Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis: Should He Stay, Or Should He Go?

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Even the weather gods tried to help the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame with a nippy 39 degree evening greeting the Trojans as they disembarked from their chartered jet at South Bend Airport on Thursday.

The cards were all in place. The upset alerts were being posted on Twitter. This year, the Irish wouldn't need the magical green jerseys. This was their year to stop the streak.

It was a close game. Wait, it was a nail biter full of fourth quarter heroics that should make it another ESPN Classic . But the Irish couldn't pull out another miraculous win. Moral victory for Notre Dame? Perhaps.

But right now, Weis' Fighting Irish have a collective record of two moral victories and three losses against Pete Carroll's USC Trojans. Isn't that just a nice way of saying Weis is 0-5?

The Irish losing streak is now 0-8 against USC, and although Notre Dame has had a longer winning streak against USC, no one cares about that anymore. After all, the BCS is involved, and the money being tossed in its bowls makes "now" more important than "then". The waking up of the echoes is a great legacy, but the echoes have been quiet lately.

The Irish need to be one of the Top Eight teams in the BCS poll for them to get their auto-berth. And they have Boston College, who has owned them recently, next up on their schedule.

In 2005, Weis received a hefty contract extension. Was that a result of the "Bush-push" game moral victory, or rumors of NFL teams supposedly putting Weis on their short list for a head coaching position floating around? Either way, well done, Notre Dame. He's all yours.

It's five years later, and now the question is, has anything improved?

The Irish are currently ranked No. 64 against the run, and No. 104 in total defense. In '05 they were ranked No. 34 against the run, and No. 77 in total defense. Against the pass, the Irish are ranked No. 117, while in '05 they were ranked No. 105.

So far, it's been a rapid decline of the defense even though the recruiting classes have been much better.

In '05, the Irish were 4-1 before they faced the Trojans, with their one loss against rival Michigan State in a heartbreaking OT. This year, the Irish lost to Michigan, another rival, in a heart-breaker.

In '05 and '09, both the Irish and the Trojans were ranked before they played each other, and both teams had BCS bowl dreams.

The outcomes of both games were losses by the Irish, and both losses were labeled as moral victories by the Irish faithful.

There has been no improvement since 2005. In fact, the only improvement has been the competitiveness. There's been more drama. Big whup.

Are moral victories the new low standard by which one of the highest paid coaches in college football is now being judged by?

For a program that has supposedly made progress in Weis' fifth year, aren't they exactly where they were in '05? Going 4-2, and losing both of their biggest games of the year, is a repeat of Weis' intern year. And the internship, now in its fifth year, hasn't progressed to journeyman status yet.

Weis' predecessor, Tyrone Willingham, had a "signature win" and a 7-7 record against ranked teams. Weis' "signature win" was against Hawaii in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl last year, and he is 4-11 against ranked teams. Progress? Hardly.

Willingham, by the way, also has something else over Weis: Charlie has never beaten USC with his own players, but Tyrone's players (from Washington) beat the Trojans this year.

Willingham's winning percentage after three years was 58.3 percent. Weis, after four-and-a-half years, is 59.3 percent. And still no signature win. But hey, it's a team loaded with talent.

Is it Weis' fault? Well, since this a man of no excuses, then obviously, yes.

Call it a moral victory against USC, but what it really was to anyone who watched the game was a beatdown going into the fourth quarter, and USC's defensive penalties keeping the Irish in the game.

Jimmy Clausen was on the Heisman short list prior to the game, but fell off afterward. Why? He had four shots at the endzone from SC's eight yard line and failed to deliver. While he gets props for the way he ferociously tears off his chin straps when he makes a good play, the whining antics and general poor sport attitude he displays is probably the reason he has polarized so many voters. The cameras caught him rebuffing Matt Barkley, who was genuinely trying to give him a conciliatory hug.

Arrogant? Yes. Cocky? Yes. Can't win the big games? Yep. Heisman hates that, by the way, because frankly, they like winners. Tebow, he ain't. He has yet to win a game of any relevance.

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