He is college football's consummate team player. At least two nights each week ESPN's Rece Davis anchors my favorite studio show and keeps the banter between Dr. Lou and Mark May both amicable and lively.Davis, 43, is a study in substance over style. He has been encamped in Bristol for 14 years now and grasps the concept that the host is a pulling guard for the analysts better than most. The Daily Domer caught up with Davis, an Alabama alum, on his way into work Friday just an hour or two before the Iron Bowl was set to kick off.
Nervous about the Tide today?
"[Laughs] Well, I've got to maintain my professionalism. It's an enormous opportunity for Gene Chizik and the Tigers, though."
My alma mater is 6-5, may not be headed to a bowl, and no longer has a horse in the Heisman race. Your alma mater is 11-0 [and would be 12-0 later that night], may be headed to the BCS Championship game, and has perhaps the frontrunner in the Heisman race [Mark Ingram]. And certainly down South people feel Alabama is just as rich in tradition. Yet Notre Dame has received at least three times as much coverage on ESPN the past couple of weeks. Can you explain that?
"It's a reflection of our culture and society. We are intrigued by drama, by conflict and strife. I imagine if there were a coaching change imminent in Tuscaloosa, or if they had suffered an upset, there'd be more coverage.
"Notre Dame has their tradition. And right now there's the question of how will the conflict be resolved."
Is that it?
"A lot of it is Charlie, too. Notre Dame is very polarizing, but then you compound that with a coach who is even more so. Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham were not that way. I do think there's a significant amount of Notre Dame people who don't care for Charlie Weis."
What's the problem with Notre Dame?
"Two things. First, athleticism on defense. Second, they lack the physical nature to finish games. Mentally and physically they don't appear tough enough and that's sort of been a running pattern.
"They have the talent to win more games, but they seem to lack a toughness, a tough-mindedness. To me it's an intangible quality and the fact that it is a recurring problem presents (athletic director) Jack Swarbrick with his biggest piece of evidence. The players know that they can keep the games close, but I don't know if they have the confidence that they can win games."
Is Notre Dame doomed to be a has-been?
"Nothing irritates me more than when people say the traditional powers have no business returning to the top of the heap. Look at Oklahoma 10 years ago. Look at Alabama five years ago. Did they just accept mediocrity as their fate?
"And as for any coach saying the expectations at an Alabama or a Notre Dame are too high? If you want to be big-time, you take these jobs. All of that said, I don't see the guy out there who is a home-run hire for Notre Dame right now.
"Look at Butch Davis at North Carolina. Won a national championship at Miami, he's as close as you come to a home-run hire. He's done well at Chapel Hill, but I believe his tenure there is evidence that you need patience.
"Urban Meyer is a home-run hire. But as much as I love Notre Dame and what it offers a coach, I don't see any reason why Urban Meyer should or would leave Gainesville to go there."
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Oh come on Rece, you know darn well that no matter WHO Notre Dame hires the rabid anti Domers who spend every waking hour on the computer raging at Notre Dame with their silly vitriol will be blogging and posting something negative about the new coach no matter what. Its the anti ND nutcase way. They will always find something to whine about. Mostly its stupid stuff like the fact that Weis was a fat guy. You have to remember the intellectual capacity of the anti ND Irish haters is in the Sarah Palin/Carrie Prejean range.