Irish football preparing to face the heat
By KERRY SMITH
Sports Editor
The temperature is rising at Notre Dame.
And it's not just the weather. With just three days left until the Irish kick off their season against Texas A&M, things are heating up.
"It's been hot enough, and in some ways it concerns me a little bit," said Irish head coach Bob Davie. "It seems like every year, we go through camp and it's relatively cool, and then we go out and it's hot and humid and 90 degrees. I made a prediction — I'm not a weatherman, but I can tell you what, it's going to be hot as it usually is."
Combine that with the heat of pressure and scrutiny and Saturday promises to be a scorcher.
The Irish know this and have been preparing for the season opener since the end of last season.
"You always look at the schedule for the next year, and certainly, Texas A&M has been on our minds since then," said Davie. "You get such a tremendous boost of confidence and momentum from winning the first game. The first game of the year is always huge."
Saturday's game against Texas A&M is all the bigger because of the personal ties among the coaches and players.
Davie served as an assistant coach for Texas A&M from 1985 to 1993, first working with outside linebackers under then head coach Jackie Sherrill and then as the defensive coordinator under present coach R.C. Slocum. During Sherrill's tenure at the helm of the Aggies' program, Slocum served as the defensive coordinator, before inheriting the head coaching position.
"When you spend nine years at a place, you can't help but have strong emotions," said Davie. "And if you combine that with the fact that R.C. and I are extremely close friends, it makes for a unique situation."
Together, Davie and Slocum compiled a nine-year 85-24-1 record with eight bowl game appearances.
But football wasn't their only common interest.
"We hit it off from the time that I arrived at A&M," said Davie. "I've done a lot of jogging with him. He runs like I do. Both of us have pretty good hands. We both played the tuba in the high school band. We both married our high school sweethearts. We both coached defense. We just had a lot of the same interests and so we hit it off in the beginning."
While Davie looks forward to the friendly rivalry when Slocum and company arrive in South Bend, the fourth-year head coach knows it's time to get down to business.
"Before this game is kicked off, I'm going to enjoy the moment, but I promise I'm only going to enjoy it for a moment," said Davie. "We'll kick that thing off and we're going to get after each other."
After a losing 1999 campaign, the Irish have to prove they are better than last year's 5-7 record. Davie especially feels this pressure.
"The reality is that we lost our last four games last year and regardless of the reasons, that's not acceptable here at Notre Dame," said Davie. "I realize that. Our football team and our coaching staff realizes that."
Davie is not the only one who has come under fire. Slocum has recently faced critics of his own. Going 8-5, the Aggies suffered crushing defeats to Oklahoma, Nebraska and Penn. State. The Aggies' 51-6 loss to the Sooners marked Texas A&M's worst loss since 1901. Weeks later, a 37-0 loss to the Cornhuskers ended a 142-game scoring streak and dropped the Aggies out of the AP Top 25.
"Well if [R.C.'s] under fire, I'm under ashes. I'm already burned and toasted," said Davie. "I think R.C. would be the first one to say that they didn't end the season last year on a particularly high note. But it's amazing what he has accomplished. He's done a tremendous job. I think anywhere people like to stir controversy."
Davie is not the only member of the Irish with ties to Texas — 20 Irish players are from the Lonestar State.
"You think back to the recruiting of those players, just about everyone of them either had a chance to go to UT or A&M or certainly had the chance to stay in state," said Davie. "Certainly bragging rights are involved with it. They all go home. They want to show they made the right decision by coming to Notre Dame."
Davie is also hoping to share those rights Saturday.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, August 30, 2000
