“After the Texas A&M game (a 24-3 rout by the Aggies in College Station Sept. 29), where we struggled badly, Kevin (White, Notre Dame athletic director) said we'd stay the course until further evaluation,” — Fired coach Bob Davie, his eyes betraying a suppressed anger.

"After the Texas A&M game (a 24-3 rout by the Aggies in College Station Sept. 29), where we struggled badly, Kevin (White, Notre Dame athletic director) said we'd stay the course until further evaluation," Davie said, his eyes betraying a suppressed anger.

"Then the next day, Monday, he said we'd re-evaluate at the end of the season."

This, along with White's season-long unwillingness to offer a vote of confidence, would seem to point to that late September/early October time frame as the point where Davie was informed he would not be retained for the 2002 season.

Alumni association sources, some with close administrative ties, confirm this.

So the Bob Davie Era officially ended at 9 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday.

"There was a lot of speculation until I put in the call to Father (Edward) Malloy (university President) at 8 a.m. this morning," White said.

"Bob Davie and I met at 9 a.m."

By 9:15 or so, it was over. "He had a piece of paper with him (likely White's conference-opening prepared statement)," Davie said. "He said he'd recommended to Father Malloy I be replaced.

"I think, as Kevin mentioned in his press conference, that both of us agreed last year in December that this was a long-term situation (when Davie had re-upped with Notre Dame).

"But then there was the bowl game, then going to Lincoln, Nebraska (where the No. 2 Cornhuskers routed the Irish 27-10, blowing the game open in the first quarter).

"He said I'd lost credibility. Obviously the decision had already been made. Really, it was on to the next thing."

This time, there were very few things to discuss.

Davie's 35-25 five-year record had been weighed and found wanting. It included a 6-15 mark against ranked teams, 1-7 against those in the Top 10 and an 0-3 bowl record, including last New Year's 41-9 humiliation by Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl.

White's contrasting sets of feelings over the intervening year offered more than a small glimpse of the inner turmoil surrounding certain aspects of the program. The players had been model citizens, good students, but...

It started with the events after the Y2K Fighting Irish had finished a sparkling 9-2 season on an upbeat note, a 38-21 rout of U.S.C. in Los Angeles, earning themselves a bid to a prestigious Bowl Championship Series New Year's day bowl.

"I really thought we were making progress on all fronts," White assessed Sunday. "We'd found all kinds of ways to win. But it seems to me I can't stand here in front of you and say we've got a program (today) in a position to win a national championship.

"I think I was devastated by that performance. That was 12 months ago and I think I've already been on the record."

Throw together the precedent-setting three opening losses at Nebraska, at home to Michigan State and at Texas A & M, toss in resounding boos in Notre Dame Stadium and angry letters, e-mails and calls from influential alumni and the combustible mix had hit the breaking point.

The longterm issues that confront every Notre Dame coach — getting many bluechip recruits past a difficult admissions process — "Largely mythical," White insisted — and the demands put on the athlete when he enrolls will still be there for Davie's successor.

But White is convinced Notre Dame can retain its lofty perch among college football's elite.

"Any student-athlete, anybody who supports or knows the program, believes we can (compete for the national championship)," White said. "We've won 11. I'm convinced we can win a 12th.

"...The reason we attract (great student-athletes) is excellence. The significance of the Notre Dame degree is key. I think we've got the ultimate package here."

What they desperately need and very soon — is the ultimate coach who can deliver that package to the nation's best/brightest footballers and deliver them FROM the Stanfords, Michigans, Northwesterns or other academically prestigious environments.

"I think the academics at Notre Dame are blown out of proportion by many people," Bob Chmiel, former Notre Dame recruiting coordinator under Lou Holtz and in Davie's first three years, told WSBT-AM radio.

In the end, it came down to subjective evaluation. He accepted White's official word with grim professionalism. And refused to rule out a fairly quick return to coaching.

"I've never been one who has a big ego," he said, after saying he'd welcome the chance to say he'd be spending more time with his wife Joanne and their two children.

"I'd go coach the guards at Slippery Rock. I've never been a Madison Ave. guy and I never will be. I'm not standing up here campaigning for a job."

So Robert Edwin Davie, 47, walks. And Notre Dame, in the midst of a hectic recruiting season, fights to remain competitive in the white-hot national marketplace.

And Kevin White, his tiny committee, and Father Malloy frantically search for a new guy who can deal with college football's most blinding spotlight.

"It's a challenge," Davie said finally. "The difficulty is sustaining (excellence) year-after-year. You look into the (two) years we won nine games, we lost two early in the season once, lost one early the other time. The solidarity allowed us to rebound."

Players confirmed this after Saturday's 24-18 victory over Purdue at West Lafayette. "He's OUR coach," cornerback Shane Walton avowed, hugging Davie emotionally.

White wasn't particularly subtle when asked what kind of situation would greet the new guy. "The program has fallen to such a point that even if we get that superstar coach, the team will not be ready to contend (next season)."

The White/Davie relationship was probably fairly contentious, it's fair to say. But now Kevin White will make the most important decision of his professional. And, quite possibly, Notre Dame's hallowed football history.