Dear Charlie Weis,

[knute]

I was thinking of sending you a letter directly, but you get so much mail and are so busy, you're probably never read it. So I decided to post it to my favorite fan board instead.

I grew up in South Bend and attended Notre Dame. I've been following the Irish all of my life. I remember the dark years before Lou Holtz came around. I remember the amazing season when he won the national championship. I remember big wins against Michigan, Miama and Florida State. I remember sloppy losses to Stanford and Boston College and then the slow decline again.

There was a lot of skepticism when you were hired. Notre Dame had a tough schedule and was going to lose a lot of games in 2005. Nice wins over Pitt and Michigan and close call to USC and Michigan State and you were being called the "Robot Genius". You played it up because you saw how the excitement around the program was landing us top recruits. But then came Ohio State, Michigan, USC and LSU in 2006.

We now know that you're not a robot and your smarts can only get you so far. But, we know that you've invested a lot into this program. You've worked very hard and I believe that you've done everything you can to land the best recruits and win the big games. But we also know that you're very determined and realistic.

You played up the hype when it helps the team, but I don't think you'll be overwhelmed by it. Likewise, I know the recent loses really sting, but you'll overcome them. The past couple of years you've brought in NFL-quality guys and you continue to do so.

You've learned a lot about coaching and recruiting in the college world. You know more about yourself, Notre Dame and your coaching staff. After signing day, you'll take a few weeks off to recharge the batteries and come back strong with a new plan for 2007.

You'll need help. You're a great offensive game planner, developer and recruiter. You tend to put a lot of burden on yourself, but it seems that you need more help on the defensive side of the ball. It will be interesting to see what moves you make to address this, but please be aggressive. Last year's half measures didn't work.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that the Irish fans still have faith in you. We know that you're capable and that you love Notre Dame. Those are two qualifications that previous coaches seemed to lack. Keep working and persevere and if there's anything that I can do to help, just ask.

With sincere regards,

Knute

 

[Satans Little Helper]

I was thinking of sending you a letter directly, but you get so much mail and are so busy, you're probably never read it. So I decided to post it to my favorite fan board instead.

I grew up in South Bend and attended Notre Dame. I've been following the Irish all of my life. I remember the dark years before Lou Holtz came around. I remember the amazing season when he won the national championship. I remember big wins against Michigan, Miama and Florida State. I remember sloppy losses to Stanford and Boston College and then the slow decline again.

There was a lot of skepticism when you were hired. Notre Dame had a tough schedule and was going to lose a lot of games in 2005. Nice wins over Pitt and Michigan and close call to USC and Michigan State and you were being called the "Robot Genius". You played it up because you saw how the excitement around the program was landing us top recruits. But then came Ohio State, Michigan, USC and LSU in 2006.

We now know that you're not a robot and your smarts can only get you so far. But, we know that you've invested a lot into this program. You've worked very hard and I believe that you've done everything you can to land the best recruits and win the big games. But we also know that you're very determined and realistic.

You played up the hype when it helps the team, but I don't think you'll be overwhelmed by it. Likewise, I know the recent loses really sting, but you'll overcome them. The past couple of years you've brought in NFL-quality guys and you continue to do so.

You've learned a lot about coaching and recruiting in the college world. You know more about yourself, Notre Dame and your coaching staff. After signing day, you'll take a few weeks off to recharge the batteries and come back strong with a new plan for 2007.

You'll need help. You're a great offensive game planner, developer and recruiter. You tend to put a lot of burden on yourself, but it seems that you need more help on the defensive side of the ball. It will be interesting to see what moves you make to address this, but please be aggressive. Last year's half measures didn't work.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that the Irish fans still have faith in you. We know that you're capable and that you love Notre Dame. Those are two qualifications that previous coaches seemed to lack. Keep working and persevere and if there's anything that I can do to help, just ask.

With sincere regards,

Knute

that was sweet.

 

[irishranger]

Nice Thread!

 

[grantland]

I'd sign that letter.

 

[Irish52]

And to assist you on the defense, let me suggest you swallow your pride and study in infinite detail the defensive strategy used by Florida to win the national championship, overcoming super odds in light of the fact that the seniors were schooled under 3 different coaches. But Meyer turned the odds in his favor by motivating his players to play way beyond their capabilities. As I have said many times, good coaches make good players to be outstanding players. Our players on the defensive side of the ball appear to be as lackadaisical as they come..no fire, no passion, no espirit de corp, etc. They simply go through the motions of playing with little concern about the outcome. I hope to hell that I am wrong. Meyer is doing a super job at Florida...particularly in recruiting. Word today is that C.J.Spiller At Clemson will transfer to Florida this week.

 

[weisbankaccount]

My letter would go something like this:

The honeymoon is over. ND snuck up on people last year when nobody had any film study on your offense. Since the Stanford game of '05, Notre Dame has been very mediocre and Ive seen the defense get exploited like no other ND defense in 25 years. I give you credit for stopping the bleeding aka losing to the lesser teams but this trend of blowout losses to rivals and top 10 teams is troubling to me.

I can accept losing to these better teams but the fashion of the losses means we dont belong on the field with these teams and I find this troubling considering how you tout the 9 guys on the team who should be drafted on day 1 of the NFL draft.

This boils down to coaching and game planning. The worst decision I saw made this year was moving Travis Thomas to linebacker - it was a failed experiment. I saw a team this year that hinged on 1 player - Brady Quinn - and felt it was very unfair for the entire season to rest on his shoulders.

I commend the recruiting youve done, it gives me a lot of optomism but nothing is concrete with recruiting. Ron Zook recruited the juggernaut we saw last night and he had back to back 5 loss seasons.

Im on board with you next year CW but you have much to prove to me - like everything these days, the media built you up to a unreachable status without much merit, based almost completely on a close loss at home.

I think youre the guy for the job but it needs to translate on the field, im tired of hoping for cosmetic TDs at the end of games in hopes of not being embarrased.

 

[kjones]

And to assist you on the defense, let me suggest you swallow your pride and study in infinite detail the defensive strategy used by Florida to win the national championship, overcoming super odds in light of the fact that the seniors were schooled under 3 different coaches. But Meyer turned the odds in his favor by motivating his players to play way beyond their capabilities. As I have said many times, good coaches make good players to be outstanding players. Our players on the defensive side of the ball appear to be as lackadaisical as they come..no fire, no passion, no espirit de corp, etc. They simply go through the motions of playing with little concern about the outcome. I hope to hell that I am wrong. Meyer is doing a super job at Florida...particularly in recruiting. Word today is that C.J.Spiller At Clemson will transfer to Florida this week.

His pride? What pride? I would say Weis has no improper pride. He's always taken responsibility for loses.

 

[AAND]

The loses

The loses

Although I find the blowout loses troubling as well, I believe it is somewhat the nature of college football today. USC over Michigan, and Florida over OSU are prime examples that with the high flying offenses of modern football, games can get out of hand between teams that are more evenly matched than the final score would indicate.

 

[solo]

How about this letter?

Dear Mr. Weis,

As Notre Dame fans, we have closely followed your career. It appears that things are going well: you are recruiting top notch athletes, you have kept the team ranked for most of your tenure, you have already produced a 10 win season, and you have already provided many memorable moments. Kudos to you and your staff on these fin accomplishments.

However, on the flip side, you are the only coach in all of college football making $3M per season not to win a national championship and you are the only head coach with a 10 year contract not to win a bowl game. Your personal performance as well as your teams performance against highly ranked opponents leaves much to be desired. Similar performances in future years will be considered highway robbery. Now, stop milking your alma mater and go out and win something.

Best Regards,

Solo