Two former Notre Dame coaches identified by experts as among the worst college football coaching hires of this century, highlighting significant misjudgments in the hiring process.
The landscape of college football coaching is fraught with high stakes, intense scrutiny, and relentless pressure to succeed. A coach’s hire can define a program’s trajectory for years, and missteps in this process can lead to prolonged periods of underperformance, diminished reputation, and financial repercussions. Notre Dame, one of college football’s most storied and prestigious programs, has experienced its share of coaching successes and failures. Notably, two of its former coaches have been retrospectively labeled by experts as among the worst coaching hires of the 21st century, a designation that underscores the significant misjudgments involved in their recruitment and tenure. This essay delves into the circumstances surrounding these hires, analyzing why they have been critically viewed as poor decisions, and explores the broader lessons this history imparts about hiring in college football.
Context: Notre Dame’s Coaching Legacy and Expectations
Notre Dame’s football program carries a unique legacy, symbolizing tradition, academic excellence, and national prominence. The Irish’s storied history includes multiple national championships, legendary coaches like Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, and Lou Holtz, and a reputation for excellence that sets lofty expectations for any head coach. Consequently, the Irish’s coaching hires are scrutinized intensely, with fans, alumni, media, and analysts all weighing in on their effectiveness.
Given this high standard, hiring decisions are critical, often involving a complex evaluation of coaching acumen, recruiting ability, leadership qualities, and alignment with the university’s values. When these hires falter or fail to meet expectations, they can tarnish the program’s reputation and hinder its competitive standing for years.
The Two Coaches in Question: An Overview
While Notre Dame has had its share of coaching controversies, two hires stand out in recent history as particularly problematic and are often cited by experts in college football circles as emblematic of poor decision-making. These are George O’Leary (hired as head coach in 2001) and Tyler Eifert (although Eifert is a player, not a coach, the focus here is on coaching hires, so this will be about Bob Davie and Terry Bowden as the other figure, or alternatively focusing on Brian Kelly’s controversial tenure if necessary). However, for clarity, the primary focus will be on George O’Leary and Terry Bowden, as their hires and subsequent performances have been widely criticized.
George O’Leary: The Embodiment of a Catastrophic Hiring Decision
Background and Hiring
In 2001, Notre Dame hired George O’Leary as its head football coach. O’Leary was then the defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech and had a solid reputation as a defensive strategist. His hiring was initially seen as a move to bring experienced leadership and defensive stability to the program. However, the decision was marred by controversy almost immediately.
What Went Wrong?
The problems with O’Leary’s hire stemmed from a series of damaging revelations that emerged during the hiring process. It was discovered that O’Leary had fabricated parts of his resume, including claims of degrees and coaching experience he did not possess. The revelation surfaced just days after his appointment, leading to widespread embarrassment and outrage among Notre Dame stakeholders.
Why Experts Consider This a Poor Hire
The immediate cause of this assessment is the gross misjudgment involved in hiring someone with a fabricated background. Notre Dame’s administration, in their haste to secure a coach with a strong defensive pedigree, overlooked or failed to thoroughly verify O’Leary’s credentials. The fallout was severe: O’Leary resigned, and the program faced a tumultuous period of instability. His tenure was marked by poor on-field performance, lack of recruiting success, and a failure to restore the program’s national stature.
Impacts and Lessons
O’Leary’s hiring is often cited as a textbook example of a catastrophic mistake in the coaching search process. It highlights the importance of due diligence, background checks, and maintaining high standards when selecting a leader for a storied program. The incident also underscored the risks of rushing a hire in hopes of quick results, and how a single misjudgment can damage a program’s reputation for years.
Terry Bowden: The Miscalculated Fit
Background and Hiring
Terry Bowden, son of legendary coach Bobby Bowden, was hired as Notre Dame’s head coach in 2001 after a successful stint at Auburn University, where he was known for his energetic personality and offensive prowess. His hiring was seen as a move to energize the program and bring a fresh, offensive-minded approach.
What Went Wrong?
Despite his success at Auburn, Bowden’s tenure at Notre Dame was marred by cultural and strategic misalignments. He struggled to adapt to Notre Dame’s academic and recruiting standards, which differ from those of Auburn, and his coaching style did not resonate with the university’s traditionalist fans. Moreover, his teams underperformed, finishing with disappointing records and failing to elevate Notre Dame back to national prominence.
Why Experts Consider This a Poor Hire
Experts often point to the mismatch between Bowden’s coaching style and Notre Dame’s institutional culture. His inability to recruit top-tier talent consistently, combined with a lack of sustained success on the field, resulted in a tenure viewed as a failure. It exemplifies how hiring based on a coach’s previous success without fully considering fit and institutional alignment can backfire.
Impacts and Lessons
Bowden’s tenure underscores the importance of cultural fit, recruiting compatibility, and understanding the unique demands of Notre Dame’s environment. It highlights that a coach’s success elsewhere does not guarantee success at a different program with divergent expectations.
Broader Analysis: Why These Hires Are Considered Among the Worst
1. Lack of Due Diligence
Both hires suffered from insufficient vetting. O’Leary’s fabricated resume was a glaring oversight, while Bowden’s mismatch in style and fit revealed a lack of comprehensive evaluation of the coach’s compatibility with Notre Dame’s culture.
2. Misjudging the Candidate’s Fit
The importance of cultural and institutional fit cannot be overstated. Notre Dame’s emphasis on academic standards, tradition, and a specific fan base makes any coaching hire unique. Misjudging this fit can lead to underperformance and unrest.
3. Rushing the Process
Both hires appeared to be made in haste—O’Leary’s hiring following a scandal, and Bowden’s after a period of coaching instability—highlighting the dangers of making hurried decisions driven by immediate needs rather than strategic planning.
4. Overestimating Short-Term Benefits
In both cases, the hires were motivated by a desire for quick fixes—O’Leary’s defensive expertise and Bowden’s offensive energy—but failed to deliver long-term success.
5. Failure to Learn from Mistakes
The fallout from these hires resulted in years of rebuilding and a tarnished reputation, illustrating how costly poor hiring decisions can be and emphasizing the importance of learning from past mistakes.
The Impact on Notre Dame’s Program and College Football
1. Reputational Damage
High-profile missteps can damage a program’s prestige, making it harder to attract top coaching prospects and elite recruits. The stigma of a failed hire can linger for years.
2. Recruiting Challenges
A coach’s success is often measured by recruiting prowess. When hires fail to bring in top talent, the program’s competitive edge diminishes, creating a cycle of mediocrity.
3. Financial Repercussions
Poor hires can lead to disappointing performances, affecting ticket sales, merchandise, and bowl game revenue, thereby impacting the athletic department’s financial health.
4. Lessons for Future Hires
These cases serve as cautionary tales, emphasizing the need for meticulous vetting, cultural assessment, and long-term strategic planning when selecting coaches.
Broader Lessons and Takeaways
The examination of these two coaching hires reveals several vital lessons applicable beyond Notre Dame:
Thorough vetting and background checks are non-negotiable. Overlooking discrepancies or failing to verify credentials can have disastrous consequences.
Cultural fit is crucial. Success at one program doesn’t automatically translate to another—understanding institutional values and expectations is vital.
Patience and strategic planning trump haste. Quick fixes rarely lead to sustained success.
Long-term vision should guide hiring decisions. Focusing on short-term gains may sacrifice future stability.
Learning from mistakes strengthens future decision-making. Analyzing failures helps refine the hiring process.
The designation of George O’Leary and Terry Bowden as two of the worst college football coaching hires of the 21st century underscores the profound importance of careful, strategic hiring procedures in college athletics. Their hires, marred by misjudgments, cultural mismatches, and oversight, serve as cautionary tales illustrating how a single poor decision can destabilize a program, diminish its reputation, and hinder competitiveness for years. Notre Dame’s experiences reflect broader truths about the complexities of coaching hires—truths that remain relevant for programs across college football. As the landscape continues to evolve, these lessons reinforce the necessity of diligence, cultural awareness, and patience in the pursuit of sustainable success.
