Tag: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Page 7 of 8)

      Tribune writer rips Charlie Weis

      November 11, 2008 /

      Charlie WeisMike Downey of the Chicago Tribune ripped Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis in one of his recent articles.

      In 2007 and 2008 alone, here is what the Frightening Irish of Charlie Weis have done:

      •Lost 13 of their last 21games. •Been shut out three times.

      •Took the worst beating in a season opener in 120 years of Notre Dame football.

      •Had a nine-loss season for the first time.

      •Were defeated by Navy, which it had sunk 43 times in a row.

      Accordingly, there are some who believe that Saturday’s game in Baltimore against the Midshipmen could be sink-or-swim time for ND’s coach. One more unfathomable defeat could turn out to be the last straw—No More Mr. Weis Guy.

      How desperate is this situation? SOS. Weis is dropping hints that he will become more actively involved in the Irish’s X’s and O’s, particularly in the wake of a pathetic play-calling effort at Boston College that resulted in another big fat “0” on the scoreboard.

      Pick your poison:

      Of his five successes this season, four have come against San Diego State (1-9), Washington (0-9), Michigan (3-7) and Purdue (3-7). The only three opponents Weis defeated last season were lowly Duke, four-win Stanford and a UCLA team that was missing its two top quarterbacks.

      The Irish are just 1-16 against ranked opponents under Weis. That’s brutal. And I know Weis and ND used the win over Michigan this year as a stepping stone for good things to come, but with how bad the Wolverines are this season, that win looks more trivial by the week.

      College Football

      Tyrone Willingham fired at Washington

      October 28, 2008 /

      Tyrone Willingham has been fired by the University of Washington.

      According to UW president Mark Emmert, the decision to fire the coach was made shortly after Oregon State pounded the Huskies 34-13 at Husky Stadium on Oct. 18, and Willingham was notified early last week.

      So with the knowledge that his UW tenure had run its course, Willingham game-planned, schemed, met with the media and tried to motivate his players to tackle the Irish.

      But after one more colossal loss — a 33-7 thumping by Notre Dame on Saturday — Washington made the firing official Monday morning.

      Willingham will coach through the end of the season, and the university will pay him $1 million to buy out the final year of his contract.

      The news made for a strange Monday on Montlake.

      Woodward, the athletic director named but a month ago, and Willingham, he of the 11-32 record in four seasons, sat side by side despite being on opposite ends of a silent disagreement. Later, players muddled through the right things to say as an emotional tug-of-war over the coaches who recruited them and an 0-7 season raged within.

      Woodward, who sat to Willingham’s right at the coach’s weekly press luncheon Monday, said the search for a new coach would begin immediately. And Willingham flatly said the decision to part ways at season’s end was not his.

      “It’s just not in my makeup (to quit),” he said.

      I always rooted for Willingham because I felt he didn’t get a fair shake in South Bend towards the end of his tenure there. But obviously Washington had to do something – the loss to Notre Dame was embarrassing, although apparently that wasn’t the final straw because Willingham was done a week ago regardless. I’m sure he’ll wind up somewhere and I hope he succeeds.

      College Football

      Convict sends letter to recruit urging him to attend Notre Dame

      October 24, 2008 /

      Charlie WeisIt’s been right in front of their faces the whole time and they never knew it. College coaches had the greatest recruiting weapon at their disposal and didn’t even know it.

      Convicts. Convicts? Convicts.

      High school know-it-all doesn’t want to attend your program? Don’t send over more coaches or a big-named player – send letters from someone doing 5 to 10 in a maximum-security prison.

      Charlie Weis knows what I’m talking about.

      The recruiting process, as it has evolved over the years, is no longer an intimate courting between college coaches and high school prospects.

      A couple recruits in Arizona — including Devon Kennard, son of former Wolf Pack player Derek Kennard — received multi-page letters from an inmate in the California State Penitentiary system urging them to choose Notre Dame.

      Could you imagine being one of the top high school prospects in the nation and you get a letter from an inmate urging you to choose a particular school? I don’t know about anyone else, but my ass would be going to that school. I’m not going to be the one getting shanked by some convicts in a back alley somewhere because I didn’t choose to play for their favorite college football team. No sir.

      College Football

      Is Notre Dame football back?

      October 9, 2008 /

      Jimmy ClausenA storyline is brewing in college football right now that makes some want to shout it from the rooftops. (While others want to jump off those very same rooftops at the thought of it.)

      That storyline is none other than Notre Dame football.

      A year ago, Charlie Weis’s program stumbled to a 3-9 record, which included six losses to unranked opponents and back-to-back defeats at the hands of Navy and Air Force. But the Irish are off to their best start in three years and are starting to get people excited about the program again.

      After a sloppy win in their opener against San Diego State (a game in which one ignorant writer had the audacity to suggest Notre Dame hadn’t improved at all following last year’s debacle of a season), the Irish crushed longtime rivals Michigan, 35-17, before suffering their first defeat of the season – a 35-17 road loss to Michigan State. But ND has since won back-to-back games against Purdue and Stanford in rather convincing fashion, leading some to believe that Weis and sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen have the team back on the right track.

      So are the Irish back? It’s hard to say. Clausen has developed nicely in his second season and in turn, the offense looks like a completely different unit than the one that took the field on most Saturdays last year. In his last two games, Clausen has throw for 622 yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions. His two main receivers, Golden Tate and Michael Floyd have also been fantastic, averaging over 15 yards a catch. The defense has improved as well, allowing just 19 points per game (17 PPG over the last six games dating back to last season), as opposed to the nearly 30 PPG they allowed a year ago.

      But the Irish have benefited from playing four of their first five games at home this year and their only loss was on the road. They have also yet to play a ranked opponent, which changes this week when they travel to No. 22 North Carolina, another improving program out to prove they’re legit as well. And despite Clausen’s solid play, the Irish haven’t been able to run the ball outside of the Purdue game and prior to last week, only had one sack. (Of course, they had five sacks against Stanford last week, so getting to the quarterback might not be a problem in the long run.)

      We should find out a lot about Clausen and Notre Dame this week. The Tar Heels have amassed 11 interceptions in their last four games and sophomore Shaun Draughn is emerging as a solid back to complement UNC’s already top-notch wide receiver corps. The ‘Heels also blocked three punts last week in their win over previously ranked Connecticut and if the Irish can’t run the ball to help take the pressure of Clausen, UNC’s ball hawking secondary could ruin the young quarterback’s afternoon.

      Is Notre Dame football back? Stay tuned.

      College Football

      Stanford player: ‘Notre Dame’s Field sucks – I hate that school’

      October 3, 2008 /

      The Notre Dame-Stanford game on Saturday just got a whole hell of a lot more interesting. SPORTSbyBROOKS.com has the story of Stanford offensive lineman Chris Marinelli and his general disdain for all things Notre Dame.

      Notre Dame StadiumMarinelli doesn’t waste any time cutting to the chase:

      “I hate it, playing up there,” Chris Marinelli told cardinalreport.com after practice Wednesday. ”The field, excuse my language, the field sucks. The stadium sucks. I think the area sucks.

      ”I grew up with a bunch of Irish and Italian Catholic people back home,” said the 6-7, 297-pound senior from Braintree, Mass. ”And all the Irish Catholic people, all they talk about is Notre Dame this, Notre Dame that. And they’ve never even been there, you know. So I hate those guys, I hate that school.

      ”We are going out there to mash them up, and that’s all there is to it.”

      Well, at least he’s eloquent. Those Stanford guys have a way with words. All this is coming from a guy who plays his home games in brand new albatross of a stadium that is always half full and features an anthropomorphic tree wobbling around for the crowd’s enjoyment. A stadium where Notre Dame won last year. Yes, last year, when the Irish couldn’t even hang with the service academies.

      Damage control came swiftly, in the form of the ever-popular statement “written” by the offending party. It’s amazing how much Marinelli’s opinion has changed in just a day!

      ”I would like to apologize to the University of Notre Dame and anybody else who I may have offended from the remarks I made in an interview earlier this week. I was caught up in the emotions of the game and should have been more thoughtful in my comments. The remarks were out of character for me and certainly aren’t reflective of my teammates or anybody else affiliated with the Stanford program. I look forward to a competitive game on Saturday in one of the great environments in college football.”

      Whew! Glad that situation was diffused. I almost was considering watching a Notre Dame football game for a second there.

      Allow me to translate Marinelli’s apology:

      “I in no way feel that an apology to the University of Notre Dame is in order but some pile in the AD’s office is making me do this, so F-me right? If you really want to know how I feel about Notre Dame, please see my previous comments. Thank you.”

      College Football

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