Show Me The (Idiots Who Wasted My) Money
posted by Mike Coffey
Charlie Weis' buyout number is getting to be like the Loch Ness monster ... the more ridiculous the claims, the more you wonder if it exists at all.
The latest report comes from WNDU: a figure on the wrong side of $20 million. Although no one knows for sure, that number would be consistent with the rumors that swirled when Weis first signed that ridiculous contract extension -- that the buyout was a one-to-one dollars-owed total and resulted in virtually the entire contract being guaranteed. My ND education enables me to multiply $3 million per annum to the seven years remaining on the deal and get a product in WNDU's ballpark. The guys at WNDU have a pretty good rep and sources when it comes to stuff like this, too, so I'm inclined to give what they're saying some credence.
I'm also inclined to find whoever put this extension in front of Weis and toss them into Stonehenge Fountain on a 20-degree day. If you have ever written a tuition or donation check to the University of Notre Dame, things like this should have you boiling the tar and gathering feathers while looking for the appropriate target.
One might be tempted to target Weis in all this, and to be fair, it's reasonable to wonder why a coach who professes his love for his alma mater would need an eight-figure love letter less than a year on the job. But this is business. Just because Weis or his agent made the offer doesn't mean ND had to accept it. It would say a lot about Weis' position in and attitude about the ND family if he let the school off the hook here, and let's face it, that family is the reason Gerry Faust is accepted on campus these days and Bob Davie is not. But that's not Weis' job or responsibility, and while it'd be nice, it isn't required.
We know the name of at least one of the guilty parties. He's currently ensuring Mike Krzyzewski has fresh towels in his private steam room at all times, and when Notre Dame played a football game about 20 miles from his office earlier this season, he took great pains to be out of town so as to, and this is a direct quote, "not run into any of those Notre Dame people."
And people wonder why Chamberlain LeBlanc was so reviled on NDNation and why it pole-axed us that so many on campus thought he was a "great guy". That gutless wonder gave a man with no experience the keys to the Notre Dame football program, made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the nation, and then locked the school into a dollar-sign-walled prison and swallowed the key five games into that coach's inaugural season.
I am about as surprised Kevin White so totally and spectacularly mismanaged Notre Dame's interests in this as I am calm that Notre Dame didn't fire him for it. But that ship has sailed, and I'm forced to be satisfied he's no longer in a position to harm my school, at least directly.
Some people are in that position, however. I'm now looking beyond the Empty Suit and wondering who else's imprimatur was on Weis' golden handcuffs. I find it very hard to believe White, who couldn't manage something as innocuous as a press breakfast without tripping all over his tongue, had a loose leash in doing something like this. There's a reason you don't put the good china on the kiddie table.
Was John Affleck-Graves, revenue hawk extraordinaire, aware Notre Dame was going to be on the hook for this amount of money if Weis failed? Did Fr. John Jenkins realize he was promising Weis money that could have financed a high-quality basketball practice facility or the new ice rink the hockey program so richly deserves? Was Richard Notebaert or Philip Purcell in the loop when, in an atmosphere of rising tuition and pressing academic and athletic projects, scads of money was locked in for an unproven coach?
What did these men know and when did they know it? And how soon should they be removed from their positions after Weis if it's shown they did? These are the things the Notre Dame family should be asking itself right now. If Weis is still Notre Dame's coach next year, the buyout may be a major reason why.
Do I think they'll find a way to pay it? Of course, they always do. But that's not the point. They're going to be going to deep pockets for those millions, and those deep pockets could be helping get Jeff Jackson his new rink or Randy Waldrum his new stadium or Mike Brey and Muffet McGraw a practice facility and arena renovation that doesn't look like a Barnes and Noble. It's a waste of money and opportunity no matter how much it is.
Accountability and transparency are key. The days of "Pay, Pray and Obey" are long in our rear-view mirror thanks to the sheer arrogance and maladroitness of the Monk Malloy administration. It's time the true stakeholders of Notre Dame got an explanation for this waste of funds, no matter if it's eight figures or eight dollars.
The latest report comes from WNDU: a figure on the wrong side of $20 million. Although no one knows for sure, that number would be consistent with the rumors that swirled when Weis first signed that ridiculous contract extension -- that the buyout was a one-to-one dollars-owed total and resulted in virtually the entire contract being guaranteed. My ND education enables me to multiply $3 million per annum to the seven years remaining on the deal and get a product in WNDU's ballpark. The guys at WNDU have a pretty good rep and sources when it comes to stuff like this, too, so I'm inclined to give what they're saying some credence.
I'm also inclined to find whoever put this extension in front of Weis and toss them into Stonehenge Fountain on a 20-degree day. If you have ever written a tuition or donation check to the University of Notre Dame, things like this should have you boiling the tar and gathering feathers while looking for the appropriate target.
One might be tempted to target Weis in all this, and to be fair, it's reasonable to wonder why a coach who professes his love for his alma mater would need an eight-figure love letter less than a year on the job. But this is business. Just because Weis or his agent made the offer doesn't mean ND had to accept it. It would say a lot about Weis' position in and attitude about the ND family if he let the school off the hook here, and let's face it, that family is the reason Gerry Faust is accepted on campus these days and Bob Davie is not. But that's not Weis' job or responsibility, and while it'd be nice, it isn't required.
We know the name of at least one of the guilty parties. He's currently ensuring Mike Krzyzewski has fresh towels in his private steam room at all times, and when Notre Dame played a football game about 20 miles from his office earlier this season, he took great pains to be out of town so as to, and this is a direct quote, "not run into any of those Notre Dame people."
And people wonder why Chamberlain LeBlanc was so reviled on NDNation and why it pole-axed us that so many on campus thought he was a "great guy". That gutless wonder gave a man with no experience the keys to the Notre Dame football program, made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the nation, and then locked the school into a dollar-sign-walled prison and swallowed the key five games into that coach's inaugural season.
I am about as surprised Kevin White so totally and spectacularly mismanaged Notre Dame's interests in this as I am calm that Notre Dame didn't fire him for it. But that ship has sailed, and I'm forced to be satisfied he's no longer in a position to harm my school, at least directly.
Some people are in that position, however. I'm now looking beyond the Empty Suit and wondering who else's imprimatur was on Weis' golden handcuffs. I find it very hard to believe White, who couldn't manage something as innocuous as a press breakfast without tripping all over his tongue, had a loose leash in doing something like this. There's a reason you don't put the good china on the kiddie table.
Was John Affleck-Graves, revenue hawk extraordinaire, aware Notre Dame was going to be on the hook for this amount of money if Weis failed? Did Fr. John Jenkins realize he was promising Weis money that could have financed a high-quality basketball practice facility or the new ice rink the hockey program so richly deserves? Was Richard Notebaert or Philip Purcell in the loop when, in an atmosphere of rising tuition and pressing academic and athletic projects, scads of money was locked in for an unproven coach?
What did these men know and when did they know it? And how soon should they be removed from their positions after Weis if it's shown they did? These are the things the Notre Dame family should be asking itself right now. If Weis is still Notre Dame's coach next year, the buyout may be a major reason why.
Do I think they'll find a way to pay it? Of course, they always do. But that's not the point. They're going to be going to deep pockets for those millions, and those deep pockets could be helping get Jeff Jackson his new rink or Randy Waldrum his new stadium or Mike Brey and Muffet McGraw a practice facility and arena renovation that doesn't look like a Barnes and Noble. It's a waste of money and opportunity no matter how much it is.
Accountability and transparency are key. The days of "Pay, Pray and Obey" are long in our rear-view mirror thanks to the sheer arrogance and maladroitness of the Monk Malloy administration. It's time the true stakeholders of Notre Dame got an explanation for this waste of funds, no matter if it's eight figures or eight dollars.
Labels: charlie weis, notre dame administration
77 Comments:
Oddly enough, my Sorin Society contribution renewal request envelope still sits on my desk as I await the developments of the next week or so.
...truly insane for a coach who never accomplished anything in college, nor as a head coach, prior to the extension. Sure makes his agent look good.
The more i think about this whole situation and it seems like keeping CW could be the best thing for the program right now.
1.Our recruiting class this year is nasty. E.J. Banks, Cierre, and Shaq could line up at receiver and give us one of the most lethal combos in the country. Add one of them to Floyd and tate and thats not too shabby. Football is won and lost at the line of scrimage and our DL and OL recruits are solid.
2. Buying him out at $20 Mil is ridiculous. We should not be proud of the fact that we might even be able to pay this number. Like you said, never should have happened. it is absurd for him to get that kind of money for doing a poor job. How is compensation working in this country? How about having a clause that includes a rachet buyout depending on the number of wins after X amount of years. say he won 80% of his games we would have to pay the full salary for the remaining years. If he won less that 60% of his games there would be no buyout period. How about having the ball in our court? In the real world if you do not perform, you do not get paid. Clearly ND should never be handcuffed to any one individual and they certainly shouldn't be obligated to pay someone for doing a shitty job. Is this Europe or better yet is this Wall Street???
3. Who can we get that would not screw up the recruiting class? No one. The foundation is there we do not need to pull the rug out of our program for the 4th time in 9 years. Chill out take a breathe and wait til next year when Clausen has 5 nasty receivers to work with. Sometimes the hardest choice can be the best.
How horrible does it look when our government is giving billions of dollars to people who fd up? And who is to say we are any more competent when we are paying millions to a guy who cant diet and exercise? this whole group think the trustees have going on is f**ked. Sorry but they will screw it up again.
Hopefully there is someone in that room who is willing to make the difficult decision to keep CW so the bleeding will be minimal and in the next couple of years we could see some of the things we saw in 05 and 06, in these times it would be the right thing to do, but maybe not the popular choice. Who in that room has brass balls and not PhDs to make a good decision for the program?
As a current senior - most students I know have given up hope on Weis - the canned pep rallies where he demonstrates his trademark lack of emotion, his arrogance, and the embarrassing performances on the field are too much for us. I hope that whoever pays the $40,000 for my scholarship every year doesn't stop donating if ND spends an extra $20 million to find a proven, tested head coach. A coach like that may be hard to attract after giving the past coaches 3 and 4 year terms, but... At least they can expect to be well paid given ND's track record.
Well said. If you take out the unsubstantiated cheap shot at White regarding "those Notre Dame people", it's journalistic quality.
I'm also apalled at the quality of the asst coaches - against USC it was embarassing to look at the horrible mistackles. 3 yard passes across the line which would never frighthen USC. In Football we recruit at the top table in HS - whatever happens after that?
I would keep CW for another year - with 3 top classes he can have little wriggle room left to make excuses.
Any new contract has to include a buy out clause - my soccer team over here had a manager on £5M pa with several years left but got it done for £1M as a result of lack of wins. Surely all the brains in ND can organise that.
Great article.
Kevin
Can you stop with the "great recruiting class" drivel? You don't keep a coach who has great recruits but can't win. There are plenty of coaches who are winning against tougher competition with lower recruits. You think we recruited any of those guys at BC? How about Texas Tech? How about even lowly Cincinnati? I'm sure the answer is no. So we have great recruits that can't win. I have a lot of great stocks that are worthless too. Potential only matters if you produce. Let's not keep a coach because he can bring in the 8th best recruiting class on paper to ND. Let's keep a coach that can actually beat the Syracuses of the world.
Where was ND's General Counsel in this process? I've served as GC for a number of companies, and any contract that size would have required a legal review. A buyout provision like that never would have gone out of the Legal Department without a big red flag and personal phone call from me to the President of the company to make sure that he understood the ramifications and approved the terms nonetheless. In fact, in most instances, a contract of that magnitude would have required board approval. Obviously, someone was asleep at the switch.
In response:
1. What makes you so sure the Kevin White make the extension? He didn't fire Ty and didn't offer Weis, so the extension was probably over his head too
2. I think ND came up with the buyout. The point, at the time, was to prove that he wouldn't bolt for the NFL. Remember the rumors that year that 3 NFL teams wanted him. I bet it was proposed by ND and Weis just accepted.
Don't underestimate the power of the President and the BoT.
I agree 100% that there needs to be accountability. The people running the University have turned a deaf ear to the alumni and students. You see it in everything from the idiotic extension to how fans are treated during tailgaters and in the stadium. I have heard rumblings that jenkins is a one termer. While I find that hard to believe, there is no doubt that the University has suffered some black eyes under his watch.
Unfortunately, I think Eric Hansen is correct in today's SBT. ND is locked into quietly exploring other options. That search will reveal that the other coaching options are limited and we will roll the dice with Weis for one more year. This will give Weis a chance to find some line coaches and give the new AD time to properly scour the landscape for potential replacements.
The real sad thing is how the quick extension has a domino effect on the other sports. We have some great coaches in non-revenue sports and they are getting shafted because the administration has botched the football operations.
Oddly enough my Sorin Society renewal is also in a holding pattern.
"A buyout provision like that never would have gone out of the Legal Department without a big red flag and personal phone call from me to the President of the company to make sure that he understood the ramifications and approved the terms nonetheless. In fact, in most instances, a contract of that magnitude would have required board approval. Obviously, someone was asleep at the switch."
You are making the assumption that others didn't sign off on this contract. Bad assumption.
Kevin is right. We run the risk of losing this recruiting class if we let him go. Say what you want about him(which is probably true), but these kids bought into Notre Dame because of him. It is something to think about.
HE MUST FIRE John Latina. FIRE HIM!! In the end it goes back to CW, but it was Latina who wanted to bulk up our line to "toughen" us up. Is that guy a bleepin MORON!! From what I had read, it was lack of depth and understanding of the offense that lead to our woes in 2007. One game a player was playing guard and tackle the next. How does one learn to play their position when they are constantly playing a new one week to week??
So now....we have a fat, slow, and very unathletic O-line. I have seen Armando Allen ALMOST turn that 5 yard run into a big play too many times this year. Why?? Because our FAT AND SLOW offensive lineman can't get on the backers to pick them up.
These kids should be jumping rope like there is no tomorrow. John Latina's imcompetence as a coach directly effects what Weis can do in a game when it comes to play calling.
So....Is Weis ignorant for not seeing this?? Is Latina ignorant for not knowing these things?? Is Latina ignorant for not adapting to teams using OLB's who are 6'2 225lbs who run 4.5's??
I would say yes to all of the above questions......ridding ourselves of that stupid O-line coach may be a good place to start.
Two things:
1) It was Fr. Jenkins who orcastrated the contract extension. As a former player under Weis during his first two years, I remember the first Feista Bowl practice when Fr. Jenkins talked to the team and bragged about his critical role in "ensuring our coach's future."
2) As undeserved as it might be, Charlie is going to most likely get one more year. My understanding from the athletic department is that the buyout is a little more than $21 million, give or take a few hundred thousdand. They might be able to eat this with huge donations (although as the article aptly points out this would be an injustice) but there will be a track record for subsequent buyout clauses for the next coach. Honestly, what proven coach would take a rocky ND job, without the same assurances provided the previous coach.
3) The solutions to a fix with Weis still coaching is twofold in my view: (1) Brain Polian,Ron Pawlous, and Coach Latina need to be let go. As much as I like Latina personally, the results just haven't happened. We should take note that since the arrival of Ron to the coaching staff, the irish are 9-15. (2) Give Crist a chance at QB role. At the very least the competition will do some good for Jimmy.
We can only hope.
There's no way Weis should be fired unless we have a home run lined up. That home run is named Urban Meyer. If we can't convince him to come to ND, which we won't, then we have to live with Weis. Who else is there?
Re: my Sorin Society membership contribution, it also is in limbo. However, though very concerned re: the direction of the football program, my greater concerns are the campus atmosphere on football home game weekends, and the apparent complicity of the administration with the behavior of the local/regional law enforcement agencies towards off-campus ND students. I'm waiting for some public acknowledgement by ND that there are problems in these areas, and what the plans are to deal with those problems. I suspect little or no such statements will be forthcoming, and anticipate I'll be deciding late this month whether to give it one more year (of Sorin Society membership) to see if there will be any progress. I just wish there were some way to communicate these concerns to the administartion, and feel like I'm being heard. And that may just be the worst part of all of this; the progressively deepening conviction that the concerns of a grad/parent of a grad/longtime SS member just don't matter anymore......
Someone contacted me about joining the Sorin Society a few months ago. I didn't agree to join at that time, but they've showered me information and pleas to join, even sent the membership card. I've given it serious consideration, but the idea of one cent of my "unrestricted gift" potentially funding this madness drives me nuts. I'll probably just go ahead and write my obligatory $200 check, restricted to "Alumni Hall" once again.
...my take is that weis isn't going anywhere...he'll get another year...regardless of our personal feelings...
...that said...Latina has to go as the offensive line has to be rated over 100 in the 119 Div. 1 teams...the tailbacks should also be rated over 75..and seeing Cierre Wood this past year, I'm not sure he's a 5-star back...or even a 4...
...my other season-long target...the cornerbacks...seem to be doing better as Lambert has been "injured"...
Of course, we can only speculate, but my theory is that the buyout was overly generous on purpose. One major purpose of the buyout was to allow the people who replaced TW with CW (apparently Fr. Jenkins and trustees McCartan and Purcell) to congratulate themselves on how smart they were -- using the university's money, of course. McCartan is a lawyer and Purcell is an investment banker, so it's not as if CW's agent was taking advantage of naive ND. If the buyout is huge, it's because ND wanted it that way.
"HE MUST FIRE John Latina. FIRE HIM!! In the end it goes back to CW, but it was Latina who wanted to bulk up our line to "toughen" us up. Is that guy a bleepin MORON!! From what I had read, it was lack of depth and understanding of the offense that lead to our woes in 2007. One game a player was playing guard and tackle the next. How does one learn to play their position when they are constantly playing a new one week to week?? "
I'm with you on this one. Get rid of Latina. As soon as possible.
Also, Charlie must stay another year.
Oddly enough, Sorin Society contributions are not down, but up this year!
Regarding the assumption that we would lose the recruiting class if CW left, here's a sidenote. Did anyone notice Tate's comments in the paper, something to the effect that "we just try to execute what the coaches tell us, but the rest is out of our hands." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the coaching staff, as I read that statement. Maybe the recruiting class would love to play for someone else.
I have a sneeking suspicion that Weis presently has a worse record against opponents with winning records than Willingham. If that is true, then the following is also (sadly) true: "We have met the enemy, and it is us."
Holy Touchdown Jesus, how long have we been talking about a bad offensive line? Willingham's era couldn't recruit them amd Bob Davie's term was about the same. What will make Weis, Claussen and any running back look better.. a great offensive line.
I disagree they are fat and slow. They are not fat. What is the definition of slow they are not running 40's out there I want them to be fast for 3-5 yards move the LOS and get on the LB's. If they move quick and are as fast as anyone else in the 5-10 yd sprints I don't care as much about a 40 time. In pass block some have slow feet but that is a function of poor coaching and off season workouts. They are not agressive enough. We can all speculate on why. Personally having played the position Center Guard and Tackle (yes to another poster it can and is done I've even seen it in the pros, not idea but defensive alignment and injuries force this all of the time)and coached it successfully for a decade the line has to know their blocking scheme. Too often it looks as though they give up the snap count advantage because they are tenative. They look completely confused on some blitz schemes which are not even that exotic. They are tenative as though they are going to be yanked for any mistake. In indy drills are these issues being addressed? Do the players know the offense as well as the coaches? They should then they can act and be agressive. On communication I hear none, I was able to be on the sidelines for a game this year and the center is barking out the force LB. OK great what about shades of the down linemen? Calling combo block strategies based on those shades? I heard nothing from G,T,TE. There are so many times I looked for a down block from a tackle or TE on a 3 or 5 technique DT with a wrap around by the G or T to a LB and instead you have a tough reach/zone scheme that dosen't move the LOS or inflict any pain from a shot in the ribs on the DL let alone to slow him up as he wonders where the block will come from next play. Running game opens the pass. ND has good receivers coming up but without protection you could put just about anyone back there a they would look bad. Here again communication seems weak. Where are switch calls, tendency adjustments or passing off a rusher who is on a slant or angle. They seem to lock up on a man early and don't protect a zone and then wow highlight time for a OLB or C/S coming in untouched. Again my critizism comes from the outside as I am not a practice nor do I have a playbook. Maybe it is designed that way if so you have some of the smartest student/athletes in the game I think they could pick up line calls quickly. Give them better tools (calls/adjustments on the LOS) coach thier out thier weaknesses or at least hide them and play to thier strengths. Just my 2 cents from a former Big Ugly.
CW is exactly what we need...and im talking about the one from CA..look, we NEED to chill out and let this class come in, give him a year or 2 with them, and then see where were at. Its not like clausen had anyone really to throw to the last 2 games, Floyd and tate are it..grimes can only do so much with his bad back. Having Evans, Walker, Goodman, Oliver, Floyd, and tate at WR, with Allen, Aldridge, and Woods at RB, with an improved line, and we have a title team. The line needs work, so get rid of Latina and bring in someone better...i cant say who would be the best other than Russ Grim, but i doubt hes going to downgrade from the NFL..lol..anyways, a few coaching changes (like having brown switch with tenuta) and were there too...we are ND
RE:
"Hopefully there is someone in that room who is willing to make the difficult decision to keep CW so the bleeding will be minimal and in the next couple of years we could see some of the things we saw in 05 and 06..."
Wow, you mean win 9 on an easy schedule, go to a BCS game ND didn't deserve and proceeded to get smoked in? How is "winning" with Ty's players then rolling up the two worst ND seasons ever promising?
Brian Kelly would be the best thing for ND IMO. CW is just painful to listen to. Take off your SB rings you jackass. He has won exactly nothing of any value for ND, save embarassement, ridicule and a financial disaster.
"Our recruiting class this year is nasty. E.J. Banks, Cierre, and Shaq could line up at receiver and give us one of the most lethal combos in the country."
"Chill out take a breathe and wait til next year when Clausen has 5 nasty receivers to work with."
I don't care if Little Throw Peep has Randy freaking Moss out there.
The lethality of the WR's would be on par with teams in the 25-50 range...not top 10.
Mr. Coffey, there's a reason why they gave him the extension...Don't act dumbfounded by it. In this "what have you done for me lately" society, it looks bad. Next year will be a true indicator of whether it was a good move or not. Be patient and stop the whining. GO IRISH!
Before you go on your monthly bashing of the ND Administration rant you may want to look at other people that are culpable. YOU! And me, and all the other ND fans that were part of the Charlie love fest from day 1. I'm sure if we go into your archive we can find a dozen articles talking about how great a coach and hire Charlie was. It's nice that you have this 20/20 hindsight, but you along with everyone else (including the ND admins) were drinking the Weis Kool-Aid when this extension was signed. Everyone thought it was great at the time that we would be locking Charlie up. Additionally, I have read in various places that Charlie's contract is heavily laden with incentives, so he probably only makes about $2 million a year. Definitely still a lot but not as much as people may suggest.
Also, I am not a Charlie apologist by any means, but I think people should keep this in mind. Whether or not Charlie is the right man for the job (and I have serious doubts like the rest of you) he has left this program in much, much better shape than it was when he arrived. There is no question about this. If he indeed is fired ND will be a much more attractive job for any potential replacement than it was after Ty was fired. That doesn't mean Weis is the man to take us to the mountaintop, but he sure helped us along the way.
The devil is in the details and very few know the details governing the financial settlement in an pre-term separation. The Weis extension could very well have a "coach at will" clause with a zero buyout which just means that he's the coach for ten years with the understanding that the University can end it at their discretion with no buyout. The point was to extinguish phoney rumors of Weis leaving that were started by unethical coaches competing for the same recruits. I doubt the University would be so naive as to sign a contract that would give Weis a full term buyout; they're smart people so don't worry.
Getting a quality replacement coach for Latina would be difficult and be a double edged sword. A top recruit wants to coached by someone great, not incompetent. We can win some and lose some recruits depending on how we resolve the offensive line coaching dilemma. - Allen
For those of you thinking that Urban Meyer is a pipe-dream, this makes fun reading:
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20081122/SPORTS/811220333/1002/SPORTS
Seems more possible that it would happen soon, if not this year...
If they decide to keep Charlie, I hope they are smart enough to make a series of changes.
First, they obviously need to fire the offensive line coach (Latina). The line has been horrible for the last 2 years, and, even in the first 2 years, when we had decent teams, you could NEVER count on the line to be able to pick up 3rd and 2 on the ground. A lot has been made about the offensive playcalling being unimaginative, but, no play is going to work if you can't block.
Second, fire the D-line coach (Oliver). In the four years he's been here, we never seem to be able to collapse the pocket or slow down good running backs (without having to send 8 guys)
Third, they need to fire the strength coach (Mendoza). Our teams never seem to display strength, particularly in the trenches. Our lines never generate push on either side of the ball, especially in short yardage. Whatever he has our linemen doing, its not working. I know NFL scouts were questioning his program, when, at the 2006 combine, Brady Quinn was performing much better in the bench press than any of our O-linemen.
Fourth, fire our QB coach (Pawlus). I'm sure this guy loves Notre Dame, but he has no experience, and let's face it, he was a huge underachiever at N.D. Having him tutor our QBs at how to deal with the pressure-cooker that is Notre Dame, is like having Scott Norwood tutor kickers as to how to make clutch kicks in the Super Bowl.
If we can get some accomplished replacements at these spots, and start "winning the line of scrimmage" on both sides of the ball, I think Charlie might be able to give us that schematic advantage and the nastiness he promised 4 years ago. Problem is, since he had no experience as a head coach, he had no idea as to how to put together a good staff (nor did he realize how vital that it was). Faust always said the biggest mistake he made was that he put together his staff too hastily in order to save the first year of recruiting (turns out Charlie did the same thing). Our trustees should have seen this coming hiring someone without head coaching experience, unfortunately, they didn't learn from/pay attention to the past and jumped the gun with the ridiculous extension.
2007 alabama started 3 and 0 ended regular season 6 and 6 lost to la monroe. lost final 4 regular season games. we have two true freshman on the line all year rudolph robinson. across the board offense is younger this year than last year. the kids hit the wall this year just like bama last year if you can't see that i don't know what to say. we have 3 true fr and 5 true sophs on offense.they are young and that's what happens. also 3.0 gpa 6 straight semesters shows cw cares about his players and they will develope. most college players don't develope until jr or sr year. i was'nt pleased this year but we can't change coaches every three years. we are just another team right now still rebuilding. stop living in the past or we will end up like al davis and the raiders
joe sophy:Cannot imagine the further confusion if he is let go, stability and the fact he must admit that this is not an NFL franchise. Notre Dame is the epitomy of college football, emotion, rah-rah, "play like a champion". Watching the games, one can see that Weis envisions Brady like passes, quick backs(Faulk/Allen), a defense that allows 17-20 points, his team scores 24-28, win, another day at the office. My thought for at least the 2006 season is that Weis has never grasped the mentality of college ball, recruiting has netted some fine linemen, but they never see the field. Having Young, Olson, Wenger, Stewart return is not a bonus, and JC may not be the second coming after all. Add to all this, Pat Haden lecturing on the merits of "a big old" etc., and I could scream. Perhaps the football program has been passed by, a victim of screamers on ESPN, and win by whatever it takes thugs like Urban, but somewhere Lindsey Nelson must be smiling and telling the BIG GUY, " they'll be back". If anything, we should all hope the next class delivers on the hype, no transfers of note, no gift rides(sorry Golic), and Weis puts aside the ego, realizes this is his legacy, nopt the NFL, and we STOP the run with as much vigor as we RUN the ball. See, the passion that this program evokes is beautiful, and as always, go Irish!joso433@yahoo
Shame on all of you who consider their Sorin Society contribution as conditional on anything other than advancing the mission of the University.
The Problem here is not that Jimmy Clausen doesn't have enough receivers to throw to...He could have 5 all american wide outs...The offensive line two years in a row failed him down the stretch. The other issue is this...did anyone like the play calling the past month...who called the plays for the past four games???Charlie Weis...that's who...He needs to go...and that is that...save the players who are already here...the promises that Weis made to get kids here won't change...they still get to play on National TV every week...they get one of the finest educations in the world, and they if they are good enough will go pro! Get rid of CW now.
If he fails to win next year won't ND be in the same situation- buying out his contract, but only for 1 less year coached? I think current AD is between a rock and hard place. What an unenviable position to be in. Makes me wonder-What compensation package he has?
Sadly this is a drop in the bucket for the current endowment woes. If you want to get up in arms find out why we have been running the endowment like a hedge fund. No one is talking about it but based on the big returns we have posted in the past and bragged about we have probably lost $100's of milllions being overly aggressive in our investment strategy. $20 million is nothing compared to the hits we have taken otherwise.
Hmmm...Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) needs a coach. Since the current talent there, he should be able to win 18 games in two seasons, and move on to a bigger school.
So, Charlie comes in with his phone book / playbook and says, "This is what our offense is going to be; study it." I imagine that playbook includes blocking patterns and other specifics related to the offensive line. What is Latina supposed to do? If you don't like his coaching, check the playbook first and then decide.
Here's what Charlie Weiss needs: less commitment to the aura and mystic of ND football and tradition and more of a commitment to playing the best players available irrespective of reputation and class position.
The offensive line continues to stink, particularly the right side. Sit down the big hunk of humanity with the big rep and play someone who can move his feet somewhat faster than a turtle and is able to flatten - pancake defensive people. My right hip placement, elderly, slow-footed white man's shuffle could get around most of these dainty flowers. Sit down a linebacker captain whose rep derived from playing behind a less than capable (see how charitable I am) defensive line and seems to be seldom anywhere near the ball let alone making tackles.
What Charlie needs to do is to start kicking some player and coach butts to jump start them into playing like something other than candy as*es. And, needless to say, fire coaches who have not and apparently cannot produce people who can block and tackle, and begin to design an imaginative offensive game plan, plays, and calls. This stuff ain't rocket science.
BTW: does Weiss' performance warrant another year? Of course it does. He's half of the way to building (back) a winning program in the aftermath of Witless Willingham. Congratulate the ND powers that be for recognizing what a disaster and loser Willingham was and is and firing him as early as they did, unlike the U. of Washington chumps who gave him one more year to produce or else - and boy, did he produce. It will take U. of Washington 4 to 5 years to build back its football program. Sound familiar?
Apparently, Charlie needs to take off the gloves and smack a few people upside the head if only to get their attention, and that goes for a lot of poobah boo-birds as well.
Go Irish . . . and Best Wishes for a triumphant 2009 season under Charlie’s tutelage.
I don't know whether Weis should go or not,but if Swarbrick decides he is the problem, the buyout should not hold him back from cutting Weis loose. Ignore sunk costs.
Weis having his contract is not all Kevin White's fault. It seems that the administration made a decision based on emotion (which even the best of us have done), which is directly related to having a poor football team since
Lou left. In 2005, we all thought the Irish would challenge for it all soon.
Notre Dame might not be in this spot if they could figure out if they want to be a football power-or if they want to be Harvard. They will likely have to adapt their standards (loosen restrictions), as it is harder than ever to build a championship program.
Maybe ...
Maybe, just maybe, ten years meant ten years and the buyout was intended to protect that concept down the road should tough times befall the program and the foaming at the mouth crowd rose up as before demanding heads on pikes in front of the castle walls;
Maybe the university decided this time it would take the time to try to grow its own head coach instead of trying to go out and buy the latest favorite head coach du jour;
Maybe neither the university nor Weis expected the growth process could become so painful and prolonged as it has been; but
Maybe Weis wasn't as good or as advanced in his skills as he or others may have thought because he unwittingly benefitted in New England, from a shadowy and shady systemic system of stealing other teams' signals (not sayin' it happend, just maybe); and
Maybe, just maybe, patience --painful patience -- is what is called for, especially since that option has never been tried ...
Unless it is established that Weis is too stupid, too stubborn, too limited and too incompetent to grow in skill in his profession; or is detrimental to the good of his players or is passionately disliked by them for good reason.
Not saying that's what happened nor whether it is right or wrong that it happened. Just suggesting a theory that attempts to explain why we are where we are; and, if so, why patience might be a good thing in the long run and might be something to consider ...
Unless Weis was (and will remain) a bad investment from the gate, it seems stupid to "buy high" and "sell low." As a coach, he would have to be a long term investment more stupid than that alternative in order to warrant dismissal and buyout now.
From my great distance, I can't say with any authority whatsoever whether he is an investment worth keeping or not; but I can say patience with an investment is better than buying high and selling low unless you know for absolute certain that you got a dog that don't, and never will, hunt.
It's almost worth it to keep Weis for another year if only to hear his delusional apologists try explain another failed campaign, and why it would be imprudent to fire the fraud after next season.
"Shame on all of you who consider their Sorin Society contribution as conditional on anything other than advancing the mission of the University."
I agree only to the extent that it's ludicrous to peg one's alumni contribution to the won-loss record. Let the football factory alumni do that. But that's not what I think people are saying here.
What people are saying is, we support the University's mission, but don't consider an ill-advised ten-year contract extension based on part of a coach's first season to be part of that mission. That's poor - and expensive - judgment on the part of the BOT and the administration.
Personally, I've stopped giving because I'm tired of being treated as an ATM by a school that suddenly decided it would cost a minimum of $200 just to receive a football ticket application and a minimum of $20 to send it back (that is, even if you lose every lottery, you're charged a double-sawbuck for the privilege of their holding your money for a couple months interest-free and then cutting you a refund check). A school that has resorted to such macabre fundraising schemes as selling mausoleum space on campus. And yes, a school that extends coaches' contracts before all the results are in, and expects the alumni to foot the bill for the administration's poor decisions.
It's a fine line between supporting ND and enabling the knuckleheads who are currently in charge. I'll shift my donations to my other school until ND comes up with better leaders. And by "better leaders," I don't mean the head football coach.
"It's almost worth it to keep Weis for another year if only to hear his delusional apologists try explain another failed campaign, and why it would be imprudent to fire the fraud after next season."
Actually, from an outsider, it's vary comical. I will admit they are clever at times. From Ty to the team is young, from the other team uses steriods to "we were one play away", the excuses abound for this man. You almost think that Weis had something on these guys and was threatening to tell it.
Shame on all of you who consider their Sorin Society contribution as conditional on anything other than advancing the mission of the University.
On the contrary, that's exactly why I would be withholding my contribution. It has nothing to do with the wins and losses, and everything to do with the fact that I perceive that an unrestricted gift to the university would be inappropriately allocated, in some small portion, to this buyout INSTEAD of to furthering the university.
People who post anonymously shouldn't throw stones.
Bill Cowher.....Former Pittsburg Steelers coach retired. The perfect fit for Notre Dame. He's mean, nasty, takes no crap, and is a good coach. I believe he may just be the man!!!!
My Sorin Society envelope will go in empty if CW remains.
I think that there are grounds to negotiate with CW on the grounds of his failure to perform. No one in thier right mind can content that what he did this year was coach. The USC game was an abomination. But I get it now - 38 to 0 is crummy, 38 to 3 is decent. In charlie's world 38 to 6 will be good. What a farce the administration was on this. WE are ND, WE are a laughing stock!
MJF '72
One last thought. For all that think buying him out at $20.0 million is unthinkable, will buying him out at $18.0 million be any more acceptable??
If you think it will be better next year you are only fooling yourself.
MJF '72
Where was this scrutiny when the contract extension came into being?
Oh that's right, we were all too busy inventing/ingesting theories about how this protected our fearless foopah-ed leader from all of the NFL teams plotting to steal him away. That, and fending off cries of racism.
So now with 2 excellent (though not spectacular) seasons that regressed to 2 godawful seasons,I say we all grudgingly support Charlie next year and have at least a plan A, B, C, D, E, F and G ready for anything less than 10 wins on that weak sauce schedule. And by plan I mean new coach.
Coaching short list:
Schiano - Rutgers
Wittingham - Utah
Kelley - Cincy
Mendenhall - BYU
Urban Meyer....if he's interested
No more assistant coaches no matter how well credentialed and no more coaches to satisfy the gods of political correctness (Willingham).
Barring a coaching change then Weis needs to fire the whole offensive staff save for Ianello and install a less complicated offense.
HIRE TOM CLEMENTS. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE FOUR YEARS AGO!! FINALLY -- DO THE RIGHT THING.
Ok, will all you naive people please wake up. Just because Charlie is telling these recruits that he is staying, does not mean he is staying.
Let me refresh your memory on a few other things Charlie said.
You're 6-5 and that's not good enough.
9-3 will get me fired.
I have a schemetic advantage over all the other coaches.
We will not lose to the Michigan States of the world again.
So if you want to beleive Charlie, go ahead, his credibility seems a little suspect to me.
How many times have I thought a head coach was the problem, but with a few new assistants - everything changed.
That's my hope. I think Charlie is a good "Chairman", but not a good 'in the trenches' type coach. Get a couple corwin brown's on the offensive coaching staff.
First I thought CW was the right guy in the first year. Remember how much of a difference he made? Has he suddenly gotten stupid? Well I tell you this not being able to get a first down until almost the fourth quarter is hard to jusify. I do not think I have ever seem a team look as inept as ND's offense looked.
No one can call plays that work if you can't block anyone. The line play is astonishingly poor. SC rushed four guys drop seven guys to cover three receivers and still got a lot pressure on the quaterback. They can't run for a yard when they need it.
Lets face it - they almost lost to San Diego State except of fumble at the one inch line.
I agree with everyone that Latina needs to go if Wiess stays. Maybe Weiss will be willing to give up a little of his salary to get a top notch line coach.
As far as coaches, how about the whole BC staff. They do a great job with just average talent. They played freshman running backs and they win with a back up QB who never played.
Overall as an ND fan my whole life it is sad how poor they were again this year. I think Weiss has tried very hard but even when they beat Navy they do it a fashion that makes you sick.
Latina must go. That stinking line is the cause of 80% of this team's problems. All this talk of Jimmy's regression is nonsense. No QB in the country can pass effectively when he's always harassed by the front 4 with 7 back in coverage. And our backs rarely have a hole. Fix this problem no matter who is the coach next year. And if Charlie doesn't identify this as the team's no. 1 problem and start articulating a solution before the bowl game, fire him.
Firing Weis now would be a mistake. We're not gonna get Cowher. We're not gonna get Belichick or Carroll.
Was it a mistake to hire a first time head coach? Yes. Was the mega-deal a mistake? Probably - without knowing the actual buy out, it's hard to tell. Has Weis actually learned from mistakes? Yes - as we have seen in the past, he is not afraid to make changes (and likely will start this year with Latina).
Face it, we're getting beat on the line (both sides), but mostly offense. Most college football lines are 1 fifth year, 3 seniors, and either a junior or a stud freshman. We're not there yet and Latina will likely pay the price. The o-line cupboard was bare thanks to lazy recruiting (1 OT in 3 years...)
Syracuse was a disaster, but without the Floyd injury it would have been a very different story. It is sad that a freshman is that important to our team, but he is really that good.
The other painful thing to watch has been a lack of heart and fire in the last few weeks. Don't be surprised if Weis picks someone on his staff to be in charge of the pep talks and fire. While I'd love to see him fly Lou Holtz to every game to give the pep talks, I think giving that responsibility to Tenuta/Brown for the whole team - the defense has been playing with fire.
Weis has been a hard working and successful recruiter (which was the true downfall of Willingham). Weis gets Notre Dame (neither Davie nor Willingham did). No coach with true star quality and talent will be coming here this year if we fire him and Weis may still be evolving into that coach who can take us the distance. Let's take the chance to reap what we have sowed. Even if you don't agree, provide a realistic alternative that's better.
Finally, ESPN has made it very clear that they are anti-Notre Dame and rejoice when we fail. What do we see now? Story after story of ESPN saying that we should fire Weis... Seems to me that we should listen to ESPN and do the opposite of whatever they recommend.
Go Irish. We will rise again.
with all the uncertainty of Weis' future, unless the AD comes out after his meeting with Weis expressing his undying loyalty and support of Weis, I find it hard to believe that Weis will find quality assistant coaches as replacements. the quality assistant coaches don't want to go somewhere where they may be out of a job in one season or at a place where their opportunities to move up are limited. Yeah we got Tenuta, but getting someone like him is few and far in between.
We don't need a replacement for Powlus. Let him go back to operations and Weis should go back to coaching up the QBs. Now that Polian and Weis worked together to improve the special teams unit, let Polian take over as the ST coordinater which will allow Weis to focus solely on QBs and getting the offense back on track. I would move Parmalee to RBs coach because I don't think Haywood is going to still be here. I also think Ianello should move to operations or be the recruiting coordinator. I personally don't give him credit to Samardzija's and Stovall's success. Our WRs can't get open and it's not only because of our lack of a running game, but it's also a result of lack of creativity on the passing routes and poor release and separation techniques of our WRs. We need to find someone who can not only maintain the abilities of our WRs, but improve and develop them further. The go route will last only so long. If that is all we got, go Cover 2 and have a safety over top and a CB underneath, problem solved. Ianello as good of a recruiter he is, he's not a WRs coach. I don't believe he can teach our WRs proper release techniques and how to run crisp routes. Also having a more experienced WRs coach can bring more to the table when drawing up plays and which WRs can do what and what routes they should be running and how they can be motioned or aligned to create mismatches.
I think it's going to be hard to find someone better than Latina, but I agree with all the previous posts that he needs to be fired and the focus should be on getting the best OL coach possible. But good head coaches keep their OL coach if he's good. If it were a dream world, have Fulmer come coach the OL, but I highly doubt he will take any job lesser than HC, unless Weis can lure him in by making him the undisputed OC and OL coach and Assistant Head Coach.
Only way I would be happy to see Weis go is if the Trustees find one hell of a coach that's proven and I mean proven as in won conference titles, won BCS bowl games and at least one national title and can hold our current recruiting class together. Or an NFL coach who has successful college experience as a HC or a NFL head coach or coordinator who has successful head coaching experience at the college level. If not, spend the buyout money to lure in some quality assistant coaches as well as spreading the wealth to our other successful athletic programs.
Notre Dame will continue to struggle until it starts winning the battle in the trenches on the offensive and defensive lines. Championship teams are built from the inside/out. The truth is that things would not look so bleak if the offensive line showed some edginess and athletic ability---Latina has to take the fall for this incredible deficiency. Most of the players on ND's offensive line were recruited by other big-time schools (Sam Young was either going to USC or ND.) The bottom line is that there has been no development of the offensive lineman. The defensive line has no playmakers---even when the Irish blitz multiple players, almost no one gets through the line. As much as we hate BC's team, their success is often generated by their nasty line play on both sides of the ball. Also, the strength coach needs to go because the conditioning of the players is not even close to championship caliber. If CW wants to hang around another year, he has to bring in a Joe Moore type line coach on both sides of the ball who is not going to be worried about being the player's friend.
1. FIRE Latina already. He was disappointing with Seniors/5th year seniors in his 1st 2 years and has been completely incapable of player development. How he was not fired after last year is incomprehensible to me.
2. No more excuses regarding talent/youth. Come on! Ty's Washington showed better against USC, and Syracuse outplayed us. How are their recruits. This was supposed to be a BC retooling year, but that player development thing changed that.
3. Since the 2nd half of the Carolina game our offense has been similar to the 2007 version. Defenses rush 3 or 4 drop back 7 or 8 and despite weeks to plan against this we cannot respond. If Charlie stays Latina/Powlus and perhaps others MUST go, before any bowl game.
4. Program instability? Each coach has been given 3 years. How many years do coach's feel they need? Do you think Cincy's coach could not utilize 3 top ten recruiting classes. Please.
So if we bring Charlie back and we win 7 or 8 next year, do we keep him? The 2008 schedule was rated 36th in the nation. Sagarin rates us at 57th. Where is the bar for the 5th year as ND head coach? Surely we should at least be a perennial top 10 team. The fact is that if he comes back and wins 7 or 8 what do we do?
2009 Notre Dame Football Schedule
Sept. 5 NEVADA (62)
Sept. 12 at Michigan (90)
Sept. 19 MICHIGAN STATE (29)
Sept. 26 at Purdue (73)
Oct. 3 WASHINGTON (146)
Oct. 10 Open Date
Oct. 17 USC (4)
Oct. 24 BOSTON COLLEGE (14)
Oct. 31 vs. Wash State (151) (at San Antonio, Texas)
Nov. 7 Navy (41)
Nov. 14 at Pittsburgh (33)
Nov. 21 CONNECTICUT (38)
Nov. 28 at Stanford (61)
Sagarin rankings for 2008 are listed in parens after team. So if we pick off just one of the teams above us, say Navy, and hold our own versus those below us ending the season 7-5 after playing this soft schedule with only 4 true road games. Is that good enough? How about 8-4? Surely if we fire a coach for going 8-4 "no coach will want to come to this unreasonable school" and we will be in a tough place again. Tell Weis to guarantee at least a 9 win record and resign if he cannot attain it for the good of the University and he can come back. Add in major changes to Asst Coaches and I can live with a fifth year.
John Gruden or Urban Meyer. Period. We need to spend the money and make this happen. These two are proven coaches with admitted interest in Notre Dame and they are exactly what we need. Brian Kelly is having one good year at Cincinnati, and I'm not sold on him. We need a coach that is a great all around coach, not just a great recruiter.
Anonymous said...
There's no way Weis should be fired unless we have a home run lined up. That home run is named Urban Meyer. If we can't convince him to come to ND, which we won't, then we have to live with Weis. Who else is there?
Brian Kelly, Peterson from Boise state. Both have performed exceptionally well with smaller programs and smaller recruiting opportunities. I can't promise National Championships but I would guarantee respectability again. One other thing... If we don't can Weis after performing worse than Willingham then what do we look like nationally. The whole racism charge would raise it's ugly head again.
Hey everyone,
I love Notre Dame football, always have and always will. But Charlie Weis has left me with no other option than to call for his removal. He's arrogant and stubborn. Since when do we lost to SYRACUS AND PITTSBURGH? Since when do we almost lose to Navy for the second time in a year? This offensive "genius" is not the great play caller he was supposed to. How many stupid 2-3 yard WR screens did he run against USC? Oh and Jimmy Clausen? Overrated and over-hyped. At least allow Dayne Crist to compete against Clausen. I'll bet Crist would be better. Clausen was GIVEN the starting spot by Weis - he did not earn it.
Lets end this bull**** and try to go after Urban Meyer or Brian Kelly. They are great proven college coaches who would represent Notre Dame well.
Eric sez ``I think Charlie is a good "Chairman", but not a good 'in the trenches' type coach. Get a couple corwin brown's on the offensive coaching staff.''
Eric, have you looked at Weis's statistics?
Against teams with winning records?
Weis 9-19 (.321)
Willingham 12-15 (.444)
Davie 18-22 (.450)
Holtz 53-29 (.646)
Faust 12-23 (.343)
Against teams who finish in the Top 25?
Weis 1-13 (.071)
Willingham 7-9 (.438)
Number of times being shutout?
Weis - 3
Willingham - 2
Notre Dame (1965-2001) - 3
"The year 2007 AD"
First 0-4 start ever
First 0-5 start ever
Worst record ever at 3-9
Lost 43 game win streak over Navy
119th in total yards offense
116th in rushing yards offense
113th in passing yards offense
119th yards/play offense
119th yards/game offense
114th first downs offense
119th sacks allowed
109th time off possession
If he is a good chairman, he should fire himself and stop disgracing ND.
What gets to me is his lack of humility and arrogance. Shame on Charlie for not delivering on his promises. And shame on him for blaming the kids. BTW, he'll make plenty of money selling his second book, "New Excuses"
Look at it this way he's no Urban Meyers who won everywhere he's been. He's no Lou Holtz who took nothing and turned it into something ND'88, South Carolina was the laughing stock of the SEC and became instantly credible.
One thing that I wish Weis apologists would do is to take a look at the facts and don't get persuaded by recruiting publications -- They make $$ when they feature ND. Just look at the fact about Charlie: Complete ineptitude as a football coach.
I am sure that he is a fine human being with his charity and his commitment to his family -- God knows we need more men like him in that respect. However, as a football coach, he is not the right person with the necessary charisma to bring ND back to football glory.
-Gnashing of the Teeth Domer
Why are people on this board posting about Bill Cowher?
Does Notre Dame need another NFL coach with no offensive creativity? Why not just stay with the one they have.
Quit fantasizing about Meyer, he already jilted ND once, why would he leave a great situation at Florida?
The dumbest thing ever written is this silly claim there isn't much out there better than Weis. Ty Willingham is out there, isn't he? He had a better record than Weis. Obviously, I don't want that clown back either, I'm just making a point about how ridiculous the claim that there isn't "much else out there." There are plenty of great coaches out there, and just about any coach in the country is better than Weis.
Brian Kelly is the answer. All that guy does is turn programs around, win national championships, and go to BCS bowls.
What would happen if Cincinnati, without one top 25 recruiting class, played ND right now?
Yeah. Not much out there my ass.
Brian Kelly is clearly the man for the job.
"Finally, ESPN has made it very clear that they are anti-Notre Dame and rejoice when we fail. What do we see now? Story after story of ESPN saying that we should fire Weis... Seems to me that we should listen to ESPN and do the opposite of whatever they recommend."
ESPN doesn't care what Notre Dame does, all they care about is a story. So if ND was 8-4 every year, they would hate it, because no story. So, ESPN hopes we are 3-9 or 10-2, because it's a great story.
My guess is that concern for his buyout is overblown. I bet there is (at least) two separate buyout provisions: 1 for if another college or NFL program wants to hire him; and another if ND wants to fire him. If Charlie was confident he could win, and classy enough to know that if he didn't win he should be fired, then ND's ability to terminate him should not have been much of a sticking point in negotiations. In sum, I bet it would take cloaser to $10mm (or less), than the $20mm some speculate, for ND to buy him out. I agree with the posters who suggest Brian Kelley is the guy. He has won everywhere he has been. Of course, I would want to have some doocumentation of the character of the programs he has run. Have they been thugs? Has there been NCAA violations or legal issues? Have people graduated? But I have heard nothing but good things about him. And he obviously knows how to teach college kids how to play football, something we are in dire need of right now.
By the way, THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY ON EARTH we are getting Urban Meyer, or anyone else from a marquis college program (OK, Tex, etc). The idea is laughable that one of those guys would leave one of those programs to come to ND right now. And does it seem like a good idea to go with a pure NFL coach like Gruden or Cowher? Sounds to me a lot like getting Weis or Mike Sherman. Or like an NFL team getting Saban or Bobby Petrino. Coaching at the two levels requires strengths in totally different areas. It's obvious. Brian Kelly, Chris Petersen, Greg Schiano, Pat Fitzgerald, Turner Gill (though I'm not sure he is ready yet) are names we sould be looking at. All of them would be an improvement on CW. Heck, Northwestern, Cincinnati, Boise, and Rutgers would all beat us now (or play us tough) and they all have inferior personnel.
I don't believe that Kevin White had anything to do with Willingham's departure or Charlie being hired. He was only the front man and left before things blew up and he became the scape goat once again for the men of the cloth to hide behind! Charlie has proved nothing but ineptness.Ara, Devine and Holtz won national championships in their 3rd year at ND with a blend of previous coach's recruits and their own. A leader recognizes strengths in the ranks and positions them to creat synergism and championships teams. As Starkist said for many years. . .Sorry Charlie :)
FYI:
Oct. 30, 2008
CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati football team recently received 2008 American Football Coaches Association Academic Achievement honorable mention accolades for its recent Graduation Success Rate of over 90 percent for the entering class of 2001.
The award is given based on the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate formula, which measures the academic success of student-athletes on a six-year graduation window.
If Boston College and Cincinnati can win w/ that graduation rate, why can't we?
"2007 alabama started 3 and 0 ended regular season 6 and 6 lost to la monroe. lost final 4 regular season games. we have two true freshman on the line all year rudolph robinson. across the board offense is younger this year than last year. the kids hit the wall this year just like bama last year if you can't see that i don't know what to say. we have 3 true fr and 5 true sophs on offense.they are young and that's what happens. also 3.0 gpa 6 straight semesters shows cw cares about his players and they will develope. most college players don't develope until jr or sr year. i was'nt pleased this year but we can't change coaches every three years. we are just another team right now still rebuilding. stop living in the past or we will end up like al davis and the raiders"
This is the inane drivel that drives most true Notre Dame fans bonkers. Firstly, um this is Saban's second year and look where he's at. Yes, 6-6 now 12-0. It's called progress. Charlie was 9-3 now 6-6, it's called regressing.
So now the Tight End is a line man. I like the way posters like to re-define that so we can say we have another freshman on the line. But let's talk OL, in 2006 Charlie brought in One 5 star lineman, and Four 4 star lineman. These guys would all be Juniors this year. Stop with the young line BS, it's simply not true.
Lastly, it's year four of Weis, not year two. So, were not firing him after 3 years, it's after 4.
Mike 73,
Local law enforcement has a problem with Notre Dame kids because they're a bunch of rich, spoiled brats. They won't get along with any locals or cops until they started acting like young adults.
I am debating whether or not I should donate $25 to ND -- Fr Jenkins needs to see the big picture that ND football is in the alumni's blood. We bleed blue and gold. We need to use our money wisely and get a good investment from our coach hiring process. Take our time find the right person! We also must remove what is not working. Throwing good money at bad business deals does not make problems go away.
I would guess that many of us here on this blog love ND and want the best for our program. It's time to do the right thing, whatever that right thing is. Just do the right thing.
12:30-
South Bend cops are a bunch of thugs and bullies. They pick on ND kids because they are a "safe" target. Why go out and try to find a real criminal or drug dealer and risk getting hurt when you can still generate revenues by fining a bunch of pliable college kids. South Bend police exemplify the reason cops are often referred to as "pigs..."
Hey Charlie, regardless of how busy you are, if your ND's Head Coach, it's time we, the alumni and supporting fans, hear from you, if only to say "I'm OK. You're OK", or some such.
We need stability and level headedness, more than ever, regardless...
I have no idea what kind of a quarterback coach Ron Powless has been, other than to look at the results on the field by Jimmy Clausen. He seems to have regressed and gotten worse as the season has gone on. I was concerned when I learned that ND had hired Powless, only because it seemed really strange for a high-priced coach like Weiss to hire a green rookie who had never coached anywhere to coach a green rookie QB, upon whose shoulders the program was riding.
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