12/3/04--when a "dream job"....apparently isn't

Its been a kind of crappy day.  Here I was, happy as a pig in shit the other day when Notre Dame gave Ty Willingham the axe, with the feeling being that Urban Meyer would gladly come running from his present job at Utah (well, maybe AFTER his team plays in a BCS game).  The Notre Dame head coaching job was, afterall, supposedly Meyer's "dream job".  It was part of his contract with Utah that if Notre Dame (or Michigan or Ohio State) came calling, Meyer could walk away without any financial penalty.
Thursday, Meyer's dreamjob was finally offered to him.  But....apparently that dreamjob comes with some conditions.  According to accounts that I've read,  Meyer inquired of ND president Father Jenkins and athletic director Kevin White about whether ND would be willing to "relax" some of their admissions standards.
Specifically, I've heard that Meyer wanted to be permitted 6 "waivers" per year.
He wanted to bring in up to 6 athletes that....well...maybe wouldn't ordinarily pass the rigid Notre Dame admissions.  Surprisingly, the ND representatives were willing to offer 2 waivers like Meyer asked about, but not go as high as 6.  That was about the time that the Florida Gators reemerged into the picture.  This was not about money.  This was about Meyer wanting a say in the admissions procedures.  Correctly or not, ND wouldn't meet his demands, and now Meyer is heading to Gainesville, while the Irish have egg on their face and are still looking for a coach.

Meyer seemed to be the perfect choice.  But, as was pointed out in a column in the online site IrishToday, the most successful Irish coaches have been ones that will come to Notre Dame no matter WHAT the standards are.  Apparently, Meyer didn't want the job as much as he may have thought.

On another message board, I stated that, if Meyer were hired....a sleeping bear might just be waking up.  Its not easy watching the program that you love and follow be made light of, to be the object of ridicule and embarassment.  Hopefully it will be darkest before the dawn.

I'm not really sure where the coaching search is at this moment, but I've heard the following names thrown out as possibilities:
Jeff Tedford--head coach of # 4 ranked Cal
Bobby Petrino--head coach of #8 ranked Louisville
Dan Hawkins--head coach of #10 ranked Boise State
Charlie Weis--offensive coordinater of the NE Patriots (and ND grad)
Paul Johnson--head coach of Navy

and then of course, you have the "dream" candidates:
Jon Gruden--head coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs---it appears this train has left the station though.  We had our shot at Jon in 2001.  UGH.

Until tomorrow, when I'll give details of a strange week and update the movie reviews....

Jeff