Notre Dame Fighting Irish football under Tyrone Willingham The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were led by Tyrone Willingham and represented the University of Notre Dame in NCAA Division I college football from 2002 to 2004 . The team was an independent and played their home games in Notre Dame Stadium . Throughout the three seasons , the Irish were 21 – 16 ( 21 – 15 before Willingham was fired ) and were invited to two bowl games , both of which they lost . After the 2001 season , fifth - year head coach Bob Davie was fired . His immediate replacement , George O ' Leary , was forced to resign under some controversy for discrepancies on his resume , and Willingham was chosen to replace him . Willingham made immediate changes to the program and won his first eight games . Although his team floundered at the end of the season and lost their bowl game , he led the team to 10 wins and was named " Coach of the Year " by two different publications . His second year began with the signing of a top - 5 recruiting class to replace a number of players who graduated . Although the team began the season with a win , they lost their next two games , and freshman quarterback Brady Quinn became the starter . Quinn led the Irish to four more wins that season , and the team finished a 5 – 7 record . Willingham ' s third season started with a loss , but three straight wins brought the team back into national prominence . The team went on to win six games , but their fifth loss of the season , a blowout to the University of Southern California ( USC ) Trojans , was Willingham ' s final game at Notre Dame . Although the Irish were invited to a bowl game at the end of the season , Willingham was fired . The eventual hiring of Charlie Weis as Willingham ' s replacement was called a good move , but Willingham ' s firing remained a controversial subject for years following his tenure . Before Willingham . In the 2001 season , the Fighting Irish , led by fifth - year head coach Bob Davie , had a record of five wins and six losses . A day after the season ended , athletic director Kevin White announced to the media that Davie would not be retained as head coach of Notre Dame . A week after the firing of Davie , George O ' Leary , seven - year head coach of Georgia Tech , was hired by Notre Dame for the head coaching position . Despite being a controversial choice criticized by some in the media , and Notre Dame being criticized for making a premature decision , O ' Leary was happy to accept what was called his dream job . Five days after being hired , however , O ' Leary resigned from the position . It was later revealed that O ' Leary had lied on his résumé about receiving a varsity letter and a Master ' s degree while in school . While O ' Leary was criticized for lying , some in the media said that his resignation gave Notre Dame a chance to make a better decision . Two weeks after O ' Leary resigned , Notre Dame signed Tyrone Willingham , the seventh - year coach of Stanford , to a six - year contract . Willingham became the school ' s first African American head coach in any sport . He immediately made changes to the Irish program , including changing the long used Irish offense from an option attack to a West Coast type . He also made his first - year Fighting Irish team only the second in Notre Dame history to pick captains on a game - by - game basis . 2002 season . Season overview . The 2002 season became known as a " Return to Glory " for the Irish . This phrase appeared on a student shirt that created a " Sea of Green " in the Irish stands . It was picked up by many in the media and was used on the front cover of " Sports Illustrated " . Despite not scoring an offensive touchdown in their first two games , the Irish won both , and in the process made Willingham the 24th Notre Dame head coach to win his opener in his first season . The team went on to win its next six games , including wins over Willingham ' s alma mater , Michigan State , and Stanford , his former team . The team was initially led throughout the season by quarterback Carlyle Holiday , former quarterback and wide receiver Arnaz Battle , and on defense , Shane Walton . Running back Ryan Grant , who had to replace Julius Jones who was out for academic reasons , also played an important role . During the Michigan State game , however , Holiday was injured and replaced by backup Pat Dillingham . Dillingham led the Irish to a comeback win on a screen pass to Battle in that game , and he continued the winning streak until Holiday returned for the Florida State game . In that game , Holiday he threw a 65 - yard touchdown on his first play to Battle that helped the Irish win the game . The first Irish loss of the season came against the Boston College Eagles , mirroring the 1993 season when Notre Dame narrowly lost a chance to participate in the national championship game due to a loss to Boston College . Willingham , wanting the team to be a part of the " Sea of Green " in the stands , decided that the team should wear green for the game . In 1985 , the last time the Irish wore green at home , they came out after halftime against USC and won the game 37 – 3 . The ploy , however , did not work this time , as , after an injured Holiday was replaced by Dillingham , and the Eagles defense returned an interception that sealed the loss for the Irish . The Fighting Irish won their next two games , including their 39th straight victory over and a 42 – 0 blowout victory over struggling Rutgers . This gave Notre Dame a legitimate shot at a Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) bowl game if they could win against perennial rival USC . The Irish were ranked higher than the Trojans , but USC quarterback Carson Palmer , who cited the game as the reason he went on to win the Heisman Trophy , threw for 425 yards in the Trojans ' 31 point win . The Irish won 10 games but were not invited to a BCS bowl game , and they accepted a bid to play North Carolina State in the instead . With both an offense and defense that outmatched the Irish , the Wolfpack won the game 28 – 6 , giving the Irish their sixth consecutive bowl loss . Despite the loss , the Irish ended the season ranked in both the Associated Press ( AP ) and Coaches Poll s . After the season , some Irish were honored with post - season awards . Battle was named by one foundation as their sportsman of the year , while Walton was named as a Consensus All - American . Finally , Willingham was honored with two Coach of the Year awards , was named by " Sporting News " as " Sportsman of the Year " , and was the only coach listed by " Sporting News " as one of their " Most Powerful People in Sports " . 2003 season . Season overview . The 2003 season began with the Irish losing a number of key players to graduation , including Arnaz Battle and center Jeff Faine . They were boosted , however , by the return of running back , Julius Jones , who was reinstated to the team after a year of academic ineligibility . In Willingham ' s first full year of recruiting , he signed a top - 5 class . Of the 20 recruits signed , 12 were four - star recruits ( high school recruits are rated on a star scale , with one star indicating a low - quality recruit and five stars indicating the highest - quality recruit ) . These new recruits included future stars Victor Abiamiri , Chinedum Ndukwe , Brady Quinn , Jeff Samardzija , and Tom Zbikowski . The Irish began their season ranked 19th and facing the hardest schedule in the nation . They opened against the Washington State Cougars , playing the team for the first time in the history of the program . The Irish came back from being down by 19 points to win in overtime , but Carlyle Holiday struggled as quarterback . In the next game against rival Michigan , the Wolverines avenged their 2002 loss by beating the Irish by a score of 38 – 0 in the first shutout in the series in 100 years and the largest margin of victory ever between the two teams . After another loss to Michigan State , many Irish fans were calling for Holiday to be taken out of the game in favor of freshman Brady Quinn , who saw his first collegiate action in the fourth quarter of the Michigan rout . Holiday was replaced as starter for the next game against Purdue . In Quinn ' s first start , the Irish were bolstered with Quinn ' s 297 passing yards on 59 attempts . However , Purdue ' s defense intercepted four of Quinn ' s passes and sacked him five times en route to a 23 – 10 Boilermaker victory . Quinn remained as the starter and , with Willingham ' s acknowledgment that the running game needed to take more of a role in the next game , got his first win against Pittsburgh . He was helped by Julius Jones ' school - record 262 rushing yards . Notre Dame lost their next three games , including Willingham ' s second straight 31 point loss to USC , a last minute loss to Boston College , and their first home shutout since 1978 to Florida State . The Irish players began to call the season disappointing , as the team needed to win their last four games to make a bowl game . They looked to have a chance of becoming bowl eligible , as their next three games were a last minute win that improved their streak to 40 games over Navy , a win on senior day over the Brigham Young University ( BYU ) Cougars , and a win over Stanford that saw the Irish offense finally connect in the season . Notre Dame lost their final game to Syracuse , however . With a 5 – 7 record , the Irish finished with the twelfth losing season in the history of the Notre Dame football program . 2004 season . Season overview . The 2004 season began with doubts and criticism for the Irish . With Julius Jones graduating as fourth - leading rusher in Notre Dame history , the Irish hoped to replace him with a talented recruiting class . However , Willingham struggled in his second full year of recruiting and the new class was ranked 30th in the nation . Despite signing highly sought after recruit Darius Walker , the 17 man class only included three four - star recruits . The season began poorly for the Irish with a loss at BYU . Despite Brady Quinn improving at the quarterback position and completing over 50 percent of his passes for 265 yards , the Irish only managed to gain 11 yards rushing . They next faced a highly ranked Michigan team at home and Willingham stated that an improved running game would be important if the Irish were to be able to beat the Wolverines . Darius Walker answered Willingham in his first collegiate game , gaining 115 yards and scoring two late touchdowns to lead the Irish in the upset . The Irish were rejuvenated with this win , and they rallied to move to 3 – 1 on the season with wins over Michigan State and Washington . Some in the media began comparing Willingham to some of Notre Dame ' s legendary coaches and said the team would win seven or eight games in the season and be back in national championship contention by 2005 . With renewed expectations , the Irish hoped to continue their streak and beat 15th ranked Purdue , who had not won at Notre Dame in 30 years . The Boilermakers ' quarterback , Kyle Orton , outplayed the Irish defense , handing them a 25 point loss to end the rally . The Irish got back on track and beat Stanford , making Notre Dame the second school to reach 800 wins . They also beat Navy for the 41st straight time , which moved Notre Dame into the rankings for the first time since their 2004 loss to Michigan . The Irish did not stay ranked for long , as Boston College once again beat the Irish on a late score . The Irish had three games left and needed one win to become bowl eligible , their next game was against the 9th ranked Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville . The Irish defense stepped up and , after knocking out quarterback Eric Ainge on a sack , returned an interception for a touchdown to upset the Volunteers and become bowl eligible . Once again ranked , the Irish returned home for their final home game against Pittsburgh . Losing on a late score , the team allowed five passing touchdowns by an opponent for the first time ever at home . Visiting USC for the final regular season game , the Irish again lost to the Trojans by 31 points . The Irish accepted a bowl bid to play in the Insight Bowl . In a highly criticized move , Willingham was fired two days later . Defensive coordinator Kent Baer led the Irish , hoping to " win one for Ty . " However , the Oregon State Beavers , led by four touchdown passes from Derek Anderson , beat the Irish in Notre Dame ' s seventh consecutive bowl loss . The Irish ended 2004 with a 6 – 6 record and in need of a coach . Aftermath of the Willingham firing . In firing Willingham , the Notre Dame athletic department cited a relatively poor record of 21 – 15 , a weak recruiting class , and three losses , each by 31 points , to rival USC . However , the Irish also hoped to entice Urban Meyer , the head coach of the Utah Utes , to lead Notre Dame . Meyer had just led the Utes to an undefeated season and he had a clause in his contract that stated he could leave Utah without a penalty to coach for the Irish . When Meyer instead took the head coaching position at Florida , the Irish were ridiculed in the media with claims that the Notre Dame coaching position was no longer as prestigious as it was in the past . After over a week without a coach , the Irish hired New England Patriots ' offensive coordinator Charlie Weis as head coach . Weis was an alumnus of Notre Dame , and he became the first alumnus to coach the team since 1963 . At least one sports writer stated that Weis was a choice that made sense for the program . Willingham , meanwhile , accepted a position as head coach of the University of Washington Huskies football team .