Tag: Notre Dame (Page 7 of 12)

      Is Notre Dame a death trap for coaches?

      December 1, 2009 /

      Stewart Mandel of SI.com thinks it is:

      Once you look past the storied tradition, the majestic campus, the NBC contract and seemingly endless pocketbook, you’re left with a school chasing ghosts. You’re left with a fan base whose expectations (top-10 rankings, national titles) were forged during another era when the school’s independent status still carried cachet and its stringent academic standards were a selling point, not a hindrance. With a few notable exceptions, today’s national-title-caliber talent grows up watching specific conferences (the SEC, then Big Ten, etc.), not the NBC game of the week, and they don’t necessarily boast high SAT scores, either. Some — like Clausen, Floyd and Tate — are bona fide blue-chippers. Others become Tom Lemming All-Americans simply because the Irish recruit them.

      Mandel makes several interesting points. If you’re a recruit these days, you don’t want to go to Notre Dame – you want to compete for conference championships at Florida, Ohio State or USC. And if you’re not good enough to go to those schools, then you want to go to Arkansas, Michigan State or UCLA in order to have a chance to beat those top programs.

      Mandel is right to a certain extent: Notre Dame is a death trap. Coaches can’t get top recruits to come to South Bend, yet the expectations to win have never been higher. I’m not saying Weis should have held onto his job, but head coaches seem to start behind the 8-ball as soon as they’re hired.

      That said, teams like Cincinnati, TCU and Boise State have found enough recruits to be in national title contention every year. I realize that these teams are playing top competition every week, but neither is Notre Dame. The Irish might not be able to contend for a national title year in and year out, but they could at the very least make a bowl game every season.

      College Football

      Notre Dame fires Charlie Weis

      November 30, 2009 /

      In a move that will shock next to nobody, Notre Dame fired head coach Charlie Weis on Monday according to NBC Sports.com.

      In the end, Weis went 35-27 in his five years as Irish head coach, a .565 winning percentage that was worse than the .583 posted by his two predecessors, Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie. They were both fired, too. He leaves with one of the worst winning percentages of any Fighting Irish coach: Only four of Notre Dame’s previous 27 coaches won at a lower percentage.

      Among the people considered likely candidates are Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, TCU coach Gary Patterson and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. The task for athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who is in his second year on the job, is to find a coach who can end the longest title drought in Notre Dame history.

      It’s amazing to think that when it’s all said and done, Weis was one of the worst to ever coach at Notre Dame. He got off to such a promising start, but his crop of recruits never panned out (save for quarterback Jimmy Clausen and receiver Golden Tate), especially on the defensive side of the ball.

      It’ll be interesting to see where Weis will wind up after this. My guess would be in the NFL as an offensive coordinator, but I’m sure smaller programs would love to have him as their head coach. If he does stay in the collegiate ranks, it would be interesting to see if he would have any success or if his future is in the NFL as a coordinator.

      I would like to see what Brian Kelly could do at Notre Dame. The man turned little known Grand Valley State into a D-3 powerhouse, Central Michigan in a MAC champion and Cincinnati into a national title contender. That’s not to say that he’ll have success at Notre Dame too, but give him three years and I’m willing to bet that he’ll make a winner out of the Irish yet again.

      That said, it would also be nice if a coach like Kelly showed a little loyalty to his program. He left CMU in the lurch right before the Motor City Bowl a couple years ago and to coach at Notre Dame, he would have to do the same to Cincinnati. I realize the opportunity to coach at Notre Dame doesn’t come around often for head coaches, but the Bearcats finally have something brewing and Kelly is the reason for that.

      Again, it would be nice to see a college coach stick around for longer than 2-3 years before screwing their program.

      College Football

      Quinn calls possible Weis firing a “horrible decision”

      November 27, 2009 /

      Brady Quinn is standing by his former college coach and says that Notre Dame should too.

      From ESPN.com:

      “Personally I think it would be a horrible decision if they did make that change,” Quinn said. “I think there are a lot of circumstances that play into seasons like this. Hopefully he’ll have an opportunity to have another year with the guys.”
      Quinn said it’s tough to pinpoint why the Fighting Irish have slipped nationally.

      “I know as a player there, one of the things we prided ourselves on was winning games and not worrying about stats or individual accolades, but pulling through tight games and winning games and going in there and fighting every week,” Quinn said.

      “I think if you’ve got enough talent on that team, there’s guys that need to pull together and start finding ways to win.”
      One of the arguments often given for Notre Dame’s struggles is that the school’s high academic standards make it difficult to recruit. Quinn sees it differently.

      “It plays to their advantage, too, that smart players on the team are able to do a lot more from a schematic standpoint and prepare for teams in better fashion than other teams,” he said.

      It’s nice of his former player to stick up for him in the media, but Weis is done. It’s apparent that he can’t get Notre Dame to where it wants to be and he can’t recruit on the defensive side of the ball.

      The real question is whether or not Weis will wind up back in the NFL or if he’ll stay in the college ranks. He’ll find a job somewhere (most likely it won’t be as a head coach), so it’ll be interesting to see where he winds up. My guess is that he’ll take over as an offensive coordinator back in the pros, but who knows at this point.

      College Football

      A sign of things to come? ND nixes Weis’ recruiting trip

      November 25, 2009 /

      Charlie Weis has been informed that his West Coast recruiting trip has been canceled and that he’ll return to South Bend following the Irish’s game with Stanford on Saturday.

      From FOX Sports.com:

      Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday during a taping of his radio show for WLS Radio 890 in Chicago, which normally airs on Saturday, that Weis will fly back with the team.

      Weis had said Sunday he planned to stay on the West Coast recruiting, just as he had last year when he and Swarbrick met to discuss his future after the regular-season finale at USC.

      A message seeking comment was left for Swarbrick on his cell phone Tuesday evening by The Associated Press. Swarbrick’s comments became public after Weis’ weekly news conference on Tuesday.

      Weis wasn’t in a reflective mood at what could be the final weekly news conference at his alma mater. Two days after saying he couldn’t argue if Notre Dame officials decided to fire him with a 6-5 record, Weis set the tone with his opening comment: “I have a news flash. We have a football game this Saturday evening against Stanford, so let’s see if we can’t talk about that,” he said.

      The writing is on the wall: Weis is done in South Bend regardless of how the team does this week at Stanford.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Report: Notre Dame’s Clausen punched by fan

      November 24, 2009 /

      According to a report by ESPN.com, Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen was punched in the face by an irate fan outside a South Bend resturant early Sunday morning.

      The report states that Clausen has a swollen eye from the incident, although he’s still expected to play this weekend against Stanford.

      That person said Clausen was “sucker-punched” by a fan as he left an establishment after having dinner with his parents.
      The fan allegedly said something to Clausen and/or a female acquaintance.

      A South Bend police spokesman said that no police reports were filed over the weekend involving Clausen, according to the Chicago Tribune.

      The newspaper also reported that the name of the bar was CJ’s and that a bartender at the establishment said that Clausen had been there with family members and other Irish upperclassmen after Notre Dame’s loss to Connecticut on Senior Day.

      If you’re an Irish fan, why punch Clausen? Out of all the players and coaches that have under performed on that team this season, Clausen would be the last guy you would punch, right? (I’m being factious by the way – fans shouldn’t be touching any player or coach no matter how much Charlie Weis screws the pooch.)

      Either way, things are definitely getting a little testy in South Bend these days.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

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