affirmative action in firing

i'm a serious football fan. but i don't pay any particular attention to notre dame. nevertheless it's hard to ignore the furor (i'm having problems linking from the dial-up i'm on, in nyc: exemplary would be wilbon's column in the washpost or the oped in today's nytimes). my sense is that willlingham was a good coach and good man. and i was a bit disturbed when the nd spokesman said: everything but the won-loss record was outstanding: grad rates, probity etc. but the reaction also makes it harder to hire a black coach, because the affirmative action on the other end is extreme: you can't fire him, or else you are a racist. as we all know, football coach at the division 1 or nfl level is an extremely cruel gig. notre dame's move was no more unusual than moving zook out of florida. it's just not a surprising move, any way you look at it. i don't share this mystical attitude about the school. i do deplore the bizarre lack of black coaches in div 1, but actually this whole thing makes it more comprehensible.