Fourth-year head coach secures head coaching position through 2005
By KERRY SMITH
Sports Editor
Irish head coach Bob Davie's 9-2 season has delivered a number of rewards: a trip to the Fiesta Bowl, verbal commitments from several solid recruits and most recently, a new five-year contract.
Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White announced Tuesday that Davie's contract, originally slated to expire in 2002 will be extended through the 2005 season.
"The head coaching position at Notre Dame is the most visible, and from that perspective, the most demanding in the country," White said in a prepared statement. "Bob has grown and learned a great deal during his four years in the job and has demonstrated to me not only that he is a very good football coach, but also that he has the respect and confidence of his players and staff."
Davie's new contract comes just weeks after the fourth-year head coach's most successful season.
The Irish, who began the season unranked, finished the regular season ranked No. 10 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls and No.11 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings.
As a reward for a stellar season, the Irish are also headed for a showdown with No. 5 Oregon State in Tempe, Ariz. on New Year's Day in the BCS's Fiesta Bowl.
"It's extremely encouraging to me that the University recognizes the foundation that's been established in our football program and that the efforts of our players and coaches have been rewarded," Davie said in a prepared statement. "All of us are excited about the potential shown by our football team this year, and we look forward to the future with great anticipation. With the momentum we have, it feels a little bit like a new beginning."
That new beginning is a welcome feeling after a dismal 5-7 1999 campaign, in which the Irish failed to win a single game on the road and did not play in a bowl game.
The new contract gives the football program more stability as players with eligibility remaining look toward future seasons.
"[Davie's new contract] is reassuring for us," senior co-captain Grant Irons said. "We know that this team's intact."
The University awarded Davie the new contract after completing a year-end evaluation of the football program.
Results on the field, as well as off the field factored into the decision.
"This agreement comes about after a year-end evaluation of the 2000 season as well as a close examination of the current state of the program," White said. "This assessment involved not only what's happened on the football field, but also how our football student-athletes have performed in the classroom and how they've handled themselves off the field. In both arenas they've represented themselves and the University well, which is a great credit to Bob and his staff."
In Davie's tenure as head coach, he has amassed a 30-18 record, with six of those wins coming against ranked opponents.
Davie has been an integral part of the Irish football program since 1994 when he signed on with Notre Dame as the team's defensive coordinator before seceding Lou Holtz as head coach in 1996.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, December 7, 2000
