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Sunday quick slants from Weis | Around the Bend
After arguably the most eviscerating loss in recent Notre Dame memory, a 24-23 shocker to eight-loss Syracuse, Irish coach Charlie Weis offered a defense of his tenure Sunday that asked loyalists one question while begging another.
The question asked: Are you satisfied with Notre Dame going from bad to decent in one year?
The question begged: Does what you're seeing in 2008 qualify as "decent"?
"I reflected back off of last year to this year to next year," Weis said in his weekly day-after press conference. "Last year, I think we were a pretty crummy football team. We were 3-9. We were playing a whole bunch of freshman and sophomores and first-year players. And it really looked that way.
"There were multiple games last year where we didn't just lose – we were basically non-competitive. Then you go to this year. These guys all now have another year under their belt. Now you're sitting here 6-5. You sit there and look at the five losses. In three of the five losses you had double-digit leads. As a matter of fact, none of the games were non-competitive. There was not one game where you didn't have chance to win the game.
"What you've really done is taken these guys who were a bunch of pups and now we're a decent team. I wouldn't say we're anywhere near good, but we're decent. As you look forward to next year, as you've taken a step from three wins to six or seven wins, as you go into next year, you should expect progress to be just as good if not better. You'd have to say you have a chance of being pretty darn good."
As for a direct question about his job status, Weis again demurred.
"The team has a chance of being pretty darn good next year," Weis repeated. "I can't worry about my job status. I'm the head football coach, and that's what I intend to be."
Once again, as Weis indicated, the Irish blew a double-digit lead on Saturday -- this time a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to a Syracuse team that had never come back from a double-digit deficit during Greg Robinson's tenure.
Once again, Weis said fixing that problem is basically wait-and-see.
"We have a lot of young talented athletes that are gaining invaluable experience," Weis said. "We all, media or coaches, can identify that one of the major issues we're dealing with is finishing the game. You would say it and I would say same thing. Where I expect biggest change or biggest uptick is in that quality. Experience is usually the one that puts you over the edge on that one."
Any changes Weis makes in the offseason won't even begin to be formulated until his usual recruiting odyssey in December, following the USC game.
"I'll have plenty of time on the road," Weis said. "You know I spend probably the first three weeks in December on the road. Usually when I'm on road is when I'm away from wife and my kids, so I have a lot more hotel time. That's when I usually start addressing those things."
Weis sounded like a guy who understood the snowballs being hurled from the stands at the end of the game, but he was disappointed that students were tossing them toward the Irish bench even before kickoff.
"I was taken aback about it, to tell you the truth," Weis said. "It caught me a little off guard. They started coming early. Maybe it was meant in fun, at the start of the game, but it's a dangerous thing. It's just something I wish would have been avoided."
Plenty of high-profile recruits witnessed the carnage Saturday -- including linebacker Manti Te'o, the No. 9 prospect in the nation according to Rivals.com -- and this is the message Weis said he imparted afterward.
"You sit there and say, could you have been the difference between us winning and losing? " Weis said. "That's first question you ask them. In a one-point game, most every recruit wiull look at a game lik yesterdayand say, I can see myself being diff between winning and losing.
"All the guys I talked to this morning… the conversation I just had was really same thing I talked to you about: Do you want to come in a crummy year, a decent year or a year that's pretty darn good?"
After arguably the most eviscerating loss in recent Notre Dame memory, a 24-23 shocker to eight-loss Syracuse, Irish coach Charlie Weis offered a defense of his tenure Sunday that asked loyalists one question while begging another.
The question asked: Are you satisfied with Notre Dame going from bad to decent in one year?
The question begged: Does what you're seeing in 2008 qualify as "decent"?
"I reflected back off of last year to this year to next year," Weis said in his weekly day-after press conference. "Last year, I think we were a pretty crummy football team. We were 3-9. We were playing a whole bunch of freshman and sophomores and first-year players. And it really looked that way.
"There were multiple games last year where we didn't just lose – we were basically non-competitive. Then you go to this year. These guys all now have another year under their belt. Now you're sitting here 6-5. You sit there and look at the five losses. In three of the five losses you had double-digit leads. As a matter of fact, none of the games were non-competitive. There was not one game where you didn't have chance to win the game.
"What you've really done is taken these guys who were a bunch of pups and now we're a decent team. I wouldn't say we're anywhere near good, but we're decent. As you look forward to next year, as you've taken a step from three wins to six or seven wins, as you go into next year, you should expect progress to be just as good if not better. You'd have to say you have a chance of being pretty darn good."
As for a direct question about his job status, Weis again demurred.
"The team has a chance of being pretty darn good next year," Weis repeated. "I can't worry about my job status. I'm the head football coach, and that's what I intend to be."
Once again, as Weis indicated, the Irish blew a double-digit lead on Saturday -- this time a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to a Syracuse team that had never come back from a double-digit deficit during Greg Robinson's tenure.
Once again, Weis said fixing that problem is basically wait-and-see.
"We have a lot of young talented athletes that are gaining invaluable experience," Weis said. "We all, media or coaches, can identify that one of the major issues we're dealing with is finishing the game. You would say it and I would say same thing. Where I expect biggest change or biggest uptick is in that quality. Experience is usually the one that puts you over the edge on that one."
Any changes Weis makes in the offseason won't even begin to be formulated until his usual recruiting odyssey in December, following the USC game.
"I'll have plenty of time on the road," Weis said. "You know I spend probably the first three weeks in December on the road. Usually when I'm on road is when I'm away from wife and my kids, so I have a lot more hotel time. That's when I usually start addressing those things."
Weis sounded like a guy who understood the snowballs being hurled from the stands at the end of the game, but he was disappointed that students were tossing them toward the Irish bench even before kickoff.
"I was taken aback about it, to tell you the truth," Weis said. "It caught me a little off guard. They started coming early. Maybe it was meant in fun, at the start of the game, but it's a dangerous thing. It's just something I wish would have been avoided."
Plenty of high-profile recruits witnessed the carnage Saturday -- including linebacker Manti Te'o, the No. 9 prospect in the nation according to Rivals.com -- and this is the message Weis said he imparted afterward.
"You sit there and say, could you have been the difference between us winning and losing? " Weis said. "That's first question you ask them. In a one-point game, most every recruit wiull look at a game lik yesterdayand say, I can see myself being diff between winning and losing.
"All the guys I talked to this morning… the conversation I just had was really same thing I talked to you about: Do you want to come in a crummy year, a decent year or a year that's pretty darn good?"
