Columnist Steve Guiremand: Fresno State fans upset that ‘Dogs failed to land Dorsey

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 9:51 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. His Around Campus column appears on Friday during football season. Reach him at 259-2324 or steveg@lasvegassun.com.

With his team off to an impressive 6-0 start and knocking on the door of a potential Bowl Championship Series berth, Fresno State head coach Pat Hill is a legitimate candidate for national coach of the year honors.

But that hasn't stopped a few Bulldog rooters from criticizing Hill.

According to the Fresno Bee, Hill has received letters from fans asking him why Fresno State didn't recruit current UNLV star Dominique Dorsey, arguably one of the top five true freshmen in the country this season. Dorsey was featured in the Oct. 15 issue of Sports Illustrated's Inside College Football section under the headline "Ya Gotta Love This Guy." The 5-foot-6, 153-pound Dorsey set California prep marks in career rushing (7,761 yards) and touchdowns (118) at Tulare Union High School, about a 30-minute drive from Fresno.

"He was the first guy we offered a scholarship to, but he didn't even want to come for a visit," Hill said.

Although a number of Division I schools backed off Dorsey because of his size -- or lack of it -- Fresno State wasn't one of them.

"Yeah, they offered me a scholarship," Dorsey confirmed. "I was supposed to take a visit there. But I just decided not to go there."

Why?

"It was too close to home," Dorsey said. "Everyone wanted me to go there but I just decided not to. I just didn't feel comfortable in that program at the time. ... I'm happy with my decision."

Besides, it's not like Fresno State is one of college football's most storied programs.

"This is their first real big year," Dorsey said. "I didn't grow up being a big Fresno State fan or anything. They're doing well this season and that's good. But I feel we have a good program as well."

Pack your bags, Bob

It's becoming more and more apparent that, barring a miraculous finish, Notre Dame head football coach Bob Davie will be out at the end of the season.

Blue and Gold Illustrated, a weekly newspaper devoted to covering Notre Dame athletics, reported a couple of weeks ago Davie would be out regardless of how Notre Dame (2-3) ends its season. The Irish host old rival USC (2-4) on Saturday in South Bend. New Irish athletic director Kevin White, who gave Davie a contract extension last year, has said he will review Davie's situation at the end of the season.

But that hasn't stopped the Chicago-area media from trying to nail down possible replacements for Davie.

In fact, the hometown South Bend Tribune even sent one of its columnists, David Haugh, to last Sunday's Raiders-Colts game in the RCA Dome to see if Oakland head coach Jon Gruden, reportedly one of the top candidates to replace Davie, might be interested in the job.

"I don't want to speculate, not after this," Gruden said following the Raiders' 23-18 victory to become the AFC's only 4-1 team. "We're 4-1 and we're excited.

"I'm interested in Notre Dame doing well, obviously. Those were great years for me. (But) everybody who knows me knows I love football and I'm pretty focused on the job I have."

Still, Gruden, whose father Jim coached on Dan Devine's staff from 1978-80 while he quarterbacked at nearby Clay High School, has made no secret of his love for Notre Dame and its traditions.

"To see that (Notre Dame) marching band walking across campus at 8 o'clock in the morning, to look up and see Touchdown Jesus and the Golden Dome, to feel Rockne's ghost, the best word I can use to describe it is chilling," Gruden wrote last month in his Sept. 27 diary for NFL.com. "Every time I see Notre Dame on TV, it gives me goose bumps."

"Jon's a South Bend guy," ESPN analyst and former Notre Dame star Joe Theismann said. "He used to drive recruits around. I spent time with Jon (Sunday) and his roots in football come from the University of Notre Dame. His passion, his love, the tradition he learned at Notre Dame."

Theismann, by the way, doesn't exactly sound like a member of the Bob Davie fan club these days.

"It's sad, just sad," he said of his alma mater's football program. "I've spoken at the dinners and I love Notre Dame like the air I breathe, and it hurts. It's so disheartening. I like Bob (Davie), but from a football perspective. ... West Virginia's a bad football team. Notre Dame made them look good (Saturday). That's scary. I'll leave it at that."

'Nuff said, Joe.

A new chant

By the way, Haugh may have come up with the line of the year when it comes to Notre Dame football.

Wrote Haugh: "These days every time Notre Dame fans see Gruden ... some

probably even begin chanting, "Gru-dy, Gru-dy, Grudy!"

Sounds like a good idea for a T-shirt at the Notre Dame bookstore.

Once around the MWC