Exit the bespectacled, wispy man who had a lisp, smoked a pipe and rode around practice in a golf cart to observe his players–when he wasn’t barking at them.
Enter a tall, blue-eyed cover boy with a Texas twang, a ton of enthusiasm and a willingness to use the dreaded “F” word.
Fun.
“You can be disciplined, you can be hard-nosed,” Bob Davie said. “But you know what? You can also have fun and do it with a smile on your face.”
Davie, four months into the job as Notre Dame football coach, frets how that’s going to sound. He doesn’t want people to think he’s letting the inmates run the asylum. Don’t call him Gerry Faust Jr. It’s clear, however, that Davie has taken steps to lighten up an institution where some players had come to think of football as a job.
“I want to create the attitude of going outside like you did as a little kid and you played for the fun of the game,” Davie said.
Said wide receiver Malcolm Johnson: “It’s not drudgery–he has said that several times. We’ve got to come out here with an attitude that we love football.”
To loosen things up, Davie capped off winter conditioning drills last month with four days of games, including an egg toss, slam-dunk competition, obstacle-course race and talent show. There was no synchronized swimming, but there was a “big splash” contest, which lived up to its name in more ways than one.
Notre Dame’s offensive and defensive coordinators, Jim Colletto and Greg Mattison, entered the Rolfs Aquatic Center wearing robes and Notre Dame rubber swimming caps. After an introduction, both men–neither of whom will ever be confused with model Kate Moss–disrobed, revealing size-42 Speedos. Then they cannon-balled into the pool. The players “almost fell out of the bleachers,” Colletto said.
At the talent show, defensive lineman Melvin Dansby earned the nickname “Luther” for his R&B singing. Previously bashful offensive lineman Rob Mowl let loose with a funky dance. Top honors went to a group that parodied freshmen football players who “walk around campus trying to love all the ladies,” Johnson said.
“The whole idea was for coaches and players to get an appreciation of each other and see each other in a different light,” Davie said. “That creates a chemistry. You can always tell a football team that likes each other.
“The players worked harder in the off-season than ever before. But they enjoyed it and they didn’t realize they worked hard.”
Davie refuses to disparage Lou Holtz, the man he replaced after serving as his defensive coordinator for three seasons. Whenever he talks about anything new he has implemented, he prefaces it with, “Not that the way it was done before wasn’t right . . .”
Nonetheless, an air of change has swept through the program, and it goes well beyond the stadium renovation and remodeling of the coaches’ offices in the Joyce Center.
“He wants the players to be more relaxed and have more fun,” defensive line coach Charlie Strong said. “Just going to school here is a burden on these guys, and by the time they come to us, some of them are beat down.”
Davie’s goal is to make football “the most positive experience” of his players’ lives. To that end, he has supported a rule that will allow senior athletes with a 2.8 grade-point average and approval from a coach and dorm adviser to live off campus.
Davie also will discontinue the team’s annual pilgrimage to Culver, Ind., for preseason training. Two years ago, with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, the players were miserable. Many slept on the floor of a hockey arena. Only Holtz’s room had air conditioning. “Last year a lot of guys felt (Culver) was wearing them down,” Johnson said.
Davie has not hesitated to seek players’ input. Before Notre Dame signed its new shoe deal with Adidas, Davie discussed it with the seniors.
“We’re all in it together, and coach Davie emphasizes that,” quarterback Ron Powlus said. “He wants to be one with the team.”
The players aren’t the only ones who have Davie’s ear. He has invited parents of current players to South Bend for a weekend, promising “total access to me.” Last week Davie distributed blank sheets of paper and envelopes with his work address.
“If you have any ideas, drop me a line,” he said.
Earlier he told the students he wants the pep rally before the season opener against Georgia Tech to be held in the refurbished stadium. “I don’t think it’s fair that at 11 o’clock that morning, some Georgia Tech guy will get into the stadium before you do,” Davie said.
“Coaches always say you get the best out of your kids when they’re having fun,” said George Kelly, an assistant athletic director who coached at Notre Dame from 1969-86. “But when you project that to the outside world, people say: `We’ve seen a lot of coaches have fun, but can they win?’ “
The only Irish players guaranteed not to have fun are those who miss class. First-time offenders will have to attend “Davie 101,” which meets Friday from 9-11 p.m. Second and third offenses bring more strenuous penalties, with justice being administered at 6 a.m. in one case.
Davie’s demanding nature also extends to the field. During a recent practice, Davie admonished his players: “I haven’t seen enough contact. I’m tired of not seeing it.”
For the next 10 minutes, the players let loose with a fury.
“They may have thought they had free rein, loosey-goosey, but there comes a time when Bob will pull the chain,” Kelly said. “That’s when the fun is over.”
