Davie, whose contract runs through 2003, "the expectations on the outside are low."
Oh really?
"I think people continue to talk about last year," Davie added, "about the negatives. On the inside, though, I guarantee that the expectations are extremely high.
"I think we realize the challenge ahead. But this is an extremely confident football team, and I promise you there is no one walking around here with their head down."
Maybe not. But if they're optimistic about the 2000 season, they certainly haven't studied the schedule closely. The Irish have home games against No. 24 Texas A&M, No. 1 Nebraska and No. 13 Purdue. They play at No. 22 Michigan State, then play host to Stanford, the team that ended their season in '99.
According to Davie, White hasn't set a minimum number of victories to ensure job security. But even Davie understands the pressure will mount if the Irish stumble early.
"Obviously, you are conscious of all those things," he said, referring to the rumors of his job security. "You wouldn't be human if you weren't. But I'm not going to sit around and let outside things create a scenario that may not be totally accurate.
"I don't think it's fair to me. I don't think it is fair to our football team, and I know it is not fair to our coaches to do that," he said. "I think the real solution is going about your business, so I'm not feeling sorry for myself. We are going to go after this thing hard."
But for how long?
Jeff Potrykus covers college football for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. | |
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