Notre Dame Football at a Fork In The Road

Notre Dame stands at a fork in the road.  They have a tough (some would argue not so tough) choice to make come season's end.  They can either pull a Tammy Wynette and stand by their man Charlie Weis or they can part company.  That choice will have consequences.

If they choose the latter option and give Chuck the boot they could also inadvertently be giving their star quarterback Jimmy Clausen the boot.  Jimmy is on record saying that Charlie Weis is the primary reason Jimmy is in South Bend and not somewhere else.  I think Jimmy likes Weis a lot and if Charlie's gone (most likely back to the NFL) then I believe Clausen follows him.  If Jimmy leaves perhaps Golden Tate hitches himself to the golden parachute out of South Bend.  That would leave Notre Dame behind the eight ball.

However, keeping Charlie Weis at this juncture doesn't look so attractive either.  After all Weis is 35-25 with a .583 winning percentage, not exactly what we Domers expected out of him.  He came here with such arrogance and hype I really thought we had found our man.  After the first two seasons it appeared as though that "schematic advantage" might be real.  Well after nearly 5 years the act has grown tiresome.  Losing to Navy two out of three years at home is simply not accepted in South Bend.  We came close to beating USC but really who didn't come close to beating USC this year?  I mean if Stanford can annihilate USC then there is no reason we couldn't have beat USC this year. 

Look, I am not a Notre Dame elitist.  I am only 21, going on 22 years old, not old enough to recall the glory days of Lou Holtz or anything.  I don't think we are an elite program as it stands, in fact you are what your record says you are.  Our record over 5 years says we are a middle of the road team.  But that's not where we want to be.  Charlie was supposed to be different.  Charlie was supposed to "stir the echoes" and bring us back to glory.  We are no closer to glory than we were under Willingham or Davies.

I know Charlie Weis is a good recruiter.  He's brought in some great players.  I mean our roster is full of 5,4, and 3 star recruits.  But ask yourself, what good is all of that talent if we are not getting the most out of it?  Honestly we are just a more talented Stanford.  Look at Cincinnati.  Their roster would never be confused with USC's or Florida's.  However, their coach (Brian Kelly) gets his players to win.  He gets the most out of his players, we do not.  We have too much talent to not win at least 10 games this year, period.  We have arguably the most talented quarterback in college, and the best wide receiving tandem in the game.  That alone should net us 8 wins.  We have a creampuff schedule and our two biggest rivals (Michigan and USC) are having down years!  The stars were aligned my friends!  Chuck just can't seem to coach 'em up so to speak.  Strategy wise the Naval Academy is mocking us.   Is this the "schematic advantage" Charlie was so haughty about 5 years ago?  When the Naval Academy can out strategize you it's time to reevaluate your situation in life.

Also, whatever happens whoever is in charge of the defense must be tar and feathered and dismissed immediately.  Seriously I don't think I've seem so many broken and missed tackles in my life.  It's sad.  Our defense looks like kitty cats out there sometimes.  I don't think I've seen such a pathetic defense since the Scott Peterson trial.  We can't cover anybody and we can't tackle, that's not good.  That's not getting you 10 wins and a BCS appearance.  I mean honestly who thinks we are going to beat Stanford after the beat downs they've just issued to USC and Oregon?  I shudder at the thought of our defense trying to bring down Toby Gerhart.

I always thought the standard at Notre Dame was 5 years.  Am I right?  We gave coaches 5 years (except Ty Willingham, sorry Ty) to prove themselves.  Well Chuck's 5 years are up.  I think he's shown one thing, he's good for the Hawaii Bowl and getting blown out against top 10 teams.  That's not where we want to be as a program.  I think he should get the axe.  It's sad, I like Charlie and I wanted it to work.  I mean now we're in that awkward phase of a relationship where it's clearly not working out, and you've made up your mind that it's over but you hold off on breaking the news because your still thinking of the right way to put it.  Charlie's playing the part of the partner who knows there's trouble but is scheming of ways to keep it alive against all hope.

As for potential suitors I think obviously if could pry Urban Meyer from Florida that might be the greatest moment for Notre Dame in the past 20 years.  I mean a two time National Championship coach going for his third this year.

However I really doubt that it will happen though.  I hope that we can get Bob Stoops, who made a not so strong denial that he was interested in the job earlier in the week.  I'd also like Cincy coach Brian Kelly.  He is what Urban Meyer was 5 years ago when we didn't get him.  A young successful coach with a history of winning at normally talent depleted schools. 

If we can't get any of those three coaches then I don't want to change.  I don't want to change just for the sake of change.  If we are to move in a new direction I want to move up.  I want a college coach with a history of success in the college ranks.  No more NFL guys please.  Give me Meyer, Stoops, and Kelly in that order or give me good  ol' Chuck.