Is it a make or break year for CW and staff?

[Clausen2Kamara]

Yea, a lot of great coaches are under contract, wasn't CW?

 

[kmoose]

This thread is kind of interesting...........Weis is already on the hot seat. We know it, ESPN knows it, Michigan knows it, USC knows it, and CW certainly knows it. Being on the hot seat is not necessarily a "win this many games or else" proposition. I can't see this team being sub .500 next year, but 10 wins is a dream.

- The QB position is STILL UNPROVEN. Clausen looked horrible on some passes last year. We can speculate that the elbow was not fully healed, and that this is what caused it. But it might be that he really just can't rise above the talent on the other side of the ball.

- Someone mentioned that the O-Line can't play worse than they did last year. I disagree. They CAN play worse, or even just play AS BAD. CW talked about Sullivan's leadership all year long. With him gone, things can absolutely get worse. Maybe someone else (Sam Young?) steps up, but maybe they don't.

- We still don't have a premiere tailback. None of these guys has shown that they can make something out of nothing. That's what you need, to play with the big boys, in College Football. You have to have a tailback who can occassionally bust a 30-40-50 yarder, even when the line misses assignments. I'm not trying to say that Aldridge, Hughes, Allen, et. al, have no talent. I'm just saying that none of them have shown the ability to create something, when nothing is there. I'm not asking them to be Jerome Bettis, Ricky Watters, or Julius Jones. But at least be Autry Denson, Rodney Culver, or Ryan Grant.

- The receivers are still a question mark. There is obviously some talent there, but did you see Clausen's completion percentage from the Spring Game? I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was pretty bad. Everyone who attended said he looked pretty good, though. So it must have been a bunch of drops by the receivers, cause the Good Lord knows our DBs aren't exactly "shutdown" guys.

- We still have so many question marks on defense, it's not even funny. Mo Crum is the closest thing to a "playmaker" coming back from last year. And most of his "plays" were 3-4-5 yards downfield. Making plays like that gets you marched up and down the field upon.

 

[Junkhead]

- I'm not asking them to be Jerome Bettis, Ricky Watters, or Julius Jones. But at least be Autry Denson, Rodney Culver, or Ryan Grant.

None of those listed backs, or anyone else ever on any college football team at any time in history ever had a line as inept as NDs last year.

 

[kmoose]

None of those listed backs, or anyone else ever on any college football team at any time in history ever had a line as inept as NDs last year.

The point is.........those backs could make a guy or two miss, if the line missed an assignment, and still break a 20 yarder off. Like I said, I'm not saying the current stable of backs doesn't have any talent. It's just that none of those guys is, right now, a back that can make something out of nothing.

 

[NDsuperfan09]

Weis is the hardest working man in all of college football. But his hard work needs to be translated to a 6-6 or better season this year. All of you guys calling 8 and 9 win seasons as of now need to slow your roll. Let's see a product on the field against some good competition so we can see that for ourselves. A 6-6 season with us staying competitive in every contest and ending the bowl streak would be a nice season. 3-9 to 9-3 is quite a fix we will be improved but you are asking for a complete 180. The schedule is slightly weaker but not like many think.


vs. San Diego State W
vs. Michigan Toss-Up
at Michigan State Toss-Up
vs. Purdue W
vs. Stanford W
at North Carolina Toss-Up
at Washington Toss-Up
vs. Pittsburgh Toss-Up
at Boston College Toss-Up
vs. Navy W
vs. Syracuse W
at USC L (until I see differently)

IMO we have 5 guaranteed wins, 6 toss-up games, and one loss at this point. Michigan is going to be tough. They return quite a few defenders from the D that ate our OL alive last year. This is going to be the measuring stick for how much our OL has truly improved. The Spread may be new but until our defense proves they can stop the run than that worries me too. MSU brings back a solid defense, and Javon Ringer who will be the 2nd best RB in the B10 next fall. We should win this one if we have improved as much as everyone thinks. Purdue is a win. We would have beaten them if we had an average OL last season. Stanford will be a blow out unless we turn it over a bunch. UNC is a toss-up game. They like us have a bunch of young talent and a very good coach in Butch Davis. Washington will be as well. If our Run D hasn't improved it will be a field day for Jake Locker (but I expect the same for Jimmy if given the time to throw). Pittsburgh is going to be tough. They have a solid defense, and a great RB in LeSean McCoy. The OL/DL will both need to show out in orer for us to win ths one. Boston College would be a W if played early on in the season but as of now it's still too tough to judge until I see them play. Navy is a revenge game, and Syracuse is just in the pits right now in terms of football. USC will beat us comfortably until I see something that suggests differently out on the field. JMHO on this season. I think we go 7-5 and win a bowl game. That would be progress. Our breakout year will be in 2009. If we don't make a BCS game that season and aren't competitive in that game than Weis will be given his walking papers.

 

[NDsuperfan09]

- The QB position is STILL UNPROVEN. Clausen looked horrible on some passes last year. We can speculate that the elbow was not fully healed, and that this is what caused it. But it might be that he really just can't rise above the talent on the other side of the ball.

Clausen being unproven isn't necessairily his fault. He does need to improve but if you saw how he handled everything that went on last season, and his play when he got time to throw it's easy to see he has the mental and talent make-up to become a great QB. I usually don't stick up for kids as much as I do Jimmy but it's hard not to. He had everything going against him last year. First off filling BQ's shoes that in itelf is a huge challenge. He obviously was never 100% last year and anyone who saw his spring performances and compared it to the kid we saw last fall will admit that. He now has the build of a college QB. He got sacked a bunch because of his atrocious OL. He had no running game, no go to receiver until the last 2-3 games, and his confidence was shaken because of all of these factors. But he never complained, he never gave up, and he took the hits and kept on ticking. If the OL gives him anytime at all to throw the ball this season you will look back on this statement and kick yourself.

- We still have so many question marks on defense, it's not even funny. Mo Crum is the closest thing to a "playmaker" coming back from last year. And most of his "plays" were 3-4-5 yards downfield. Making plays like that gets you marched up and down the field upon.

Agree 100%. Our run defense needs to improve if we want to win the 8-10 games like some here think we ought to win this season.

 

[kmoose]

Clausen being unproven isn't necessairily his fault. He does need to improve but if you saw how he handled everything that went on last season, and his play when he got time to throw it's easy to see he has the mental and talent make-up to become a great QB. I usually don't stick up for kids as much as I do Jimmy but it's hard not to. He had everything going against him last year. First off filling BQ's shoes that in itelf is a huge challenge. He obviously was never 100% last year and anyone who saw his spring performances and compared it to the kid we saw last fall will admit that. He now has the build of a college QB. He got sacked a bunch because of his atrocious OL. He had no running game, no go to receiver until the last 2-3 games, and his confidence was shaken because of all of these factors. But he never complained, he never gave up, and he took the hits and kept on ticking. If the OL gives him anytime at all to throw the ball this season you will look back on this statement and kick yourself.

I think you misunderstood the point of my statement. It's not an indictment of Clausen. My point was: we still have an unproven QB, and expecting 9 or 10 wins with an unproven QB is wishful thinking. I will not kick myself, if he has a great year, because I am not dogging on him. All I'm saying is he had one year, a freshman year at that, and he did not come in and turn the college football world upside down like many people seemed to expect him to do. Your points are all valid, and I mentioned many of those same points in my post. But the fact remains...... we don't yet know how good he can be, given a good supporting cast. Until it happens on the field, we just can't count on him being the wunderkid that everyone thinks he is. And, even if he is......if no one can catch the ball, it isn't going to matter.

 

[NDsuperfan09]

I think you misunderstood the point of my statement. It's not an indictment of Clausen. My point was: we still have an unproven QB, and expecting 9 or 10 wins with an unproven QB is wishful thinking. I will not kick myself, if he has a great year, because I am not dogging on him. All I'm saying is he had one year, a freshman year at that, and he did not come in and turn the college football world upside down like many people seemed to expect him to do. Your points are all valid, and I mentioned many of those same points in my post. But the fact remains...... we don't yet know how good he can be, given a good supporting cast. Until it happens on the field, we just can't count on him being the wunderkid that everyone thinks he is. And, even if he is......if no one can catch the ball, it isn't going to matter.

Fair enough, I misread your post. You make a valid point though.

 

[GoldenDomer21]

Weis is the hardest working man in all of college football. But his hard work needs to be translated to a 6-6 or better season this year. All of you guys calling 8 and 9 win seasons as of now need to slow your roll. Let's see a product on the field against some good competition so we can see that for ourselves. A 6-6 season with us staying competitive in every contest and ending the bowl streak would be a nice season. 3-9 to 9-3 is quite a fix we will be improved but you are asking for a complete 180. The schedule is slightly weaker but not like many think.


vs. San Diego State W
vs. Michigan Toss-Up
at Michigan State Toss-Up
vs. Purdue W
vs. Stanford W
at North Carolina Toss-Up
at Washington Toss-Up
vs. Pittsburgh Toss-Up
at Boston College Toss-Up
vs. Navy W
vs. Syracuse W
at USC L (until I see differently)

IMO we have 5 guaranteed wins, 6 toss-up games, and one loss at this point. Michigan is going to be tough. They return quite a few defenders from the D that ate our OL alive last year. This is going to be the measuring stick for how much our OL has truly improved. The Spread may be new but until our defense proves they can stop the run than that worries me too. MSU brings back a solid defense, and Javon Ringer who will be the 2nd best RB in the B10 next fall. We should win this one if we have improved as much as everyone thinks. Purdue is a win. We would have beaten them if we had an average OL last season. Stanford will be a blow out unless we turn it over a bunch. UNC is a toss-up game. They like us have a bunch of young talent and a very good coach in Butch Davis. Washington will be as well. If our Run D hasn't improved it will be a field day for Jake Locker (but I expect the same for Jimmy if given the time to throw). Pittsburgh is going to be tough. They have a solid defense, and a great RB in LeSean McCoy. The OL/DL will both need to show out in orer for us to win ths one. Boston College would be a W if played early on in the season but as of now it's still too tough to judge until I see them play. Navy is a revenge game, and Syracuse is just in the pits right now in terms of football. USC will beat us comfortably until I see something that suggests differently out on the field. JMHO on this season. I think we go 7-5 and win a bowl game. That would be progress. Our breakout year will be in 2009. If we don't make a BCS game that season and aren't competitive in that game than Weis will be given his walking papers.

This is a pretty good assesment, I think counting a few more of those toss-ups as W's would be prudent. But CW isn't going anywhere this year. Last year was his first year with his own kids. They were in extraordinary circumstances with a very low number of returning starters. CW couldn't help that he wasn't able to give his first recruits more time on the field with Quinn and Co. He wouldn't have made the wins if he did. So last year was his first time coaching what he brought in. This year I say they improve, A LOT! 9 wins, and 2009, 10, 11, 12, 13...and so on, all National Championships...But thats a slightly biased opinion...

 

[ant80]

Good question Marine, I started a thread about that question a while ago back...I would want an experienced college coach who could recruit. I think a guy like Jim Tressel would be a good fit. He is not that flashy but he is a hell of a coach who gets the most out of his players. He knows how to develop players, he recruits pretty hard and OSU is always competing. He has experience in big games to boot. He is an honest guy and runs a good program. Most importantly, he's a winner. Schiano would also be a good fit. I think Schiano is also a great option, he's a great recruiter and has turned around a once doormat program and is one of the best young HC's out there.

Keep your dutty hands off Jim Tressel.

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

Keep your dutty hands off Jim Tressel.

I don't think he would ever leave OSU or would he....

 

[coachjohnson]

Tony Rice was unproven, but he kept within his boundaries and was a winner, time after time he stepped up. I believe Clausen is a winner, only time will tell. I realize Clausen had a shaky year last year, but it's hard to get in a comfort zone with the blocking we had last year. Clausen's arm strength looked great in practices and their scrimmages, he has some serious zip on the ball now. Our backs need HEART, I think last year was a real eye opener for all of the players and I will be shocked if don't win at least 8 games. Call me crazy or whatever, we can all speculate.

 

[ND22SB]

I agree with most of you that ND needs to improve, but I don't agree the same people saying fire CW if he doesn't put up the W's. It makes all the ND haters smile when ND lose as much as they have, and would make them laugh if we continue playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" with the coaches...like it seems we have been doing since the departure of Lou.

I am by no means an expert of recruiting and have only been following recruiting for about 5 years, but some of these sites that rank the classes as No.1, No.2, etc., I think can put some pressure on a coach to succeed fast. Some (most) of the players that are praised out of HS don't live up to the caliber that was stamped (five star. four star) on their backs as Sr and Jr in HS, and then the fingers start pointing at the HC. It takes time.

CW knows what it takes to win in college and in time (not 4 yrs.), will bring ND back to the winning tradition we have all got use to. Or, maybe ND will continue playing kids game."Tag your it"....(four years later) "Tag now your it."

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

I definetly get what you're saying but this is ND...We expect excellence. I'm not calling for CW's head, all I am saying that CW has his own players in and they are now experienced so I expect improvement..If we get 7 W's and the team progresses throughout the year, I'm all for it. This team has the talent and the experience now. 7 wins is a modest expectation with the talent we have and the schedule we have.

 

[irishmarine]

i think 7 is a good number. its a good improvement. and a small bowl game.

 

[GoldenDomer21]

I agree with most of you that ND needs to improve, but I don't agree the same people saying fire CW if he doesn't put up the W's. It makes all the ND haters smile when ND lose as much as they have, and would make them laugh if we continue playing "Duck, Duck, Goose" with the coaches...like it seems we have been doing since the departure of Lou.

I am by no means an expert of recruiting and have only been following recruiting for about 5 years, but some of these sites that rank the classes as No.1, No.2, etc., I think can put some pressure on a coach to succeed fast. Some (most) of the players that are praised out of HS don't live up to the caliber that was stamped (five star. four star) on their backs as Sr and Jr in HS, and then the fingers start pointing at the HC. It takes time.

CW knows what it takes to win in college and in time (not 4 yrs.), will bring ND back to the winning tradition we have all got use to. Or, maybe ND will continue playing kids game."Tag your it"....(four years later) "Tag now your it."

I agree. It takes time. I don't want to suffer though the bad years, but there may be some. I think CW knows what he is doing, and if given time, we will get where we all want to be. All the good coaches had 8 or more years to work their magic. I know we have high standards, but asking a program to turn around in only 4 years is asking a lot. Don't get me wrong. I WANT TO SEE IT HAPPEN IN 4 YRS! But I like CW, he has a good command of the team and program. This season should be a vast improvement, but axing him if we don't get 10 wins in unacceptable. Let him live out his contract. Stop with the eeny meeny miney moe. We have a good one with 4 super bowl rings. Lets see where he takes us!

 

[irishmarine]

golden domer i fully agree with you. i just hope some of the panic people can understand what u r saying

 

[GoldenDomer21]

golden domer i fully agree with you. i just hope some of the panic people can understand what u r saying

Why thank you!

 

[irishmarine]

youre welcome.