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. 

That left the cupboard bare for Charlie with Ty's lack of diligence in the following two classes. 

In Ty's 2004 class, six players stayed with the Irish out of 16 that Ty recruited. Ty followed that class with a 15-man class, of which 13 remained with the Irish.  Lee Corso and other talking heads like to credit this last class, Pat Kuntz's class, as Charlie's; but anyone who knows recruiting knows it takes more than a year to recruit high school kids, not two weeks. 

Additionally, Ty gets credit for Stovall and McKnight's class, even though, again, it takes more than a year to recruit these kids; so Ty's "first" class is really Bob Davie's last class.  Adding the numbers, Ty had Brady's class, then, proceeded to recruit 31 players for 50 available spots, retaining 19 players for those 50 spots.  There's a lack of numbers in the senior class and fifth-year class from a pure mentorship perspective.  There aren't enough bodies.

A player's junior year is a magic year, when the player tends to mature.  Charlie's first class is maturing this year.  Wait until next year when Jimmy Clausen's class does the same.   The Irish are going to have all of the pieces in place to truly contend for a National Title and continue that moment into the foreseeable future. 

The 1988 team will look like a Junior Varsity team once Charlie fills the ranks with his players from top to bottom, from 5th year senior down to true freshman.  Right now, however, we have to be patient. 

We have two years before James Aldridge and the rest of his class become 5th year seniors, mentoring the new blue chip recruits while the experienced players we know and love take care of business on the field.  The path to glory is almost paved!

We have to remember that Charlie took the Irish to two BCS bowls with two and a half full, talented classes—one of which played under three coaches.  Some say that the Irish in Charlie's second year declined.  The answer is simple why they declined.  The Irish were losing pieces and filling in those pieces with anything they could salvage from Willingham’s last two classes.  The team was crumbling. 

Charlie made us remember the magic for two years, though.  He made us remember how the Irish could play and have played.

Now, it's time to give Charlie time.  It's time to be patient.  Under Ty we could see the team wasn't progressing and recruiting was bringing in little to no recruits.  The future was bleak.  Even if you only look to Charlie's recruiting, you can see the Irish moving in the right direction.  Two teams, Texas and Tennessee, regularly fill the ranks with blue chip recruits.  Both have National Titles despite poor coaching. 

At worst, we can reevaluate the progress of Charlie Weis's Irish in two years, but right now, it's time to be loyal sons and daughters.  This team is going to be inconsistent, because it is still young.  What tho' the odds be great or small, Weis will lead us to victory after all.  He will bring us out of the Dark Ages of Notre Dame football. 

Remember, he is a fan, alum, and coach; so he sees the Irish like no other coach since Rockne.  He feels pressure like no other coach in Notre Dame history.  On that he feeds.  On that he thrives.  The Irish will go bowling this year, and they will do it on the backs of highly touted freshmen and sophomores who are vaulting up the depth chart with each passing day. 

Show some fortitude!  We're almost there!  Go Irish!!!