By Staff
Dec. 16, 2001
Sifting through Stuff on a Sunday …
How quickly they fall.
Just days after landing his Dream Job' as head football coach at Notre Dame, George O'Leary is now out of work.
Some may feel that he shouldn't have stepped down at Notre Dame. That his offenses falsifying his resume decades ago are old and should be ignored.
I believe in forgiveness as much as the next guy, in fact I count on it a whole lot, but O'Leary had many chances to correct his resume. And don't forget this in life we can be forgiven of many things including our sins, but sometimes we still have to pay the price here on Earth for the trouble those sins caused.
I do hope O'Leary is able to get things straightened out, work through this embarrassment and continue his coaching career. Everybody needs second chances, and as most of us know, thirds and fourths come in handy as well.
Now Notre Dame must go about the task of finding a new head coach.
I just don't believe a lot of qualified folks will be knocking the doors down. Sure, they will find a good coach somewhere to take the job, but it is a tough one.
The Irish play a tough schedule and eight or nine wins and a major bowl are not only desired, but expected.
I chuckled a little when I first saw the list of all the names that were being bandied about as the possible next head coach after Bob Davie was fired from the post at the end of the season.
It looked more like a Notre Dame wish list than an actual compilation of coaches who were interested in the job.
I'm not as curious as to who will be the next head coach at Notre Dame, as to who the Irish will name four years from now after the next firing.
Only Alabama rivals Notre Dame for expectations from their head football coach, and there just aren't that many Ara Parseghians or Bear Bryants out there.
And besides, the times have changed. The Notre Dames, Penn States, Alabamas and UCLAs aren't the only good football programs out there.
Teams such as Oregon, Florida, Miami, Syracuse, Marshall, Kansas State and Northwestern have proven you don't have to be one of the big four or five, to have a shot at being a Top 10 team.
But will the desires for greatness and the intolerance for anything other than a Top 10 program at Notre Dame or Alabama change?
Not now. Not ever.
Lindsey move sounds fine
There has been a little stink raised by the dismissal of Don Lindsey as defensive coordinator at Ole Miss.
After just one year the veteran coach will no longer be with the Rebels.
Some say he is being used by David Cutcliffe as a scapegoat for a season that saw the Rebels go 7-4, but due to a sometimes porous defense, fall short of a bowl bid.
Maybe, maybe not.
No matter why the decision was made to relieve Lindsey of his duties, I don't have a problem with the move.
College football, like it or not, is a big, big business. And if the man running the business, Cutcliffe in this instance, is ready to make a change, then he should be able to make it.
And Lindsey's response was a good one. He said he just didn't fit in and it was time for him to move on.
Good for him.
Sometimes good people just don't work out at certain jobs and it may not be any particular person's fault. But it takes a good boss and a good employee to understand that it is just not working.
The Yankees are reloading
Like the New York Yankees or not, even a casual observer can see that the Yankee juggernaut is reloading.
The addition of such players as slugging first baseman Jason Giambi, solid third baseman Robin Ventura and proven reliever Steve Karsay prove that George Steinbrenner isn't just going to sit on all of that money.
Of course, nobody has ever accused him of that.
And what have my beloved Atlanta Braves done in response? They signed Vinny Castilla to play third base and moved All-Star third baseman Chipper Jones to left field.
There remains a void at first base and more pop is still needed in the lineup.
They did sign John Smoltz to return as the team's closer, which was a very smart deal.
We'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out, but there appears to be much more work that needs to be done in the Braves camp.
Austin Bishop is regional sports director of the East Mississippi Group and oversees the day-to-day operation of The Meridian Star sports department. You can e-mail him at abishop@themeridianstar.com.