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SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- David Cutcliffe resigned as
Notre Dame's assistant football coach, saying
Wednesday he hasn't fully recovered from triple bypass
heart surgery.
"I'm not going to be ready to jump back into it with
the ability to do the kind of job I expect from
myself," Cutcliffe said. "I'm just to a point now
where I'm just really getting into the rehab good,
getting some endurance."
Cutcliffe, fired as Mississippi's coach in December,
didn't take part in spring practice at Notre Dame
after his surgery March 9.
The 50-year-old Cutcliffe was expected to be the top
offensive assistant during coach Charlie Weis' first
season and use his experience coaching Peyton and Eli
Manning to help develop Irish quarterback Brady Quinn.
Cutcliffe, however, said he suffered several setbacks
since the surgery. He's lost about 30 pounds and
estimates he is about half way through his
rehabilitation program.
"I just want that energy level back," he said. "I want
to feel what I felt through most of my life. I'm
looking forward to that opportunity. I know the most
important thing right now is to try to get fully
recovered."
Cutcliffe said he doesn't expect to be back at full
strength until the fall.
Weis, who had health problems on his own, said
Cutcliffe made the decision to quit on his own. He
said he told Cutcliffe he could have as much time as
he needed.
"This was his decision. It was not a forced decision
on him," Weis said. "He has a 4-year-old daughter and
I don't think he feels it's in his best interest to do
this at this time."
Weis said he already has a replacement for Cutcliffe,
but declined to identify the person until a contract
was signed.
Weis said Cutcliffe told him last week that he didn't
think he would be able to coach this year. Weis asked
Cutcliffe to think about the decision over the
weekend, and Cutcliffe then called Weis back Tuesday
to resign.
"I wanted to make sure that he wasn't making a rash
decision," Weis said. "It was important to me to let
him know I was going to give him all the opportunity I
could to make that decision."
Cutcliffe was 44-29 in six seasons at Ole Miss, where
he coached Eli Manning. He was fired after his first
losing season with the Rebels. Before that he was an
assistant at Tennessee for 17 years, including six
years as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach,
where he coached Manning's older brother, Peyton.
Weis received permission from the NCAA to use former
Irish quarterback Ron Powlus, the school's director of
personnel development, as a coach to fill in for
Cutcliffe during spring practice. Weis focused on
working with Quinn, while Powlus, a four-year starter
for the Irish in the 1990s, worked with the other
quarterbacks.
Cutcliffe said he hopes to return to coaching.
"We'll just kind of see what the future holds," he
said.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.
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