Blog: Why is Weis Still at Notre Dame?

Why is Charlie Weis immune to the kind of criticism leveled against other former Notre Dame coaches? Here's a guy who was hailed as an offensive guru, a Bill Bellicheck assistant.

[Internet critic]

Charlie "Wise Guy" who cares why he's immune he sucks and so does the Notra Dames(big smile).

[gatechgirl]

Charlie Weiss should be fired or released from his contract. Past coaches have been let got for such a sorry season. As you all can see I am a Ga. Tech fan but, my hubby is a BIG Notre Dame fan and he is completely disappointed with the team and coach thus far this year. Get rid of Charlie Weiss!

[ADC]

Charlie has to have a strong finish and a win in a bowl to survive for another year...and then he has to be very good in 2008 or else.

Pulling off a win against USC this year, which will require devine intervention, would do the trick to sustain him for this year.

Charlie will get a little more rope than Bob and Ty, partially because he is one of them, but more because he seems to fit the typecast of what the Domer's see as the coach of their team.

[Jon]

Why should ND get rid of a Super Bowl winning coach? because he has lost some games. For all those people who want him fired, please try and coach a team with these factors:

1. before Weis came to ND, the prior recuiting classes were very low.

2. Losing the majority of your top players.

3. A Freshman QB.

4. A young offensive line.

5. A young defense.

6. A tough schedule:
GT
Mich
Mich St
Purdue
UCLA
BC
USC

If any of you could coach a winning team with what I presented, then please, drive up to ND and start working.

Funny how so much discussion is on ND and Coach Weis for being so bad, that 19 of the top high school football players have already signed letters of intent to go ND next year.

[Frustrated]

9 Seniors
16 Juniors
24 Sophomores
26 Freshmen

That's 75 scholarship players where you are allowed 85. Ty's lack of recruiting is evident and basically put ND on probation.

Having said that, ND should at least be able to put up a fight. They are the worst team in football and that falls on the coaching staff.

Davie was given 2 years of bad teams. Ty was given 2 years of bad teams. Weis is now on the clock.

[big daddy]

they suck for sure, always have.

[big daddy]

Jon wrote:

Why should ND get rid of a Super Bowl winning coach? because he has lost some games. For all those people who want him fired, please try and coach a team with these factors:
1. before Weis came to ND, the prior recuiting classes were very low.
2. Losing the majority of your top players.
3. A Freshman QB.
4. A young offensive line.
5. A young defense.
6. A tough schedule:
GT
Mich
Mich St
Purdue
UCLA
BC
USC
If any of you could coach a winning team with what I presented, then please, drive up to ND and start working.
Funny how so much discussion is on ND and Coach Weis for being so bad, that 19 of the top high school football players have already signed letters of intent to go ND next year.

they still suck

[Jon]

big daddy wrote:

<quoted text>they still suck

You make such a compelling argument. Your comments are so strong; I have nothing to come back with. You got me... WOW!!

[big daddy]

Jon wrote:

<quoted text>
You make such a compelling argument. Your comments are so strong; I have nothing to come back with. You got me... WOW!!

this is not personal Jon, I am a Michigan fan so I really dont have a lot of room to talk. They are not having the best of years...

[Pat Young]

Notre Dame is more than the team winning or losing but playing with the sense of the history and tradition of a great university. Win or lose they graduate with a diploma from Notre Dame. The big win.
Coach Weis understands the bigger picture and I have no doubt he will in time produce national champions.
Go Irish !

[Pat Young]

I am a 78 year old Notre Dame fan. I love the spirit of the school and am rather disappointed that at the first sign of trouble the fans are eager to place "blame" It's a game, granted ND fans are passionate, how about compassionate. Those are young men out there learning about football and life. I'm sure Coach Weis is trying to teach both.

[Mike]

Willingham got fired because his recruiting was well on its way to tanking for the second year in a row after 5-7 and 6-6 seasons.

By comparison, under Weis recruiting has gotten better every year. He may not prove to a great coach, but unlike Willingham he's used recruiting to buy himself more time.

From USA Today:

Next year's class is projected No. 1 by Rivals.com . Weis' first two classes were rated No. 8. However, the four classes prior to Weis' arrival were 24th, 12th, 32nd and 40th.

"You are seeing the tail end of the inability of Ty Willingham to recruit at Notre Dame," says Mike Farrell, Rival.com 's national recruiting analyst. "Blunt, but it is true. Notre Dame is a program that should always be involved with high school all-Americans from around the country. They should be competing with the USCs, Texases, Floridas, Florida States, Michigans and the Ohio States of the world. When you see guys get offers from Notre Dame, and they don't have that other caliber of offer, you wonder."

[H Vaughn]

Charlie is playing this year with the seniors and juniors that TY recruited. You might want to check the number of juniors and senoirs playiong this season.
Those Willingham players that Charlie won with last year and the previous year were 6-6 for Willingham.
Then again maybe if Charlie spent more time on the golf course he might become another Willingham.

[tyler]

are you serious with this stuff? he is in his third year and anyone with any football sense knew this would be a tough year. Your starting a new qb so there is some transition. this is the problem with you so called "experts" you expect unrealistic things to happen. give it time and you will see he is going to win. He has a bad start to a season and you think the world will end. this crap about him being fired is such a joke, charlie weis is one of the finest coaches around. im glad we have him. and hey if you can get it right all the time, then why dont you start coaching.

[Dan S]

Jon wrote:

Why should ND get rid of a Super Bowl winning coach? because he has lost some games. For all those people who want him fired, please try and coach a team with these factors:
1. before Weis came to ND, the prior recuiting classes were very low.
2. Losing the majority of your top players.
3. A Freshman QB.
4. A young offensive line.
5. A young defense.
6. A tough schedule:
GT
Mich
Mich St
Purdue
UCLA
BC
USC
If any of you could coach a winning team with what I presented, then please, drive up to ND and start working.
Funny how so much discussion is on ND and Coach Weis for being so bad, that 19 of the top high school football players have already signed letters of intent to go ND next year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Ty recruit Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardizja, Maurice Stovall, Darius Walker, Zbie, etc.? How is that bad recruiting (regardless of what the pundits rank the class)?

[11 of us]

Internet critic wrote:

Charlie "Wise Guy" who cares why he's immune he sucks and so does the Notra Dames(big smile).

I went to Notre Dame, you must think someone else sucks, who is Notra Dame. I guess you learned to spell at Michigan.

[RICHARD DOMER]

Jon wrote:

Why should ND get rid of a Super Bowl winning coach? because he has lost some games. For all those people who want him fired, please try and coach a team with these factors:
1. before Weis came to ND, the prior recuiting classes were very low.
2. Losing the majority of your top players.
3. A Freshman QB.
4. A young offensive line.
5. A young defense.
6. A tough schedule:
GT
Mich
Mich St
Purdue
UCLA
BC
USC
If any of you could coach a winning team with what I presented, then please, drive up to ND and start working.
Funny how so much discussion is on ND and Coach Weis for being so bad, that 19 of the top high school football players have already signed letters of intent to go ND next year.

Charlie was left a top 10 nfl draft pick in Brady Quinn. i think Fred's point was the Domers wanted Dan Devin gone becaus one of his average teams lost to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. they got rid of Devine after he won a national championship, yet weiss gets more rope because he's one of them. always blame it on the other guy. if it was in such bad shape then why did Charlie win in his first two years with Ty's guys???

[marshall in florida]

It's hard enough being a Notre Dame fan in Gator country. These past few weeks have made it worse. I have been through fifty three years of Irish football. I feel for ALL Irish fans. What is Charlie thinking? You can't blame the quarterback-I see no one helping him on the line...shame on them all. Does this mean we must lower our standards as an academic university and get the "muscle" players like Florida? Holy Mother of God! I hope not.

[rays15]

There are so many errors in this story, including the assertion that Dan Devine was run out of town. Devine retired because his wife had multiple sclerosis, as was noted by Sports Illustrated when it ran its obit on him.

As for Charlie, it's amazing how his teams beat Michigan and Tennessee and Penn State, and then afterward people just say, oh well, they weren't really that good, when is Charlie going to beat somebody good. He is a tireless recruiter, in two years he will have his guys in across the board, and we've already seen that he can win when he has talent. The fact is, the program was going down with Ty because, for whatever reason, he couldn't recruit the top players to ND.

[Spartzilla]

Do you Notre Dame fans REALLY believe this shortcircuiting offense, inept defense and dismal display of poor football fundamentals is all attributable to Ty Willingham's recruiting? REALLY?