By By SCOTT NOVAK and ADAM FISHER / Niles Daily Star
For the first time in school history, Notre Dame has fired a head coach.
Tuesday afternoon Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White announced that Irish head coach Tyrone Willingham will not be retained as head coach after this season.
White said that Willingham was informed of the decision Tuesday morning.
Notre Dame, which is 21-15 under Willingham in three seasons, accepted a bid to the Insight Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 28 this past Sunday.
It was unknown who would coach the team. According to media reports, the players have voted to play in the Insight Bowl.
Notre Dame finished 6-5 this season following a 41-10 loss to No. 1 ranked Southern California on Saturday.
However, Notre Dame's athletic performance didn't match the expectations of its fans or the university.
Locally, Notre Dame fans and Irish critics were surprised - to an extent.
Former Dowagiac football coach Bernard Thomas said when he found out initially he thought they were kidding.
Thomas was disappointed primarily because he felt Notre Dame with the hiring of Willingham had sent a social message.
Niles junior varsity coach Steve Grayson worked with Willingham this summer at a recruiting camp at Notre Dame. He said he was highly disappointed in the firing because Willingham wasn't given a fair chance to prove himself.
Grayson, who is black, said race played a big role in Willingham being dismissed.
Dowagiac athletic director Greg Younger knows what its like to be a player and a coach at the college level having done both at Hillsdale College.
Younger is also a Notre Dame fan.
Among the candidates whose names surfaced Tuesday afternoon were former Irish assistant Urban Meyer of Utah, Butch Davis, who resigned as the Cleveland Browns head coach on Tuesday, Kirk Ferentz of Iowa and California's Jeff Tedford.
Davis, who struggled as a head coach in the National Football League, was very successful at the collegiate level, including winning a national championship.
Meyer, who is reportedly already struck a deal with Notre Dame, was an assistant coach with the Irish from 1996 until 2000. He went to Bowling Green from South Bend and then on to Utah.
Willingham, who became Notre Dame's first black head coach in 2002, went 10-3 his first season at the helm of the Irish.
Willingham was hired after George O'Leary resigned as head coach five days after being hired to replace Bob Davie.
O'Leary resigned after it was discovered that he had lied on his resume.
Following the first season, when the Irish won their final eight games, Notre Dame's fortunes seemed to turn.
The Fighting Irish were 5-7 last year, Notre Dame's third losing season in five campaigns.
This season wasn't much better for the Fighting Irish despite upsets of Michigan and Tennessee.
Lopsided losses to Purdue and USC on Saturday were the fourth and fifth losses by 31 points or more under Willingham.
Buchanan head football coach and athletics director Joe Austin said the blowout losses the past three years probably played a big factor in Willingham's firing.
As a long-time football coach, Austin knows how hard it can be to win, so he feels sympathy for any coach that gets fired. He said Willingham was treated unfairly because he was a great role model for his players and an outstanding individual.
Notre Dame, which has won more national championships than any other school with eight, hasn't won the title since 1998. Notre Dame also hasn't won a bowl game in its last six tries.