Thank goodness, the Charlie Weis Era is over! And I’m not the only one who’s delighted about this. As you can see in the photo, Charlie is being escorted straight to an NFL coordinators job … do not pass go, do not clean up your office … we’ll send you your stuff.
In a fitting finale that was certainly a microcosm of this lost season, Stanford predictably came from behind to to beat the Irish 45-38. The Cardinal, especially Toby Gerhart, trampled over and through feeble Irish defenders enroute to 280 yards rushing and almost a 6 yard per carry average. All of this spoiled a terrific, and possibly final, performance by Jimmy Clausen (5 TDs, 340 yds) and Golden Tate (3 TDs, 201 yds) as they repeatedly put the Irish in position to win the game as they have so often this season, only to see the terrible ND “defense” cough it up. Notre Dame kickoffs were also woefully short and coverage was poor in this game as it was all year. Stanford started most drives on their 40 yard line or better.
Hopefully, somebody like Bob Stoops can fix it … quickly. Bob’s name has popped up prominently in the rumor mill, as well as Kirk Ferentz of Iowa. Not sure if these names are mostly on somebody’s wishlist as opposed to coaches who would seriously consider the job. If Stoops is really interested, then suddenly, Brian Kelly of Cincinnati looks like someone the Irish would “settle for”. I’m sure we’ll see other names pop up in the days ahead. Not sure how I feel about the Brian Billick rumor. Anyway, along with all Irish fans, I just hope AD Jack Swarbrick and the Administration do their homework on this and choose very wisely. ND cannot afford another fizzle. It’s been 13 looooong years since Holtz left. Time for momentum to swing in a positive direction. Time to swing for the fences! This coaching hire MUST be a homerun! If not, the “Golden Goose” will almost certainly die.
Rumor: Stoops is flying to South Bend on Sunday.
Rumor/fact: The Chicago ND Club did not want Weis to speak at their annual benefit dinner! Will the Bears then NOT be one of those interested in him as OC?
Rumor: ND/Swarbrick is indeed doing it right, researching and not ready to jump at the first “yes”!
Observation: Brian Kelly’s “defense” on Friday did not perform much better than Weis’ .
Fact: Billick would be a BIG mistake!
Wally – Thanks so much for your weekly write-ups this year. I enjoyed them all. From my take, 38 pts should be enough to win most games. As always this year, where was the defense? As you stated, kick-offs were horrible! I hate to single out one member of our “veteran” o-line, but did you see our 4 year starter 6’8” Sam Young get burned by a Stanford DE who was then able to sack Clausen and force us to use a timeout during our last drive? We got to the 28 yard line after starting on our own 20 with only 59 seconds. How come most teams have a kicker who can kick it to the endzone? Besides a whole bunch of players on defense, we should recruit and/or develop a player who can kick the ball.
condolences and congratulations I suppose. I checked into the game with a few minutes left, and the score tied. I figured ND would tank, since every time I have tuned the game in it’s been the same scenario. Sorry for your loss, must have been a tough year, fan wise.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/sports/ncaafootball/01weis.html?_r=1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+nyt/rss/Sports+(NYT+%3E+Sports)&utm_content=Twitter&src=twt&twt=nytimessports
Let the speculation begin…er…continue.
Wow, Charlie Weiss is out at coach of Notre Dame. Can’t say he didn’t deserve it – he never lived up to expectations he set for himself. This year, their defense had more holes the Health Care Reform Act.
But I do have a question? Is any coach going to want to take this job? Expectations at Notre Dame are extremely high and let’s face it – Notre Dame fans are starving for a winner. So are Notre Dame fans going to be satisfied with anyone other then Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops or Jim Harbaugh?
But is it possible for Notre Dame to be amongst the best again? Can a coach come in and out recruit schools like USC, Alabama, Florida and Texas? It will certainly be interesting to see, because if there is one thing I have noticed from up here..
Red Sox Nation has nothing on Notre Dame fans..
Just heard Bobby Bowden is flying to Southbend to meet with Rev. Jenkins !
Hey he can’t be any worse than the offensive genius Unweis !
I wish the best for Charlie Weis and for the ND Football Program. ND’s unwillingness to lower their high academic standards hurts them in their sports programs. The leading article mentions the 13 loooong years since Lou Holtz. I think you will find that Uncle Lou has a tainted past at a number of schools including ND. This will be the last 10 year contract. Is Jon Gruden available? DIdn’t his Dad coach at ND.
Trying to address the Q’s from Ghost of Yawkey:
Yes, there will be coaches lining up to take this job. Unfortunately, 98% of them are not qualified. ND has unfortunately hired underqualified candidates before (Faust, Davie, Weis). Seriously, Brian Kelly of Cinci is qualified and I think would take the job in a heartbeat. Ditto that for Chris Peterson, Gary Patterson and maybe Jim Harbaugh. But I think ND wants to shoot higher than that and will first go after Meyer and Stoops. Those two will need some convincing … but ESPN reported this afternoon that discussions with Stoops are further along than folks can imagine. I hope they’re right!
I don’t know that ND can “out recruit” USC, Florida and Texas … but I think they can just about match them … or consistently be in the Top 10. The last 4 years have justified that assessment … Weis did a great job of recruiting … but he did little with these guys once they got in the door. And I’ll give him low marks for recruiting defensive lineman. ND’s mission should be to maintain the overall success Weis had with recruiting, but change the mix a bit and secure some D-linemen. That combined with good coaching should put ND consistently as a fixture in the Top 10 rankings. Once there, seriously battling for a title once every 4-5 years is not out of the question. They’ve got all the advantages that should spell consistent 10-2 seasons … except the head coach.
Bunch-
Yes … Gruden’s dad was on Dan Devine’s staff back in the 70’s. I don’t know that ND wants an NFL coach, but I think Gruden is on the Top 10 list … maybe not the top 5.
Stanford is a much tougher place to win at than ND and so is Northwestern. They don’t get near the talent coming in the door. However, ND is looking up at both of these “academic institutions” based on their W-L record this year. Why is that? Weis couldn’t coach and develop the players once they got to campus … and defensively, he has no clue. With Harbaugh or Fitzgerald in charge, ND might’ve been 11-1 this year!
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/sports/ncaafootball/01vecsey.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+nyt/rss/Sports+(NYT+%3E+Sports)&utm_content=Twitter&src=twt&twt=nytimessports
How does the defense go from shutting out Nevada to giving up over 500 yds to Stanford? Sergio Brown looked like he would rather be getting a colonoscopy than actually making a tackle. Congrats Mark, you were able to see in person the last victory this season for ND. Its a shame it came in October….
No more pro coaches. No more assistant coaches with no HC experience. No more high school coaches. How can it be that difficult?
They evidently don’t teach smart athletic administration at the seminary. Amen.