Sports Commentary.
Kurtis Williams – For the Review. The end of the college football season always brings about top-level changes. Coaches are fired for poor performance, some leave for better opportunities and some retire.
This year, the coaching saga continues at the University of Notre Dame as head coach Charlie Weis was terminated last week for lackluster on-field performance.
Notre Dame represents prestige, class, Catholic tradition, etc. When it comes to football, the Golden Domers are known as winners, but not to our generation.
In fact, Notre Dame has not won a major bowl game since 1992, and its last national championship victory was Jan. 2, 1989.
Some attribute the team’s demise to the higher academic standards set by the institution — standards athletes have to follow, as well.
True. The school’s own Web site states, “The most competitive students in our applicant pool have taken the most rigorous high school curriculum available to them, have excelled in it and have risen to the top of their high school class.”
The problem with the most successful college football programs is that their players see an easy opportunity to focus on football and not pay much, if any, attention to academics. Going to school is seen as a requirement to get into the NFL.
Although not often talked about, people in the college football world know professors, team representatives and faculty who fudge grades so that the best players are available on game day.
So, should Notre Dame, exemplified as the “Golden Standard,” lower its academic bar for its students in order to win football games?
Think about that for a second. What message does that send? That developing football players is more important that developing exceptional people? People who will one day lead this great nation?
In its recent Football Academic Progress Report, the NCAA rated Notre Dame No. 10 of 120 Division I programs. This ranking is what every school should strive for from its athletic teams — not collusion and bending the rules. Or, have we forgotten that participating in NCAA athletics is a privilege, not a right?
I believe Notre Dame understands my message. Jim Harbaugh, head coach at Stanford, which ranked No. 1 in the same poll, was, at one point, considered one of the top candidates for the opening at Notre Dame.
The University of Tennessee is one example of a situation out of control. First-year coach Lane Kiffin has been cited for multiple NCAA violations involving recruits while at the same time accusing several divisional coaches of cheating.
In November, three of Tennessee’s players were arrested for armed robbery. This week, The New York Times reported that the Volunteers are under investigation for hiring up to 75 hostesses to assist in the recruiting of players.
Despite what you may think, this happens more than you know. This is just one layer of the seedy underbelly of Division I football.
Don’t get me wrong, I love college football more than the next guy. But I think coaches and the NCAA should frown more harshly on arrests, academic probation and transgressions, regardless of championships.
Notre Dame has a far more important reputation to uphold — not a tradition of winning, but a tradition of excellence. Its football winning dates back to the 1920s, but its academics can be traced back to the 1840s.