Cannon Firing Line
Just Like Everywhere Else
By Ellis G. Cannon
Publisher, Pittsburgh Sports Report

This headline says all we need to know about Notre Dame's firing of Tyrone Willingham.

Forget the 'holier than thou' stuff. Forget the 'higher purpose' mantra. Forget the notion that there is a larger mission at work in South Bend. It's all about winning - just like everywhere else.

At least now that's clear.

Take it from Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White. After the dismissal, he was asked if firing a head coach three years into a contract meant winning had taken a higher priority.

Said White: 'I don't know that I would characterize it in that way. I think if it says anything, it's an underscore of a notion that football is very important at Notre Dame, and the competitive expectations, again, are not downwardly negotiable.'

In doing his best Al Haig immitation, that was his convoluted way of saying, simply, 'Yes.'

If that's really what Notre Dame wants, fine. They have that right, and to not acknowledge how money and winning plays into what Notre Dame does is foolish. Besides, college football is better when the emotional lightning rod that are the Irish are top 10 each year. If it's all about ensuring winning, go all the way with it, Kev. Forget the pretense. Just tell us there wasn't enough of it and the losses were too embarrassing.

Fact is, there's no 'if' to it. That's exactly why Willingham was axed: he didn't win enough, and his losses were either by too large a margin or to teams he was expected to beat.

Don't forget the program not sending enough guys to the pros, no national titles in 16 years, and alumni and campus dissent.

Indeed, if ND is running the place as a football factory, these factors are all valid - just tell us you're a factory.

Instead, Willingham had to wait until he was fired to hear he held up his end of the deal six days a week, that the academics had never been better, and that he had prepared his boys to be men. All while he was working in a flawed situation that was set up for failure. One where the expectations couldn't be met. At the end, he was working in an environment where the prospect of finding the next hotshot coach before someone else did was most important.

As it turns out, when Ty started his Irish career with eight straight wins, the happy jackets weren't grinning because he was fulfilling their 'higher purpose,' or even because Notre Dame looked good for 'taking a chance' on an African-American head coach. No, they were yukking it up because they were winning football games. Only then does the 'greater purpose' count for anything.

That's also why many of us rooted for Ty. Maybe Notre Dame was going to stand for something. Maybe the stuff they spouted was real; maybe Notre Dame was going have it both ways. Maybe ND was going to be a leader in changing the injustice involved in the lack of minority head coaches. Don't pooh-pooh that, because if Willingham had succeeded, Notre Dame would have proclaimed itself a visionary.

But it's not about that. This is about too many 30-point losses. No, Notre Dame isn't going to have it both ways. There is only one way at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame just needs to tell us which rules they follow. Perhaps they just did. But when you hire the Next Big Thing, don't fluff it up. Tell him he has to win - now, even before his first recruiting class is out the door.

Tell him Notre Dame is just like everywhere else.

'Ellis Cannon's Sportsline Pittsburgh' airs weeknights, 6-8 p.m. on FM NewsTalk 104.7. Ellis is also a regular contributor on the '#1 Cochran Sports Showdown' aired Sundays at 11:35 on KDKA-TV.