Dec. 2, 2001
Audio:
Statement
Q&A
Following is a statement from Kevin White, director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame, concerning the head coaching position of the Notre Dame football team:
“I have informed Bob Davie today that he will not be retained as head football coach at the University of Notre Dame.
“After talking to Bob, I also have spoken with our football team and assistant coaches. Our assistant coaches understand that a new head coach will select his own staff, but I’ve told them that they will continue as Notre Dame employees at least until that time. I’ve told our players that their welfare during this transition is our number one concern and that our sole focus in the coming search is to bring them a coach who will give them the best possible chance to succeed at Notre Dame, on and off the field.
“This is difficult for all of us. It is never a pleasant duty to part company. It is no secret to anyone that high expectations come with the job of head football coach at Notre Dame. Those expectations are the product not only of our history and tradition and national following, but also of our institution-wide commitment to excellence in everything that we do. I know there are those who believe it is no longer possible for us to contend for national championships on the field while continuing to win graduation-rate honors, but I don’t accept that premise, nor does anyone involved with athletics at Notre Dame.
“Bob Davie has brought good students and good people to Notre Dame, he has supported and taken an active interest in the academic progress of his players, he has encouraged good citizenship. These are expectations we have of all our coaches in all sports. However, we also expect and intend to excel on the field, and there, unfortunately, our results and progress have been disappointing. A year ago at this time, I believed that we had turned the corner under Bob and that we were prepared to reclaim our traditional standing among the nation’s elite college football programs. Today I no longer can say that.
“The search for a new head coach will begin immediately. I made a commitment to Bob that I would not contact anyone about this job until he had first heard from me concerning his status, and I have honored that commitment. I’ve made no contacts with potential candidates or their employers before now, and I don’t expect to comment on the contacts that we do make during the search. I appreciate the appetite for news about a search of this kind, but you don’t hire good people by negotiating through the media. We all know that the rumor mill has been in operation for many weeks now, and we know that today’s announcement will kick it into overdrive. Let me just state one caution about the rumors and ‘informed sources’ that are bound to surface in the days ahead: As soon as there’s something to report, you’ll hear it from me, but until you hear it from me, anything you might hear will be nothing more than speculation.”
With that, I’d be pleased to respond to some questions.
Q. Are you the committee of one that’s going to pick the new coach?
KEVIN WHITE: I’m going to be working with a small group of folks that will help me in this regard that will provide the advice and counsel, and in the last analysis, I will make the recommendation.
Q. At what point did it seem that you came to this conclusion ?? inaudible ?? how did you get around the issue of the contract?
KEVIN WHITE: I guess I’d have to say I have evaluated the football program almost each and every day since I’ve been here. It’s so critical to the entire University at Notre Dame, such an important aspect of the University. I can’t tell you when it really dawned on me that I thought we were heading in the wrong direction. I don’t know that I can pinpoint that for you, but I can tell you that I did not contact Father Malloy to make that recommendation formally until about 8:00 AM this morning.
Q. Have you at this point formulated in your mind the person or people you are going to contact? If so, who might they be, and if you have not formulated that list, in your mind, what type of person are you looking for?
KEVIN WHITE: I think in the past we’ve talked about, you know, kind of a right of passage for athletics administrators. I think you are always very involved in a game I might characterize as determined, you always have a short list. I think people who have done this over time and have had any success, that tends to be how they operate. So you know, there are always people that you are kind of paying attention to and so forth. At this point, I do have a short list. Again, I have not contacted anybody. I have not had any conversations at this point. I don’t know what the level of interest might be or would be. But I don’t know what else I can say. I think that’s a common practice within the subsector, within the athletics administration.
Q. Without getting into specifics, can you tell us about the phone call and the process?
KEVIN WHITE: We are going to look for the very best head coach we can find: Somebody with head coaching experience, somebody that has a strong track record of success and somebody that would certainly be a great institutional fit here at Notre Dame. I think that’s the core criteria on this, if I might describe it to you. Timetable, we are going to move as quickly as possible but we are not going to move ?? we are not going to move at a pace that would deprive us from hopefully securing the very best coach possible for this position. So we are going to move quickly, but hopefully not too quickly. We are going to do a thorough national search and take a look at people that we think make a whole lot of sense for Notre Dame. About the contract, I would have to tell you that coming off of the regular season last year, I really felt we were moving in the right direction, and I have to take full responsibility. It was, in my view, a misread on my part. I really felt we were moving in the right direction and really thought that we were making very good progress. But, again, that’s on me. That was my call and I would guess qualify that as a misread from me.
Q. This decision, with the remaining University employees, would that involve the active recruiting of student athletes?
KEVIN WHITE: Yes. I met with each of the assistants today, all nine of them and we are going to continue to assist as go through the search process, rather than going into a long segue, that is the bottom line. We are going to continue to recruit.
Q. Kevin, what role, if any, did the negative fan reaction towards Bob that grew all season ?? what role, if any, did that play in the decision?
KEVIN WHITE: You know, I think the Notre Dame family is very important to Notre Dame. I think all of the constituencies are very important to any institution, but I think at end of the day, over time, my track record, I think I try to take myself out of that fray to some degree, to the degree that that’s possible and try to look at things objectively. So did it have an impact on me? I’m sure it did, I think it has an all of us, but I try to be objective at the same time.
Q. Was there any performance clause in the contract that the University was able to exercise in making the change?
KEVIN WHITE: Tell me what you mean by “performance”.
Q. It was supposedly a five?year deal, but structured in there was there a performance clause ? How did it end up being broken?
KEVIN WHITE: You know, the University will uphold the financial commitment of the contract, and that’s just how athletics contracts are structured today. That’s the University’s responsibility and they will meet that responsibility.
Q. You mentioned time and time again to the media that an evaluation would not be done until the end of the season on coach Davie. Obviously, the season was 8:00 last night. Was that still what you’re going by or was the decision already made?
KEVIN WHITE: No. As I think I said earlier, I didn’t contact Father Malloy until about 8:00 this morning and actually had talked to Father late last week and had told him that I was going to come to some recommendation early on Sunday morning. And I made an arrangement to speak with him and that’s what ?? that’s what occurred. And Bob Davie and I met actually at 9:00 AM this morning to talk about that specific recommendation.
Q. When you met with Bob and told him, what was his reaction?
KEVIN WHITE: Bob has been very professional through this whole thing. He’s a pro. He’s a solid guy, a stand?up guy. I think he was very disappointed. But I’ll let you ask him that in his press conference, I guess, at 4:30.
Q. On Friday, you brought up the question of Notre Dame’s integrity and honesty, presumably referring to the contract extension and that perhaps Notre Dame would not be losing some of its integrity and honesty if it broke that contract. Do you feel that the University’s integrity and honesty was compromised by this decision?
KEVIN WHITE: I don’t think so. I think the University in a lot of ways got behind Bob and tried to do everything they could for Bob ?? I mean, the University community, the University administration, and try to provide Bob with the kind of momentum to be successful. At least that was the attempt the University made in earnest. Now, we all fall short of what they think we might have done, could have done and so forth. As it relates to the contract itself, I think this is common practice in college athletics to put coaches in a position to be successful, to protect them financially, and I think that’s what the University of Notre Dame did for Bob Davie.
Q. The concern in your athletics department that people are leaving ?? inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: I think it was just a lot of speculation that something might happen, could happen. But there were ?? until I made that phone call to Father Malloy at 8:00 AM, there was not going to be a press conference, so until that actually occurred, there really wasn’t a story. I think it was a lot of speculation.
Q. You talk about evaluating the football program every day, but with what happened, your criteria, what happened on the field this season, Davie talked about not being prepared going into Nebraska ?? inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: You know, that’s probably a real long digression. I just felt we were continuing to not moving in the right direction, and I know that sounds pretty trite. I felt we were in a place that I could no longer say, as I think I said in my statement, that we could actually stand up and say that we were putting a program in place that could contend, if not win, the National Championship. We just ?? I really believe we need to restart this thing.
Q. If your candidate turns out to be an NFL coach at this point, can you wait until the Super Bowl or late in the playoffs to hire a coach?
KEVIN WHITE: I’m not going to talk about any specific prospects or candidates. I’m just going to ?? that’s not in anyone’s best interests. I’m just going to leave that one alone. There’s been so much speculation already, I just don’t think I’ll respond to that.
Q. Inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: Yeah, their contracts, they would have that ?? they enjoy that kind of flexibility anyway, so I don’t think that’s an issue. That would not be an issue. We are going to help our assistants at any point possible secure positions in the future. We have got a specific core group of nine assistant coaches, with student athletes at the center, three of which have been with me, so I’ve got an relationship with some of these people and I like them all very much and I respect them even more than like them. So we’re going to do anything and everything we can to assist them in future endeavors, either here or someplace else.
Q. Inaudible … would be bought out and was there a sum to pay up the rest of the year of the contract?
KEVIN WHITE: We are not permitted to talk about those kind of personnel matters publically at Notre Dame. So that would be the response to that, the financial element. In terms of number of wins, no. We never tried to pinpoint the criteria in that kind of way.
Q. In last couple of weeks, Bob has been very outspoken in the criteria that he felt he should be evaluated by. How did you react to his openly stating what he felt his case should be?
KEVIN WHITE: You know, I can’t speak for Bob, and I don’t ?? I’m not really sure what you’re referring to in terms of, “His case”. Bob has conducted himself with class and distinction through this entire football season. This has been a very, very painful year for Bob and his family, and the coaches and their families and the players and their families as I said in the statement.
Q. When did you plan to have the post?season evaluation?
KEVIN WHITE: I told Bob at the end of the year we would sit down, and that’s what we did this morning at 9:00 AM.
Q. So you wrote that ??
KEVIN WHITE: When I sat down with him ?? I made a recommendation to Father Malloy, yeah.
Q. Had you spoken to him previously about the possibility of letting him go ??
KEVIN WHITE: I had talked to him throughout the entire football season about all kind of issues. Bob and I meet typically twice a week. We meet Sundays after his press conference, and then typically for a short meeting on Monday morning prior to the work week. So we would take a look at the week in arrear on Sunday and the week ahead on Monday morning. That’s kind of how we ?? Bob and I had a very candid exchange in my short time at Notre Dame, and as I said before, he’s a stand?up guy.
Q. Did you physically address the end of the season in the previous meetings?
KEVIN WHITE: We talked about all of the potential scenarios, yeah.
Q. Can you describe the factors behind what you call the misread of a year ago?
KEVIN WHITE: I think if I had to ?? I really thought that we were making pretty good progress on almost each and every front. We were finding ways to win, particularly when we won 7 straight last year. We found ways to win that were a little creative, and I think I that would be fair to say that. I think this year, we just really struggled offensively, just absolutely anemic. Obviously, Bob has made that characterization himself many times. It just seems to me that at this point, I can’t stand in front of and tell you that we’ve got a program on the verge of competing and hopefully winning the National Championship. We don’t have that kind of program at this point. I think we are still perhaps more talented than most people would give us credit for and we have some great new people in this program, but I think we’ve got some work to do.
Q. Along those lines, did the Bowl game lead you to making this decision?
KEVIN WHITE: You know, the Bowl game was 12 months ago, a long time ago. I think I was ?? I said it publically, I was devastated by our performance. Again, I love and respect our kids. I just didn’t feel we played very well.
Q. Inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: I believe we can and I think that anybody ?? I think all of the student athletes I just met with in the center and anybody else that supports and just loves this program really wants to believe we can win. And I don’t think those student athletes would have come to Notre Dame if that were not the dream. We are a place that’s won 11 of them (National Championships). Can we win a 12th? I believe we can and I think we can provide student athletes with a world?class academic experience, and I think we can win at the highest level and I am convinced that we can.
Q. You said you don’t accept the premise that Notre Dame can’t win ?? inaudible ?? why?
KEVIN WHITE: I just believe we can. I just take a look ?? first of all, I think of our admission requirement is largely mythical. I’ve said that before publically. I don’t think it’s nearly as difficult for us to have young people admitted to the University Notre Dame as a lot of people believe, I think that’s one myth. And secondly, I think the great news about the young people we are able to attract is that they graduate. They walk away from Notre Dame with a Notre Dame degree. You look at the kind of things we have created, the admissions accommodations for young people, but at end, they get the degree. I think we have an awful lot to sell. Plus, the opportunity to compete at the highest level in football and in every other sport. I think we have got the ultimate package here. I feel very confident that we can get this program back to what I would characterize as a pinnacle.
Q. Inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: Yeah, I think so. I’m not prepared to talk to you about data here today, but it’s all on the Internet. You can kind of see where our football SAT’s are as it relates to the rest of the University. We are in a position that is appropriate and defendable, but it is not weak. We can get young people admitted into Notre Dame, and I don’t say that lightly. And the great news or the great story behind the news is the fact that they will more times than not enjoy the opportunity to realize a degree. We have an 89% graduation rate in all sports, 82% in football ?? but just one graduation rate for football at 100%. So I think you must know that. But at the same time, I think it’s reported widely that our academic standards, our admission standards have placed us in a position where we can no longer be competitive. And if you look at the data, that’s simply not true. You just have to look at the data.
Q. Inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: No. I never did, no.
Q. Is there any concern about attrition?
KEVIN WHITE: No. I think when you have a transition. That’s always a concern, and I think that’s a valid concern. To this point, you know, I don’t know of any circumstance that or that I’m concerned with at the moment.
Q. Much has been written nationally overall about the market value for league level coaches at the college level, in several cases, $2 million a year package. What is being done in terms of raising the bar here?
KEVIN WHITE: You know, we worked really hard over the last year and a half, moving a lot of our head coaches to ?? moving what I might identify as market value. I think the University of Notre Dame is committed to market compensation packages, for all round the institution, beyond athletics. So I don’t see that as a major hurdle at this point. You know, we don’t want to have the highest paid staff members or professors and athletics coaches and administrators and the rest, but we will find a way to be competitive.
Q. Has the University been embarrassed by the program on the field?
KEVIN WHITE: I don’t know the University has ever been embarrassed of the football program. I think it is a storied program. It is a program that they are very proud of and should be. I think the whole Notre Dame family lives and dies with this football program. It’s the heart and soul of the University as I’ve said many times, so that’s how I would see it.
Q. The recruiting question earlier, a lot of recruits were expecting to come to the banquet ?? inaudible ?? are you still going to have that?
KEVIN WHITE: We are going to have the banquet. And I talked with a number of the assistants about their recruits, and near as possible we are going to defer to a week in January, where that’s possible.
Q. Any current students that did not take you up on your offer ?? inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: No. They were all terrific, actually, as I mentioned before. They were outstanding.
Q. The speculation during the season about the basketball ? inaudible ?? are you and your staff ?? inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: As soon as I finish with this group. I am going to go get myself ready because I am not ready at this point. Going back to a question before, I have always got a short list, but I haven’t done a whole lot to prepare myself. But I need to get there, so that’s my next order of business.
Q. Inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: Maybe not the interview process, but I just talked with the players. We selected three team leaders and we will communicate through the three team leaders the progress of the search as we move forward, not unlike we did in basketball a year and a half.
Q. Who are the team leaders?
KEVIN WHITE: Gary Godsey, Jeff Faine and Shane Walton will serve as team leaders, conduits to the entire team.
Q. Inaudible ?? get better in the future?
KEVIN WHITE: I think it’s more than good. I’m not going to try to itemize all of the elements of a decision for everybody here. I probably wouldn’t do a very good job at it, anyway. I think it’s more than that. I think if you try to quantify things that are not quantifiable, you quantify other things, and I think there is an element of good.
Q. Inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: I think that we’ve got a lot of things to do, and we’ve talked about a lot of them before that would relate to facilities and some other operational issues that we are working on. So we are doing a lot of things and we will continue to do some of those. I am not in a position to roll out for you much more than you’ve already heard as far as a master plan and everything else. We have some catching up to do and we know that, we are fully aware of that.
Q. There was a press report today saying that Kevin Rogers, the offensive coordinator, thought Davie was treated unfairly, your reaction?
KEVIN WHITE: I didn’t see the press report. I guess I don’t have a reaction. I don’t know exactly what was said. This is a demanding job. This is a high?profile job, one of the more high?profile jobs in the country. Most of you have written about that and said that, and I think that’s an accurate portrayal. But, that is a very, very challenging job.
Q. Inaudible?
KEVIN WHITE: Shorter than longer. I can’t give you a number of days. That’s really difficult. And does the list change from Arizona State to Notre Dame? Absolutely. I think it’s a different institutional thing ?? not taking anything away from Arizona State, wonderful school, wonderful place to be, great football tradition in their own right, Pac 10 and all that. But we are different and unique and we have to find somebody that fits Notre Dame and fits our particular situation. I think that it’s fairly small.
Q. Fair or not, was there too much pressure for a …?
KEVIN WHITE: We use the word, “Pressure”, but I can tell you I feel more responsibility. I said this in one of ?? the Observer the other day: I feel a lot more responsibility than I do pressure, to be honest with you. I think we are at a critical juncture in terms of this football program. You talk about defining moment ?? that’s the defining moment I’m concerned about, to be honest with you. I think we have got to find a way to make this thing work and to work well. That’s what we are going to try to do.
Q. You said you also have to work on the schedule ?? inaudible ?? other teams. I know it’s ten years ahead. But is there any way to loosen that up in the short term or long term?
KEVIN WHITE: We are constantly looking at that. We actually have a committee that we put in place, probably now about two months or three months ago, taking a look at scheduling and rhythm of games, when and where we return them and so forth. I don’t want to get into specifics, but have had some conversations with some select Conferences and have tried to at least begun to talk about some scheduling accommodations where we could maybe move some games. But, you’re right. The schedule is in place until 2012, so as we are sitting here today, not a lot of wiggle room in the short term. So we have some work ahead of us in that regard. That is not to be confused with softening the schedule or lightening the load. It is when the games occur and the rhythm. Again, it’s not only when we have them here, but when we have to go return those teams. So we have a group working on that now.
Q. Do you have a deadline that you feel you need to have a new head coach?
KEVIN WHITE: I haven’t come up with a deadline. I’d be manufacturing a date for you, and I don’t have anything like that at this point. As quick as we can, but not too quickly to where we don’t have the opportunity to recruit the right person for this position.
Q. When have you started formulating this master plan?
KEVIN WHITE: 18 months ago. We have talked about it quite a bit in the media. I think that the point I was trying to make is we know we have some shortcomings in terms of facility, and particular in football facilities. I would call them, as I like to talk about them, the Monday through Friday facilities. We have got a lot of work to do. On game day we are so well situated, we are in a terrific place with Notre Dame Stadium, but we have some work to do with what I call Monday through Friday facilities. That is a large part of the master than that we are working on. We are working with HNTV (ph) out of Kansas City and we are fairly far along.
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