SOUTH BEND, Ind.�When he concluded enumerating the reasons for dismissing his football coach Monday and setting the framework for finding a new one, Jack Swarbrick alluded to the Notre Dame legacy of Rockne and Leahy and Parseghian and Holtz, and his excitement about buoying that heritage.

And that�s the central dilemma facing the Notre Dame athletic director: Setting national-title standards while unearthing a coach who can rekindle championship magic now two decades old.
�This is a drought,� Swarbrick said as he announced Charlie Weis� departure after five seasons. �And I have every confidence that we will end the drought and succeed spectacularly.�
Succeeding spectacularly starts with this search. Whoever anted up the eight-figure buyout for Weis probably not-so-subtly suggested that Swarbrick locate a grand-slam hire to justify the expenditure. What remains to be seen is if the available names match the demands.
Swarbrick said Notre Dame had �absolutely not� contacted any candidates before Monday. Regardless, Urban Meyer, Jon Gruden and Tony Dungy are all out of the running. Bob Stoops said earlier Monday that he was �going to be at Oklahoma next year, so I can�t be in two places at once.�
Early poking around led Swarbrick to conclude that there is �great interest� in the job. Interest is one thing, but ability to produce Bowl Championship Series berths is another. And that, unmistakably, is the standard.
�It�s absolutely realistic,� Swarbrick said. �I don�t think there are any endemic reasons why we can�t. ... And the standard for success in this industry now is to be in a position to be selected for the BCS each year.�
Meanwhile, Notre Dame�s small-picture future actually might be just as fuzzy. Assistant Rob Ianello was pegged to run the program for now and would coach the team in a bowl, according to Swarbrick.
Golden Tate said Friday he will sit down with Weis and discuss what opportunities might await him at the professional level. Tate barely had digested Weis� official dismissal when the NFL questions came again, and not shockingly, the next Notre Dame coach will be a factor in his choice.
�It could make a good difference or a bad difference,� he said. �I guess Friday, that�s when I�ll have a better understanding of that.�
There also appears to be no consensus on playing in a bowl. Defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore gave a �we�ll see� on the topic, while center Eric Olsen was more enthused.
�I can speak for all the seniors and the guys that this might be their last football game ever, it�s definitely something that we want to do, to play another game, to get that taste out of our mouths,� Olsen said.
Even when Weis would address the team as a whole or hold a news conference was unclear. But ex-coach speaking engagements were minimally important Monday.
Swarbrick wants someone who has �an ability to build and sustain a Division I college football program.� Leadership, he said, is �the whole key.� And it wouldn�t hurt to run a pretty stout defense, either.
�Given where we play and who we play, we need to be able to play good defense,� Swarbrick said. �There�s a correlation between BCS standings and defensive abilities. So it�s important to us, but it�s not a limiter in terms of the background of the coach.�
Everything is on the table, including contacting coaches whose seasons are not over�i.e., Cincinnati�s Brian Kelly. It must be so, because it has to be the �full-bore� search that Swarbrick promised. Notre Dame�s aspirations require thinking without limitation.
�I�m confident that the resources are in place to have really qualified coaches excited about coming here,� Swarbrick said.
It�s a critical moment for Swarbrick to prove himself right.