Charlie Weis Is Here to Stay, Says Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick

Notre Dame Athletic Director spoke today to exterminate the talk of Weis being fired as Head Football Coach at Notre Dame. The AD, a Notre Dame graduate along with Weis, had nice things to say about the Fighting Irish Coach while commenting that "clearly we are better this year than we were last year."

Weis' Irish have not been consistent this year, but their progression is obvious to all viewers, and the production they have received from the freshman and sophomore classes points to success in the coming years.

Swarbrick also commented that he "was very pleased with the progress that we have made this year and that we are moving in the right direction."  The key to interpreting this insight is "moving in the right direction."

If you do not know how to interpret the AD of Notre Dame making a public statement that Weis' job is not on the table, then I would point to that one phrase. When a program is "moving in the right direction," then there is only one thing a fan can do, and that is be patient.

If this was not the AD standing up for Weis, it was him crying out to the Irish Faithful to be patient because good times are ahead.

This announcement was received with mixed feelings. The loyal Weis fans are happy to see some support of their Coach, who despite the last two losses has made significant improvement from last year's 3-9 season.

However, the words "not under consideration at this time" mean that there could be consideration as to his job security when the season ends.  The Irish faithful that are not happy with Weis are upset by this announcement because they feel Weis is similar to Davie and Willingham, and they were both fired.

I would argue that Weis' job is not on the line for a great deal of reasons, but most importantly is that over 80 percent of the Irish touchdowns this year have come from freshmen and sophomores, that he has recruited three straight top 10 classes, and that this year's recruits are going to be a top 10 class as well.

To an AD this shows that the Irish have a bright future and that it is too early to really critique the wins and losses. Willingham and Davie were fired because they had similar records, but there was no "hope" for the future.

With blue-chip recruits flowing into Notre Dame, it is just a matter of time before this team blossoms. If they don't, then you will see the AD take a different stance on the situation.