Blue and Gold Illustrated

Sept. 16, 2019

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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54 SEPT. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED B elieve it or not, this year marks the 25th anniversary of Bob Da- vie's arrival at Notre Dame as its new defensive coordinator. At the time he was the fair-haired, 39-year-old golden boy in the coach- ing ranks after earning a stellar repu- tation at Texas A&M from 1985-93, the last five as the coordinator, while assembling "The Wrecking Crew" defense. That Silver Anniversary in 2019 is likely not one he might remember with the most fondness now as a soon-to-be 65-year-old, silver-haired head coach of New Mexico, while making what might be his final ride in the football saddle. Some Irish faithful might refer to his possible appearance at Notre Dame Stadium Sept. 14 as "returning to the scene of the crime." If he is able to make it after an alarming health scare that hospitalized him Aug. 31, it would instead be a blessing. Amiable and highly approachable, Davie arrived at Notre Dame that winter of 1994 with ambitions to be- come a head coach. During Davie's time at College Station, the Aggies went through a golden age in football with an 85-24-1 record (.777 winning percentage) and seven Associated Press top-15 finishes in nine years — but he was looking for an even big- ger stage on which to perform. That opportunity arrived in 1994, when Irish defensive coordinator Rick Minter became head coach at Cincinnati after only two seasons with the Irish. From 1988-93 under head coach Lou 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 foot- ball paradise. The reality was the in- frastructure 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 Rosen- thal, a close friend of Holtz, retired in 1995, the year Holtz became tem- porarily 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 consid- ered the proverbial "breath of fresh air" compared to the tightly wound Holtz, who had become a victim of his own success and expectations. Holtz stepped down in 1996, and promoting Davie to the position be- came a mere formality, as he had in- gratiated himself to the three-man search committee of Wadsworth, ex- ecutive vice president Rev. E. William Beauchamp C.S.C., and assistant ath- letics 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 two 9-3 finishes, the latter resulting in a five- year contract extension (or buyout) after year four in 2000 under new athletics director Kevin White. Important to note is quite often Davie would state in a veiled (and sometimes overt) tone how Notre Dame football was lagging behind the times in so many areas of infra- structure: facilities, scheduling — both practices and games — admit- ting early enrollees, nutrition, sports science, salaries for assistants … Consequently, he was often casti- gated as a whiner and excuse maker who did not embrace Notre Dame. It was not going to work with Da- vie for many reasons — including The Peter Principle — and far be it for me to defend the regime. Still, ob- jectively 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 com- mitment, financially and internally, toward bringing all aspects of the program (sports science, facilities, early entrants, salaries, nutrition …) back to championship level has be- come much more pronounced, the most committed I have seen in nearly 50 years of following the program. Maybe a 22-4 mark the past two years is a new start. 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 hope- fully can come full circle with a new golden era again during this "silver anniversary." ✦ Striving For Gold Standard On Silver Anniversary THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com This year marks the 25th anniversary of Bob Davie's arrival at Notre Dame to be Lou Holtz's new defensive coordinator. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS CORRECTION In the previous edition, I had noted that the opener at Louisville would make Kentucky the 36th dif- ferent state where Notre Dame had played football. Omitted was Connecticut, where Notre Dame lost 28-0 to Yale at New Haven in 1914. Thus, Kentucky was the 37th state. Thanks to Jim Lefebvre, executive director of the Knute Rockne Memorial Society, for the correction.

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