Allen Pinkett probably didn't endear himself to too many Notre Dame alumni Wednesday.
In light of recent two-game suspensions to Cierre Wood and Justin Utupo -- on top of the earlier one-game suspensions for Tommy Rees and Carlo Calabrese — the former Irish running back and current radio analyst said on The McNeil and Spiegel Show that Notre Dame needs a few "bad citizens" in order to win.
"I've always felt like to have a successful team you've got to have a few bad citizens on the team," Pinkett said on WSCR-AM (670). "That's how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals and that just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension which creates edge on the football team."You can't have a football team full of choirboys. You get your butt kicked if you've got a team full of choirboys so you've got to have a little bit of edge. But the coach has to be the dictator and the ultimate ruler. Here's my opinion: You don't hand out suspensions unless you know you've got somebody behind that guy that can make plays."
Given a chance to back off his comments, Pinkett kept going.
"I absolutely meant that," Pinkett said. "The chemistry is so important on a football team. You have to have a couple of bad guys that sort of teeter on that edge to add to the flavor of the guys that are going to always do right because that just adds to the chemistry of the football team. You have to have ... you look at the teams that have won in the past they have always had a couple of criminals."
Surely, school administrators and alumni will react just swimmingly upon hearing those words come out of the mouth of a high-profile Notre Dame graduate. Yes, mediocre recent play -- a 32-31 record over the past five years and zero BCS bowl wins ever -- needs to improve, and it has sparked endless conversation about whether a school like Notre Dame can still compete at the top level on an annual basis. But having a few "bad citizens" isn't the answer.
Last I checked, the aforementioned disciplined players were on the team the past two years. Unless they became "bad citizens" overnight, I'm not sure how this theory works out, given consecutive 8-5 seasons.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick issued a statement Wednesday afternoon: "Allen Pinkett’s suggestion that Notre Dame needs more 'bad guys' on its football team is nonsense. Of course, Allen does not speak for the University, but we could not disagree more with this observation."
