With Tuesday's firing of Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame, 13 Division I-A college football coaches have either been fired or have resigned so far in 2004.
And with BYU's Gary Crowton on the hotseat in Provo and Utah's Urban Meyer a hot commodity possibly on the move, here's a glance at each of the 13 departing coaches — and how Crowton's Cougars and Meyer's Utes fared against opponents coached by several of the now-former coaches.
East Carolina University — John Thompson
FIRED . . . after two seasons, going 3-20 overall and 2-9 in 2004. New athletics director Terry Holland cited long-time division in ECU athletics as hampering Thompson, a career assistant before assuming the Pirates' top job.
University of Florida — Ron Zook
FIRED . . . midseason of his fourth year as the Gators' head coach. Unable to match the storied successes of his predecessor, Steve Spurrier, Zook compiled a 23-14 record over the four seasons, including 7-4 in 2004 with a berth in the Peach Bowl. Administration cited as reasons late-game collapses, back-to-back Outback Bowl losses and Zook's confrontation at a UF fraternity this fall.
University of Illinois — Ron Turner
FIRED . . . after posting three consecutive losing seasons. Despite guiding the Illini to their first Big Ten title in a decade during his eight-year tenure, Turner was 35-57 at Illinois. This fall, Turner's Illini team managed a 3-8 mark.
New Mexico State University — Tony Samuel
FIRED . . . after two winning seasons in eight years as head coach of an Aggie program where winning records are a rarity. NMSU officials said their program needed a change as it moves to the Western Athletic Confere. Samuel led the Aggies to a 5-6 record in 2004 and an eight-year mark of 34-57.
Notre Dame University — Tyrone Willingham
FIRED . . . after three seasons, with a 21-15 record and two bowl games not good enough for a storied Irish program looking to return to national prominence. After winning his first eight games at Notre Dame and going 10-3 his first season, Willingham — who had two years left on his contract — followed with campaigns of 5-7 in 2003 and 6-5 in 2004.
VS. CROWTON: BYU's Crowton split his two meetings against Willingham, falling 33-14 at Notre Dame in 2003 and beating the Irish 20-17 at Edwards Stadium in the 2004 opener. The Cougars are scheduled to conclude the three-game series with a visit next fall to South Bend, Ind.
Ohio University — Brian Knorr
FIRED . . . after four consecutive losing seasons. Knorr's overall record at Ohio was 11-35, including a 4-7 mark in 2004.
VS. MEYER: Coached by Meyer, Bowling Green beat Ohio in back-to-back seasons, 17-0 at Ohio in 2001 and 72-21 in Bowling Green the following season.
San Jose State — Fitz Hill
RESIGNED . . . after four seasons leading the Spartans, citing lack of support from the university and community. Hill went 2-9 in 2004 and 14-33 in his four years at San Jose State.
South Carolina — Lou Holtz
RESIGNED . . . after a 33-year, 249-victory coaching career. Inheriting a struggling Gamecock program in 1999 and battling numerous personal and family challenges in an uncharateric 0-11 season, Holtz helped return USC on the college football map, going 33-37 in six seasons. To be replaced by former Florida coach Steve Spurrier, Holtz ended his South Carolina tenure with a 6-5 record and the infamous brawl in the USC-Clemson season finale.
Stanford University — Buddy Teevens
FIRED . . . after back-to-back-to-back losing seasons. Teevens managed a 10-23 record in his three years as Cardinal head coach. Critics pointed to his 10-victory production and his 0-13 down-the-stretch record in the three seasons. Stanford went 4-7in 2004.
VS. CROWTON: Two of Teevens' 10 wins came at the expense of BYU, with the Cardinal edging the Cougars 18-14 in Provo in 2003 and routing them 37-10 in 2004 in Palo Alto, Calif.
UNLV — John Robinson
RESIGNED . . . in September, citing family and health issues, but agreed to coach through the end of the season. Far from matching his glory days coaching at Southern California, Robinson brought respectability and reputation to a down-and-out Rebel program. In his six seasons at UNLV, Robinson went 28-42 and guided the Rebels to a victory in their only bowl appearance. He may have lingered at UNLV a year or two too long, going 2-9 in 2004.
VS. CROWTON AND MEYER: Meyer's Utah teams were 2-0 against Robinson's Rebels, winning 28-10 in Vegas in 2003 and romping to a 63-28 home victory this fall. Crowton split his four games against Robinson, winning two in Vegas and dropping two in Provo. The Cougars won 35-31 in 2001 and 37-20 in overtime in 2003 but fell 24-3 in 2002 and 24-20 this past season.
Utah State University — Mick Dennehy
FIRED . . . late in the 2004 season. After a successful four seasons at Division I-AA powerhouse Montana, Dennehy couldn't muster a winning season in five years in Logan, going 19-37 overall and 3-8 in 2004. Like Sun Belt peer New Mexico State, Utah State officials said they wanted to make a change as the Aggies made the move to the Western Athletic Conference.
VS. CROWTON AND MEYER: Dennehy didn't win instate meetings against either Crowton or Meyer. Crowton's Cougars won 54-34 in Provo in 2001 and eked out a 35-34 victory in Logan in 2002. Meyer's Utes doubled up Dennehy's Aggies 40-20 in Salt Lake City in 2003 and this fall leveled a 48-6 pasting in Logan.
University of Washington — Keith Gilbertson
FIRED . . . after just two seasons after replacing the embattled Rick Neiheisel. Gilbertson's 7-16 record with the Huskies including 2004's 1-10 record and 0-8 mark against Pac-10 opponents, Washington's worst overall record in 35 seasons.
Western Michigan University — Gary Darnell
FIRED . . . after going winless in Mid-American Conference play and 1-10 overall in 2004. Beginning in 1996, Darnell led the Broncos to a combined 31-15 mark in his first four seasons, but did a complete reversal his final four years at WMU, going 15-31 for a 46-46 eight-season record.
VS. MEYER: Against Meyer-coached Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference, Darnell's Broncos handed the Falcons a rare league loss in 2001, winning 37-28 in Kalamazoo, Mich. Meyer's Falcons returned the favor the following year with a 48-46 overtime victory at home.