Doherty Saga: The Issue of Loyalty
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
July 8, 2000

Notre Dame, Ind - With Matt Doherty visiting Chapel Hill this weekend to be interviewed for the head coaching vacancy at North Carolina there has been a lot of talk about loyalty and Coach D.  The issue here is not loyalty however.   The issue is about getting the opportunity to coach at his alma mater which is a dream job for most college basketball coaches, just as the head football coach at Notre Dame is a dream job for many college football coaches.

Yes, Doherty has developed bonds with his players and the community this past year plus, but should he leave to coach at North Carolina, I for one do not feel that he could be called unloyal to Notre Dame.  Whatever he decides however, someone will most likely be challenging his loyalty.  Does he remain loyal to Notre Dame where he resurrected the basketball program but only been a part of for one year, or does he remain to loyal to his former college coach Dean Smith and his alma mater where he played basketball for four years?

No matter what he decides, loyalty is not the issue.   If say Joe Montana coached at a school like Pittsburgh as the head coach and then was asked to be the coach of Notre Dame should a vacancy be available would Irish fans say he should remain loyal to his current team or would just about every Irish fan be praying he accepted the job?

The situation is not an easy one for coach Doherty and his decision will most definitely be a very rough one for him, that is if he is indeed offered the job this weekend while in Chapel Hill.  Just as it took Roy Williams a week to make his choice, I see Doherty taking some time if he is offered the job.   Williams is different than Doherty however in that Williams has been at Kansas for 12 years while Doherty's only been at Notre Dame for one. 

Doherty has many reasons for picking either school and has close ties on both teams.  At North Carolina he has ties with the school where he won a national championship and with Notre Dame he has ties with all the players he taught to believe in themselves and succeed.  At Notre Dame he has Troy Murphy who was instrumental in his return when the NBA was calling and at North Carolina he has Dean Smith who coached him for four years.  Either way you look at it, there's ties on both sides.

All Irish fans will be praying that Doherty stays, but we all must face the grim reality that there is a good chance he will not be back next season.  Should this be the case many expectations that people had for this team may be diminished depending on who Notre Dame hires to replace him if he is not back next year.

All Notre Dame fans can do now is pray that Larry Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers is UNC's top choice and that he accepts the job.  If Brown is indeed UNC's top choice, as Andy Katz of ESPN.com says, and he turns the job down as well I fear that the full court press will be put on Doherty which would not be good for Notre Dame.  I still believe however that Doherty will be roaming the sidelines of the Joyce Center next year!