The Charlie Weis Discussion: Where the Irish Stand at the Halfway Mark

Charlie Weis is in his fifth season as the Notre Dame Football Head Coach and although his first two seasons he was celebrated as one of the most beloved coaches in college football, but over the past two years, his popularity has diminished and many of his loyal backers have fled.

As in most cases, there are two sides to every story and everyone has heard them.

The Irish sit 4-2 at the halfway mark with many fans and alums thrilled with the improvements since the past two seasons and other fans and alums are heartbroken about the Irish's inability to beat the "good teams." Most attack the easiest target, aka the head coach, while others attack unreasonable expectations, admissions standards or even location of the school.

The truth is it is a combination of many of these factors that has kept Notre Dame from the top of the college world. The school is located in the middle of nowhere, the weather is cold and nasty, the religious and academic prestige of the school is no longer important to today's recruits and the House the Rockne built is just another stadium.

As division one football has expanded and recruiting efforts are more intensive every year, the level of play has dramatically increased over the past 30 years. Unfortunately due to several factors Notre Dame has not been able to keep up with the pace.

As for Head Coach Charlie Weis, his conduct of the field in terms of leadership, spirituality and commitment to his players academics and off field behavior is as impressive as any coach in division one sports. His teams GPA is over 3.0 which is quite hard to accomplish at Notre Dame and the teams graduation rates are among the highest in the country.

He has been said to be arrogant but to all that know he is heavily involved in his daughters foundation for children with learning disabilities and has helped several people across the country such as Montana Matzerkavich a young boy who died of cancer, and former BC linebacker who was also diagnosed with cancer.

It is not what he has done off the field that gets ink in the papers but his teams performance on the field. "He can't win the big game," "he's a bad coach," "Notre Dame needs a change," "he doesn't motivate his players." Anyone who follows the Irish have heard these complaints and many more, but my favorite is that he cannot win the big game.

If you go into the Weis house and look up on the dresser you may find not one, not two, not three, but four Super Bowl rings, and the last time I checked, those are some pretty big games.

I also like the one "he has not proven he can win," this is after he took a relatively talentless team to back to back BCS games and took a quarterback with little to no success before he arrived and molded him into a Heisman candidate and first round draft choice.

I also get a kick out of those who question is gameplan and playcalling as this is the same coach who was able to get Golden Tate over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns when he faced the best defense in the country and was doubled the entire game with arguably the best defensive prospect in the upcoming draft Taylor Mays playing over top all game.

If that is not enough proof for you, then look at the offensive Notre Dame team records and guess what, you will see Weis' teams fill up nearly 75 percent of all Notre Dame offensive records.

In the end, everything that I say or any other reporter about Weis and his job security is speculation. Before the season, people were saying BCS or bust, others said 10 wins, nine wins, or eight wins but more than likely, Jack Swarbrick the Notre Dame AD would not disrespect Weis by giving him an ultimatum. This is a coach who could be a head coach in the NFL, not a guy who is dependent on Notre Dame for a job.

My guess is that the administration and those close to the program are happy with the season so far as the team is much improved in most all aspects especially offensively with the additions of Frank Verducci at offensive line coach and Tony Alford as running backs coach. The defense is a work in progress and revered defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta has his hands full trying to correct all the problems with that group.

The question on whether he should stay or go is misleading as it provides a blank solution, the real question is what impact would his leaving have on the program and who could do a better job.

The impact of Weis' departure is the most devastating as the team will be upset as they have grown attached to Weis and will transfer or opt early to the NFL and the verbal commits will sign elsewhere leaving another hole in the recruiting gap that caught up with Notre Dame in 2007 and 2008.

"Rebuilding" will be the message over the next three seasons and a new regime and new vision will come rolling into South Bend. Most obvious is the close relationship between Weis and Clausen and you can be assured that if Weis goes Clausen will go as well. The last thing a Heisman quarterback is going to do his senior year is learn a new offense under a new coach no matter who it is. He will not be the only one either.

As far as who could do a better job, recently I have even heard fans talking about wanting Urban Meyer as their coach and although I have great respect for what he has done at Florida that comment is ignorant at best.

First, probably his greatest attribute in his career at Florida is his ability to recruit but if you look at his roster the majority come from his own back yard in the state of Florida and many of those students could not get into Notre Dame. The point is that he has significant advantages, as does USC, Texas as they are beautiful schools located in warm areas, surrounded by talented prospects and attractive cities.

He does not have to worry about academics, poor location or religious affiliations when recruiting an athlete. That is not to say he cannot but the fact that Weis bring in top end talent to South Bend is more than impressive given the obstacles in his way. In today's climate, athletes care much more about a warm day at the beach then the grotto or Touchdown Jesus.

The next six games will decide not only Weis future but the future of the program itself. If they win against BC, they will emerge back into the top 25 and their next two games are against Washington State and Navy, which Notre Dame will be favored in both.

Therefore, they would have an opportunity to break the top 20 with three wins and have a 7-2 record with only two losses to Michigan at the Big House by four points in the last 11 seconds of the game and USC by seven with a series of missed touchdown attempts to tie the game in the final seconds. From there the road gets tougher and they will have to play three solid teams in Pittsburgh, UConn and Stanford.

Let us not forge that last year this was a 7-6 football team with a poor offensive line, struggles at the QB position and no playmakers on defense.

This year they are on pace for a special season with a legitimate chance to win 10 games, arguably the best quarterback and wide receivers in the country, a future first-round draft pick at tight end, a huge and coherent offensive line that will graduate three players with a great chance at an NFL career and some big time players on defense such as Manti Teo and Brian Smith.

The Irish have a lot of work to do on defense but offensively they are as good as you could as for and the ceiling for improvement overall is endless with their coaching staff and depth at nearly every position for the first time in a long time.

So will Weis be the head coach next year? Nobody knows, not Weis, not you, not me, not even Jack Swarbrick but over the next six weeks we will have a much better idea.

But if you are a Notre Dame fan and you are looking for results in forms of wins then you might want to stick with a coach for more than five years and let them develop their team from top to bottom or else you will have cycle of rebuilding and rebuilding every couple of years.