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With Weis Out, Who Should Be In?
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Dan expresses his thoughts and feelings on the Weis firing and who could right the listing ship that is Notre Dame Football.
12/2/09
By Dan
My feelings about the Weis dismissal were best stated elsewhere (and shamefully copied here): I like Weis, but I love Notre Dame.
Weis is a good guy. This is by no means a universal view, but consider Pass Left, the trip to Iraq, Hannah and Friends, his calls to Herzlich, to name a few. Granted these events may have been the brainchild of a well-oiled PR machine, but I cannot subscribe to that level cynicism (and I work for Congress!). In recent days, we've learned that Weis truly earned the respect of his players, most of which stated their preference for his retention. Graduation rates for the team are currently tied for first place in the FCS with Duke and ND has been able to maintain its independent affiliation and NBC contract. Now I will be the first to admit that these accomplishments have little to do with performance on Saturday, but make no mistake: these are a big deal for ND. Add in Charlie's alumni status and I don't think there were many who didn't want Weis to be the one to bring the ND program back to prominence. The bottom line is that he didn't.
Even looking back, it was the RIGHT decision to bring Weis back for his fifth year. The difference between Weis and Willingham was that it looked like the program was heading in the right direction under Weis. Blue chip talent was again making its way to ND and last year the squad, while going 7-6, vastly improved over the previous season. Firing Charlie after four years would have left a number of 'what ifs' and practically ensured a difficult year when multiple factors (senior offensive line, easier schedule, veteran QB with multiple explosive targets) seemed to indicate only good things to come. After this season, the only 'what ifs' seem to involve which day of the week Clausen and Tate will be playing next year.
In the end, as Charlie now famously said "6-5 is not good enough". Even if it was the defense that sealed his fate, his teams could not get it done (or keep it done). ND has had little to celebrate the last five years and a change had to be made. I wish him the best of success wherever he ends up and hope that one day he will rediscover his old love for his alma mater. No matter what the prima donnas at ESPN feel, Weis was a respectable hire and a respectable man that just did not pan out.
But what's done is done. Looking ahead to the future, these are my thoughts:
Jim Harbaugh - He may be a Michigan man and he may be relatively inexperienced (which will be a big negative for Swarbrick and others), but what impresses me about the Stanford coach (besides his throttling of USC) is his approach to football. Reportedly one of Harbough's first items on the agenda after taking over the Cardinal team was teaching his players how to hit and play tough. Gerhart may be a special player, but he is also the product of instruction in how to fight, something ND has been sorely lacking since the days of Lou.
Urban Meyer - While leaving with Tebow might not be a bad decision, Meyer is not going.
Bob Stoops - Aside the recent post-season record, Stoops' tenure at OU has been impressive and he certainly has experience bringing a team back into contention. The below 50 percent GSR has me slightly concerned that he might not do well in a more strict academic environment. I also do not think he will leave Norman.
Jon Gruden - The upside with Gruden is that his NFL connections and experience will keep and lure recruits. His ND connections don't hurt either. Furthermore, it is hard to believe that he is done coaching as young as he is. The downside is his lack of college coaching experience. Does ND want to attempt another NFL guy so soon? Granted Charlie was an OC and never a head coach, but it is hard to argue that the NFL is not much different than the college game.
Brian Kelly - The question on Kelly is whether he truly believes Cincy can become a "destination job". Right now even multiple 10+ win seaons have not given Kelly a shot at the NC (yet). Rumor has it that the coach is more interested in ND than vice versa, although this may very well be a mistake on the Irish if true. Kelly has coaching experience and experience with winning. He is more known for his offense, but he was both a linebacker in college and a DC in his previous life. While maintaining a certain minimum level skepticism inherent in any Domer, I have one foot on the Kelly bandwagon.
Chip Kelly - I don't think he yet fills Swarbrick's criteria for "sustained success". While he definitely shows talent, I don't know if ND is ready to take a gamble on a relatively inexperienced head coach again. Up side is his offense would certainly be a fit for the number of receivers ND has.
Gary Patterson - His prior experience with defense would be a huge plus. Could he maintain the wins with a tougher schedule in a much tougher environment?
There are clearly other names out there that have been floated - Petersen, Davis, Cowher, Dungy (although the last I think is ludicrous) - the bottom line is that Swarbrick needs to move quickly if he has not begun so already. Harbaugh, Patterson, and Kelly are all in the midst of contract extensions. If ND wants to try to throw around its weight (and money) they will have to do it before names are taken permanently off the table. The position may still be elite (at least in the eyes of the media), but long gone are the days when a call from ND will guarantee a new coach.
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A Tirade
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A Tirade
by Rick
December 17, 2008
Please shut up. No really . . .shut . . .up.
Seriously. Pat Forde? Mark May? Get your tongues off of Mack Brown's naughty parts. It's hard to understand what you're saying with your mouths full.
Look here's the thing: We Oklahoma fans don't like it any better than you do. Yes, we're playing in the national championship game against Florida. Yes, we lost to Texas. Yes, we have the same record as Texas. (okay, maybe we do like it a little better than you do) We can do math. OU offers a PhD in the subject.
Don't think, however, that we don't also play football. Texas lost to Texas Tech. In their entire brilliant season, instead of taking their one loss to the Red Raiders the Longhorns could have lost to Missouri. They could have lost to Oklahoma State. That would have left a two way tie between OU and Texas giving Texas the head-to-head tie-breaker and Texas would have been in the conference championship instead of the Sooners and we Oklahoma fans would have been fine with it. Oh, but wait. They lost to Texas Tech. I don't care that it was in the last minute, they lost. They had sixty minutes to score points and they scored fewer.
Incidentally, I also don't care that they beat us on a neutral field and TTech beat them in Lubbock. They lost. We won big. It has become the fashion to say that we "ran up the score." Oh, us bad Oklahoma sportsmen. Was Texas choosing to not score more points against TTech because it would be unsportsmanlike? Was it more sportsmanlike to lose?
Hey, Pat and Mark, tell a 20 year old kid who gets a ball in his hands not to try to get to the end zone. Tell him it's his job to not score, not the opposing defense's job to keep him from scoring. Tell a running back looking into a hole not to go through it. Tell a wide receiver not to catch it. Tell a quarterback not to throw it.
Why was Sam in it in the fourth quarter against Missouri? Why was he throwing to try to get to 60? To pad stats and win the Heisman and get to the national championship. This is what every team wants. You want Bob Stoops to say, "No, Sam, you're sitting down. I don't want you, my quarterback, to win the Heisman and I'd really rather play in the Fiesta Bowl and let Texas play in the national championship. It's a sportsmanship thing."
If so, you're full of it. Bob Stoops gets paid more if he goes to the championship game, yes. He's also there because he wants his kids to be there. He has no reason to apologize for wanting to be there, nor should he be asked to give one. The Big XII conference made the rules. He played by them and took advantage of them, which is what he gets paid to do. When Wilt Chamberlain was able to dunk the ball during free throws, the changed the rule, they didn't tell him not to do that. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.
Look, our 2008 Sooners? They're damned good. The defense isn't what it may have been in prior years, but they still shut down the previously unstoppable Texas Tech Red Raiders, who beat Texas. It made stops against the Big East conference champions. Our defense is the question mark, yes. And excepting the Texas game, it has answered that question every time. We know that depth and inexperience in the secondary is an issue on defense. It is. But we're not about to apologize about it when it did better than Texas against TTech and Okie State.
Ryan Reynolds mattered. Don't think for a second he didn't.
No apologies.
Texas' loss mattered.
We are going into the national championship game. We earned our way there. We will do it with a questionable defense and a spectacularly questionable special teams unit.
We're also going into it with a bunch of guys who beat teams to an 11-1 record. We know what the "1" means. We also know what the other two do, and that there is zero -- by which I mean zero -- question that we belong there.
Like Fast Eddie Felton said to Minnesota Fats, "I'm the best there is, Fats, I'm the best there is. Even if you beat me, I'm still the best there is."
Boomer Sooner.
And Texas, one last thing: 38-33. Maybe you shouldn't have been so "sportsmanlike."
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Tuberville Staying or Leaving?
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Should He Stay or Should He Go?
One of our writers, Rick, ran into a friend who happens to be an Auburn fan (at his request, we’ll call him AU-Nwstrn) with some ties to the program. He posed the following:
RICK: So now that Dennis Franchione is done at Texas A&M, will Tommy jump for College Station? Got any inside baseball on this one?
AU-Nwstrn: The short answer is, "Maybe."
First, you should know that as long as T.T. (Tuberville) has been at Auburn there have been rumors about someone coming to hire him away. None of them have been true yet. That doesn't mean this one isn't true (in fact, it's the most realistic scenario yet), but I thought I should offer some historical perspective.
The factors involved in this specific situation go something like this: There is very little doubt that aTm can afford to pay T.T. more that Auburn can, and with Bama shelling out $4M for Sab(t)an last year, a sum similar to that from a school as desperate and as rich as aTm is not out of the question. At AU, T.T. is making $2.6M this year with a $200K annual escalation until 2011. T.T.'s contract has a $6M buyout, which aTm, again, could probably afford if they want him bad enough (Fran's contract also has a $6M buyout, but with newsletter-gate aTm might be able to weasel out of that one). So, if aTm wants T.T., they're looking at $6-$12M in buyouts and somewhere in the neighborhood of $4M per year.
So, Auburn cannot compete money-wise. However, I think that T.T. is the kind of person who understands the law of diminishing returns and that an extra $1M or $1.5M per year is not going to make his life noticeably better.
- He just finished a new home in Auburn.
- He has two sons who are about 10 and 13, and he has said publicly that he wants them to finish HS in Auburn (of course, a private jet can fly between Auburn and College Station anytime).
- By all accounts, he and his family are happy where they are.
- Football-wise, he has STOCKED this team with talent. If he goes to aTm, he'll be taking over a rebuilding project.
- Sure, he'll be recruiting talent-rich Texas, but Mack Brown's been doing that for years and it's not like they hand him the National Championship (or even the Big 12) trophy every year.
- Tommy would be looking at least three or four years down the line before he could have aTm anywhere close to where he has Auburn right now talent-wise.
I think in the end it plays out this way: T.T. leverages aTm's interest into a (well-deserved) raise and contract extension (probably between $3M and $3.5 in year one with built-in escalations). Then aTm will hire... well, I don't really give a (expletive deleted) as long as it's not Tommy. But, if I'm wrong and Tuberville is motivated by the money, aTm will win because they have more to offer. Even so, if that happens, Auburn will be the most attractive available coaching job in college football next year and we WILL get a good one.
On a related note, I think that Bama's grossly inflated, borderline insane contract for Sab(t)an really woke up some of the saner people in College football. I think that both coaches and administrators now understand that they only give out one championship per year, and winning it not only requires talent and hard work, but also a little bit of luck. I also think that coaches understand that there's more to it than the $ - you want an administration that supports you, helps you recruit, builds and maintains your facilities, etc, and the grass is not necessarily greener somewhere else. T.T. wants to win a national championship. He is closer to doing that at Auburn than he would be at aTm.
We'll see what happens, though. T.T. has two really big games in the next 16 days. Losing both of those could make his departure more palatable. Winning them both could make his new contract a little richer.
'07 Writer's Bowl Pick 'Ems
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