No finger pointing

Tyrone Willingham blamed himself Wednesday for his firing as Notre Dame coach, saying he failed to meet the school’s expectations of producing an elite team.

But Willingham, whose three-year tenure was the shortest of any non-interim coach at the school in 70 years, wouldn’t say whether he was given enough time to turn the storied program back into a football power.

“I don’t get into what’s fair and what’s not fair. I am an optimist by nature, but I am also a realist, and that makes you deal with the events as they occur,” he said. “So I will deal with the events.”

Willingham was fired Tuesday with three years left on his initial six-year contract after going 21-15. Notre Dame had made a tradition of allowing its coaches to at least work through the length of their first contract.

“I understand that I did not meet the expectations and standards I set for myself and this program,” he said. “When you don’t meet your own expectations you make yourself vulnerable to the will of others. So today I am no longer the head football coach at Notre Dame.”

Willingham said he will take a “moment” to decide what he will do next.

“I don’t know how long that moment will be. A moment could be a moment or it could be a week,” he said. “It’s kind of indefinite what that moment will be.”

Willingham also talked about a report that he had been contacted by the University of Washington two weeks ago about its coaching vacancy. He said there was no official contact, but there was informal contact.

Notre Dame players voted to play in the Insight Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 28 with defensive coordinator Kent Baer as interim coach. The school had already accepted the invitation, but wanted to make sure the players’ hearts were in it.

Crowton, Cutcliffe, DiNardo let go

Gerry DiNardo, Gary Crowton and David Cutcliffe all became unemployed coaches, upping the total coaching vacancies in Division I-A to 15.

DiNardo was fired by Indiana after three straight losing seasons; Crowton agreed to resign at BYU following a third straight losing campaign; and Cutcliffe’s first losing record in six years at Mississippi led to his dismissal.

Sixteen major college teams have changed coaches this season. Florida was the first when they pulled the plug on Ron Zook in October.

South Carolina was the first and so far only school to hire a new coach. The Gamecocks brought in Steve Spurrier the day after Lou Holtz retired.

DiNardo was fired 11 days after the Hoosiers ended a 3-8 season with a 63-24 loss to in-state rival Purdue.

The firing is the first major coaching change by Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan since he was hired in September as the school’s fourth A.D. in a little more than three years.

Greenspan said there was a “sense of urgency” for turning around a football program that has not had a winning season since going 7-4 in 1994.

“The goal for us is to build a viable program,” Greenspan said. “We’re going to have some urgency.”

Ole Miss officials informed Cutcliffe of their decision early Wednesday.

“This has been a tough day, but tough times don’t last … tough people do,” Cutcliffe said.

Cutcliffe declined to discuss specifics of his dismissal.

“We just couldn’t come to an agreement,” he said. “We couldn’t get everything on the same page.”

Crowton agreed to resign, ending a four-year stint with the Cougars that began with 12 victories. BYU finished 5-6 this season and went 14-21 over the last three, the school’s worst three-year run since the early 1960s.

BYU associate athletic director Tom Holmoe said at a news conference with Crowton that the coach was asked for his resignation.

“At this time I feel like it’s time for me to step down and let the football program move on in a different direction,” Crowton said.

The defense yielded 397.2 yards per game this season – the highest total since 1990.

Finalists named for Broyles award

For the second time in three years, Boise State offensive coordinator Chris Peterson was named a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant football coach in the nation.

The others finalists are Oklahoma offensive coordinator Chuck Long, Auburn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, California defensive coordinator Bob Gregory, Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker and Connecticut offensive coordinator Norries Wilson.

Fresno State to play MPC Computers Bowl

Fresno State accepted a bid to play 18th-ranked Virginia in the MPC Computers Bowl on Dec. 27 in Boise. It will be the first meeting between two teams with impressive bowl records.

The Bulldogs (8-3), who finished third in the Western Athletic Conference, are making their sixth straight postseason appearance.

Virginia, also 8-3, placed fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and is making its third straight bowl appearance.

White wins Unitas Award

Oklahoma’s Jason White won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the best senior quarterback in college football. White has completed 64.3 percent of its passes for 2,707 yards and 30 touchdowns this season for the No. 2 Sooners (11-0).