Opinion Pieces

"A Failure of Presidential Leadership"

By Peter Roby

A Failure of Presidential Leadership

“Notre Dame has a unique spirit. It is traditional, yet open to change. It is dedicated to religious belief no less than scientific knowledge. It has always stood for values in a world of fact.”

Notre Dame unfairly dumping Tyrone Willingham as their football coach set-off a litany of criticism and accusations from greed to racism and all things in between. If Willingham’s firing is any indicator, the values in that above statement from Notre Dame’s web site certainly do not include leadership. During this disappointing episode presidential leadership has been publicly non-existent. In fact, after most people’s attention had turned to other issues in sport, Notre Dame President Rev. Edward A. Malloy’s recent description of how he passed the buck on this decision shows just how poorly this decision was handled.

The immediate lighting rod for all this fallout was Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White, who had been the main target for criticism in the wake of Willingham’s dismissal. From public statements it seemed clear that White had toed the party line and taken all the heat in the press for a decision that has exposed Notre Dame as just another school more concerned about winning football games, and ultimately money, than maintaining its integrity as an institution of high moral character. But, while White was the fall guy, Malloy deserves more criticism for his failure of presidential leadership in this matter and as demonstrated by his baffling comments on Wednesday.

Willingham came to Notre Dame as a public relations savior to the debacle of George O’Leary’s resume fraud. Left without a coach, Notre Dame officials turned to Willingham with the promise of a long-term contract who, in addition to being the university’s first African-American head coach, went on to lead his team to a 10-2 season.

Willingham’s success instantly erased any negative PR stemming from the O’Leary fall-out and satiated the hopes of all the Notre Dame alumni and boosters still longing for the glory days. Not only did Notre Dame seemingly have a successful football coach in Willingham, but they also had someone who adhered to the same high moral standards in academics and athletics that the university has always espoused.

My first reaction was; can Rev. Malloy possibly be proud that he had placed the importance of winning football over the integrity of his school? But now his latest comments indicate that he had totally washed his hands of the affair, an incredulous abdication of duty and responsibility.

On Wednesday, Malloy said, “there has been only two days that he was embarrassed to be president of Notre Dame, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.” What he misses is that this was of his own making. And to the immediate responses of praise stating his admission was a courageous act, I disagree. Passing the buck to his successor and the athletic director and failing to stand behind Willingham showed, instead, a tremendous lack of courage and leadership.

This failure of presidential leadership is especially disappointing given Rev. Malloy’s background as a varsity basketball player at Notre Dame. As an athlete, Rev. Malloy should have a better understanding than most presidents how quickly athletic results can turn in both directions, both good and bad. There is no evidence that Willingham could not have turned Notre Dame around within his contractual term, much like he had done at Stanford with their Rose Bowl win while he was the coach.

Rev. Malloy’s responsibility as the leader of Notre Dame is to deflect the demands of the trustees and football-crazed alumni and students, hell-bent on reliving past Notre Dame football glory, while protecting the storied Notre Dame reputation. Instead of kowtowing to the demands of these folks, he should have reminded them that Notre Dame does things the right way; they live up to their commitments, both legally and ethically. That right way also involves doing what successful and respected CEO’s do: hire smart people and then give them a fair opportunity to be successful. Willingham should have been allowed to complete his contract, through the strong leadership of Rev. Malloy and his presidential hiring and firing prerogative, and not sacked by the impatient football boosters.

The most disappointing part of Rev. Malloy’s decision to allow the firing of Willingham, is that he had no career or political risk in holding-off any of the angry and wealthy trustees because he is retiring as President of Notre Dame at the end of this academic year. He was free to do the right thing, which is the responsibility of a leader; and, he failed to do so, even though there would be no repercussions toward him as a retiring president.

What better way for Rev. Malloy to solidify his lasting legacy than to make one final stand by preserving the integrity of Notre Dame and treat an honorable and qualified individual like Willingham with the respect he deserved? Instead of leaving a strong reminder to not only Notre Dame, but the entire academic world about the importance of core values rooted in education and integrity, he blinked in the face of big-time, big money athletics and gave in to greed and ego, and remained silent in his acquiescence.

Now, Rev. Malloy will leave the university with his legacy tarnished by a black cloud of money, disrespect and the burden of turning Notre Dame into another win-at-all-costs institution. As a result, the reputation of big-time college sports takes another hit; and, yet, the NCAA continues to strive to reform itself through presidential leadership. In the face of presidential gaffes involving athletics at Auburn, Georgia, Fresno State, St. Bonaventure and now Notre Dame, I am wondering if our presidents are up to the challenge.