Notre Dame Football: The Willingham/Weis Coaching Controversy

A few years ago, after many average seasons, Notre Dame fired coach Tyrone Willingham and hired ex-Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.

The first two years Charlie was head coach he did very well.  He led them, with a very good Quarterback, Brady Quinn, to a BCS bowl against Ohio State.  Although they lost, they had a 9-3 season.  The second year he led them to a 10-2 season and another BCS bowl bid against LSU, where they lost again.

After Brady Quinn and all the other talented players Notre Dame had before Weis came in 2005 left for the NFL, Weis had to rebuild.  No one expected Notre Dame to have a great season, but no one expected a 3-9 record.  Notre Dame looked sloppy and pathetic, especially when losing to Navy and Air Force; perhaps the two most inexcusable losses for the Irish in a long time.

This year, the Irish got off to a start that is good in the wins column, but poor in the performance column.  Notre Dame started out this season looking sloppy against a cupcake San Diego State team, and they were barely able to get past them.

Now, this seems a bit strange.  The players that Ty Willingham recruited were there for when Charlie Weis first came, and that's when they were successful.  This year and last year, with the Charlie Weis recruits, the Irish seem to struggle and look very sloppy.  This makes me wonder, is Ty Willingham the better coach?  Is Charlie Weis a bad head coach?

Maybe Charlie Weis and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish need a few more years, or maybe Ty Willingham should be rehired.  It seems that Ty's players are 10 times better than Charlie's.  Notre Dame made a huge mistake by firing him and bringing in Charlie Weis.

I am personally a Penn State fan, so I could care less if Notre Dame wins or loses, but if they want to get back to being a winning team, I would recommend rehiring Tyrone Willingham.  I believe he is a much better head coach and recruiter than Charlie Weis.

A contraversy has been sparked that Charlie was only good when he used Ty's players.  This seems to become more true as time goes on.  Will Willingham come back, or will Weis remain head coach at Notre Dame?  I don't know the opinions of the Notre Dame fans on this issue, but it sure is a big one.