By Brad Locke
December 3, 2004

(AgapePress) - Urban Meyer, I strongly urge you to turn Notre Dame down cold.

I know you have a clause in your contract that allows you to walk, no strings attached, from your Utah job if the Irish Nation beckons. Nobody would blame you for being Tyrone Willingham's successor. But I'm asking you to make this personal sacrifice for integrity's sake.

Being a college coach who's paid his dues, Coach Meyer, you certainly know how little job security there is in your profession. You've seen the strafing your coaching brethren have endured this season: Gerry DiNardo (Indiana), Keith Gilbertson (Washington), Buddy Teevens (Stanford), John Thompson (East Carolina), Ron Zook (Florida). And those were just the guys with no more than three years at their respective school. Also fired or forced to resign were Gary Crowton (BYU), David Cutcliffe (Ole Miss), Fitz Hill (San Jose State) and Ron Turner (Illinois). You're well aware of the impatience and shortsightedness that permeates Division I programs. So I'm sure you can see that Notre Dame is now just another carousel operator.

Coach Meyer, you know how good Willingham is. Heck, everyone does. He's led Notre Dame to two bowls in his three years, and he did it mostly with Bob Davie's players. Willingham's recruits have barely gotten their jerseys dirty, yet the higher-ups in South Bend said they saw "no progress" in the program's redevelopment. You know as well as anyone that three years isn't enough time to rebuild a program, especially one that's on the verge of becoming a Harvard or Army -- a one-time power that simply can't keep up with schools of looser academic standards.

You also know the value of running a clean program, which Notre Dame officials praised Willingham for doing. But, as they said, what happened Sunday through Friday didn't matter once Saturday rolled around. It's all about Saturday. I don't know about you, Coach, but it sounded to me like they didn't care at all what happened on those other days, as long as Saturday brought a W. Perhaps they are starting to believe Paul Hornung's claim that Notre Dame won't be competing for national titles again unless it lowers its academic standards.

Do you really want to be part of Notre Dame's fall, Coach Meyer, wittingly or not? Do you want to associate with people who have suddenly abandoned the integrity they once prided themselves on? How would you explain Willingham's contract not being honored for the full five years, unlike duds Davie and Gerry Faust? Why did integrity matter with those guys, but not now? How desperate must they be?

Like Florida, Notre Dame has fired one man simply to hire another. The action has no merit otherwise. And you, Coach Meyer, are the man atop both schools' list. Each is pursuing what it believes to be an upgrade, which maybe it is. You've done wonders at Utah, leading the Utes to an unbeaten season and BCS bowl berth, the first mid-major team to accomplish that. Your stock is at its peak, and I can't fault you for taking advantage of it. I wouldn't blame you for taking Willingham's place.

Still, I ask you to consider the kind of folks you'll be working for, the kind who apparently don't believe in the virtues of commitment and support (at a Catholic institution, no less). Willingham was never their first choice anyway, but George O'Leary's résumé fib forced them to look elsewhere, and Willingham, who was as hot as you with his success at Stanford, was too good for them to pass up. Also keep in mind that this was at the height of the minority hiring push. It very well could have been a political move, something to burnish the Irish's fading football reputation until someone more appealing could be found.

That someone appears to be you, Coach Meyer. And that means you, and no one else, hold the power to say no. Not only that, you can refuse the job by citing your disgust with how Willingham was treated. Remember, too, that if you don't turn out to be the Wonder Boy they've been hoping for, Notre Dame's big wigs won't hesitate for a second to cut you loose on a whim, either.

I'm sure you have integrity, Coach Meyer. Be sure your employer does, too.