The Notre Dame Dilemma

Those of you who follow this blog or know me at all are aware that i have an unhealthy distaste of all things Notre Dame, for more reasons than i can list here. So it has brought me great personal joy to watch the Fighting Irish football team wallow in their own filth this season. That being said, i have conflicting feelings regarding their coaching situation.

Charlie 'The Great' Weis, whose brilliance as a playcaller was going to give Notre Dame a 'decided schematic advantage every game', now sits with a career record of 20-15, with two games left in the season. Assuming he wins his last two games (and even though they are against Duke and Stanford, that's a HUGE assumption), Charlie will finish his third season with a 22-15 record. As you may or may not recall, Ty Willingham was fired after three years at Notre Dame, with a career record of 21-15. Pretty similar.

Want to go more in depth? Ok, here we go. Willingham was 0-3 against USC, ND's biggest rivalry. Weis is also 0-3. Bad on both sides. How about top twenty competition? In games in which their opponent was ranked in the Top 25 at the time of the game, Willingham was 7-8. Not really good, but around .500. Weis is 4-8 in games in which his opponent was ranked in the top 25 at the time of the game. Advantage: Willingham.

Now, let's look at one of the 'reasons' Willingham was forced out by the boosters of Notre Dame. It was said at the time that the boosters, and the administration, were embarrassed by the number of losses by 20+ points under Willingham. How many such losses were there under Ty? 5. Under Weis? 7, including 4 just this year.

Add up the numbers, and you get a strikingly similar record under the two coaches, with some evidence pointing out that Willingham may have been, in fact, better up to this point. Here's some more fat to chew on. Weis' most successful season? His first in South Bend. That means his best season as a coach came with him coaching players that Willingham brought into the program. This year, which is the worst year in Notre Dame football in 50+ years, has come with some of Willingham's players, but a lot of the players Weis brought in. Was Willingham the better recruiter as well?

More to the heart of the matter: The flak that Weis is getting now, while somewhat small locally but large nationally, has come as a direct result of the Ty Willingham situation. Up to the point Willingham got fired, Notre Dame had given every other coach in it's history at least 5 years to build the program and prove himself (with the exception of the George O'Leary debacle, which doesn't really count). When the Notre Dame administration and boosters forced Willingham out after just three years, they set a precedent that they are no longer an organization built on honesty and integrity. They became like almost every other college in big-time football: All about the winning and the money.

During Weis' first season, in which they were running through college football and putting up great numbers, the Notre Dame administration gave him an extension on his contract. Caught up in the euphoria of success and the fear of Charlie bolting to the NFL, Notre Dame decided they had to lock him up long-term. You think they don't regret that decision now? You think they wouldn't mind re-visiting his original contract after this season, when Notre Dame could re-sign him for a LOT less? Instead, Notre Dame made a knee-jerk reaction, and opened itself up to criticism in the event of a historical collapse, just what happened this year with the non-Fighting Irish.

Am i saying Charlie should be fired? Absolutely not. Despite this disaster season, i still think he is a decent coach. And he does have one of, if not the, top ranked recruiting classes coming in, so he is doing something right. What i do think, however, is that Willingham got a really bum deal, and Weis is getting lauded for performing essentially the exact same as his predecessor. For his part, Weis has admitted that this season has been a disappointment and that they should be better. He has also shown loyalty to the University that lavished him with praise at the start of his tenure, instead of opting to jump ship when the going was tough.

Whatever happens from here on out, it will be interesting to see how Weis performs the next few years, and what kind of leeway Notre Dame and its boosters afford Weis going forward. It's also good to see Willingham landed on his feet, and is doing just fine out of the spotlight coaching at Washington...

Holy Ugly

(Yes I know this is an old pic, i couldn't find any from today so soon...)

I appreciate throwback uniforms and honoring tradition and all that other crap. But good God, what is Notre Dame wearing today? My eyes are bleeding...