Notre Dame's football program is back in the spotlight

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Irish eyes have reasons to smile again.

Eight months after hiring coach Ty Willingham to "wake up the echoes," Notre Dame has begun to restore the golden luster to college football's most storied program and bury parts of an ugly offseason.

The undefeated Fighting Irish are off to their best start since 1996, playing the type of football that has produced a record eight national titles and seven Heisman Trophy winners.

"I knew things would be different the first time I saw Coach on TV," said Sean McTear, a junior from Birmingham, Ala. "Somebody asked him how many games he expected to win and he answered, 'All of them. If I expected to win less, I'd be selling Notre Dame short.'

"That," McTear added, "is the way you're supposed to think around here."

After last weekend's upset of Michigan, Notre Dame is 3-0 and ranked No. 12, back among the game's elite.

Just as important, a team beset by bad football and off-the-field problems for much of the last six years is playing inspired and behaving even better.

And the person least surprised by the dizzying turn of events? That's Willingham, who would be coaching his eighth season at Stanford if George O'Leary, Notre Dame's first choice for the job, hadn't lied on his resume.

Willingham was asked whether he can feel the eyes of a nation settling on Notre Dame again as it prepares to play Saturday at Michigan State, his alma mater and a team that has beaten the Irish for five straight years. He cracked the slightest hint of a smile.

"I'm told they are," he replied in his typically soft-spoken fashion.

Proof, though, is available at every turn. There is a buzz on campus, and phone calls to the alumni association office are full of praise. Notre Dame Stadium is packed and growing greener by the game.

The emerald, "Return to Glory" T-shirts plucked off shelves by students and alumni are being ordered via e-mail by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan who listen to the games on the Armed Forces Radio Network.

"Every once in a while, one will come in with nothing except the word 'Unbelievable!"' said Jim O'Connor, the school's director of retail operations.

"It's not like they want to buy anything. They just want to feel a part of what goes on here."

Willingham knows the feeling. He is black, neither Irish nor Catholic, but he always knew how special this place was. Raised a Methodist in North Carolina, he sneaked out of church on fall Sunday mornings to catch the Fighting Irish highlights.

Now he's in charge of creating them. So far, that's been the easy part.

Willingham began by humming the "Notre Dame Victory March" as he patrolled the hallways of the football offices, coming to work past statues of coaches named Rockne and Leahy. Then he challenged his team to fulfill the lyrics' lofty goals for Notre Dame, including "wake up the echoes cheering her name."

"This coaching staff has always believed that this team is going to win a national championship," Irish receiver Arnaz Battle said. "I think guys on this team were saying it, but they truly, truly had doubts. Now, guys are starting to believe it more and more."

That's a refreshing change. The past few years have been as tough as any.

At the end of coach Lou Holtz's tenure and the beginning of Bob Davie's, Notre Dame's reputation was tarnished by allegations of steroid use among players and an age-discrimination lawsuit brought by a former assistant coach.

There were also NCAA sanctions after a female booster who embezzled more than $1 million from her employer was found to be lavishing gifts and trips on almost a dozen players. Often, the product on the field seemed to suffer.

Before this season, the starting quarterback transferred and the leading rusher was shown the exit after an academic meltdown. It was hardly the only disruption.

Three more players were dismissed from school after being accused of sexual assault. Their trials are scheduled to begin in October and November.

With Willingham's arrival, the team has taken on a new attitude. But the poise Notre Dame showed by coming back against Michigan late in last Saturday's game is not the only way to measure the coach's influence.

"There's a whole lot more yes-sirs and no-sirs when you're around the ballplayers than there used to be," said Joe Papaj, an usher at Notre Dame Stadium.

"He's got these kids understanding when it's time to have fun and when it's time to get down to business."

A block from the stadium, some Irish fans who wouldn't know the difference between a turnover and a turnip were taking in the sights.

Tony Mullally brought his wife and younger son from County Kildare, Ireland, and met an older son who recently moved to Chicago.

They were surprised to hear about the down years at Notre Dame, but relieved to know the program was on its way back. And all thanks to a coach who looked nothing like his predecessors, but echoed their words and values and passed them on to a new generation of players.

"That must have been him we saw back there near the tunnel just a moment ago," Tony Mullally said, "showing all those kids what to do."