Don't Lose Faith in Charlie Weis: Six Reasons to Believe in Your Leader

For many Notre Dame faithful, the last two losses to BC and Pitt have crushed the fans' hope for this year and for many to follow.

I understand that many fans point the blame to Charlie Weis, as he of course is the head coach and runs the team. However, when I read articles talking about firing Coach Weis, I have to say that I understand your frustration but think you are missing the point and failing to understand the greatness of this coach.

Before you say what greatness, read my few points on why I think Weis is the right guy for the job.

1) Irish fans need to stop living in the past.

Since the early 1990s, college football and recruiting has changed. Back 50 years ago, every kid dreamed of playing football at Notre Dame, from the city kid to the blue-collar mill town son of nine.

This has changed. Kids now grow up wanting big-time NFL contracts, and the top athletes in each class are not concerned with the education they will receive at Notre Dame but more how their coaching staff and facilities will prepare them for the NFL.

I say this because it's important to realize that Charlie Weis is a brilliant recruiter in a time when it is tough for ND to get top recruits.

First off, ND holds its recruits accountable for their grades, which I highly respect, and Weis is still able to bring in top recruiting classes even though he is hamstrung by tight admissions standards that other high-end programs don't have to worry about (Florida, for example).

Second, Weis is able to recruit blue-chip players to a small town in Indiana, to a religious school that does not have extravagant parties and has same-sex dorms where the opposite sex cannot be in after 2:00 am.

How Weis is able to get Michael Floyd to come to ND after they had the worst passing offense in the country is beyond me. How he is able to attract great athletes is incredible, and he does not get enough credit. Recruiting is the No. 1 most important thing for any college coach.

2) Recruiting takes time.

Charlie Weis has had three excellent recruiting classes, and most of those athletes are not even on the field yet. They are still developing, and many of the freshman class he brought in this year are redshirting.

I cannot say this enough, but recruiting takes time. Think of how good Trevor Robinson, Michael Floyd, Golden Tate, Allen, Hughes, Johnson, Rudolph, Fleming, Blanton, Smith, and Neil will be in two years.

This is a young football team, and unfortunately, at times they play like it. But to blame the coach for a freshman running the wrong route or a quarterback throwing an INT is not fair.

The Pitt game should have been won when Floyd broke loose and was wide-open in the end zone, but Clausen overthrew him, and they ended up losing. Is this Weis' fault? I don't think so. In the BC game, is it Weis' fault that we had five turnovers? I don't think so.

3) Coaching changes are more a problem then a solution.

Every team when it is struggling blames the coach, and then in time they are fired and a new coach comes along, and the program has to take a step back again. Notre Dame's performance last season was directly the case of changing coaches, where Weis had little to no production from the upperclassmen. Recruiting is affected, and one year is lost in recruiting, which is a VERY big deal.

Whether you are a fan of Weis or not doesn't matter. What is important is that changing coaches is bad for any program unless the program is at rock bottom—and believe me, this program is not at rock bottom.  ND has had a realistic chance of winning against UNC, Pitt, and Mich. St., who are all in the top 25.

4) Notre Dame was 3-9 last year.

Let me repeat that: Notre Dame was 3-9 last season. Let me also repeat that Coach Weis, despite last year, was able to bring in the No. 2 recruiting class in the Nation—and a lot of those players have not yet touched the field.

So where is all this ignorance coming from of 9-3 is not good enough? The Irish have a realistic shot at a 7-5 record, which is a great turnaround from last season.

Let's drop those insane expectations of being 12-0 every season and get with reality. The lore of Notre Dame football has been lost with this new generation, and fans need to stop living in the past.

5) Charlie Weis is the only person at Notre Dame who has actually proven himself, and do not forget that.

Some of these players may turn out to be great, and others may not. Some may go to the NFL and have great careers (Floyd, Crist, and Smith to name a few), and some may never get drafted, but Weis has been in the NFL and has four Super Bowl rings to prove it, which is more than any other offensive coordinator in the NFL right now. Weis is an offensive mastermind.

I agree that there is a learning curve in the college game, and Weis has made some mistakes, but he has been honest when he makes a mistake and learns from it.

I cannot get over the fact that everyone wants to get rid of a coach who came into a struggling program, brought them to two BCS bowl games in his first two seasons, had a bad year last year, and is currently rebuilding. They have made significant progress from last year to this year, and with all the underclassmen playing, there is a lot of hope and potential in the coming years.

Don't forget Weis' tenure and success in the NFL, and don't forget how bad the Irish have been in recruiting over the last 15 years until Weis showed up. Then he hires Jon Tenuta, who will be a great coach for the Irish within the next few years.

6) Weis is class.

Weis is a graduate of Notre Dame and understands the tradition. He is favored by the alumni and is spoken very highly of by previous ND coaches. It brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw the Irish go to the sidelines with Navy and hold hands as Navy played their alma mater.

Even last year, when the Irish had one of the worst losses of its history, they still rallied behind Navy and joined hands in respect to their selfless sacrifice to our country.

At the end of the day, these are still kids. These are not 28-year-old men playing football every Sunday like the NFL. These are 18- to 22-year-old boys out there. They are going to make mistakes, and they are going to experience tough times in their college career, both on the field and off.

I will say this with absolute confidence: Charlie Weis is a model citizen, and I am proud of how he has made these kids men. A perfect example of this is Brady Quinn, who was a completely different person before Weis came to South Bend and is now one of the classiest players in the NFL.

If you do not like Weis, that's fine. If you think the Irish need a change, then I am sure you are in good company, but I hope my article will point out just some of the good things Weis brings to the table and that firing him is not the solution.