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

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.

Clausen is a third year starter, yet his veteran team lost to a true freshman quarterback. In fact, Notre Dame's only two losses this year were to two teams in rebuilding seasons with true freshman quarterbacks, and one team with a new coach and new offensive scheme. Two teams that were their biggest rivals: USC and Michigan.

While fans can sit there and point to Michael Floyd not being in the game, don't forget that Stafon Johnson wasn't in the game, either. Besides, all those top recruiting classes should have depth to cover injuries, shouldn't they?

But what perhaps is a more tell-tale sign, was the pre-game quotes that make you wonder what exactly is going on at Notre Dame.

“They [Notre Dame players] understand the talent level of who they’re going against, but I’d say this is probably the first time since I’ve been here where the players really believe they’re going to win," Weis said. "They might be in the minority but they certainly believe that.”

Isn't this quote a red flag? After five long years, now they, the MINORITY, believe they're going to win ? For the first time?

What were the MAJORITY believing the first four years? And this year? They would lose? And if so, then isn't this mentality the coach's fault? Is this why Weis' Irish have a losing record against ranked teams? Against teams with a winning record? 

That and possibly a few other things.

Maybe it's his horrible clock management skills? Clausen was barking at the sidelines to get the plays called in faster, and on the Irish's final drive, twenty seconds ticked off the clock when the Irish were on the Trojans' eight yard line. Apparently, Weis and Co. thought the clock was stopped. A simple look at the clock ticking would have sufficed.

Maybe it's the supposedly improved offensive line that can't seem to handle a four-man rush from a re-tooled defensive line? Clausen was sacked how many times?

Maybe it's the basic fundamentals, like tackling, that prove Weis needs to spend less time in the film room scheming other teams and spend more time on the field giving the tackling dummies a workout?

Maybe it's a head coach saying at half-time he was glad he was only down by six points?

Maybe it's the fans being jack-hammered into buying into the philosophy that "playing with the elites" is the same thing as "beating the elites"? Isn't that what they say at Syracuse?

Maybe when the polls come out, they'll face the truth. There will be no BCS bowl for the Irish this year. No way. When you win with smoke and mirrors, eventually, it catches up to you.

USC is not a great team this year, and the BCS polls reflect that. They had plenty of question marks going into pre-season with eight defensive starters now playing on Sundays, and a true freshman quarterback being put into the field general position.

Notre Dame however, was a talent-laden veteran team with home-field advantage and a Heisman-candidate quarterback. Notre Dame should have beaten USC because they had four shots at the end zone. It was there for the taking.

But their coach, looking befuddled as ever, watched Clausen get tremendous pressure from USC's pass rush. Shouldn't he have known that Carroll would put the game in the D's hands? That Carroll would be aggressive and not play complacent?

Great coaches win games despite mistakes. Great coaches win big games. Great coaches take advantage of their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Great coaches win games they aren't favored to win. Great coaches improve their team over a period of time.

Great coaches beat their rivals.

In the words of Charlie Weis, "9-3 isn't good enough."

The question is, will the school finally agree? One more loss may make Weis eat his words.