Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the fifth quarter lou somogyi ��� From 1997-2007, Alabama was 74���60 (.552) and qualified for only one BCS bid, that resulting in a loss to Michigan. ��� Finally, from 1989-99, LSU was 58���65���1 (.472). The Bayou Bengals possessed the ���C Factors��� that premier recruits supposedly are most interested in ��� championships, climate and comely coeds ��� yet even they struggled. In all these instances, though, most of the time the needed ingredient was the fourth C ��� coaching. In almost every instance, it took three coaching changes before order was restored, similar to Notre Dame with Brian Kelly. ��� LSU went through Mike Archer, Curley Hallman and former Notre Dame All-American Gerry DiNardo before Nick Saban���s arrival began to turn the (Crimson) Tide much more in Baton Rouge, resulting in a 2003 national title and setting the table for another in 2007. Archer had a 10-1-1 debut season in 1987, but that was somewhat akin to the strong 8-0 start by Ty Willingham in his first season at Notre Dame. DiNardo had back-to-back 9-3 and 10���2 seasons, similar to Charlie Weis��� 9���3 and 10-3 ledgers his first two years at Notre Dame. He followed with a precipitous 4-7 drop (a la Weis at 3-9 his third year) that would seal his fate. ��� Alabama went through Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione and Mike Shula before Saban again had to come to the rescue (although he, too, began with a 7-6 record). Neither DuBose nor Shula had previous head coaching ex- perience, similar to Davie and Weis at Notre Dame. ��� Texas fired Fred Akers, David McWilliams and John Mackovic. Akers led the Longhorns to within one game of the national title in his first year (1977, losing 38-10 to Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl) and in his seventh, but the lack of finishing got him ousted. Mack Brown might be experiencing a similar ���what have you done for me lately?��� feeling after winning it all in 2005. ��� Oklahoma fired Gary Gibbs, Howard Schnellenberger (great coach but wrong fit, a la Rich Rodriguez at Michigan) and John Blake in a five-year span from 1994���98. Neither Gibbs nor Blake had head coaching experience when hired ��� but neither did Bob Stoops when he came aboard in 1999, yet he ended up thriving. ��� USC actually fired four head coaches ��� Ted Tollner, Larry Smith, John Robinson and Paul Hackett ��� before finally making the right hire in Pete Carroll, a ���retread��� who had been fired twice in the NFL. The moral of the story is alibis can always be found at any school ��� no matter what the climate ��� for losing skeins that might appear unjustifiable. It takes a confluence of factors, most notably strong leadership at the top, to help swing the pendulum and break the negative cycle(s). ��� Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com