It’s a tale of two bad firings. Two head coaches with winning records at prestigious schools &045; Ole Miss’ David Cutcliffe and Notre Dame’s Ty Willingham &045; were shown the door last week, despite more than a little fan support and some recent success (though not this year).

Ole Miss’ David Cutcliffe had a winning record, both overall and in Southeastern Conference play, something only one other Ole Miss coach can say.

Ole Miss’ expectations are out of line with its reality. It just fired one of the most successful coaches in its history a year removed from his best season, including a Cotton Bowl win over Oklahoma State.

The next coach will have a clear message of what he must do &045; don’t ever have a losing season. In fact, don’t even think about losing. Don’t lose one game.

Ole Miss isn’t going to get a big-name coach to come take over the program. Three head coaches already turned the job down &045; Louisville’s Bobby Petrino, former Notre Dame head coach Willingham and former Florida head coach (now Illinois head coach) Ron Zook.

In other words, coaches turned down Ole Miss for Louisville, Illinois and, in Willingham’s case, no one. That doesn’t say much for your program.

The latest rumor is the Rebels are talking to Randy Shannon, the Miami Hurricanes’ defensive coordinator and a hot prospect in the coaching ranks.

If Randy Shannon is willing to come to Ole Miss, they should hire him now. Don’t wait, don’t negotiate, don’t try to see if you can do better. Just hire Shannon.

Shannon is one of the nation’s top assistant coaches. He’s young, he’s energetic and he’s talented.

He’s been in the running for numerous head coaching jobs across the country and would already be a head coach if he hadn’t turned down offers.

The one flaw in his resum is a lack of head coaching experience. And, since there’s no way to avoid the subject, Shannon would be good for one other reason &045; he’s black. It would be good publicity to hire a black coach. (Sounds like another state school, doesn’t it?).

Notre Dame

Speaking of head coaching jobs and Ty Willingham: Is it wrong to feel this good about someone else’s misery?

Is it bad to be so happy that the Notre Dame coaching search has degenerated into a farce?

The big names the Notre Dame administration went after to replace the fired Willingham turned them down, most without a second thought. Steve Mariucci, the Detroit Lions’ head coach, didn’t want the job. Utah’s Urban Meyer accepted the head job at Florida rather than go to Notre Dame (Meyer said he had already made his mind up, but had he wanted to go, he could have).

It’s taken less than two weeks for the Notre Dame brass to realize an important truth: coaches aren’t going to be jumping to get the top job in South Bend, Ind.

Less than two weeks after he was fired, Willingham looks like he might be the best candidate for the job. Isn’t it ironic?

Christian Schmidt is a sports writer with the The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at (601) 445-3633 or by e-mail at

christian.schmidt@natchezdemocrat.com

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