Urban is not leaving and Notre Dame no longer matters

It seems every year at this time the rumors start flying and they will continue to fly so long as Notre Dame sucks and we are successful. No matter how many times Urban says he is staying some writer looking for hits will find a way to spin it. They have no idea what they are talking about. The most recent article to grace the WWL stated Urban’s quotes from choosing his other jobs that mentioned his wife’s input in the decision and how her opinion really tipped the scales. They combined those statements with last summers “dream job” quote and created a rumor out of nowhere.

To that here is what Shelley had to say when she spoke with Franz Beard from Gator Country:

I ran into Shelley Meyer and laughingly mentioned the latest ... that Urban will go to Notre Dame if she signs off on it.

Her response: "When are they going to let that die? We aren't going anywhere. Don't people understand that we are really happy here? Why would we leave? We have everything here and the way recruiting is going ... really, why would we leave? We won't. We're here for a long time."

In the course of the five-minutes we talked she also offered this up, which I thought was appropriate and interesting: "It makes you wonder who starts all these rumors and why do they always happen when we're recruiting? Makes you wonder about the timing, doesn't it?"

We're going to hear plenty more Urban to Notre Dame stuff in the next two weeks, but I trust what Shelley says. She offered one more reason which makes me trust her.

"What's it? 80 degrees here and the sun is shining? Does anyone really think we want to leave this for the cold and the snow?"

That is one smart woman; I could use 80 degrees and some sunshine right now myself.

But, here is the thing about Notre Dame, it is over for them and they just haven’t realized it yet. Their last National Championship coach was Lou Holtz who won it 20 years ago in 1988. Holtz had a great run there from 86 to 93 but two things happened in 93 Notre Dame went on probation and they upped their academic standards for athletes. Holtz wisely left the program in 96 with two years of probation left and allowed the full decline of the program to occur under someone else’s watch. The three coaches to follow each own a .583 winning percentage and a combined 1 bowl victory.

And that is the point; no one is growing up anymore with Notre Dame as the dominant program in America. Their TV contract is meaningless since almost every good game is televised. And the SEC has a national television contract with CBS which trumps the Domers deal. Today’s recruits are not going to care about Notre Dame, because when they were becoming fans of football Notre Dame didn’t matter. Why did the Gators get Percy Harvin? Because he grew up a fan of the Gators even in Southeast Virginia but clearly that isn’t all that matters. Having a great program to sell, good coaches, facilities and the excitement of a great college atmosphere all matter. Notre Dame does not currently have any of that. They have few meaningful rivalries because they aren’t in a conference and they do not get the excitement of rivalries that determine titles. The campus is situated in a dreary northern Indiana suburb that is too far from Chicago and not big enough on its own to be a great college town.

Notre Dame, without their past success has much less to sell than do the power programs today. Urban Meyer even with his resume and drive could not overcome the issues at Notre Dame by plugging just one of their many holes. So, put the rumors to bed, it’s a bad move and Shelley calls the shots anyway. But just for good measure here is what he had to say over the summer.

http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20090805/ARTICLES/908059917/1136?Title=Florida-s-Meyer-This-is-it-