Here are my initial impressions from the aftermath of yesterday’s loss to Navy. My apologies for posting these late, but I would have worn out the $#%?!@ keys last night if I would have posted them right after the game.
- From 1964-2006 Notre Dame was 43-0 against Navy. From 2007-2009 Notre Dame is 1-2 against Navy. Sorry, but the only words to come to my mind when looking at that stats are unacceptable, embarrassing, and ridiculous.
- Where was Golden Tate in the game plan in the first half? With the offense sputtering and turning the ball over Tate had 1 catch and 1 running attempt in the first 30 minutes. In the second half Tate was his normal unstoppable self. The question is why wasn’t he featured in the game plan with no one on Navy being close to as fast or athletic as him?
- I try not to get on the play calling too much but come on Charlie, a toss to your 240 lb running back at the 2 yard line? Again, it’s pretty embarrassing when you can’t score from the 2 yard line with 4 attempts against a team whose defensive line your offensive line dewarfs.
- Sticking on the play calling, why on earth were so many fades called for Michael Floyd? He was making his return from a broken collarbone that he suffered on a fade route against Michigan State. With all of the offense weapons at Notre Dame’s disposal, seeing the fade called for Floyd so soon after the injury was highly questionable.
- Speaking of Michael Floyd though, it was great seeing him back and catching 10 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown.
- I loved the Jon Tenuta hire when it was made, but it looks like it might have been the biggest swing and miss hire by Weis. Tentua’s defensive game plan, if it could be called a game plan, was horrible. No adjustments seemed to be made to the full back dive play that killed the Notre Dame defense all game.
- Why weren’t more defensive linemen rotated into the game? Navy just worse down the defensive line throughout the game with substitutions few and far between.
- Ian Williams did play a pretty damn good game though considering how much he was out on the field. He was one the only defensive lineman to get a consistent push in the middle. Still can’t figure out why Kapron Lewis-Moore moved inside this week though. He was over powered multiple times. Where was Ethan Johnson??
- Considering Notre Dame plays Navy every year, it seemed as though entirely too many players who looked as though they didn’t know what their assignments were. Ricky Dobbs was hit by multiple defenders on numerous occasions with no one covering the pitch back. Teams with mobile quarterbacks and spread/option offenses have simply torched the Notre Dame defense.
- Tough to get too upset with Nick Tausch’s missed 42 yarder since that is no gimme and he did hit a Notre Dame record 15 straight before that, but the missed 30 yarder was pretty bad. Hopefully the misses don’t mess with his confidence too much because he was looking to be the closest thing to a sure thing as Notre Dame’s had in a while at place kicker.
- Can’t remember the last time I saw a team lose a game without having to punt.
The offensive line did an OK job all day, but how did they let Navy’s undersized DL sack Clausen twice in the final minute to get Navy the safety? Duncan was just run by on the sack that proved to be the game winner. Those two sacks were the only two sacks Navy had all game. - Where did Theo Riddick go? Riddick looked like the best Notre Dame running back I’ve seen all year in the second quarter but then disappeared. Riddick was making Navy defenders miss and showed some great speed only to stand on the sidelines till the end of the game. Riddick looked great in the open field on the check down pass on Notre Dame’s final drive too.
- Robert Hughes followed up his great game against Washington State with a clunker yesterday. He looked slow and indecisive when running the ball. He went away from being the 240 lb back that could run through people and Navy bottled him up. Another reason why I can’t understand why we didn’t see more of Riddick.
- Remember when Notre Dame had one of the best tight ends in the country? I do. Unfortunately I don’t remember the last time he was actually featured in the game plan.
- Red zone offense was atrocious. Notre Dame left 21 points on the field with the failed fourth down attempt, the Clausen fumble at the one, and the interception off Floyd’s back. Tack on 3 more points on the missed 30 yard field goal and that’s 24 points Notre Dame left on the field. They get those points and Charlie Weis’s seat isn’t a blazing inferno today.
- Speaking of Charlie Weis’s job status, there’s really no way around the questions surrounding his future right now. With a roster full of NFL caliber players, losing to Navy for a second time in three years is really just unacceptable. The loss puts Weis’s record against yearly opponents at USC (0-5), Michigan (2-3), Michigan State (2-3), Purdue (4-1), Navy (3-2), Stanford (4-0) for a total of 15-14.
- This is really beyond disappointing. It really is much worse than that. Fans can talk about Navy’s record and how good their defense is or whatever, but to anyone trying to justify this loss, ask yourself this question. What does it say about the state of the program when losses to Navy need to be justified?
Jeff,
I appreciate your optimism, I too wanted a terrfic season and that CW would figure it out and bring stability to the program. But 18 year old kids are very resilient and they will jump on board with the new coach. I find it hard to believe that if Gruden is named coach all 18 commitments wil not stay, heck they might get even more to show up. Gruden is dynamimc, he was the HC of a Super Bowl winning team etc. If it isn’t Gruden then Brian Kelly or whomever will create optimism about the future and on we go.
Remember, Brady Quinn was real upset that Ty was let go. Now he is best friends with CW. Young men just need somebody to lead them. Honestly, I think the firing should happen today. Get on with it, rip the band aid off and end the speculation. The unknown is our greatest risk with recruiting. Every kid in the country is being told by other coaches, “Why would you want to go there, the coach probably will not last another year.”
End the speculation! Place an interim tag on Corwin and get the feelers out now. Heck, you could begin negotiations with Gruden right now and find out if he is interested. Remember, UF hired Urban before his New Years Day bowl game.
I love the Irish, but I don’t want to watch another year of this. At least with a new coach we don’t have to hear after every loss about the future of the program. 5 years is a long time to prove yourself. There is no evidence this will get better.
I know the schedule looks easier on paper next year, but that is what we thought this year. Other than Nevada and WSU, we handled nobody. Every game came down to the last minute. You can’t win all those games forever.
The CW era is over. I thank him for recruiting his a$$ off and the passion he brought to the job. I wish his staff the best of luck in landing on their feet, but ND is bigger than one man. This is a program on the brink, we are at a crossroads. The big tough decisions need to be made.
Go IRISH!!!
Sure, I’m not the happiest guy in the world with Weis either. But did Weis cause Clausen to fumble at the 2-yard line? Did Weis cause Michael Floyd to have the ball bounce off his back and get picked? Did Weis cause the two missed field goals after ND’s kicker had made 14 straight? And, for the record, Navy did NOT play better in the second half. It’s laughable to say Weis and ND made no adjusements.
But let’s say ND does fire Weis. What then?
If Clausen and Tate stay they’ll be seniors, as will Allen. Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph will be juniors; Riddick is developing nicely; Te’o is becoming a monster; ND now finally has a decent kicker, in spite of what happened in the Navy game; the defense is also improving steadily. There is still a LOT to be happy about, in spite of the disappointments of this season.
Weis is also getting the recruits!
Sure, the defense still has a long way to go.
But did any of you believe that 2009 was going to be the year with this group?
Even before this year, how many of you were looking at 2010 as THE YEAR for this group to recognize their potential?
GIVE WEIS ONE MORE YEAR.
ND has a cake schedule next year. If Weis can’t win 10 games with this group next year then send him packing. But it would be damn stupid to cut him loose now.
It would make more sense to let Weis stay to keep recruits coming in, fire Tenuta and give Weis one more shot to put together a great BCS season.
Jeff
I think you make some good points. Amazingly, Weis is getting great recruits. And, if we can him at year’s end, a lot of those good recruits are outta here.
BUT, Weis needs to get the ship going in the right direction. I mean, we lost to Navy, for crying out loud. And, other than BC, we haven’t really beaten anyone even remotely close to a decent squad. Sorry, Michigan State (and Washington State) fans.
So, yes, the recruits are coming. That is about the only reason to keep Weis, as far as I can tell. Sure, we’re throwing the ball and it’s exciting to watch Clausen, but we need wins. Period. The schedule lined up really well for us this year and at 6-3, I can see us finishing 7-5 (or even 6-6). And, if that happens, I don’t think you’d argue for keeping Weis. Maybe I am wrong.
The bottom line is that our game-time coaching hasn’t been good this year. We haven’t done enough.
I don’t like the idea of canning Charlie mid season. But I do think the five-year plan is okay. And, if at the five-year point, we’re still not winning games, I think it’s okay to make a coaching change.
I think most of the people on this board believed we would win ten games this year. Yes. We have better players than ten of the teams on our schedule. And, why we aren’t winning the games is something I cannot understand.
Would another coach do better? It depends on the coach. if it’s Gerry Faust, I would say, “No.” If it’s Brian Kelley, I would say, “Yes.” If I had any confidence in the administration, I would say that a coaching change is necessary if we’re 7-5 or 6-6. I don’t have much confidence, given our recent hirings, though, and since Weis is bringing in recruits, it may be that we have to wait a bit longer.
We’ll see how Pitt and Connecticut and Stanford shake out. I think we have better players than all three teams, but I could be wrong.
Did anyone else notice that it’s the same 5-6 guys commenting on this page? 194 comments let’s settle down a little everyone…oops ,everyone, i mean those five or six people
Why? Does this bother you?
Who elected you hall monitor?
You are allowed to have your say, your views and your opinions same as everyong else. Even jackhole Angry Eagle got to have his say.
No one here is stopping you.
What’s wrong with a 194 comments? Would you prefer ZERO?
I wouldn’t call someone out just because I my self, have nothing of intrest in which to post.
Irishfan: What is with your hostility? You either need new glasses or need a math remedial class.
Settle yourself down and bugger off. We couldn’t give 2 shits if you think we should “settle down”. And what in God’s name does “5-6 guys commenting” have to do with anything? If you’re not getting enough diversity of opinion then leave.
How did you guys even know I was talking about you??? I could care less what the hell you say. Get a life and stop hitting refresh to see if there is any new comments. I just thought it was funny that 5 or 6 people can make over 200 comments. Now when your done reading this…hit refresh
How did we know you weren’t? Either address people specifically or don’t be suprised when that happens. You used used the term “the same 5 or 6 guys”. Frankly, we don’t really care which guys/gals precisely whom you were speaking of. There are “regulars” here, if you will. And when we don’t know you, you need to tread lightly. Don’t like it? Then piss off.
If you have intelligent and/or humorous comments that pertain to ND football, then we welcome you to stay with us. Up to you sweetheart.
JDH,
Do I sence a little “C-Dog”
in you these days?
Is he rubbing off on you? (No pun intended)
Haha- maybe Shazam! I am a little bit surly these days.
I did. Read carefuly. Thanks for caring
anyone see that quinn is making a start on monday night? i have yet to see him play a pro game and am interested. i wish him the best, but the browns are a complete train-wreck right now…
ted,
He won the starting job in training camp to open the season. He played a few games. It wasn’t pretty.He then got pulled in favor of Derek Anderson. Nether has been very productive. It’s his turn to try agian, but he doesn’t have much of a supporting crew. I think the QB who makes the fewest mistakes will win the job. I think he would do well with a change of scenery.
JRM – Good research! That stat sheet makes physically ill. Beyond the numbers, I have to add a couple of comments to that analysis:
1) Charlie Weis owes a great deal to Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Tom Zbikowski for overachieving and taking him to 2 BCS games. With Quinn, he was a hardworker, very intelligent to pick up Weis’ playbook and athletic enough to make it happen.
2) Can anyone honestly say, regardless of how smart he may be or how many rings he has, does Charlie Weis LOOK like a leader to you? What would you say about him if you saw him walking down the street? At least Davie and Willingham pass this test.
3) Why did ND administration think after hiring Davie who was never a head coach, hiring Ty Willingham who was never a PROVEN head coach, we should hire a guy who has not only never been a head coach, NEVER coached collegiate football??
4) I think it really says it all that after everything we’ve seen from Charlie in the past 4.5 years, his comments said it all. “My team knows that I coach the same way every week.” HUH?? WHAT?? Problem maybe??
Dublin,
It seemed like Brady Quinn & Co played with an air of confedence that sometimes seems to be missing from this current team.
I watch other coaches give media interviews. Meyer, Carroll, Tressell, Saban, ect.. Some of these guys wear a tie, others a nice polo shirt. Their posture is such that they sit up streight with their hands folded before them as they speak.
Now think of CW giving a interview. He is useually slouched back in his chair, wearing a hoodie or sweatshirt
and fiddling with a bottle water or some such thing, not always making eye contact and always smerking.
The ND administration has been our own worst enemy when it comes to hiring football coaches. Unable to secure top quality coaches in advance of a firing they leave the door open for disaster. They were a day late and a dollar short in Urban Meyer.Or they are used to “up the annti” with coaches who have no real desire to coach here. Then they are left to scramble to fill the void, offten settling for a second or third choice.
And lastly the “I coach the same way every week”. He had to know the struggles of his defence. Perhaps if he had done some “hands on work”. I know,he an offensive coach. But he is also a head coach.
Spending some extra time with the defensive team, even if it was just to motivate or instill some extra confedence may have made a difference
Yeah, I love Charlie’s comment, “My team knows I coach the same way every week.” He defined the word “insanity” in terms of college football–coaching the same way over and over and over expecting different results. Guess what?? It ain’t working, which causes “insanity” with all the beloved Notre Dame fans.
No I didn’t see- what did he say?
Anybody bother to read what Golden Tate had to say about the situation yesterday? Then again, what does he know? He’s just one of the best palyers ever to wear a uniforn for our team as opposed to all you experts out there.
any chance you could Link us to these comments?
I think I managed to dig it up.
http://www.etruth.com/Know/News/Story.aspx?id=498016
Thanks for checking in to this, Bill. I enjoy reading your posts and don’t lump you with the majority of the bloggers here, especially since you see the big picture. We are on the cusp of the best recruiting year ever, the defense leadership seems to be odds with each other, and the players lost the games, not the coaches. The players recognize that (except for one that got his words twisted around).
Anyway, here’s what one writer said that included Tate’s comments which show what kind of man he is:
Junior receiver Golden Tate said he does not think about his coach’s future, but he has at least thought about it enough to be annoyed.
“I don’t think about that. As far as I’m concerned, he’s doing a great job with us this year. He didn’t lose the game; the players lost the game. We had great scheme, we just didn’t capitalize when we needed to,” said Tate. “In some ways, I don’t even think it’s fair how they put him in the hot seat. He didn’t play the game, we had a bunch of key turnovers and we were in the red zone many times. At that point, we’ve got to make plays.”
Tate added that he does not really worry about it, but did say that he would have his coach’s back.
“My mentality is that I know Coach Weis will go to bat for me any day of the week under any circumstances. It’s to the point where I’ll do the same for him,” said Tate. “I don’t think you can blame him on the loss. I think we’ve all got to take accountability, the players, the coaches, everyone in this building.”
Tate is indeed one of the best players to ever where the ND jersey. However, you are putting WAAAY too much into his comments. What’s his alternative? You think he is going to publicly criticize his head coach? Do you think any of our players would do that?
This article is hardly the trump card you think it is.
As a former D1 athlete, I can tell you most of my team HATED our head coach. He was incompetent in a variety of ways. Would we have ever said this publicly? Of course not!
This article proves nothing.
The Weis Fact Sheet
posted by The Rock
Regretfully, we’re assembling another fact sheet. Something we could have easily done a year ago, but we waited until the end was beyond doubt. Please email us with any factual errors.
Under .500 over the last 3 seasons
Against teams with winning records: Weis 8-19 (.296) Faust 12-23 (.343) Willingham 12-15 (.444) Davie 18-22 (.450)
0 wins against teams finishing in the top 10 of any of the major polls.
0 wins over a team with less than 4 losses
1 (1-13) win against teams finishing in the Top 25
Worst two year stretch in Notre Dame history (10-15)
First coach to lose to Navy since 1963 (twice)
First time in 73 years (the first year of polling) that an unranked Navy team defeated a ranked Notre Dame team
Worst loss to a service academy in 44 years (blown out by Air Force)
First coach in Notre Dame history to lose to an eight-loss team (Syracuse 2008)
0-5 against USC
Average margin of defeat against USC: 19.8 ppg
The worst loss to any SC team (38 points largest margin of victory in the 79-game history of rivalry)
Losing records to Boston College: 1-2, Michigan: 2-3 and Michigan State: 2-3
Losses by 20 points or more: 8
More shutout losses: 3 (Boston College, USC, Michigan) in four years than Notre Dame had from 1965-2001
First 9-loss season in school history
First 0-4 start ever
First 0-5 start ever
Has lost to more teams that finished outside the top 50 (MSU 2007, Purdue 2007, GT 2007, Navy 2007, Syracuse 2008) than Willingham, Davie and Faust… combined (5-4)
Last overall offense in the country in 2007
Last overall in yards per play in 2007
Last overall in yards per game in 2007
Lowest average yardage in the history of Notre Dame football in 2007
Worst rushing team in ND history in 2007
Lost to Navy, USC and Michigan in the same year… twice
Set an NCAA record (58) for most sacks allowed in a season in 2007
Notre Dame finished 90th in the country in the 2007 Sagarin ratings… below Richmond, North Dakota State, Delaware, Navy, Florida Atlantic, James Madison and Wofford.
3-16 record since 2007 against teams that finished with a winning record
Only coach in ND history to coach for five years and not score 50 points in a game (56 other teams topped 50 points during Weis’s tenure)
Weis has given up 40+ points in a loss 6 times, 30+ in a loss 19 times
Currently has the 84th ranked defense in the country
Will miss the BCS three straight years
No BCS wins in five years of coaching
If you are going to copy and paste something make sure you give the source.
Sorry folks, I just came out of my lost to Navy again induced comma.
I expected to turn on the news or jump online to find out who was named as the new head coach. Just before the lights went out I had the usual suspects flashing through my mind like Brian Kelly and Jon Gruden. When I woke up it hit me, Bill Cowher is the perfect guy for the job. He is pure fire and energy, understands the concept of winning with defense and ball control, and he has also displayed the ability to win in hostile environments against really good teams. He is the polar opposite of CW, which is exactly the direction we need to go.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fireweis/index.html sign this please
I hate online petitions. They’re completely worthless in my opinion.
I also hate petitions directed at an individual. It’s not cool to protest a person.
I really hate petitions calling for that individual’s Job.
But I really really despise online petitions where people use the comments to make personal attacks on someone because you don’t like them as a coach.
If you’re going to to make a petition you should try going in a different direction. Like asking the AD or board of Directors to please review the current direction of the Football program.
I hope Charlie has Bellichecks number on speed dial. He will need it.
Screw CW. He had his chance. He had second chances. He was given more slack than his 2 predecessors, that’s for sure.
I like the guy, but his time at ND produced nothing of significance.
All I can say is if ND chooses to go with a new head coach, they had better not wiff this time.
Which really would be worse: 1) flaming out the rest of the season, finishing 7-5 with a mid-level bowl, hiring the middle of the pack coach we would be sure to get, and starting from scratch again; or 2) winning out, landing another solid recruiting class, and keeping Weis?
I’m not sure I really feel all that great about either option.
Jim,
How about we win out. Play and win, in a respectiable bowl, dump Tenuta, hire Charlie Strong away from Florida. Make him our defensive coach, Keep CW, land another top 10 recuiting class, and play for the National Championship next year?
Shaz,
I agree with your analysis. The only problem is we need to stick with on philosphy 3-4 or 4-3, that is another problem.
Wow, that’s the best argument for dropping Weis.
If we hired strong, it’d be what? our 5th switch between 3-4 & 4-3 in 6 years?
A new coach would come in and either way at least we’d know the direction of the Defense. I kinda want to say give Tenuta a second year with his 4-3 (last year he was adjusting a 3-4), but It’s just been sooo many switches. Oh yeah, and they don’t look PREPARED for teams. They’re starting to get a lot better at adjusting, but come on!
Oh whoopie yeah!!!
3-4, 4-3…. It doesn’t make any differance.
What does make a differance is when you face Navy. A team that has run the same offence every year for decades. You have to know what’s coming. It’s not rocket science. The first thing you stop is the fullback dive. OK, you give up
a 2 yard FB dive for a TD. It happends. Give up a 30 yard FB dive for a TD is unforgiveable!
God Damn Defensive coaches are paid to have the defence prepared and ready. They used the same scheme as last year.
That’s just plain lazy. The defence was flat. Did they not see the Navy vs Ohio St. game? Or the fight that they gave to Pitt? Why did it take until the 4th quarter to finally make some king of adjustment? Are these guys that stupid or do they just have it in for CW?
Anybody who bought a ticket to that game deserves their money back.
Keep CW if you like. Keep the O-Line coach, runningbacks coach, QB & recievers coaches. Special teams coaches. But the guys on the defensive side have to go.
Tenuta and Brown aren’t some greenhorn coaches who just fell off a turnip truck. They have some years under there belts. They should know better. In my opinion, it was just plain lazyness when it came to this game. No excuse.
3-4, 4-3, hell, we could have put 12 on defence out there and we still would have given up 300 yards rushing.
Thank You Mary Poppins!!
Your welcome Mark May!!
Hey Louie from Babylon, NY:
How about you pull your own head out of your own ass sunshine? How’s that? You were talking to a 97 year-old man who has a lifetime of experience and service to this institution. Disagree all you want with the idea of Parcells as coach. I don’t agree with that either, but do you need to disrespect a senior citizen to make your point?
Show a modicum of class and decorum. Yes, we’ll wait while you look up the word “modicum”.
Yeah Louie DePalma, Danny DeVito look alike sumbitch.
You can have some fun with our old timers, but you can’t DIS our old timers.
He has been around since 1912. He actually witnessed Rockne,Leahy, the Four Horsemen, and all the glory years and great players.
That’s more than I can say.
Aside from the obvious problems with the play-calling and defense, one critical question remains: have the players quit on the coach? Looked that way against Navy. The final 3 games will provide a definitive answer.
I needed a couple of days to calm myself and assess the situation. I felt I needed to step back and assess the situation.
With all due respect to John from Dublin, Parcells is most definitely not the answer. First and foremost because Parcells doesn’t want to coach anymore. He wants to manage. Also, he’s an NFL guy. He has absolutely zero interest in coaching college. It’s below him. Finally, Weis is a Parcells guy; They’re very similar and we need a new direction.
I also cringe at the idea of having Weis and Willingham. That just doesn’t work. There’s way too much ego in play.
—
On the topic of Weis: I have probably been one of the strongest Weis supporters. And I made a statement before the year started that I’m going to stand by: Weis is gone with less than 10 wins. 9-4 (with a bowl win) isn’t good enough. I’m going to stand by that statement. Up until ND loses again this season, Weis is still my guy.
That said: I am completely understanding as to why people want him fired. I think the strongest argument anyone can make is that it’s just not working. Weis recruits, and I obsess over recruiting, but he’s not getting it done on the field. I’m not here to question his play calling or call him fat or arrogant. I’m here to face the music. Quite frankly, I though his play calling was fine. I’m fine with throwing fades to receivers who have 6″ on the guy covering them. I’m fine with using your power running back near the goal line. I’m fine with running a toss near the goal line. I’m not fine with taking 5 years to not get the defense in order. Ultimately, I think Tenuta and Brown have cost Weis. Ultimately, they’re his guys. Ultimately, I think we should wait for the season to end before we decide (at least the regular season).
Bill,
You are a bright level headed guy. I agree with you up to a point. I think CW does a lot of things that go unnoticed. His players stay out of trouble. No punching, no eye gouging, no kicking a player who is down. No cheating in the class room.
He puts his players and their health first. But as you say he’s not getting it done on the field. He put his players(at least on offence) in a posisition to succeed. They just didn’t execute. He sould have took a more “hands on” approch with the defence.
But when you say wait for the season to play out, that’s when I start to get nervous. We never seem to have
a great coach waiting in the wings. All the other struggling programs swoop in and scoop up all the top canidates. We always seem to get stuck with the high school guy, or the guy who can’t recruit. So when do you hold and when do you fold?
If you can go under the table and find a coach who can run basicly the same type of offence with the style and talent of the returning players, as well as being able to upgrade our defence I say go for it. It may be a bit unethical but college football is a business now a days.
Mr Shazamrock:
You make some very good points, son. Mr Weis runs a very clean program which instills Notre Dame’s core beliefs in these fine young men. You mentioned to Bill that we do not have a fine coaching candidate in the wings. Well, you must have missed my earlier comment. I have someone in mind. Please make sure you are in your seat for this one. It does not get any bigger than this one. Mr Bill Parcells. He has been out of the coaching game for a few years. I think this fine young man is looking to get back in the game. What better place to do it than at Notre Dame. He has the “fight, fight, fight” spirit of Mr Rockne. Yes, Knute Rockne and the football mind of Mr Frank Leahy. If we can get him, I suggest that we extend the olive branch to Mr Willingham to bring him on as one of his coordinators. We are a Catholic University. What better way to show the world what we are all about than extending an olive branch to Mr Willingham. I think he would be honored for another chance to complete his mission. Perhaps under the tutoring of Mr Parcells, Mr Willingham would be able to take the reigns of our program in a few years. How can we make this happen. I am thinking a formal petition or perhaps some of our powerful allumni placing a call to Mr Parcells. I believe he is an avid fisherman so perhaps our athletic director could reach out to him and propose a fishing trip with him. I am sure Mr Parcells would come back from that trip thinking he just caught the biggest fish of his life. We need to all put our heads together and make this happen. This is the challenge. I am confident this University will quickly return to a great storied history.
Pappy Joe,
You must have missed my earlier Responce. Bill “Big Tuna” Prcells has RETIRED from
coaching. The man is in his SIXTIES. That’s 60. Young for you perhaps. He runs football operations (Like a CEO) for the NFL Miami Dolphins. That’s a professional Football team. He smokes big cigars signs the checks, that’s it. It is a full time job for him. He is committed to that organization for years to come. He is not available.
Ty Willingham no longer coaches Football. He also RETIRED.He lives on a deserted island in the south Pacific that has no telephones or telegraphs.
He makes wicker baskets and drinks coconut slammers all day. He just wants to be left alone. Like many of us.
There is one young man that you may like. His name is “Chuckie” he is the illbegotten son of Bill Parcells. His father has taught him everything there is to know about football.
He loves ND, fishing, and rapping with old timers. I’m sure you would like him.
Now all you have to do is tell the ND Alumni Assoc. that is they want your 6 figure check, that they must hire little Chuckie. Okeydoekee?
I for one think it’s incredible that a man this age is on a football blog. That, in and of itself is pretty awesome! However, I have to respectfully disagree with Joe’s comments. Sir, Parcells is done with football coaching. That is clear.
There is no olive branch to offer Ty Willingham as we never declared war on him. He underperformed and was fired. He went to Washington and drove their program even further into the abyss and was fired.
You do not fire a coach for losing, watch him lose spectacularly at another program, and then hire him again. This is the definition of insanity sir.
With respect, I think you need to let these ideas about Bill Parcells and Willingham go. This could not and will not ever happen.
Bottom line gentleman is this, players win games. The coach can tell them where to go and what play is coming but if they don’t execute it is the players fault. That being said as a coach it is your job to motivate and evaluate your players. It is your job to determine if you have the best 11 on the field. I think in some instances Weis has babied these players. Weis first year he didn’t take any sh*t. He pushed his players hard and excepted no excuses. After 07 he tried a different approach being everyone’s friend, doesn’t work. I watched a classic Irish game from the Lou era and he was up one side of players and down the other. These coaches need to get in the players faces. We need to see a sense of urgency. If you miss a tackle I better see a d-coach in your grill. No excuses from players and coaches, GET THE DAMN JOB DONE. EXCUSES ARE FOR LOSERS WHICH IS WHERE WE ARE. I used to tell my players all the times I don’t want excuses I want results, NOW GET THE JOB DONE period. If he can’t fire him.
Like you, I have been a Weis supporter. I think he is bright. I think he gets the recruits to come play football at Notre Dame. Before him, guys like Michael Floyd and Jimmy Clausen would not have been in the cards. Now, we are in the running for the number one recruit in the nation.
Having said that, Weis isn’t getting it done on the field. He cannot seem to convert great recruits to great teams. This past Saturday, this team looked so weak and uncompetitive I found myself confused about whether we were Navy and Navy was us. I was pretty shocked.
If things turn around this week vs. Pittsburgh, I can see a path for Weis. If we play like we did last week, though, Pitt will destroy us. It will be an ugly thrashing — something like what USC did to us last year. So, we’re at a cross-road.
Too often these last five years, we have under-performed against good teams and we’ve under-performed against inferior teams. This Saturday, things have to change. If we come out and blow out Pitt, we can turn the season around. We’ll follow up with a win against Connecticut and close it out with a win at Stanford.
But, if we come out flat, we’ll be blown out. They’re a good team — and they can do that to us if we allow it to happen.
I always stand behind my team.
In good tmes and bad. I learned that no matter what you can never underestimate the HEART of a ND team.
Maybe with their coach on the hot seat, their backs agianst the wall, the odds agianst them, season winding down,in hostile territory, they will pull together. Maybe this is what it takes to get over the hump.
I think I mis-spoke at the end of my comment. I had stated earlier that I won’t consider firing him until we fail to reach the standard I had set for myself. I then later said we should wait till the end of the season to decide.
To clarify: I would wait until the standard for the season is unreachable. IE: the 4th loss. At that point for that purpose, the season is lost. 9-4 isn’t good enough.
I just don’t see how we can go from having his seat warm to calling for his head RIGHT NOW because we lost to a 7-3 team. It’s too rash a decision.
As I mentioned earlier, I think Mr Bill Parcells would be a wise choice. I have seen all the great ones in my 97 years from Mr Leahy to Mr Holtz. I think Mr Parcells would shine right along side each of these fine men. He would bring a toughness back to the program that has been missing over the last few years. Now for the tough part. How do we get him here?
Another option in case we can not get him is looking at the possibility of bringing back Mr Tyrone Willingham to handle the X’s and O’s while Mr Weis handles the recruiting which is what he does well. Nobody was better in his day with the X’s and O’s as Mr Willingham was. I must say that with Mr Weis’s recruits this could be a championship winning format. It would make me proud to see us give Mr Willingham another chance. Imagine what folks would say about that story. I think it would be a winning combination.
JDH
“What’s the right answer when it comes to CW?” Well, what does CW himself say? 6-6 is not good enough. Nor is 7-5, or 8-4, or anything short of a BCS bowl. He wants his team to be nasty. (I assume he meant that in a good way)He is going to restore the glory to ND.(hell, just a little PRIDE would be welcome right about now)
I remember his first game on the ND sidelines. He had his team up 35-7 at half time agianst PITT. PITT was unvailing a new coach of their own that day as well. But if you compare the two coaches and their programs today you see two very different teams. PITT is ranked 12th in the country. They have a passing game, a running game, and a darn good defence. They are on their way up.(Or as CW would say… the arrow is pointing up)
CW out recruited them by miles. Who else have we “out recruited”?
How about number #4 TCU, #6 Boise St., #7 Georgia Tect, #11 Iowa, #12 PITT, #15 Houston, #17 Arizona, & #22 BYU. And that’s just for starters.
JDH,Don’t be bothered by CW’s post game comments. It’s lip service. Always has been. Piss down your back and tell you it’s raining. “They played with heart”. “They didn’t quit”, Blaa ,Blaa, Blaa. They didn’t win either. Can’t get a break. Can’t get a call. Can’t get over the hump. Can’t beat a team with a winning record. Can’t cover, Can’t tackle, Can’t, Can’t Can’t.
Hey Charlie, here’s a few more cant’s for you. Can’t believe you, Can’t trust you, Can’t listen to you any more. Can’t cover for you. It’s the end of the road Pal. We don’t want to hear it. He has but one choice. 3 final games. Shut up and get the job done. Period.
Right on all accounts.
We’ve out-recruited so many of the top ten teams. Why aren’t we beating up on the less talented teams? I know football is complicated. But, but there is no way that we can get beat by teams like Navy.
This team cannot tackle. It has lots of speed, but cannot run the football. It has lots of size but cannot adequately protect the quarterback in key situations.
Enough. We need to be nasty. We need to win out.
Nasty? Nasty was the theme way back in 2004. Never happened.
Win out? When a d-lineman calls out his coaches. When your starting corner gets beat
badly on a deep post and starts pointing fingers. When your QB has to play with turf-toe, and now a bad wrist. When your starting Tight End leaves the stadium in a sling and his back up hasn’t been thrown to all year. When you have a hot running back then sit him for the most important carry of the day.
When you have problems on defence that were evident agianst Nevada and 9/10 weeks later still haven’t been addressed or corrected. When the only positive thing going for you, and you can memtion at your press conference is that your team didn’t quit!
That is sad.
They talk about buying out CW. Hell, if I was in charge of the purse strings, I’d be demanding some money back.
Football is NOT complicated.
Navy just proved that. They beat us with the oldest, simplest plan there is. Run the ball. Don’t turn it over. And play sound defence.
If we had done the same, we would have won.
EXCELLENT POST SHAZAM! Absolutely steel on target bro…
I have to go back to the after-game blogs concerning Boston College. First, in no way am I patting myself on the back or saying “I told you so.” Because, I’m on record as saying we would beat Navy and beat them pretty easily, although Navy would score on us. So in no way did I predict a Navy win.
HOWEVER, in the discussion of the BC game, I saw alot of “A win is a win” comments. And like I said then, I HATE THAT PHRASE. I explained that, while we were all happy with a W, the lack of execution against BC was evident. 4 or 5 turnovers by BC and we only score 20 points and win by 4? I wrote that, while it was a win in week 7, that could very EASILY BE A LOSS in week 8,9,10 etc. What would happen when the offense really has a bad day and can’t execute? We saw this play out in spectacular fashion last Saturday. The defense played the game they always play. The offense marched down the field with ease, but sputtered time and time again when it counted, leaving easily 24 points on the board. Score on any one of those red zone drives and/or hit the 30 yard chip shot and we still win. But, didn’t happen this time so it’s an “L”. It was bound to happen.
And it’s not only the BC game OBVIOUSLY. We have all admired this team’s awesome persavearance, heart, and swagger in their come from behind wins.
But sooner or later, the clock will run out before you can come back “enough”. Too little too late against Navy.
Like I’ve said this year, I think CW has improved in some ways with his motivation “skills”, but not enough apparently. And the hire of Tenuta and Brown have been a unmitigated disaster! How could anyone argue that?! Like Shazam said, this team simply and absolutely cannot tackle and cannot cover! Football 101 is a fail with this defense.
All that being said, you guys know that I’m not sure what the right answer is when it comes to CW. I think they’ll lose at least 1 more game because our D will not be able to stop Pitt or Stanford, unless either one of those teams has a very poor offensive day, like ND just did against Navy. We will be hoping like we do every week that Jimmy and Co. can score enough points to bail out our impotent defense.
What bothers me most right now are CW’s comments after that Navy game and at the presser. JUST WOW! Can you possibly be more of an arrogant ass? He should just paint a swastika on his forehead and be done with it.
I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t even know if a new coach would change this program. It starts with the administration. They will not take a chance on a player. Do you think that Waters, Zorich and Rice get into this school now. NO, and it shows on defense. Name one dominate player on defense. One guy who can shut a team down. Teo is the only one and he is a freshman. They talk about how great Brian Smith is, he was a three star recruit we beat Iowa out for. We have not pulled in game changing talent on defense. We have a great offense but I agree with Scav the defense is horrible. When we fumbled the ball on the 50 I said to myself 7-0. When we missed the field goal I said 14-0. That is sad. When is the defense going to shut someone down. Blanton who talks so much trash needs to step up. No crying cause you got beat deep, man up. Tenuta and Brown need to stick a foot up someone’s ass. Ultimately you need to start looking at the players not coaches. Do I think Weis should go, yes, but I don’t know who can do a better job with the team, administration and fans that make the game more like a tea party than a game. You don’t see this shit in the swamp or at LSU.
Jack,
The team can’t tackle. They can’t cover. They can’t pressure the QB. They don’t gang tackle. When’s the last time you saw someone from our defence pop an opposing player so hard that the ball came lose.(It happens to our QB though) Never!
Out Side Te’o and Kyle McKarthy
we have no game changers on D. Because the coaches have failed to coach them up. It was only a matter of time when our offence was due for some turn-overs and a bad game. They were still put in position to score but failed to execuite. In a game like this your defence needs to generate some plays. some turn overs. Your special teams need to step up and contribute. A total team effort was needed. We have gotten beat deep over middle all year. Every team we play take their turn. Navy, a team that only passed 10 times in the last 3 games hooked up on us. I bet that was their longest pass of the year. What is it… game 9 of the season. Still not fixed.
Brown and Tenuta need to look at themselves in the mirror.
ND pays them a lot of money. ND pays for excellance and results. They are not earning their paychecks! We are being ripped off.
We all new that when CW was hired he had no head coaching experience. I felt, that in all fairness, 4 to 5 years would be required for him to succeed. But I also exspected some level of progress. Signs that we are headed in the right direction. I see signs. Not sure if they all point in the right direction though. He has a top 10 offence, I’ll give him that. But he is paid to oversee the entire program.
At all times. Our defence has struggled all year. What has his level of involvement been?
I don’t know, but the same problems persist week, after week, after week.
Used to be, when a visiting team came to play ND, they might win, they might lose, or they might gain a tie. But one thing was for certian. They were all going to pay the price. When they left, with whatever result, they were sore. They were hurting. They were hobbled.They new who they had just played and where. Nothing came cheap. And if we happened to lose, you could tell by the opposing teams’ demenor and posture that they had just been in a war, anything gained was hard fought and hard earned, and there was equil respect at the games’ end for a team that could hit and punish like no other and thoes few who could stand up to it and play through it.
Seems now a days, every team who plays us at home believes that they are entitled to win the ND game show. Make lots of money, see the sites, ride the rides, and have a jolly good time. It’s embarressing, it’s depressing, It’s bullshit. Where has our tradition gone? The toughest, hardest hitting team in america. How did it come to this?
^^^ 20 pts with a GOOD defense….
SCAV I agree completly if ND had a defense worth a damn they would be rolling along.. instead they keep the program average.. get a DC that will teach technique and fundamentals… and maybe we will get the offense on the field more.. Alot of pressure on the O to score 35 a game just to be competitive…. 24 points should be enough to win every game if you have an above average defense.
IMO ND needs to beat a highly ranked team “that your not supposed to”…
Doing so would bring some momentum and attitude back to this program that has been missing since the Holtz era… ND and Weis has this oppurtunity this weekend at Pitt… IMO if we win, we will win out… Add a gator bowl victory… Leads to a top ten ranking next year as well as championship contention …. Lose – well Weis is gone and its back to rebuilding….. GO ND
If Brian Kelly can turn a never existent Cinci program with unheralded recruits into the #5 team in the nation just think of the possibilities at ND. The campaign for Kelly has officially commenced!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brian Kelly 2010. Music to my ears.
Bobby, See some of my comments above
Scav – with all due respect and to quote Tom above you too are an idiot! Quit providing cover for Weis. It aint working anymore. It all comes full circle and the evidence is clear IF you choose to mark improvement by wins and your team getting better as time goes on. It is all a matter for the administration now. Do they want the ND football program to return among the ranks of the elite teams or do they prefer to sit back and collect revenue as an additonal avenue to exchange a once great university for a prominent research facility? Read Charles Rice new book “What Happened to Notre Dame” And if you dont think what is going on theologically at ND has any connection to sports at ND – you are sadly mistaken.
Lou took the Irish to the top before he was dismissed without cause by Wadsworth. Look at what has happened since. I believe there has been an agenda since Lou’s dismissal to downplay the aura of football at ND and instead re-focus on achieving Hesburg’s ideal of putting ND on par w/ ivy league schools academically and financially. Football at this point only serves as a tool to achieve the latter – it is foolish for the most part to place a great deal of energy pertaining to gridiron success. I believe to the administration it is no longer relevant in fact it is backwards thinking. I also think that is the reason Kevin White was let go shortly after Jenkkins came on board in light of Weis’ enormous contract. I think in the end the joke is on us fans.
Yes Chris, I am an idiot. I don’t know why, but I like Charlie as the OC and I like Charlie as a recruiter. However, I don’t like Charlie as the head coach who will not fix the defense. Last year, this offense created 3 double-digit leads that the defense could not hold. This year, the offense is keeping this team from being 2-7. The offense, led by Charlie is doing this.
ND shot itself in the foot several times on Saturday, but when is this defense going to start helping this offense? You see Florida and Alabama struggle on offense and their defense bails them out. How much different would it be for the offense if they knew they could count on the defense?
I see a lot of people who say this team is not prepared. I disagree, the offense always seems prepared, it’s the defense that look’s unprepared. Because of that, I think this offense plays tight at times because they know it’s going to fall on their shoulders.
ND needs a DC that gameplans around stopping the opponents strengths, not one that everyone knows is going to blitz, blitz, blitz.
I know all of this falls on Charlie, so he needs to be held accountable. But what could this team be RIGHT NOW, if they had a different DC. I still think that there are too many chefs in the kitchen. Tenuta and Brown are not working well together and the result is an unprepared defense. So, get rid of both of them, get a PROVEN DC in there and let’s see what this team can do. If we can get a defense that can hold people to less than 20/game, we will be hard to beat.
For years, I wanted ND to find someone who could get this team to score and who could recruit. They found that in Weis, unfortunately, he has not be able to find that DC that can compliment his strengths.
I’m not excusing this loss, but c’mon Frank ….a roster full of NFL caliber players ??? not on the offensive and defensive lines there aren’t.
Measured in that way, this isn’t a BCS caliber team ….. with any coach.
This one game did not cause the fall out for Charlie. There are a hell of a lot of teams doing a hell of a lot more with a hell of a lot less! It IS Charlies fault. Any new coach coming in is going to have a typical successful surge such as Weis had his first year. Tyrone had the same thing. The fact of the matter is Weis had greater success w/ prior talent than he ever had with his own recruits. That is all due to a new coaching edge enjoyed by most first year coaches. It didnt take long for the opposition to figure out Charlie. Now the opposition owns the Irish from BC – to USC to Syracuse to most likely Pitt not to mention Navy. ENOUGH already! CUR – you’re dead wrong as are most Weis apologists. It aint working and these kids are the ones suffering. I feel terrible for the players. Speak your mind as a player and you get thrown under the bus by your own coach. To me – that is the last straw IF the administration has any ounce of integrity. End of story.
this is not so much charlies fault. its really the defense. if we got atleast a top 25 defense in the nation we would be undefeated right now. no reason to blame charlie in all reality. if your gonna do something put him as coordinator of the offense and bring in a leader for a head coach.
You’re an idiot!
AMEN Tom.
I agree with Cur, Charlie Weis is not the problem. Yes there are bone head play calls and poor clock management, but would these things even be issues if the defense was better.
With a different defense, this team is easily 8-1 or 9-0. With a better defense, this team would have won 9 or 10 games last year. Tenuta and Brown for some reason have not worked together, so Charlie needs to get rid of both of them. He made some good hires on offense last year, so I think he could do the same this year for the defense. Starting over on defense with a brand new scheme is what they need.
By giving Charlie at least one more year would not hurt the offense, keep the recruits on the books, and would keep some stability in the program. If he fails next year, then you can bring in a new coach and start over because we will be losing a lot of skill players.
So, who should run the defense? The guy Charlie wanted before he offered the job to Tenuta, Romeo Crennell. Charlie talks about having someone he can trust, so he can focus on the offense. Who better than the guy with the same number of Super Bowl rings. We need studs on defense who want to play on Sunday, why not bring someone in that can teach them to play defense on Sunday. If it works, ND is back, if it doesn’t it’s only for a year.
This team needs an overhaul on defense and they need to find someone that can get them to play on the same level as their defense. That to me seems a lot easier than hoping we can find the next great ball coach. Charlie can run an offense and he can recruit, just go find someone that can run a defense.
This is absolutely absurd already! You dont think its Charlie’s fault the offense stalled so many times in the red-zone on Saturday against Navy? You dont think it’s Charlie’s fault this offense has stalled the entire season in the red-zone? The fact that he could just ignore Tate the entire first half is absolutely mind-boggling. Or how about the fact that Riddick couldnt be stopped on Saturday and the so called offensive genius puts Hughes in the game only to go nowhere. So who’s fault was it that the offense, hell, the entire team came out flat against Navy?? Can you blame that on Tenuta and Brown? And the last time I checked, Weis is the head coach, meaning he has control over the defense and what goes on. Charlie has had five years to do something on the defensive side of the ball. Where has it gotten us?
And Im sick and tired of hearing Weis say that this team has heart, like it shows his improvement or its going to save his job. These young men are representing Notre Dame football, past, present and future. If they cant get up for a game and play with heart and determination, then there is definitely something wrong with your head coach. The man just doesnt know how to relate to these kids and get them motivated. But hey, I guess that is Brown and Tenuta’s fault as well, get rid of them and everything will be okay. I hate to start over as much as the next guy, but it’s time for a change!
It is Charlies fault that we varely won against BC
and lost to Michigan
Look at the tapes
play calls
head coach–hello
but Tenuta is the worst
the VERY worst
( AGAIN-I congratulate Navy-they deserved it)
I am 97 years old and have seen it all at Notre Dame. I put all three of my sons through ND so I have a sense of pride from watching them at the stadium cheer during the glory years. I still go for a game a year with my one living son Paul and my grandsons. I want the pride to return and have my grand kids see how great ND can be again. While I think Mr Weis is a nice fellow. I feel he may just not be the person to take the program back there. I will throw a name out there. How about making a call to Mr Bill Parcells? It does not get any bigger than him. I think he has always had a desire to coach on the big stage of college football. What better place than the historic Notre Dame. Mr Parcells would whip those boys into shape and give them the toughness needed to get us back on board. Let us make it happen.
Thank you for your lifelong commitment to ND and for your comments Joe! And God Bless you sir.
I am glad to hear you are on board with Mr Parcells. I think he is the kind of fine young man we need to help us get through this period. He brings pride and toughness that these fine young lads need. I think Mr Parcells has some unfinished business since his days on the gridiron of West Point. Let’s put our heads together and find a way to get Mr Bill Parcells here as soon as possible.
Well, I don’t know if Bill Parcells is the right answer for ND or not. He can be a fairly polarizing figure, although he is no doubt a great football coach.
But who knows? You could certainly be right. We all know that our beloved ND needs a change of direction in some way.
get your head out of your ass old man.
Isn’t parcell’s in charge of the front office for the NFL Miami Dolphins? He took over operations because he was no longer up to the riggors of coaching.
Now there is one name that surfaced today that I recongnize. Charlie Strong. Defensive Coordinator from Florida. He once coached at ND under Lou Holtz, and agian at South Carolina. I think he is looking for a head coaching job but ND is one of the few places that could afford Head coach money for a top quality Defensive coordinator. He is a hell of a Recruiter as well.
I wish all would read my comment to C-Dog posted Nov. 9, 09 about 818 pm on these responces.
Think about it.
Read it.
Go Irish!
Please—GO IRISH!
i don’t think this is the apocalyptic loss that everyone thinks it is. if anything, it was going 3-9 and losing to navy for the first time in 46 years!!
this may be cw’s ‘signature’ loss, but there are still 3 games left in the season. everyone thought that we could lose a game in november, and we did. i have no idea what is going to happen in pitt this weekend, but im not counting us out.
GO IRISH!!!
CDog:
This is my favorite post! haha
Honorable!Sorry!
Some really great posts here!!Sevghali,Temple fan both great post but so many more….One thing I have all the frustrations every ND fan has at the very least maybe a few more.Right about Navy,they did deserve this win.They were ready.Did anybody think they wouldn’t be..They are responsible for our National defense not just one hundred yards of it!!!Okay that said.Notre Dame football players take this patriotic thing to far .Hit them and make better officers of them,they will welcome it.Now for Weis et all……….We expect our football players to be honerable here at Notre Dame,hell ,we know our students are honerable .So why not our Coaches?You are paid for results on the football field.Weis hired these imposters,Tenuta, Brown fire them today..TODAY!!!That is if they won’t do the honerable thing and resign..Whatever the internal problems are they are not getting their job done PERIOD!Then you can assess from that point forward.Bench football players who make stupid mistakes,penalties, not staying with their blocks, not pursueing the play.Navy and every team ,Boston College etc all had multiple players in on tackles.Fire the defensive coaches please!Make a statement…….Make a statement!!Nothing but silence from them..One question and I go…1st and goal you versus me, your best vs my best,who wins?Answer…simple.The one who wants it more!!!
Yep, Notre Dame needs a new head coach, a new defensive coordinator, and a new cornerbacks coach.
Weis can’t lead.
Tenuta can’t do anything but blitz
Brown can’t coach cornebacks how to use their brains.
There has been little to no schematic advantage, nothing extraordinary on either side of the ball in terms of play calling, and the weakest defenses in Notre Dame history.
Willingham may have been our George W. Bush, but Weis may be our Barack Obama. Neither is the answer.
And truly I have nothing else to say because until the program looks like it’s going in the right direction, there’s nothing useful to talk about.
Talk with y’all later. GO IRISH!!!!
C-Dog,
As always, your candor is direct and acurate. You pull no punches.
And while it may be a bit premature to talk about a coaching change, I am curious in your views as to who would be our next leader and head coach.
I my self like Jon Gruden. A guy with some ties to ND. A tough hard nosed coach, who won’t settle for less. He is well known, and has a superbowl ring of his own. He is marketable. I don’t think that we would lose much in recuiting. He is an energetic guy who gets involved in all aspects of the program. He does have head coaching experience. And we have witnessed first hand that “X’s & O’s don’t gaurentee wins. That desire, motivation, and toughness are equilly important.
Imprimatur! Let the T-shirts be printed:
NO MORE MR. WEIS GUY!
or how about
WEIS NOT,
WANT NOT.
I want my Notre Dame back!
I woulnd’t take anything for granted coming from The Bleacher Report…any idiot can post anything they want on there…
Bleacher Report is quoting an “unnamed ND source” that the school has decided to fire Weis at the end of this season and are listing Gruden, Kelly and OK’s Stoops as people of interest for the job.
Maybe BS….but its out there
Once again, very good article Frank. Well thought out and analyzed. Many of us thought and saw the same things. Red Zone is terrible and has been. If not for big plays and bail outs by Clausen and Tate, etc.. it would be worse. Also, Defense never seems to be prepared.
New coach after the season? I hope so. Not sure who is available. Names are bandied about like Gruden & Kelly. What about Chris Peterson from Boise? Might he be available and what is your analysis of him and/or other coaching possibilities that would fit the ND personnel that they have?
This has been the most frustrated season I can ever recall. With all the talent we have, we should be a top ten team year in and year out. Our offense is one of the top units in all of college football and our defense has tons of play making ability but just aren’t utilized the way they should be. The answer to our future success comes from hiring a top notch defensive coordinator whose schemes fit our players abilities, not our players trying to fit in schemes that does not allow our players to exercise their potential. Granted, Weis has made some very questionable calls on offense this season, but our defensive schemes has been the biggest problem. Notre Dame should offer whatever is necessary to bring in a defensive genius who can willingly make the adjustments to stop the other team in any situation. One who can bring out passion, enthusiasm and intensity on every play regardless of the situation. Weis has done a very credible job utilizing his offensive stars, we just need a defensive coordinator who can do the same with his unit. If our defense could match
our offensive production, the sky would be the limit on my beloved Irish.
ND/NC,
Great assesment. I agree 100%. I started the season out thinking how we were going to stop the run then go sack crazy on 2nd & 3rd and long on everyone. Little did I know that our defensive coaches would fail to teach fundimentals. Like tackling.
We send a saftey out there who is completly lost and totalty confused. Everyone can see it.The D-Coaches failed to prepare him or failed to recongnize his inability. Poor. Very poor.
Everyone knows that the triple option starts with the fullback. Always has. Tip for our defensive coaches. “Triple” means, Fullback, Quarterback, Tailback.
We have given up the deep ball over the middle in every damn game this year. USC made a living there. How many weeks ago was that? But when a no passing team like Navy exploites it for 6, I want someone, anyone, to stand up and explain why this hasn’t, or can’t be fixed. Our 2 defensive coaches will sit there, not saying a word, with their thumbs up there asses, and Pitt will exploit it next week. Then it will be UCONN’s turn, then Stanford who by the way, scored 51 on Oregon. The tight end over the middle. The deep post. Get used to hearing that because our opponets aren’t going to stop, and we can’t fix it.
Agree on tackling. Agonizing to see those missed tackles that would have made a big difference in Navy’s success.
I was at the game saturday w/ my brother and as we got up to leave with 9+ minutes left we were getting heckled by people in the stands who were ND fans i guess. My brother and I are lifelong ND fans and it really pissed me off. We sat there and determined that we couldn’t stand to watch our team lose to navy again so we left. IMO we should have fired Weiss this morning and just be done with it don’t wait until after the season. I personally see this Navy loss as an extremely bad one for a few reasons, one we are going to fire another head coach, I believe Jimmy will go pro if not Golden as well and I think this years recruiting class will jump ship. So we are looking again at another 3 to 5 year rebuild with another huge question mark attached to it.
Food for thought, Florida has 50,000 students ND about 11,000. Sounds daunting. Now the part that matters, Florida endowment 1.25 billion ND $7 billion. ND can have anyone they want. If you think about it, unfortunately the real problem is higher up than CW and that is the real tragedy.
Absolutely right on brother!
Like I said–
ND administration hears what they want
I live in the shadow of Ohio State ( I know –please feel sorry for me in redneck land)
“THEY” like the idiot Mark May believe that ND can’t buy Charlie out because it’s too expensive. REALLY?
I served on the Graduate Union Board–ND could BUY a major state University if they wished. Arrogant administration, out of touch with a fan base-just aging this season with close win again and again-
The REAL problem is what I have posted here so many times
Arrogance, honorary doctorates to those who don’t deserve them and that same person thumbs his nose at our Catholic and Christian Values ( YES I am talking about Barry Obama-with no apologies)
and this same administration continues to keep Charlie-
It all goes together
Just wonder how long the endowment will stay that grand?
Ethics, morals and all can catch up with you in the strangest of ways–yes even in a football program–with arrogance under the Golden Dome. Our Lady must be in tears-not due to losses to Navy-but to what the program is becoming behind the scenes which lead to losses.
Sad-true and right on the money!
u r correct the d sucks i thought like many that with brown and Tenuta and Brow,we should have a great d, the scheme alone should have used r talent to out play the other team,against navy was a joke.they have a good team and always play hard.and ever year we start the game thinking just another high school team.oh shi-t the arn’t.U have to commet 1 man each to stop the option let the rest of the d pick it up ! for the fullback ! for the qb ! for the pitch u did not see this at all they were always out of place.two questions how can a line that out weighs the other guy by 300lbs not push them 3yards how can everyone say this is a great time for a pass but the coaches on the field or the player be ready for it the def. mistakes game after game just confuse the hell out of me
Its all about Charlie – I am amazed there were that many reporters in the room w/ Weis’ ego. Here is a snippet of Chalie Weis – “Now I can authoritatively get in front of these guys and say, okay, we want to talk about what happened, let’s talk about what happened, and just go through the game,” Weis explained. “Without being just totally condescending and demeaning, let them know that — you want to know why you lose? Here’s why you lose, and go right down the list.”
I have another theory about why they lose and it aint the players.
Weis is not inspiring. Even though he is an ND grad, I don’t think he’s ever heard the famous Knute Rocke pep-talk. During his tenure as head coach, I have only once seen him get into the face of a player. He is not demanding nor does he express his dissatisfaction when performance is unacceptable. For example, I am tired of the offensive line being penalized at a crucial time in the game or during a big play and have it called back. Holtz would have put people on the bench until they could execute the play without making “dumb” mistakes. Furthermore, Weis can’t run or even trot onto the field at the beginning of the game . . . to “lead” the team onto the stadium. Those of us who recall “Lou” and “Ara” remember them always being in front of the team when they came onto the field.
Weis thinks he is smarter than other coaches and his play calling is going to be confusing to the opposing team. Like throwing the ball long into the end zone on 3rd and short for an incompletion when a first down is all you need to keep the drive going; or, running the ball up the middle 3 consecutive times at the goal line. I must admit, that is confusing.
When you are in the Red Zone at least 7 times in the Navy game and can’t get points every time, it is time to go back to the drawing board. Clearly, the players expected it to be a “cake walk” and then were shocked when they were down by 21 points.
The state of ND football is exemplified by my own expectation and reaction. That is, I expected the Navy game to be close and was not “SHOCKED” that the Midshipmen beat the Irish. It is pretty bad when the historic “push-over” on the ND schedule beats the “idol” of college football twice in three years. The Navy Game is usually “Parent Weekend” at ND since it historically was not a “big game” and tickets were not in great demand. I wonder who ND Administration is going to pick for “Parent Weekend” going forward?
I don’t want to hear the argument that academic requirements prevent ND from getting top players. First, ND is getting top player. Secondly, Standford is a very academically competitive school too and it upset Oregon this weekend; and, Navy entrance requirements are darn high too and it just beat a supposed BCS Bowl bound (Yeah, right!) team.
u r right fade pass after fade the db were running to the conner faster then the receiver why did u not just throw under have the reciver star for the conner and just stop plus jimmy through them to far no room left to adjust charlie it is about out smarting the other team not saying they can’t stop me when i do the same thing over and over
ND’s Nad:
Great assessment. For anyone who says NDs academic requirements hurt their talent level, facts disprove this argument.
This is simply factually, INCORRECT!
Weis must win out to keep his job. Tenuta is a talentless asshole who should be fired TODAY.
Every game day I proudly hang a Notre Dame flag on my front porch. It usually stayed up until Monday morning when I was leaving for work. Even during the 3-9 season I put it up, because I knew good things were ahead. This past Saturday night I took it down in disgust.
Charlie Weis is the Jimmy Carter of college football coaches. Plenty of heart and good intentions, but a weak leader and bad decision maker. He also does not know how to instill passion in the team and get them fired up. Lou could do it and beat superior teams because of it. I’ve given him the benefit of the doubt time and time again but enough is enough.
I love reading the comments of both the irish lovers and the haters. I am an irish lover myself who has been sufferring through the CW years and the previous other loser coaches ND has had. The talent has been at ND but the weekly misteps are getting old. I have defended CW until this past week and I can’t anymore. Hayden has always been against ND I have not listenned to commentary on a live broadcast in over 10 years. I understand how my “Crimson Tide” friends felt when Parsegian coverred their game on TV.
As far as a new coach is concernned I would like to recommend Skip Holtz. He has to do better than what we have and his dad could assist the same way Don Shula helped hsi son at Alabama. Just a thought. Go Irish
I think a lot of alums would like to have Skip Holtz.
Skip Holtz, Nice Guy.
We already got a nice guy. A Good sport and a good loser as well. I’ve never seen anyone who loses with more class.
I’m sick of nice guys, good sports, and classy losers.
I like Jon Gruden. A in your face, no excuses, not settling for less, light a fire under your ass, kind of guy.
Problem with Gruden is that his act wears thin after a few years. But after 20+ years of a middle of the pack team, a few years of fire and brimstone would be a welcome change. I think he might be the only football coach actually capable of shaking down some thunder. CW spoke big about being nasty. GRUDEN IS NASTY!
I agree, let’s get Gruden in here asap.
Could you just imagine Gruden here. He grew up here as a kid. His father coached at ND. He knows a little something about ND lore.
He ran a pro-style offence in the NFL. The transistion on offence would be streamless.
He not one sided. He knows a little something about Defence and special teams as well.
And if it is true when they say that a team takes on the charateristics of it’s head coach. Oh my God! Talk a bout toughness, & nastyness.
Yeah, I know. He’s a NFL guy and not a college guy.But if he could get our team back to the point where we strike fear in our opponents that would be really cool.
I think that’s a very interesting concept. I’ve always liked him…..
I think he’d do well at ND.
Like any good company, school system, etc… A management team needs to look at the positive and negative aspects of the decision. Some aspects do outweigh the others. For instance, recruiting is a very large piece to a college football program. Firing Weis and/or Tenuta has its drawbacks especially for certain offensive/defensive recruits who might decommit from ND if Weis and/or Tenuta leaves. I think firing of a head coach/defensive coordinator, or whatever might be too costly at this junction.
I need to talk about money issue. I’m sure some alums are threating to pull money away from the program unless changes are made. Just not a few, I think a massive group will threaten the AD with the money bomb.
I’m sure these ND alums have connections to Urban Meyer in Gainsville. I agree with all of you that Urban will not come. Even with all of us saying no, the rich ND alums will still make a major push to bring Urban Meyer to South Bend if Weis is fired.
Spicey I,
CW is an outstanding recuiter, So is Corwin Brown and most of the staff. Not sure what Tenuta brings.
I heard that he’s a good yeller. Like to cuss a lot and scream, for what ever that’s worth.
I think that you have to Give CW the last 3 games of this year. All 3 will be tough games. If he wins them he will get some redemption.
Lose and you have to carefully consider the future.
Michigan will be better, so will Mich.St, Purdue,USC,Pitt
and Stanford. It would be nice to say that we are keeping pace with those programs, but I think we all realize that isn’t happening.
We have a lot of talent returning next. Too much I think to be wasted on poor coaching be it on offence or defence.
I for one will be keeping an eye on our commitments.
You just don’t get it. It doesn’t matter who we recruit. Under this regime we are terrible. 5 star, 6 star, 7 star we suck under weis!
How many more losses are we willing to suffer because “Weis and Brown are really great recruiters”. When you have built the stats that Weis has, what does it matter? Are we content to keep eating this sh*t sandwich because Weis is a good recruiter? He obviously isn’t getting what he need to out of these studs.
Weis is A good recruiter, not the ONLY good recruiter.
Get rid of Haten Hayden and fat face Hammond. Tony Roberts are you available? Horng? Hell, bring back Marv Albert to NBC…At least he’s impartial. Somewhat. Gotta get rid of those two. Let’s start the proceedings. Where do I sign?
I have been saying that for the past 5 years….I mean come on, Pat Hayden was a USC quarterback….Do you really think he is every hoping that Notre Dame wins a game?
Always remember, Weis was NDs 3rd choice. Great teams and coaches start with the defense, build it from the ground up, and then work on the offense.
12+ years of mismanagement by the ND braintrust is playing out.
I do think, because we’re in a catch 22, we should wait to see how the rest of the year plays out before firing Weis. There are no easy answers on this topic.
But Tenuta should be gone TODAY.
Not only was he the third choice, but his first recuiting year was a wash because of his NFL commitment.
Almost every offensive orented team has one of those off days. Whether it’s fumbles, drops, poor blocking or bad play calling. That’s where your top teams get plays from their defence or special teams to save the day.
For some reason our team seems to be split and not playing as a whole.
The mismanagement of the ND Brain trust is part of what I was referring to when ND as a whole forgot who they were
or WHOSE they were and arrogance was crowned king in an administration which honors some with “honorary doctorates”
that SAME administration
makes the bad mistakes by hiring Davie-a puppet and marshmallow of a character of a man-Willingham–out of his league and Weis out of whack with Tenuta.
It \ALL goes together folks.
We are ND-the saying goes
what the Administration hears is We are ND and we don’t have to answer to anybody -because of the lack of vision, knee jerk reactions,
bad timing, butt kissing and meanwhile it is bringing down a once great football program.
THAT is how the Administraion is connected to the current plight of this once great program.
Totally agree with you Irisheye. Totally agree.
Offer Lou the moon and bring him back.
Lou will not come back, but I love the thought.
How bout a letter about Tenuta?? I’ll sign that one. Great article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/ncf/news/story?id=4633485
Second chances. If there is one thing, and only one thing CW has going for him right now. It is a second chance road win agianst Pitt. First I think Pitt is the best team that we will face this season. They are better than USC. They have a QB that can throw, and a running back that can run. Their offensve line is big, strong and fast. Their Defence is ranked 21st. in the nation. And they are a plus +8 in turnovers.
Only a road win agianst a quality opponent(Ranked in the top 10) might save CW for another day.
So there are 3 possiable outcomes in this scenario. 1.CW & Co. do
something that they are not known for. Beat a top 10 team on the road. 2. Put up a valiant fight but fall just short. Or 3. Get absolutly pounded into oblivion by a superior team.
If you look at history, it’s choice 2 or 3 that will most likley happen. History can be wrong. The first step has already gone CW’s way. They are playing on the road, away from home. After last week’s disaster, being on the road is good. It’s very good.
Now, in his press converences this week he should wipe off the little smerk, sit up streight, and show some sence of urgency. Urgency, because CW is running out of time and season. With only 3 teams remaining, his second chances are almost gone. Make the most of you have Charlie.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fireweis/ sign it and tell everyone to sign it…
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/08/in-the-navy-where-film-study-works/
I still had some hope that Weiss could turn it around. Sad to say it but HE NEEDS TO GO! He is getting outcoached on a regular basis. Hard to see how we could be loosing like this with soo much NFL-type talent. HOW MANY NFL CALIBER PLAYERS DOES NAVY HAVE? NONE.
Maybe Boise State’s coach can be lured to Southbend. ND really screwed up when we let Urban go.
Reading your comments is far better entertainment than watching ND play. And we have to watch them because of the dumb ABC contract. Hope it goes away soon.
Then got off this site! The contract is on NBC idiot! Plus so long as loyal ND fans and ND haters like you are around, ND football will be nationally televised somewhere. The only thing that will change that is if ND’s slow descent into mediocrity continues and that haters simply get bored rooting against the sad Irish. Until then, keep on with the anti-ND sentiment since it guarantees the Irish national coverage. Thank you for you support of ND football.
Guys, who cares what offensive system the new coach will run. Urban Meyer won a national title in his 2nd year at UF with an entirely new offense. Bob Stoops won a title in year 2 with a new system. Jim Tressel won a title in year 2 with a new system. Saban went 12-2 in year 2 with a new system. Clausen and Tate are as good as gone anyhow. It is a perfect time to start over with Crist in a new system. Besides our schedule is very manageable next year. 5 years is plenty long to prove yourself. Think about it, the most meaningful thing that has happened in this coaching tenure is “almost” beating USC in 2005. It is time to change.
I think CW is a good offensive mind and has taken 2 QB’s and made them 1st round picks. He has recruited well and upgraded the talent. He is an alumnus and truly cares about ND. However, it just isn’t going to happen on his watch.
Go Irish!
I wonder how available Tony Dungy might be?
ND gets “upset” more than any other team in america. Wouldn’t be so bad if we were on the other side of a few upsets.Just a few. or even one.
It’s the same thing every week.
When we are the underdog, we lose. Then we struggle with everyone else.
I missed most of the fourth quarter. Somehow my TV ended up in the back yard. Screw it. I didn’t like that set anyway.
A principal reason for the loss against Navy is arrogance. The ND coaching staff believes that its highly recruited players are simply better than the opponent’s players and over the course of the game the difference will become evident. The Navy triple option threat begins with a dive by the fullback usually to the right side of the center. Navy uses huge splits in its line to isolate and run by the D-line players. The rushing by the fullback (or the QB following the fullback into the hole) was apparent in its opening drive following the fumble. At no time for the rest of the game did the Irish D line change its alignment and put anybody directly over the center. Even on the Navy 4th down play, ND did not have anybody directly lined up over the center, allowing the Navy drive to continue and lead to a score. ND was outcoached – and all the best recruits in the world cannot overcome inept coaching and arrogance.
Before the Navy game I wrote that the talent on ND is improving and CW should not be fired. But there has always been something wrong under CW. It has been repeatedly said that the overall team performance is lacking while individual performances seem to stand out. This is a team with talent but with a deficient head coach. I think we can all agree on that. You simply cannot lose to Navy when not one of the Navy players would have been recruited by ND. So there’s a serious problem here.
How to rectify it? The key is to bring someone in with name recognition, someone young and enthusastic, whereby recruiting will not suffer.
Jon Gruden is that coach.
Another point: I am so sick and tired of those fades in the end zone. Floyd got hurt on a fade, and yet CW does it again. CW is ruining Floyd’s college career with this shit. He’s ruining Rudolph’s career. Clausen, a big time talent, has suffered from poor play-calling.
Enough is enough. I think CW has done a nice job recruiting talent, but there’s a serious disconnect on the field. It’s time for a change.
Weiss must go. I am sitting in my Brooklyn flat watching ND lose to Navy two years in a row. Luckily I was piss drunk at the end. My wife found me in the fetal position clutching my Rosary beads.
Lets get someone in here who wants to have huge, beefy Mid-Western farm boys pushing guys around on the O-Line and D-Line. Guys who attack the passer on D, and create huge holes for the Allen’s and Riddicks of ND on offense. Charlie proved the skill players will come to ND (the man can recruit), but you need to also recruit great lineman. Charlie has fallen head over heels for the skill guys, but every game is a nail biter. ND should have had some easy games this year. However, we made every QB look like Payton Manning?
All great points. Finally someone with the balls to say it like it is. P-man well said my boy. Well said. Get the big guys in the trenches.
Also, can we please throw bags over the heads of Tom Hammond and Pat Hayden and just beat them to death. Seriously, I am tired of listening to, and correcting these 2 screwballs. They get players names wrong, they apparently can’t read numbers because they were harping on Golden Tate’s blocking when it was Mike Ragone, then something with Harrison Smith, but it was McCarthy. Those are jsut little things though. If they mentioned the BCS one more time, I might have driven from Texas just to whoop on them a bit.
And Alex Flanagan, she’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but whoever allowed her to say that “Notre Dame has coached Floyd on how to fall so that he doesn’t re-injure his collarbone” is a moron. Did we tell Navy though…”Hey guys, Michael Floyd’s got this collarbone thing, so if you could not tackle him on his left side we’d all appreciate it, thanks.” Just something I saw that I found to be a ridiculous comment…you CAN NOT control how you fall on the football field…I promise (especially when you’re throwing fades to the guy.)
HAHAHAHA! Excellent points! NBCs coverage is a train wreck.
I’ve been saying this for years. Plus, 1) since it seems many on this board are superstitious, why not get rid of the Hammond and Hayden after this season? ND hasn’t done a thing with them as the NBC crew. 2) Since some of you seem to have the technical skills to start petitions online, let’s start one to dump the current NBC booth team. Hayden roots against ND under his breath every game. He tries to feign objectivity but loves our current plight. Dump these guys and let’s see if that will add to the change of scenery ND football need overall!
Yes, I’m disappointed in the loss to Navy. Things like this shouldn’t happen AGAINST NAVY! But at the same time…we should’ve won 41-21, or 48-21, the way I see it. I give Navy props for the first half, but you can not sit here and say that Navy outplayed ND in the second half? The fumble by Jimmy at the 1-yd line (which I questioned him not running out of bounds, but at the same time LOVE the toughness); the perfectly thrown ball off Floyd’s back (seriously, could Jimmy be more accurate? If he misses right or left it’s an incomplete pass); 2 missed FG’s; And of course the 1st and Goal and get nothing (should’ve been 6, but this falls clearly on Weis–toss to Hughes…why not Sam Young??). Notre Dame outplayed Navy in the second half and should have easily won this game.
I’m not saying Charlie is great because he blows, but to say that Navy outworked us for 60 minutes and there were no adjustments made is ridiculous. Navy scored ONE TIME in the second half…on a pass! Notre Dame NEVER punted, but left, what felt like, a million points on the field. Jimmy’s fumble and the ball off Floyd’s back does not mean Navy outplayed us by any means. We just had a couple bad breaks. I’d still like to know what the play call was on the Floyd pass because he was blocking for a run the entire play (even after the ball hit him in the back). Navy did some things well…in the FIRST HALF. The second half was ALL IRISH. We gained 353 yards in the second half, Navy…214. Yeah, they’re going to get their yards rushing, but I think after the first half fiasco, holding them to 7 points and forcing them to punt 4 out of 5 possessions is making some adjustments. As well, Navy never turned it over, so Notre Dame was legitimatly stopping them. Meanwhile, Notre Dame NEVER punted because we were moving the ball. Just one too many mistakes.
Navy played well, not great, we just turned the ball over in key spots. And if Navy played SO GREAT, then why did ND still have a chance. Most games I watch, if one teams plays GREAT and the other sucks so bad, the game is not very close, but last time I checked 23-21 is pretty close.
It may sound like it, but I don’t justify losing to Navy, but I think some of us are taking closed minded look at this loss. GO IRISH!!
I propose a trade – Norv Turner from the Chargers in exhange for Charlie Weiss. Charlie is more suited to an NFL style team and professional players. Norv is better suited to the college game. Remember, Pete Carroll was a but in the pros but did ok at the college level?
with floyd and tate and rudolph u can call any offense you want it goingto be good.
CW great offense mind is throw it up to tate or floyd and there is a chance that they can come down with the ball. cw did one thing well;which is get studs to ND at the skilled pos.
3 man rush 8 man in coverage. ND has a huge OLine- Navy tremendously undersized.
get what i am saying…. GREAT COORDINATOR? That is not what i see.
DEFENSE 4-4 stack on short yrdage and goaline ?????? maybe give the appearance u t going to take awway the qb sneak.
Playing the triple option with 7 men in the box most of the game????????
how about a little creativity on d
You all need to understand fire weis lose some verbals with the 2010 class. But what does it matter. The talent we have is coddled and underdeveloped. Problem with hiring Gruden is that he’s a West Coast offense guy like tyrone. Weis uses the Erhardt-Perkins offense he inherited from Parcells. So..If the talent has been recruited to fit this offensive system then hire accordinly. Here’s the Parcells coaching tree. Romeo Cornell, Sean Patton, Tom Coughlin, Eric Mangini, Tony Sporano (dolphins) and Maurice Carthon (chiefs). In a tough spot here…Can’t get aguy who’s gonna shock the current offensive system. But you gotta make a move. Of course this changes if Clausen leaves… all bets are off. Crist’s run/throw option style can do well in a Urban Meyer type system as well documented in his High School years. And we all know money is no object. He’ll leave UF if the money is better, period. Don’t forget he’s losing his QB! Hope the knee feels better, Dayne! Bottomline..Lose to Pitt…Weis not leggit!
You all have to decide…Keeep chawlee and hope recruits stay verbalized Or fire chunky and get a proven winner with overachievers. How does Nick Saban win 19 of the last 21 with shula’s players? Give me a break…Can’t hire Gruden he’s west coast offense like Ty..Gotta hire a guy familar with Erhardt-perkins system. The only proven winner that mirrors this system is guys that have come through the parcells system. Those coaches included are: Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Nick Saban, Tom Coughlin, sean Pa.
First off I tip my hat to Navy. They are not only a program who has turned themselves into a solid team but they also resemble something special that should be celebrated in a day in which we are fighting two wars whether ypu agree or not with the reasons we are fighting for. These men are putting their lives on the line for us and our freedom. I would rather ND lose to ND than anyone else on their schedule.
On another less important note no doubt is the subject of ND coaches. I have heard all the recommendations from Meyer to Rockne. I think Meyer is a pipe dream unfortunately. Rockne may be a tough order as well. Urban has a great situation at FU. Why would he leave. We no longer live in the, which limits ND’s argument of having the only national coverage. I think ND’s only play is to go after an up and coming coach like Paterson, Petersen or Kelly who are eager to join a bigger program to give them a chance at a title or take an established coach who has proven himself. One name mentioned that makes total sense is Phil Fulmer. I am shocked this guy is available and wants to come back. please ND stop this and hire a winner like Fulmer.
ESPN just reports that David Amerson pledged to NCST…(prior to Saturday)on some reports he had ND as a leader. This is the problem with the Fire Weis chant…the recruties hear it…
Could you imagine a competent DC to go along with the current ND offence? I think the offence is tired of having to pull the defense butt out of the fire…a viable option would be fire Tenuta and let Corwin Brown take back over…wasn’t the D under Corwin last year much better…the D was a lot better with less talent…damn I’m still pissed!!!
Tenuta should be fired on the spot. The defense doesn’t have great talent but has enough horses to get the job done against BC & Navy.
I’m sick to my stomach 24 hours later…on one hand fire Weis and lose quality recruits and wait for 3 more years to have a good season…or DONT fire Weis and take the chance that he will pull his head out of his &&& which includes firing that jerk off Tenuta…not only does he sux he is an arrogant jerk…have you watched how condescending he is in his interviews? Like to meet him an a back ally…
It’s about time you hopefuls awakened!!! It was just a matter of time. You have been cursed ever since you know when. What happened is KARMA. Somehow I knew the jinx would get you in the end. TW was not a great coach. However, CW has not been either. HOWEVER…contract extension and millions and I hope HE STAYS. YOU DESERVE IT, folks. Once he leaves, the dark cloud will disappear and just maybe, maybe…ND will rise again.
Charlie rarely beats winning teams and struggles to beat losing teams. There is no doubt that either the coach or ND standards will be changing.
It doesn’t matter how this would affect recruiting. We just got beat by a team whose players were unquestionably less desirable than ND’s players as high school recruits. I heard one commentator say that none of the Navy players were recruited by ND. (They weren’t good enough!) Does it matter if we keep getting great recruits and keep getter beat by less talented teams? (Syracuse last year was ridiculous).
It takes a certain type of coach for college vs. pros. Successful NFL coaches rarely, if ever, make good college coaches. It takes different skills and talents.
ND should get a proven, ethical college coach who has already shown the ability to motivate, educate and ‘outcoach’ more talented teams.
Charlie had his chance and the results seem quite clear at this point.
I like guys like Fitzgerald at Northwestern or Harbaugh at Stanford – doing much more with much less at very good schools. Pony up the money and they will come, they can’t get to the promised land at those schools. I live in Pittsburgh where we have Wannstedt who early on was on the hot seat but had incremental improvement every year and said “judge me when my first recruits are seniors.” Wannstedt would kill to have the ND talent pool. I don’t see this thing turning around, when you have 4 skill players who will play on Sunday, you have to beat Navy.
Bingo. When you have at least four skill players who will play on Sunday, you HAVE to be able to beat Navy. Have to. If you cannot, you have weak coaching.
Anchors Aweigh NAVY.
I applaud the Middies.
They deserved this win and they got it.
14-0 at halftime.ReallY?
I remember in 93 when ND trailed NAVY at half the week before the Florida State game. Well ND poured it on and won in 93 and I thought the same thing would happen here.
However, Lou was in the Players faces pulled them down by their face mask and gave orders to kick ass.
Charlie is unemotional and stands there with his science of the game and x and o charts.
COLLECTED DATA AND GRAPH AND CHART WILL NOT WIN GAMES!!!
The Defense was torn to shreds ( again, thanks Tenuta for te-nothing)
and the Offense as previously mentioned left several points out there.
I respect Navy–this is a team that almost beat Ohio State in their precious “shoe” ad nauseum.
This is a team which lost to TEMPLE!!!!
This ND team has the ability to win
but cannot ( as has been stated many times)
put the opponet away and THIS week only played with
spark when desperation came as the clock was marching to zero.
Coaches need to IGNITE the players just as GOOD TEACHER inspires the
students in a class.
THis has got to stop.
I will love ND until I die
as it is my Alma Mater.
However, this SUCKS.
ENOUGH!
The Nation LOVES to hate ND and the way things have been going ND Football is giving them fuel for the fire.
If we do or do not keep Charlie, there will be more fuel for the fire.
Critics be damned, let’s look inside and see what ND has to do.
TENUTA has to Te- go. ( I like messing his name up because he has messed up many things for ND)
Charlie-Michigan Game-3 17 to go and we need a first down and cannot get it Michigan gets ball back and U of M ( who is falling apart)
wins.
Surprise -Michigan State-Interception due to Blitz. ( One point for Tenuta)
On and ON Purdue coach calls time out
ND collects thoughts and wins.
Washington -sent me to the Urgent Care -wide open receivers -tie the game
USC-valiant -one second -at least it wasn’t a blow out -sigh
BC-not pretty ND is 10 times the team BC is and should have won by 26 or more
Washington State-thank you.
NAVY- I salute you–and am not ashamed because they had a coach with a plan and energy and the intangibles and they loved to mess with the lack of defense on ND ( thanks Tenutat for te-nothing again)
PITT-I am SCARED-( I lived in the Middle East–I don’t get scared that often-but I am scared to death that it will be a spanking because the team is down and NOW on the Road–against –yep-a WINNING RANKED team_)
U CONN hung in there with Cincinnati and they have soemthing to prove
Stanford left coast lovers of Pelosi from the whacked out bay have a big boy out there in coach and player that is no gimme game.
So–Motor City Bowl Anybody????
ANyone?
I would not call this a disaster season
but things are unfolding rather negatively in a season with
HIGH expecations–
and we at ND are being let down AGAIN.
Hope the AD and the Powers to be will not be like those IN Washington
and they will at least Listen to the people
This has to stop
( It is not Gruden folks-he is not ND type
and he is a loose cannon)
Rick Kelly?
Maybe.
Nick Saban?
Urban?
Lou?
anyone?
Congrats to Navy-let’s give them credit-and meanwhile look at the many problems that need to be addressed.
One more time-
Tenutat-time to Te—GO!
It’s all over but the crying. There’s probably 2 more loses ahead and UCONN may not be a pushover for the Irish. A less talented Navy team executed beatifully and outclassed ND, good coaching! All the advocates for CW and his coaching staff, where are you now and what’s the excuse. Sounds like many of you are finally coming around. Maybe we should thank Charlie because I think many folks have been fooled and this game really exposed his true identity. ND will have to finish the season with present coaching staff then get rid all of them.
Yes we might have to take one step backwards (recriuting for now, who goes to NFL early, new system, etc) to take two steps forward. I do not think chasing Urban Meyer is the answer. He snubbed us once for $$$$ and he’s got a very dirty team that he does not discipline well. The other three coaches mentioned earlier, yeah – NO. You need a Pete Carrol type – Gruden. When was the last time you saw CW jump up and down in cheer or frustration or embrace his players in celebration after a big play? And why is his kid on the field with a headset?
It’s coming to an end, The ND AD has to be getting heat now to get rid of him. There is really no arguement to keep him beyond this year. It’s a damn shame how all this talent there is being wasted. Return to glory days, not so fast my friends. We’ll have to wait yet once again.
Frank,
Well written. Had to DVR the game and had a couple of thoughts:
1. Why were the linebackers/defensive backfield so far off the line of scrimmage? Navy had what, three pass attempts?
2. If we can move the ball successfully using the two-minute offense even when Navy knows we need to score and score quick, yet still put it in the endzone, why not utilize this more often in the gameplan?
3. Riddick looks good, Tate wasn’t involved in the first half, it seems the staff has forgotten about Rudolph…I’m confused with some of this.
4. Spicy, why on earth would Urban leave Florida. He is essentially a god in Florida, owns the state and his SEC main rivals, is in a recruiting hotbed, and the weather is a lot better.
Regardless of these thoughts, I love my Team. 2 out of the last 3 will be tough, but I will be watching…and rooting. Go Irish!
i live in Jacksonville FL. Urban isnt going anywhere, you are correct
Navy is a good team, no doubts there,
but still we should have been able to
beat them by several scores. Frank’s
absolutely right, there’s no way to justify
this, it’s totally embarrassing. Charlie,
I’m sorry, I’ve been in a wait and see mode
for a while but now it is time.
Good lord, we had better take two out of the
next three or this season really is a disaster.
Go Irish, Beat Panthers!
The Charlie era will be remembered as the story of an over paid under achiever CEO of ND Football. Perhaps lessons will be learned. I would not doubt some additional concessions will be on the discussion board for any incoming coach. I dont think they will be anything earth shattering but concesions none the less to encourage recruiting efforts. Perhaps whoever the AD is, they may stop and consider tangible evidence of improvement measured primarily with wins prior to any consideration of any contract extensions. I truly belive the head coaching position at ND remains a cherished position by a lot of good coaches. Money issues aside – a lot of them have egos that constantly need to be challanged. To finally gain national respect for a program that has been down for so long, to take over a program that is televised every week with such a huge fan base and to go down in history as a head coach at Notre Dame is intriguing to say the least.
The future for most ND fans will rest on whether Swarbrick has the fortitude to make the coaching change and in doing so state clearly the goal is to return ND among the elites of college football or whether the administration will continue to seemingly tolerate ND football as simply a revenue source. It seems to heading towards the latter. Time will tell.
in the end how do people feel history will look at the Weiss/Clausen era? Who will be the scapegoat? Will people view Clausen as a great player on a badly coached team with a horrible defense but great offensive weapons, or a player who never lived up to his credentials when he first arrived (assuming he doesnt come back next year and nothing changes).
I see Clausen now as the only player with the Irish drive to win “what though the odds be great or small”. He may have been cocky his first 2 years, but he has matured now. I don’t expect him to stay next year…I wouldn’t if I were him in the middle of this mess.
you must mean Golden Tate .Jimmy is a wooooos
Right, he’s a “wooooos.” The kid’s been playing through turf tow on his plant foot almost all year and has come back into the game every time he’s been knocked around. He’s been gutsy all season long. Where have you been?
Nate, I have watched or listened to almost every ND game for the last 45 years. That’s where I have been. He caused the sack himself by not stepping up, He fumbled and then feigned head injury. Did you notice him throwing his mouth piece out when he was lying on the ground with a head injury. Quit the dramatics , he ain’t tough.
Yeah,
He took 58 sacks in 2007 (when he was 20lbs. lighter) and continued to play on. Turf toe is one of the most painful injuries you can have when playing. I know because I’ve had it. But he sucks it up and drives on anyway, putting up video game-like numbers.
Granted, he’s no Bob Driscoll. Now there’s a hard case!
I am more than embarassed. Since I am an Eagles fan I cna see the similarities betwee Charlie and Aney Reis besides both are way too heavy. They are arroogant and refuse to see what is working and not workign. For Temple to run all over Navy and ND to loose is unaccepatable. He should have run first and then open up the passing . Navy was only rushing 3 guys and still we could do nothing. Defense is terrible; it looks like a bull fight with a bunch of matadors on the field. I like Charlie but it is time for him to go. Forget aboout Grudenm; we do not need someone who tries to be above the program. I feel terrible after yesterday and loosing 2 out of 3 to Navy and then having to go 3 OT’s las year is unacceptable. Clean house now.
Believe me guys, we will “not” win out.
We were out-coached again. We showed no intensity coming out. The gameplan
was no bad by Weis I want to throw up.
1. Tate was not even involved in the first half.
2. Why do we toss the ball to Hughes at the 2 yard line. Why ? Why?
3. Why do we take out Riddick when he was running great and making Navy miss.
Riddick was not involved anymore. I don’t understand. Why ?
4. Can Brian Smith shut-up and make a tackle. He’s overrated.
5. When we were down at half-time, I know we are not coming back, because
Weis has not shown me anything that he can bring a team back from behind
at halftime.
A much better question at the two is why did Hughes NOT score? What is it about our offensive line under Weis that cannot deliver? I think a pitch to Hughes was the right call; the result was wrong because, again, our offensive line refused to push ahead.
Now, maybe Weis is too predictable. Maybe a toss over the middle to a tight end was the better answer at that point, but we should have scored on either play.
Charlie totally went away from the guys that got him here. The play calling was absolutely horrible. Towards the end of the first half – 1st down and goal you throw (gee on first down really?!!) yes throw to Rudolph over the middle – score. Charlie who is just too damn predictable runs 3 times and gets stuffed. I do believe that was another chip shot field goal that could have meant the game as things worked out. Definitely hats off to Navy – they has a great game plan did not get happy when ahead and took care of business for 60 minutes something I am still waiting for ND to do since Charlies arrival.
Remember one thing – ND did not simply lose this game. They were dominated from the starting whistle. Nothing against Navy at all but as an Irish fan it is simply unexcusable. There is only one remedy. Dont inset the koolaid iv and pretend it will better next year. This program needs a different direction.
I am an ND faithful presently living in Pittsburgh. It is pretty hard for me to imagine the Irish taking out a team with Deon Lewis at RB and jonathan Baldwin at WR. And why will Toby Gerhart not bust us up? Just like Navy we know exactly what pitt and stanford are going to do, they could even let us in the huddle and they will run roughshod over us. The Tenuta hire seemed so cool at the time and has been catastrophic!! We thought he was so great for dominating us, “in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.”
Frank, your comments are right on the money. At halftime when CW was asked why Tate and Rudolph had not been involved in the offense, he said something like, “well, we only had 4 possessions in the first half.” OK, does that mean Tate and Rudolph were not supposed to be in the game plan until at least the fifth possession?? Riddick was chewing up the Navy defense and yet he was not in when ND was near the goal line. Hughes is a decent running back, but he should not be running wide. Riddick was on fire and yet he ended up on the sidelines. What ever happened to using your tight end near the goal line? All we throw is fades to the wide-outs. Our tight ends, as talented as they are, have been completely left out of the game plans. As far as the defense goes, the word “pathetic” comes to mind.
THe mere fact that this sentence appeared in your post is telling:
Navy just wore down the defensive line throughout the game with substitutions few and far between.
To think that this team, which stayed with Southern Cal, was outplayed by a Navy team that had lost to Temple is so frustrating, irritating, discouraging, baffling, aggravating and plain absurd. It has to be coaching. We can blame the players for not getting up for the game, but whose job is it to get the players up for every single game?
The Irish won’t win out, svenghali. We won’t have to worry about that “if.” I’ve seen five years of Weis. I know that we won’t win out. In fact, Novembers are horrible under CW’s watch. He loses his intensity and the players lose their intensity. There is absolutely no excuse for this loss. We were outplayed. We were out-coached. We were out-witted. And we were a much better team than Navy.
The worst part of this is that ND has its best recruiting class under Weis this year. And, we still haven’t filled it. So, this loss is devastating. Unless something fairly dramatic happens — we win at Pitt, for example — we are in really for a long period of mediocrity. It’s terrible. Weis demanded this high dollar contract after starting strong and here we are, looking like we have to keep him just to keep his recruits coming.
Why so upset about losing to Navy and what does Navy’s loss to Temple prove? Only reason you mention it, I bet, is because the CFN, NBC, and ESPN pundits that know nothing about Navy or Temple mention it.
Navy lost to Temple (7-2) by 3. Navy’s starting quarterback played just 7 plays in that game. Tough loss for sure, but both teams are solid in 2009. Temple is having a good year. Be glad ND is not playing Temple.
Look at who Navy has lost to this season: Ohio State, Pitt, and Temple. The three combine for only five losses on the year.
Michigan is 5-5, 1-5 in the Big Ten, and ND lost to Michigan. The Wolverines are worthless this season. The Michigan game should frustrate, irritate, discourage, baffle, and aggravate you far more than Navy. Navy’s talented.
It’s not 2006 anymore. 2007 happened, so did 2009. The current senior class at Navy will graduate without losing in South Bend. The streak is over.
The reason that people are so upset about losing to Navy has little to do with the 40-something-year streak. It has to do with the direction of the program. Why are we losing to Navy when our massive offensive line outweighs theirs by like 20 pounds per guy? How is it that their offensive line can handle our defensive line so well?
I’m not saying we’re always better than Navy. In some years, Navy brings some really talented kids and we’ve been able to beat them. But, this year, we have talented kids. And, they’re not working together as a team. There is a reason for that.
Sure, we lost to Michigan and Michigan sucks. We played them early and at a time when I thought we had not been as prepared as we should have been.
By November, though, a well-coached team is rolling through inferior teams. Sure, Navy is tough. But, Navy is less talented than the Irish. They’re just much better prepared.
And, maybe I’m wrong about the talent level at ND. Maybe we’re weak. But, my hunch is that we have talented kids. Jimmy Clausen is an excellent athlete with an amazing arm. Michael Floyd and Golden Tate are quick, solid receivers who have run good routes and work very aggressively to catch everything that’s thrown their way.
Armondo Allen and Robert Hughes are big strong running backs. Offensively, we should have scored many more points than 21. In the red zone the kids just deteriorated.
Maybe we need Temple’s coach. But, we’ll be back. Either CW will bring us back or someone else will bring us back, but the Irish will be back.
Teo:
You MISSED the point with your own view of politics–which I respect your right to have.
However, I am a conservative Independent for the most part.
( On some issues, I could care less)
You are right -all life is Sacred. But you cannot deny the strange arrogance of the administration with Davie, Willingham and Weis and their inability to say they made a mistake in all three.
They continue to make mistakes and make a mockery of major decisions at Notre Dame. I am not talking about Bush–you were. It is not, however, in the best interest of a CATHOLIC University to allow him to receive an Honorary Degree while he indeed is rather indifferent to Catholic Views. To speak here is one thing, to honor him is wrong. THAT is crossing the line.
Furthermore, this administration is crossing the line by NOT doing something about the Football program ( far less important in real life) but the CONNECTION between the two is something you have missed for your dislike of George Bush.
You may still miss the point.
AND NO –we do NOT need Temples’ Coach.
We need NAVY’s Coach.
You make some good points–but I hope you will at LEAST hear my points and love of ND because we are losing our way–in some ways–and that endowment will not last if we dare stay arrogant.
AND that endowment is connected to the Entire University–yes -directly or indirectly to the Football Fighting Irish -my favorite team. Again, I respect Navy.
They deserved the win.
I have listened to your views.
Now get pass the Bush comments and see MY views and love for ND.
I am a graduate and proud and am scoffed at daily while living near the land of the Scarlet and Gray -ad nauseum at O. State in Columbus.
Pride-in the negative sense of the word-goes before a fall.
Proverbs-you know from the Bible-which our Univeristy is built upon.
My hat’s off to Navy. And Temple apparently is building a solid program. But here’s the deal. Those programs may have scared ND in the past, but Notre Dame took care of good teams consistently until Davie/Willingham/Weis.
Navy and Temple if we played them, would have been wins for ND and good
showings for the other teams. I want to be careful to respect Navy and Temple, but Notre Dame until 1997, ran such a solid program that only a few of the best teams had any real shot.
Now Notre Dame is a theme park to the past. You have NBC, a new stadium, massive marketing, and now Main-street Notre Dame, Disney Style, with fake Irish/Rudy music, another bogus bookstore, and the feeling, they want to charge you to breathe, “Irish Air”.
And maybe by honoring a man who advocates the killing of the unborn, Notre Dame truly has cursed itself.
I don’t know. But Weis, while a great offensive coordinator, and maybe a decent head coach in the NFL, is not the guy for Notre Dame. Not even if we were to join the Ivy League.
Not sure how or if at this point Notre Dame gets back to it’s historical place. I know this, without Notre Dame, I have no interest in Division 1 football. I’ll watch highschool ball before I watch a bunch of gang landers.
Notre Dame has honored one who cares little for the unborn. ON the Senate floor he was rather indifferent by voting “present” and the PC at ND gave him an “honorary doctorate”
Contributions to ND are down and what goes around comes around. 50 million in this case.
Is every football player or the program responsible?
No. Does the Obama mania have an effect on the future culture of the campus? Yes.
Has Notre Dame cursed itself?
Time will tell.
A brilliant University is showing the stench of arrogance, out of touch with its beliefs, non-Catholic and just plain Non-Christian in some aspects. Pride goes before a fall.
Davie was a two faced man to Lou. Lou brought him on board and Davie was the Puppet while Wadworth was the Puppetier. That era turned out to be 35-25 and then, like now, the Irish could lose ANY game. O’Leary was hired and oops–he lied.
Quick, get Willingham at Stanford. Smoke and mirrors and bye-bye.
Weis has been given 5 years to Willingham’s 3–and I THOUGHT the program was heading in the right direction. Tenuta-te nothing.
Time to te-go. We need a defense, special teams and some testosterone and electric on the sidelines.
The Athletes are there–but the switch is off, is it not?
I love the Irish.
I love the OLD ND and that is what made us great.
WHEN WE HAVE FORGOTTEN WHERE WE CAME FROM, WE WILL FORGET WHERE WE ARE GOING.
Does God care about Football?
I highly doubt it.
But-=-when the fruits of the
Spirit are absent in many ways from a University and Program we cannot expect God to bless it. For those on the far left-this may offend you.
Tough. Good. Read it.
ND stood for something with Holtz and Ara and Devine.
IN some ways, it still does with many good individuals.
If we humble ourselves and think of the Log Cabin on the Lake and the Spirit there, we can truly say ” We are ND”
Until then, it is empty words as we live in an age of Barbarism.
Wake up the Echoes?
It is more than just a loss to Navy. I congratulate them.
Heck, I applaud Temple.
ND, has forgotten and the direction of both the University and the Football Program is one to contemplate.
We should be ND-
an UNCHANING MESSAGE in a CHANGING WORLD.
Does anyone have the leadership and backbone to actually make ND what is could be and what is was?
Time will tell.
Congrats to Navy-they deserved it. The leaders of tomorrow. They are a class act.
Bush cared so much for the unborn he decided to launch an invasion in Iraq.
All life is sacred: born and unborn. Your political focus on the unborn is convenient for you. It’s unlikely to diminish the destruction of human life so long as one side is allowed to be “pro life” while unilaterally invading another nation and destroying millions of lives.
Notre Dame football hasn’t lost its luster merely because it allowed Obama to speak to its students. That is a faux argument. It lost its luster when it hired Ty Willingham and followed that bad hire with Charlie Weis.
Gerry Faust lost to Air Force badly. He was awful
Wow -someone put my thoughts down with respect to cursing ourselves with the whole Obama thing. Regardless if you are conservative leaning, liberal leaning or indifferent – ND stands for something that it sold out when honoring the president and that isn’t the only time in the last 4 years. I hope that they do get back to the basics.
Temple guy is way right.You coach is charismatic and tough. Another “jersey” guy who actually played at Penn State. We (ND) should consider him along with the Navy coach.Iam ND’77 and my father ND’52 are both also Ex Navy. ND is the second largest source of Naval officers trailing only Annapolis itself. Our most embarrasing losses have been to BC not Navy. The safety sack was all on Jimmy, he doesn’t step up. Review the film, you will see what I mean. He bails when he should step into the pocket ala Tom Brady
Take a strong look at how many Freshman QB’s we face this year with this light of a schedule we should have walked with a 12 and 0 record.
I rewatched the game and I also believe there is someone working in the stat office padding KLM’s stats, I rewatched the game he DID NOT have a sack, Ian Williams did! KLM DID NOT have 7 tackles he had 3, and when EJ was in he had 2 but on the stat sheet: 0…. what’s up with that??? EJ and Sean Cwynar should have been in more and Toryan smith Should have been at MLB alongside Manti because B.Smith was clueless everytime Navy did that FB dive…
The point about the lack of a Dline rotatioin is Key, the same thing happened against Michigan: hence the similar results.
Is there a serious petition drive going to get rid of Charlie? Will this make a difference?
The complete absence of Tate from the gameplan in the first half is baffling to me. Floyd comes back, so we just stop utilizing him? He almost single-handedly won the game once he was involved.
Could not agree with you more….
I’d take Toryan Smith to stop their fullback over Brian “All Mouth-No Arms” Smith. Toryan led the team in tackles against Navy last year, but I didn’t see him in on a single down. Toryan isn’t a fan favorite, but his abilities are tailor made for this type of game, as was proven last year.
Gary Gray has proven to be our most physical corner, but all I saw was Darrin Walls playing patty-cake with Navy WR’s all day.
I don’t agree with the prevailing opinion on the 4th quarter sacks. Small, fast DE’s is NOT a disadvantage when it comes to rushing the passer. It’s practically the prototype, even in the NFL. When you know the pass is coming, big tackles get beaten in that situation more times than not.
Navy should be a ranked team although they still aren’t. Yeah, they lost to Temple, but the Owls have won 7 straight and could play a lot of teams tough.
If the Irish win out, although they haven’t shown much this year to say they will, there are some reasons Weis will have to keep his job. Pitt is now top 10 and Stanford is a serious threat to beat USC. Three wins in four weeks against 3 ranked teams with a loss to a 9-3 ranked Navy team won’t seem as dismal as everyone feels today. ND would also reclaim the top spot in all-time win pct. with what’s going on at Michigan.
I’m not supporting Weis. I’m just trying to point out that there’s a lot left to play for.
Frank,
You made a point I saw in the game, why is Hughes running that toss sweep. Theo Riddick was running the ball better and should have been in the game. Also CW tries to get to cute in the red zone and out smart everyone, just line up and shove the ball down the other teams throat or run a veer where you stretch the defense and allow the back to cut up. Finally, there is no justifying this loss and I also agree that the defense is lost. Tenuta needs to go and Corwin Brown should be calling the defense, he did a better job last year. If CW stays which at this point if he doesn’t win out and win the bowl game I don’t think he will be back. However if we are firing CW and hiring a new coach than lets make sure we hire the right one. We need a college coach and should make the decision after the season before signing day. Here are the three I think we should look at 1) Kelly at Cincy 2) Shiano at Rutgers 3) Boise coach. If none of them want the job we should expand the search to a coordinator in college from a successful program, but lets make a solid pick that fits ND.
I couldn’t disagree more with those three choices for a coaching replacement. Kelly is over-rated. Cincy is in the terrible Big East and they play no one out of conference.
Clearly Weis has gotten worse since 5 years ago with Willinghams players he beat Navy and only had 2 losses at the same point against tougher opponents. Our schedule this year has been down and he still lost 3 games.
It needs to be a coach with head coaching experience. John Gruden is the No. 1 coach on my radar… Not sure about the alums radar though. Kelly from Cincy is a good replacement. He has been a winner at Western Michigan and now at Cincy. He will be highly talked about all around the country.
Now what I think the alums might be talking about is throwing all the money they can at Urban Meyer. I personally don’t care for a coach who has already said “No” to ND. The alums are the bosses and I think this is the direction they will go.
Gruden will not coach at ND he is an NFL person. He does not want to come back to college. I don’t know if he would be a good fit for ND because he can be brutal on QBs. Also when he ran the Bucs they did not play that well. I agree it does have to be a coach with head coaching experience.
Central Michigan dude!
Kelly.
Urban would never take the ND job at this point. He wants to build a Florida dynasty. And, he’s doing it.
He’ll never leave that place to go to South Bend. Named after a pope or not.
I don’t like Gruden. He is a popular name because he was an NFL coach and because his father coached at ND. Nothing he really did ever impressed me. He won a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy’s team and played a pathetic team that day when the Bucs CRUSHED the Raiders.
I would love Urban Meyer as coach, but have no idea why Meyer would ever consider coming to ND. He has the perfect setup right now at Florida. It doesn’t matter how much money we throw at him…. if it was about money, he would have come to ND the first time.
Agreed. Let the coaching search begin.
Frank, I completely agree with this. Through the last 5 years, I’ve been loyal to Weis — even after the Syracuse and 2007 Navy meltdowns. However, after yesterday, it would be embarrassing if Notre Dame retained Weis after this year to say the least. Actually, i think it would be a crime and an indirect, unconscious acknowledgment that ND’s standards have been drastically lowered if Weis isn’t fired after this year. Yes, we probably will lose out on some recruits; yes, Clausen and Tate might bounce to the NFL early, but ND can’t justify underachievement anymore. It’s time to move on and find a coach who knows how to win games.
It’s over Charlie!
I’m not a fan of rotating coaches every 3-4 years because it seems to stall a program. However, this is enough! Charlie can coach offense and develop quarterbacks, but he simply is not a head coach. I really wanted him to succeed this year to provide some stability in the program but we have obviously regressed over the past few years and a change is sorely needed.
Bring Chucky back home to his roots and let’s get this thing rolling.
Agreed with everything you said until the Chucky reference. The reason why ND is in this position is because of continual bad hires. Why would we want to continue the tradition if you want ND a winner?
Simple name. Simple answer: BRIAN KELLY!
Well-written Frank. The last 2 bullet points say it all.
AMEN!!! couldnt of said it better, ESPN put up a stat i didnt know CW is 3-16 against opponents with a winning record WOW, never realized that.
In all my years as an Irish fan I have never been ashamed, today I am.
Wow, I was definitely ashamed the previous two years as an Irish fan. 3-9 and 6-6 definitely made me an ashamed Irish fan. We already have 3 losses this year, and we would be lucky to beat Pitt or UConn this year. Hell, even Stanford for that matter. This could easily be another 5 or 6 loss season and to think that there was all this BCS hype just days ago….
I issued an internet statement following the Michigan game in Charlie’s first year. “Smoke & Mirrors” I told everyone this would happen they said I was crazy. After the Michigan game in 05′ Weis said “do you want me to apologize for a win? No way we dominated Michigan today. We all know UM was inside the 5 on 5 seperate times and did not kick field goals.
We lost the Washington game look at the 2 point conversion. We will loose to Pitt, UCONN, and we will get smacked by Standford. We have the best talent in the nation and the only way to turn this around is to hire a head coach not an assistant. Leaders want to be leaders by the time they are 25 years old.
My short list is:
1. Randy Edsell
2. Chris Peterson
3. Pat Fitzgerald
4. Jim Harbaugh
Any one of these Men would take us to the title in 2 years.
Peace,
John
where have you been, that stat gets thrown around all the time, especiall when it was 1-15 or 1-16.
wrdomerson, why dont you do us all a favor and take the time to spell check before you reply.
Its emabarrasing
the best point you made was easily the kyle rudoplh one. where has he been. i havent heard his name once since the purdue game and if they get him the ball, it doesnt matter how many point the D gives up, the O could score more.
For the last 3 years I have been a Weis supporter. The Navy game ended that. Charlie, if you could stay on as a recruiter/Offensive Coord. that would be great. But we need a new head man. Someone who believes in recruiting top D lineman and O-lineman. Somewhere Charlie forgot these type guys. Funny thing is Charlie proved that the Stars at skilled positons would come to ND, But forgot that games are won in the trenches.
ND needs to get Chris Petersen of Boise State.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. ANY time someone asks me what I think of Weis and the Irish, I ALWAYS say that he is a great recruiter but horrible head coach. I really believe that, and not just because of the Navy loss. He does a great job of bringing in top talent. Just a horrible job of implementing a winning game plan. The sad thing is that when we get a new Head Coach it is going to set us back a couple of years…..AGAIN.
Jon Gruden!!!!!?
Charlie Weis
One more stat: Weis has never beat a team that finished in the AP top 25. This is absurd. Furthermore, I don’t want to hear our defensive line isn’t awsome. Look at the USC game and the stands inside the five against Washington. This is a “decisive schematic” problem. Why do you blitz a MLB against the option? You don’t you set him deeper and add an additional down lineman to “block” the center. Problem solved.