Irish Faithful: Charlie Weis Is Notre Dame's Future

Atlanta, GA--It was a chilly Tennessee day in December 2001 when I awoke to my mom telling me Notre Dame had hired a new football coach. 

FINALLY! 

After the George O'Leary fiasco, my anticipation was killing me.  Nothing could have been worse than having Bob Davie as coach, so it was exciting to see who Notre Dame ordained as the new Commander-in-Chief.  I remember sitting up in bed when my mom said, "It's Ty Willingham from Stanford." 

My excitement quickly faded.  I said, "Seriously?!?!  He hasn't done anything worth noting there!"  I gathered myself and began researching.  Maybe this Ty guy isn't that bad.  Notre Dame knows what they're doing.  Instead of following my first instinct, I rejected my primal reaction and decided to jump on board.  It's Ty!!! 

Excitement ensued, especially when my Senior season began  7-0.  Recruiting was booming and the Irish were doing better than expected.  There was a hesitancy, though.  Every win was the result of a fortuitous play, a fortuitous call, or a defensive miracle. 

The offensive production was scant and shaky.  Trying to maintain loyalty to my school and team, I maintained that Ty had a quarterback who didn't fit his system.  He needed a drop-back passer.  After all, we went to Florida State where we dominated the game in Doak Campbell Stadium.  We were 8-0! 

Then, like the housing bubble, like the internet bubble- our bubble burst.  Notre Dame dropped its next game to BC.  Of all people, our bubble had to burst at BC; but our cautious optimism was reaffirmed.  Notre Dame was living on its defense.  There was no offense. 

Now, fast forward to the present.

To understand the present, you have to remember the past.  To understand why Charlie Weis is a great coach and calls to fire him are misplaced and outrageous, you have to understand why Charlie's teams are different from Ty's teams.  Let's take a look at Notre Dame during and after Ty.

Ty couldn't win with his guys and Davie's guys.  Ty had classes loaded with talent.  Davie was a good recruiter who recruited McKnight, Stovall, etc.  Then, Ty added a class, Brady Quinn's class.  After the 2003 Signing Class, however, Ty self-destructed in recruiting, producing two less-than-stellar classes while Ty cited the same trite arguments that you can't recruit at Notre Dame, the academic standards are too high, you can't win at Notre Dame in today's game. 

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