SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Rick Majerus readily admits he's not a button-down kind of basketball coach.
"I don't wear socks. I don't even wear socks when it gets warm, and I think those guys have socks with all kinds of logos on them," the Utah coach said.And so Majerus removed himself from consideration for the Notre Dame coaching job after realizing he wouldn't fit in with the school's image.
"I think everybody at Notre Dame has a tie rack in their wardrobe, and I don't even have a tie in my wardrobe," Majerus told ESPN Radio Tuesday night.
Majerus fit the general criteria Notre Dame had established in its search for a replacement to the deposed John MacLeod. He had coached at a private school (Marquette) and was undoubtedly successful, having led Utah to the 1998 NCAA tournament championship game.
But Majerus has confessed to being somewhat of a fallen Roman Catholic with a penchant for cowboy boots -- not exactly a dream candidate for the Irish.
The Chicago Tribune, citing a source close to Majerus, said Notre Dame had problems with Majerus, too. The paper said the school's disapproval was based on excerpts from his recently released book, "My Life On A Napkin." In it, Majerus wrote that it would be hypocritical for him to discipline an athlete for academic fraud because of the cheating he had done as a Marquette student.
Majerus has more pressing matters on his mind now that Notre Dame is no longer a consideration.
"We'll have a good club next year, how good is anybody's guess right now," he said. "I'm more concerned with what beach I'm going to lay on right now than the inevitable arrival of next season."
Notre Dame, meanwhile, was still considering Princeton's Bill Carmody, Xavier's Skip Prosser and Delaware's Mike Brey.
Notre Dame athletic director Mike Wadsworth, who had recommended Majerus' hiring, said he wants a coach in place by April 7, the national signing day for high school recruits.