Disbelieving Davie in denial Forget final victory, any compassion from fans--signs point to quick firing

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.--Even when he wins, he loses. As Bob Davieleft the field Saturday night, having failed in the art of properlytaking a knee and needlessly causing a chaotic finish, he was peltedby verbal abuse from swarms of Notre Dame fans. So vicious were theinsults, he looked up and stared at his seething critics.

If this was his famous final scene, it was fitting.

"You [stink], Davie!"

"Loser! Loser!"

"Go to [heck], you jerk!"

It is a place he knows well, lonely and cold. A half-hour later,Davie already looked the part of a past-tense coach, buried undertalk of his expected firing and possible replacements ranging fromJon Gruden (great idea) to Bob Stoops (good idea) to George O'Leary(who?). Never mind the 24-18 victory over lackluster Purdue. This isno time for a compassion crusade. Anybody who cares about Notre Damewill view it as too little, too late, and demand a coaching change assoon as Monday.

Winning one for the Lame Duck just doesn't carry the same charm aswinning one for the Gipper, much as some Fighting Irish playersrallied behind him and cursed out the media afterward. Face it. Newsorganizations are being told Davie is gone. High school recruits,many in Chicago, are being told Davie is gone. A banner behind theIrish bench--"NOW TAKING COACHING APPLICATIONS"--suggested Davie isgone. Maybe the only guy who doesn't think Davie should be gone isDavie.

"We're the same team and the same coaches as a year ago," he saidas another 5-6 season was recorded, his second losing record at aschool that has suffered only three others in 37 years. "If that'snot good enough, that's not good enough. I'm proud of this Notre Dameteam. You can be as sarcastic and cynical as you want to be, but I amproud. This is my favorite team."

Fighting to the end, Davie refuses to acknowledge the obvious:During his ragged tenure, Notre Dame has tumbled from a regal nicheinto a sluggish coma. What stuns me is his attitude. Not only isDavie flat-out daring his superiors to dump him, talking like a manwho has awakened the echoes and prompted weekly high-fives betweenTouchdown Jesus and the Leprechaun, he is challenging theuniversity's "integrity and honesty." To hear Davie, it is the NDadministration that should be questioned in any dismissal scenario.Rather incredibly, his statements position his bosses to be the badguys for giving him a five-year extension last year, then changingtheir mind.

Earth to Bob: It's their football program, their prerogative.

On reports of his impending departure, Davie said: "Keep in mindthis is Notre Dame. I came here eight years ago. And a year agoDecember, I decided to make a long-term commitment. I believe inNotre Dame and its integrity and honesty. It might happen somewhereelse, but not here."

Don't tell Davie he has flopped. Don't tell him he has fritteredaway a mother lode of tradition and glory and failed to achieve what50 other programs have this year: a bowl bid. He is forcing theadministration to pull the trigger, an untidy but necessary manueverto resuscitate the program. Everything Lou Holtz restored theprevious 11 years, Davie ripped apart in five. He can't developtalent. He can't run an offense. He can't motivate young men. Hecan't think on his feet. He can't manage a game clock. He can'tmuster confidence among exasperated alums and boosters. Simply put,the Domers appointed a coach who wasn't ready.

The biggest fallacy out there claims Notre Dame is doomed to afair-to-middling existence, that scholarship limits and unimpressedprep stars have eroded the usual built-in advantages. What bunk. Theprogram remains the biggest sleeping giant in American sports, easilyfixed by a high-credibility coach with the energy and brass to take adynamic plunge into the job. With the right approach, any kid couldbe sold on the prestige, the perks, an NBC-TV package unlike any inthe college game. "There are no gurus," Davie argued. "I don't knowif anybody is going to come in here and just have the fans jumping upand down each and every week. I don't know if that guy exists. If hedid exist, his name was Knute or one of those statues outside myoffice."

The man is in a dream world. Notre Dame believes, rightfully so,that it still can field excellent teams with quality students. Asavior is out there, if only athletic director Kevin White and Rev.Edward Malloy, the school president, can pinpoint him. Make nomistake: Malloy still desires a preeminent program. But he also wasamong those who approved the Davie hiring. Coupled with the GerryFaust Error, two of ND's last three hires have been busts. Thisappointment has to be spot-on, the most important in school history.

Gruden, the white-hot coach of the Oakland Raiders, would stir thepassions. He is the unquestioned people's choice, and by allindications, the interest is mutual. One of his Raiders assistants,native Chicagoan Bill Callahan, recently called former Irishassistant Joe Moore--yes, he of the messy age-discrimination suitagainst ND that muddied Davie--and grilled him about the job. "Hesaid Gruden would be very interested," Moore told the South BendTribune. "But there's the issue of timing."

Like San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci, another fine idea,Gruden will be busy with a playoff team for several weeks. Can NotreDame wait that long and risk hurting a recruiting class? Isn'tRaiders coach Al Davis the last guy to let Gruden out of a contractwith a year left? As time passes, will a college coach have to bepursued?

Oklahoma's Stoops is young and dynamic with a national title inhis holster. He can be bought out for $2 million, an easy check towrite when you're Notre Dame and the DeBartolo family--from Stoops'hometown of Youngstown, Ohio--is a major university influence.O'Leary is the coach at Georgia Tech, not the high-sizzle candidatewe have in mind.

Whoever's next will inherit goofiness. Oddly, Davie didn't havequarterback Carlyle Holiday take a knee in the final minute, choosingto have him do a dance of sorts and cause confused officials to puttime back on the clock. Next thing you knew, Purdue was lofting aHail Mary that, mercifully, landed in Irish arms. "At the end of agame, we have something called 'Milk the clock,' " Davie said."Instead of taking a knee, the quarterback milks the clock."

And risks a fumble.

Surely, his replacement will know better.