Notre Dame digs a deeper hole

In the May 1, 2000, issue of Sports Illustrated, senior writer Tim Layden examined the factors that had brought about the decline of Notre Dame football. CNNSI.com talked to Layden about the direction the program is heading in light of the fiasco surrounding George O'Leary.

CNNSI.com: How much egg in the face is this for Notre Dame?

Tim Layden: I think it's pretty embarrassing. But to have hired George O'Leary in the first place is pretty embarrassing. He's a respected coach, but there was some question whether he would remain successful at Georgia Tech with Ralph Friedgen gone. O'Leary seemed like the best Notre Dame could do in a hurry. Now it turns out the guy the Irish hired fudged his résumé. Notre Dame already was in a weak position nationally; now it's even weaker.

CNNSI.com: Is it common for an athletic director to focus only on on-the-field accomplishments?

Layden: I think people in private-sector hiring positions go into more rigorous background checks for jobs that entail far less responsibility than the one O'Leary was signing on for. I'm sure there are a lot of ADs around the country right now going into file cabinets, pulling out résumés and calling their football coaches to make sure everything is true. And I bet it isn't. For everyone, this is a window into how this process works.

I think it also tells us that Kevin White operated in a panic, not only by missing points on O'Leary's résumé but by hiring him in the first place. It generally was acknowledged that Notre Dame couldn't afford to make a mistake with this hire, and now it's made two.

CNNSI.com: What can Notre Dame do to save face?

Layden: I don't think the Irish can save face. They can't immediately make this right. Now White has to hire a coach of unquestioned integrity and immense talent, and then wait for months and probably for years for Notre Dame's alumni and fans and the public in general to forget that this all happened -- to forget that Bob Davie was a failure, to forget that the best we could do was George O'Leary, to forget that George O'Leary had a falsified résumé that brought huge embarrassment to the school, and now the guy we have has made it right. There are not many of those guys around.

I don't think you can make somebody forget about this. This embarrassment will prompt jokes long after the next coach has left Notre Dame. You can see it now: A senior in college has a lousy résumé. His roommate tells him, "You can be football coach at Notre Dame. They don't ask."

CNNSI.com: Does this make Notre Dame less attractive for prospective players?

Layden: From reporting on the Irish's recruiting in 1999, I certainly had been led to believe that a lot of the luster had gone off their program a long time ago. Bringing in a new coach can't help right away; a new coach always has to start from scratch. And now all this. But I can't overstate how much of this will trickle down to high school sophomores and juniors. Some will, and a lot will get to parents and coaches. You have to search really hard to find anything good here, and Notre Dame needs some good right now. How much negative effect this will have in terms of recruiting is hard to measure, but certainly it will not have a positive effect.

CNNSI.com: What kind of person would be arrogant or brave enough to take this job?

Layden: It's a huge question. With the people who have withdrawn from consideration, this isn't a job for which the athletic director can snap his fingers and get whomever he wants. Maybe it used to be, but it isn't anymore. Whatever coach might be sitting back in his office now wondering what it's like to coach at Notre Dame, he can't think it's a better place to work than he thought it was yesterday. That's going to make White's job harder. Plus, I would think White's job is less secure than it was yesterday. Notre Dame is one place that doesn't take well to public humiliation.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tim Layden is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.

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