 Davie at 2016 Mountain West Media Days | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1954-09-30)September 30, 1954 (age 71) Sewickley, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1973–1975 | Youngstown State |
| Position | Tight end |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1977 | Pittsburgh (GA) |
| 1978–1979 | Arizona (LB) |
| 1980–1982 | Pittsburgh (LB) |
| 1983–1984 | Tulane (DC) |
| 1985–1988 | Texas A&M (OLB) |
| 1989–1993 | Texas A&M (DC) |
| 1994–1996 | Notre Dame (DC) |
| 1997–2001 | Notre Dame |
| 2012–2019 | New Mexico |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 70–89 |
| Bowls | 1–4 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1MW Mountain Division (2016) | |
Robert Edwin Davie Jr. (born September 30, 1954) is an American formercollege football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at theUniversity of Notre Dame from 1997 to 2001 and theUniversity of New Mexico from 2012 to 2019. Davie worked forESPN as a college football color commentator from 2002 to 2011.
Robert Edwin Davie Jr. was born inSewickley, Pennsylvania to Robert Sr. and June.[1][2] Davie was raised inCoraopolis, Pennsylvania. As a student atMoon Area High School, Davie excelled in sports, lettering three times each in football, baseball, and basketball. During his senior year, Davie served as captain of both the football and basketball teams. The same year, his elder brother died of cancer.[1]
Davie received a football scholarship to attend theUniversity of Arizona. After two weeks in Arizona, however, Davie became homesick and returned to Pennsylvania. He soon enrolled in nearbyYoungstown State University, where he was a startingtight end for three years.[2]
Following his graduation from Youngstown State in 1977, Davie took a job as a graduate assistant for theUniversity of Pittsburgh football team, working under head coachJackie Sherrill.[2] Davie then spent two years as an assistant coach at theUniversity of Arizona before returning to the University of Pittsburgh for the 1980–1982 seasons. He then moved toTulane as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach from 1983 to 1984. From 1985 to 1988, Davie served as the outside linebackers coach atTexas A&M University before serving as the school'sdefensive coordinator from 1989 to 1993.[1] During his stint at A&M, he helped further develop the "Wrecking Crew" defense, which, in 1991 was No. 1 in the nation in total defense.[3]
In 1994,Lou Holtz, the head coach at theUniversity of Notre Dame, offered Davie a job as defensive coordinator, at the recommendation of Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Moore.[3][4] Although Davie twice turned down this job offer, after discussing the matter with his wife he agreed to work for Holtz. Under Davie, the Notre Dame defense improved, and in 1996 the team set a school record for number ofsacks and allowed the lowest total yardage of any Notre Dame team since 1980.[3] In September 1995, Davie served as interim head coach when Holtz missed a game in order to have surgery. Under Davie, Notre Dame beatVanderbilt 41–0.[3]
In November 1996, Holtz retired from Notre Dame after eleven seasons as head coach. Notre Dame interviewed four candidates, includingGary Barnett,Tom Clements, and Davie. Davie had applied for several other head coaching jobs and was offered a position atPurdue University. He turned down Purdue when offered the opportunity to become the next head coach at Notre Dame. Davie was the first assistant to become a head coach at Notre Dame since 1954 whenTerry Brennan replacedFrank Leahy.[3]
Many fans were not excited about Davie's promotion. His habit of referring to thetraditions of Texas A&M University rather than those of Notre Dame alienated some.[4] Within months of his hiring, Davie and the university were sued byJoe Moore, who had been fired by Davie. Moore alleged that Davie had defamed him and that his firing was a result of age discrimination. Although a judge dismissed the defamation charges,[3] the university was later found guilty of age discrimination, and Moore received a small settlement. Throughout much of the proceedings, fan sentiment had been on Moore's side, with many fans very unhappy with Davie.[5] During Davie's tenure, Notre Dame was also placed underNCAA sanctions for the first time over the actions of abooster Kim Dunbar, who had stolen $1.2 million and spent it on Notre Dame players during Lou Holtz's time as head coach. The school was placed on probation and lost two scholarships, and the university subsequently disbanded allbooster clubs.[5]
In five seasons at Notre Dame, Davie compiled a 35–25 record including three bowl games. The2001 Fiesta Bowl, a 41–9 loss toOregon State, was the firstBowl Championship Series game in school history. His final season included the 2001AFCA Academic Achievement Award when the Notre Dame football team posted a 100% graduation rate.
Notre Dame's performance on the field was inconsistent from year to year during Davie's tenure. Following a 7–6 campaign in 1997 which saw Notre Dame overcome a 2–5 start, the 1998 Irish were poised for a major bowl bid with a 9–1 record going into their 1998 season finale against USC. The Irish led 39-36 with 21 seconds left but were mired in their own territory and had to kill time for four plays because LSU had three timeouts. On 4th down with eight seconds remaining, Davie instructed his quarterbackJarious Jackson to scramble around in the end zone before taking a safety. Ideally, this would have wound the clock almost to zero, but instead, Jackson suffered a blindsided hit, leading to ligament damage in his right knee.[6] Consequently, Jackson did not play against Southern California and Notre Dame, its offense rendered powerless, suffered a 10–0 loss. The team had to settle for a Gator Bowl bid and lost to Georgia Tech, finishing the season 9–3. A 5–7 campaign followed in 1999, and the national media began to question Davie's abilities.
In 2000 the Irish bounced back and finished 9–3 once again. Newly hired athletic directorKevin White promptly gave Davie a five-year contract extension.[7] Within weeks of signing the contract extension, Davie's team lost in the Fiesta Bowl.[7] During the next season, Davie presided over the first 0–3 start in Notre Dame history in 2001. The Irish won their next three games to even their record, but losses to Boston College, Tennessee and Stanford sealed Davie's fate as the Irish finished 5–6.
He was fired on December 2, one day after a 24–18 win overPurdue. Davie was replaced byGeorge O'Leary, who in turn resigned after it was revealed that his resume contained serious inaccuracies. Notre Dame then turned toTyrone Willingham to lead the program.[7]
On November 16, 2011, Davie was hired as the new football coach atNew Mexico replacingMike Locksley.[8] With Davie, the Lobos won the 2016Mountain West Conference Mountain Division championship along with Wyoming and Boise State.[9] On February 8, 2018, he was suspended 30 days without pay; this was related to his handling of incidents of alleged misconduct by football players at UNM.[10]
After the Lobos' 2019 season opener, a 39–31 victory againstSam Houston State, Davie was hospitalized for heart problems, forcing him to cancel the post-game press conference.[9] Run game coordinator and offensive line coach Saga Tuitele served as interim head coach for New Mexico's game against Notre Dame.[11]
On November 25, 2019, it was announced that New Mexico and Davie have agreed to part ways.[12]
Between his head coaching positions at Notre Dame and New Mexico, Davie was a college football analyst forESPN.
Davie is married to the former Joanne Fratangelo. They are the parents of two children, Audra and Clay. Clay Davie played football at Arizona State University.[2]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish(NCAA Division I-A Independent)(1997–2001) | |||||||||
| 1997 | Notre Dame | 7–6 | LIndependence | ||||||
| 1998 | Notre Dame | 9–3 | LGator | 22 | 22 | ||||
| 1999 | Notre Dame | 5–7 | |||||||
| 2000 | Notre Dame | 9–3 | LFiesta† | 16 | 15 | ||||
| 2001 | Notre Dame | 5–6 | |||||||
| Notre Dame: | 35–25 | ||||||||
| New Mexico Lobos(Mountain West Conference)(2012–2019) | |||||||||
| 2012 | New Mexico | 4–9 | 1–7 | T–9th | |||||
| 2013 | New Mexico | 3–9 | 1–7 | 5th (Mountain) | |||||
| 2014 | New Mexico | 4–8 | 2–6 | T–5th (Mountain) | |||||
| 2015 | New Mexico | 7–6 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Mountain) | LNew Mexico | ||||
| 2016 | New Mexico | 9–4 | 6–2 | T–1st (Mountain) | WNew Mexico | ||||
| 2017 | New Mexico | 3–9 | 1–7 | 6th (Mountain) | |||||
| 2018 | New Mexico | 3–9 | 1–7 | 6th (Mountain) | |||||
| 2019 | New Mexico | 2–10 | 0–8 | 6th (Mountain) | |||||
| New Mexico: | 35–64 | 17–47 | |||||||
| Total: | 70–89 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)