It's Official: Coach Charlie Weis To Return to Notre Dame in '09

The University, shortly after reports came out that they would not confirm that Weis would be retained, quickly scrambled to confirm Weis' retention today to put an end to all of the speculation that obsessed rumor mongering fans (like myself) were running with in the absence of actual confirmation.

Here's the text of the release:

"NOTRE DAME, Ind. -- Charlie Weis will continue as head football coach at the University of Notre Dame, University athletics director Jack Swarbrick announced today (Dec. 3).

Swarbrick, who made the decision in consultation with University president Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., met with Weis in California on Tuesday to review this past season, discuss plans for 2009 and communicate his decision.

“Though this past season fell short of the expectations that all of us have for our football program, I am confident that Charlie has a strong foundation in place for future success and that the best course of action is to move forward under his leadership,” said Swarbrick.

“He, I and the others involved in leading our football program are committed to doing everything necessary to ensure a successful 2009 season. We are examining every aspect of the program and will make changes wherever we think they are needed.”

Weis’ four-season record at Notre Dame is 28-21 ? after his first two Irish teams in ’05 and ’06 finished 9-3 and 10-3, respectively, and made Bowl Championship Series appearances. The Football Writers Association of America named Weis its 2005 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award winner as the national college coach of the year.

A 1978 Notre Dame graduate, Weis previously spent five seasons (2000-04) as the New England Patriots offensive coordinator and helped that franchise to three Super Bowl championships during his tenure. He also was a member of the New York Giants staff during the 1990 Super Bowl championship season."

What I find most interesting from the piece is where Swarbrick states, "We are examining every aspect of the program and will make changes wherever we think they are needed."

Hopefully, this means that there will be staff changes in the offseason, rather than sticking with what doesn't work out of some misguided duty to protect his failing staff members from becoming scapegoats.

If Coach Weis won't take the fall for the failures of the last two seasons, someone has to. Keeping an entire underperforming staff on board would be a horrible idea, and I hope that the powers that be will make as many of these changes as possible before the bowl game, so the new coaches can come in and take advantage of the extra month of practice.