Speaking as a Subway Alumnus who likes Charlie Weis a lot… I think he’ll be gone at the end of this season.
Notre Dame isn’t very good this year. We saw that against Georgia Tech and will undoubtedly see it again in the coming weeks. Even if Weis does a brilliant job coaching, the talent just isn’t there, and he’ll be doing VERY well to win 6.
Suppose he goes 5-6. At the end of this season, that will give him a three year record of 24-12. Not a horrible record, but not a great one, either. Ordinarily, a coach wouldn’t be in danger after just his 3rd year. BUT… Weis took over from a black coach who was fired after just 3 seasons. And that made some people very angry. So angry, they’re going to demand that the white coach with the so-so record get the same treatment as the black coach with the so-so record.
I didn’t think Tyrone Willingham deserved to be fired, and I don’t think Weis will deserve it this season. But I can easily see this becoming an ugly, racial issue, with Weis (unfairly) being made the sacrificial lamb. If the Irish end up with a losing record, I can easily picture Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in South Bend making hay of it.
The Notre Dame brass didn’t have a problem handing Weis a contract extension after he won five of his first seven games even though Willingham had won his first eight games and gotten nothing. I can’t imagine they’ve suddenly decided to care if people think they have treated the two coaches differently.
Come on, the same guy who could do no wrong last year? The guy that the NBC commentators can’t decide whether he parts the sea or walks on water? ND will be all right just as Michigan will probably go at least 9-3 this year. One week doth not a bad season make. I agree that Willingham got the short end of the stick. I was hoping that Michigan State would hire him but I think we actually have the right guy in Mark Dantonio.
Fire Weis this year? Maybe if he beats Rudy Ruettiger to death with a shovel and violates Touchdown Jesus. They have him signed through 2015 and have made a big deal of him - they’ll give him at least a year or two to coach his way out of that contract.
If the talent isn’t there, it’s Weiss’ fault. Recruiting is part of the head coach’s job, don’t forget. That said, I want ND to go back to its more honorable practice of letting the coach serve out his contract. Firing Willingham early was a mistake, but firing Charlie early would just be repeating that same mistake. Willingham landed on his feet. The priests at Notre Dame don’t make a habit of listening to the Rev. Jackson, with good reason.
The priests should listen to Paul Hornung though, and let the coach recruit some fast black Baptists.
Right, but the main reason the talent isn’t there this year is that they fired Willingham and then had to wait while Weis finished winning the Super Bowl, and didn’t get much recruiting done. Their subsequent recruiting years have been rated more highly, but they’re all still freshmen and sophs.
I wrote up a nice post explaining what I think went wrong and the hamsters ate it. Luckily, borchevsky made the exact same point that I was trying to make.
That recruiting year was a disaster and anyone who knows anything should know that Notre Dame will be lucky to be 6-5 this year. (This excludes Lou Holtz who is completely off his rocker.)
Weis is also hampered by the fact that Willingham’s last recruiting class was not only unexceptional, but one of the jewels of that class – Darius Walker – bolted early.
I don’t want to turn this into ND bashing, but: I watch the ESPN College Live show almost every day. They talk about ND almost every day – usually, to say that they’ll probably start the season 0-7. Which begs the question…why are we talking about ND?
Given that kind of environment, I think Charlie Weis is safe for a while.
I doubt he’ll get the hook this year. Seems to me that he’s got a longer leash going on than Willingham, who, by the way, was fired with a record of 24-15 but also suffered a number of big blowouts.
He’s an alum, he’s got the credentials and a big-time name. He’ll be around.
By the way, good luck with Clausen. I hope he’s better than his two brothers we dealt with at Tennessee.
No kidding. Look at their schedule and look at their talent. They could easily go 0-8 before winning a few late games. I’m not sure Weis will be fired this year, but next year he will be on an extremeley short hook.
You already know the answer. It is because Notre Dame has a truly large national fan base. Alabama has a huge fan base, but 95 % of it is in Alabama. Ohio State has a huge fan base, and most of it is in Ohio and snow bird bases in Florida and North Carolina. USC has a great many fans, but relatively few east of Phoenix. Etc. Etc. Notre Dame has a fans all over.
Ugh, I live twenty minutes from Notre Dame, and I can’t go a day without watching the news and seeing this guy’s mug. All the stations, (including the now sold Notre Dame owned station) seem to think he’s a football God.
I do personally think that he’ll get another year though. (I’m a Michigan fan, despise Notre Dame, for many reasons.) And I hope he does do well this year and next. He’s got the stuff, just not the right players to use it with.
I’ve also had the pleasure of waiting on him, and former coach Willingham when I managed a restaurant not far from campus. They were both a pleasure, very friendly as well. Though I had no clue who they were until other staff members started falling all over themselves to speak to them.
