The Last Stand: Charlie Weis To Return for Fifth Year

Over the last week, speculation has swirled and rumors have cropped up.  Irish fans have waited with baited breath.

The wait is over.

According to Irish Eyes of Scout.com, Notre Dame said athletics director Jack Swarbrick will soon announce that Charlie Weis will remain head coach of the Fighting Irish.

Amid the sighs of relief and the curses of anger, Notre Dame fans should take a step back and think for a moment about Notre Dame's decision to keep Weis for another season. 

It may have been the smart move.

Granted, this has been a disappointing season for anyone who bleeds Blue and Gold, but in truth Notre Dame is exactly where most people thought it would be.  After last year's horrid 3-9 season, analysts and experts assumed at best ND would win seven games.  Fans looked at the schedule and said nine or 10. Some of the Kool-Aid keggers said 11-1 for the season.  Looks like the experts are experts for a reason.

ND has lost many winnable games this season, the most stinging against terrible Syracuse.  That hurt. 

Of course, when a team has nothing to lose and nothing left to play for than to knock down your hopes for a Gator Bowl, you should not be surprised when they come out swinging. 

All of that aside, ND had leads on top 25 teams this season, to the point of pushing them around and making it look easy, but they let those leads slip away.  Blown blocking has been an example of Notre Dame's mistakes this season.  Too often quarterback Jimmy Clausen has been put under duress by three- and four-man rushes, something that should almost never happen — unless you have Justin Tuck on your defensive front.

Execution more than lack of talent has put Notre Dame where it is now.  Still, the Irish have a chance to go to a smaller bowl that no one really knows the name of and play someone they can beat.  If Notre Dame cannot show up at a bowl game fired up to break the losing streak, then someone needs to check the team's pulse. 

If they execute, they can beat any of the teams they match up against.

The most critical time with Weis coming back will be the off-season.  Weis will be working extra long hours on recruiting, trying to hold the class together after a deluge of criticism and negativity.  No matter how you feel about him as a coach, he is one of the best recruiters in college right now. 

That said, some changes on the field are needed, and those changes have to start with the staff.  As much as this staff is filled with great recruiters, it needs to be filled with talented coaches.  Players cannot develop themselves, and they rely on good coaching to excel.  Right now, at the offensive line position the Irish are not improving.  In fact I would say they got worse as the season wore on. 

Offensive coordinator/running backs coach Michael Haywood will be a great head coach somewhere and is one of the best running backs coaches in the business.  However, he doesn't seem to be effective at coaching backs in Weis's offensive schemes.  I doubt Weis gets rid of him, though. It's hard to judge the improvements or lack thereof in the backs this season because they haven't had consistent holes to get through.

Receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello will most likely be back next season unless he picks up a head coaching job somewhere.  This will be a plus for Notre Dame since he is another great recruiter.  While his ability to coach wide receivers is so-so, the talent he is bringing in gives him a pass in my book — as long as the wide receiver corps improves next season.

Weis would be a fool to get rid of defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Corwin Brown or assistant head coach/linebackers coach Jon Tenuta.  The improvements to the defense have been excellent, especially given how much Notre Dame relied on it this season.  The Irish will end the season ranked (most likely) 39th in the country. And next season they will only be better.

Next year will be a good year for the Irish.  The schedule is favorable, although many teams that Notre Dame beat soundly will not be as bad as they were this season.  Notre Dame should win around nine games in 2009.

Not bad.

And if you look at it like this, it looks even better.

2007: 3-9.

2008: 7-6 (assuming ND wins their bowl).  That's an increase of four wins. If they win three more games next season, Notre Dame is knocking on the national title door in 2010.

Jack Swarbrick is playing the smart card.  Let Weis have his fifth year.  If he doesn't win, then Swarbrick has had a year to look at possible candidates.  If he does win, then Swarbrick made a shrewd choice.  And bear in mind the next coach would be almost guaranteed a five-year contract to see what he could do. 

Whatever happens, next season is Charlie's last stand.  From last season to this season, virtually every stat related to Notre Dame has improved.

Lets see what happens when he gets backed into a corner.