Doherty Sage: Loyalty Revisited
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
July 13, 2000

Chapel Hill, NC - A couple of days ago I wrote an article about loyalty surrounding the Doherty saga.  Previously I had said that loyalty really wasn't the issue. Rather, I said it was his close ties to North Carolina and his relationship with Dean Smith that was the issue.  Well, a few days later I have realized I was somewhat in error.  While I still do not think his decision to leave Notre Dame for UNC was out of disloyalty, I now have serious questions about Matt Doherty;s loyalty to Notre Dame and his ethics.

Matt Doherty got Chris Thomas and Jordan Cornette to commit to Notre Dame while he was still on the payroll at the University of Notre Dame.   He sold Notre Dame to them and they committed.  Now that he is at North Carolina he is trying to lure them away from Notre Dame.  This is where I draw the line.  Does this great coach we all grew to love have any loyalty to Notre Dame?

Does Matt Doherty fail to remember that he would not be at North Carolina with his "dream job" had Notre Dame not given him the chance to be a head coach.  Does he fail to remember that no school was really looking at him and that he had to contact Notre Dame about being coach and that they took a big chance on him when they had 3-4 experienced head coaches also in the running.  Has Matt Doherty forgotten all this now that he is at North Carolina.

Before I read that his assistants contacted the recruits that they got to commit to Notre Dame, I still had much respect for Matt Doherty and wished him well at North Carolina.  If however, he gets either Cornette or Thomas end up at North Carolina I will have zero respect for the man and will be routing for Duke to sweep the Tar Heels every season.

In fact, when looking back on the whole situation did Matt Doherty consider any loyalty to Notre Dame at all?  First off, he left the school and left Notre Dame with no head coach heading into the recruiting season.   Ok, we still have our assistants and have our two prized recruits.  Then Doherty demands that his assistants follow him to Chapel Hill.  Hmm, now Notre Dame has no coaches at all, but we still have our recruits.  Then his staff contacts the recruits and starts to sell North Carolina.  Hmm, well at least the team is still in tact.  O wait, now some of the other players are considering transferring according to the South Bend Tribune.

Now lets review.  He left Notre Dame with no coaches, potentially no recruits, with some players thinking transfer, and all this right before the recruiting season starts.  Gee, thanks for showing how much you love Notre Dame.  One question, while you were busy crying when you said bye to all the players did you apologize for leaving the school that gave you your big break in total disarray?

One aspect of this whole situation people tend to forget is that Mike Monserez left Notre Dame mainly because of Matt Doherty's style.  Mike loved Notre Dame and wanted to be there, but his style conflicted with Doherty's and he left.  I personally feel very bad for Mike now that he is transferring with Doherty leaving just weeks before he told Mike his style wasn't changing. 

Overall, Matt Doherty may not have taken the job at UNC out of disloyalty, but now that he is gone he is showing a whole lot of disloyalty to a school he claimed to love.  If he truly loved Notre Dame and if his tears were indeed genuine he would not be contacting the players he recruited for Notre Dame.  He already left the school in complete disarray in the men's basketball program with no coaches and taking away their recruits would not just be disloyal, it would also be unethical to me.

Go Irish (and Blue Devils!)