posted November 25, 2009 at 16:34 EST in NCAA F Articles
Why Notre Dame Should Fire Charlie Weis
by Tim Furious
The Fighting Irish have a great quarterback in Jimmy Clausen, whose surrounded by a bunch of scrubs that simply can’t get the job done. For his part, Clausen is a top-5 quarterback in the country and has become the only reason that you’d even both to watch, or bet, on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. After going 6-5 SU and just 3-8 ATS, the Irish are a complete wash for the rest of the season, and until Charlie Weis is fired they’re an official stay away team.
Weis inherited this team after Notre Dame unceremoniously fired Tyrone Willingham at the end of 2004. The opportunity to hire Weis, who is one of Belichik’s most high profile underlings, was one that Notre Dame couldn’t pass up on in their eyes. Frankly, they should have.
In 2005, Weis and Brady Quinn led the Irish to a Fiesta Bowl appearance where they were decimated 20-34 by the Ohio State Buckeyes. In 2006, despite a vicious 10-3 SU record, they were mauled by the LSU Tigers 14-41. Then all the important characters that Willingham had recruited graduated and Weis was left to tutor his own class to victory.
The results have been less than inspiring. Since 2007, the Irish have gone 16-20 SU and their only Bowl win in 15-years has been at the Hawaii Bowl. Yes, the freaking Hawaii Bowl in 2008. What’s the reason for this sudden sink? It’s not coaching – Weis is a reasonably decent coach. It’s certainly not for lack of effort. But when you’ve never beaten USC, have a losing record, and are stating that you wouldn’t even be able to defend your job at this point, something is seriously wrong.
So what happened? Simple – Weis is the worst recruiter on any major program. College football is about perennially restocking your ranks by luring the best high-school players in the country. His only marquee acquisition has been Clausen, who promised to deliver four national titles to Notre Dame, and has only brought them a berth in the Hawaii Bowl.
Notre Dame is known for strong academics, a school history as entrenched in football history as much as any other big program and that has to attract some high school studs. Doesn’t it? Doesn’t the idea of playing for Touchdown Jesus in one of the most storied college programs in history tantalize some of you reading this? To a certain extent, the appeal of Notre Dame sells itself. What that says about Weis is that he probably wouldn’t even be able to sell crack cocaine.
I can’t tell if it’s a lack of focus on recruiting, or if high schoolers meet Charlie Weis and are scared that he’s actually Jabba The Hut, or if the gravity of Ohio State, USC and Penn State is surpassing the attraction of playing at Notre Dame. Either way, it’s not the X’s and O’s that are killing Weis’s tenure at Notre Dame.
It’s his inability to attract the best high school talent in the country on a regular basis. A car built with crappy parts is still going to be a crappy car. To be the best, you’ve got to be made of sterner stuff. For whatever reason, Weis has never been able to find the materials needed to build a dynasty…and that’s his own fault.
