<p>Yesterday's horrific loss to Navy, in which a team that will probably not have a single NFL player, out hustled the Fighting Irish, has taken the Charley Weiss situation from one of breaking my heart to one of just plain stomping on my aorta and smashing my ventricles. Whatever, his buyout number is, ND has to pay it. No future recruit who sees himself in the NFL one day, is going to play for a Weiss-led team and suffer the kind of defeat we saw yesterday.</p>
<p>In this economy, just where will the money come from?</p>
<p>How about NBC?</p>
<p>Before you dismiss Charlie or get a big grabber, think about who you would replace him with. I believe the powers that be would have replaced him last year, but there was no one out there of value who would have taken the job. Money aside, do you want another George O’Leary or Ty Willingham? Charlie got another year, let’s let him get through next week before you bury him.</p>
<p>The team lost to Navy 2 out of 3 years, because we don’t take Navy seriously. Its like playing our little brothers. They play us like its the NC. Its the attitude that we fans, players, coaches, etc. all have about any of the academy schools. They are treated special and not like an opponent. That pre-game show yesterday was terrible. Honoring vets is one thing, but these kids choose to attend the academys on the tax payers dime. Why do we treat them so special and don’t give me that story about saving ND. That is history. We need to have a nasty attitude and kick the crap out of them like any other team we play.</p>
<p>Just watched “Talkin Football”–commentators indicated that 9 is the magic number for Charlie Weiss to win this year to keep his job. Mentioned that Brian Kelly (Cincinnati) would be an excellent choice as a replacement. I am not advocating one way or the other with regards to Charlie Weiss as a $10 million dollar deal is a lot of money–esp in this economy. That is an awful lot of money that could be used elsewhere… and yes, I agree w/above post ^^ as to not wanting to make a hasty decision!</p>
<p>@ nd AL</p>
<p>I agree. I would love to see BKelly in South Bend. That said, next year (assuming Clausen stays) could be one of the best ND lineups in recent history. Would it be wise to trust a first-year coach with such promising talent?</p>
<p>p.s. These next couple games scare me: Pitt is dangerous, Stanford is more dangerous, and UConn just almost beat Cincy.</p>
<p>If Charlie has to step down, I’d love to see him stay as offensive coordinator. His ties to the community and the campus are solid. His wife and daughter are special people. His son is, well…Charlie Jr. That said, keep in mind that Florida’s Urban Meyer has always said that ND would be his dream job. Meyer grew up in Ohio and was a defensive standout at the University of Cincinnati. Think of the recruiting possibilities with a head coach coming off a National Championship! My head says that Charlie needs to go; my heart says, “One more year!”</p>
<p>dont have a strong opinion one way or the other, but saw this online today. pretty amazing #s. and a tough record to defend if you hope to be bcs-bowl bound.</p>
<p>"Overall, the Irish are 1-10 under Weis against teams that finished a season in the Top 25. The lone victory was a 41-17 win in 2006 over Penn State, which finished 9-4 and ranked No. 24. </p>
<p>Weis has never beaten a team that finished with fewer than four losses"</p>
<p>Charley is looking worse and worse all the time. Given USC’s trouncing by Stanford ( I don’t think they will be a ranked team as of tomorrow), and Michigan’s loss today (they sre now 1-6 in the Big 10), ND’s losses to both these teams are really looking awful, even embarassing. A resurgent Stanford team is really a problem too since the Cardinal can take away all the high IQ high school stars the Irish need. It is time for Charley to suck it up and take care of business with Pitt tonight and at Stanford on the 28th. Failure now can really set the program back. We have to be on the verge of losing our special BCS status and may need to join the BIg 10 or Big East in a year if things don’t turn around.</p>
<p>USC will still be ranked…They’re USC, it doesn’t matter how poorly they play, they’ll always be ranked.</p>
<p>The time has come to open the vault and replace Charley. If this is not done soon, this recruiting year will go down the drain. Even with a Stanford victory, all the future promises is just more 7-5 and 8-4 seasons and I fear, a drop from that level down to 5-7 and 4-8 performances. As things stand now, the next Golden Tate or Jimmy Clausen is not going to risk their future NFL career on a program that doesn’t play a big schedule, doesn’t play in the big bowls, is now 15 years out of the national picture and which does not offer NFL preparatory coaching. </p>
<p>In larger terms, the program either has to move to conference membership in the Big East or Big 10 (if they would even take the Irish now), or really step things up with a godzilla package to snag an Urban Meyer, Nick Saban or Pete Carroll after Charley is paid off. I hope that with the resources of ND (our own TV network chief among them), the Irish choose to do the latter.</p>
<p>I doubt Nick Saban will move–the Alabama fans will be willing to pay him even more to NOT move to Notre Dame! I am not advocating either way about Weis–just a little concerned about the money with regards to his contract, esp in this economy. I think that if the stock market was performing ++, we would have seen a very swift buyout. Right now, I just don’t know. I wonder if that is part of the reason he is back again this year. Money talks–and if it’s not there, results don’t occur.</p>