Well, I've been saying it all along and I continue to stick to my belief: Notre Dame football is never going to go anywhere of any real significance under Charlie Weis. This is not so much Charlie's fault...he seems an able minded offensive coordinator at the professional level. He wouldn't have stayed on with the Patriots through three Super Bowls had he not been (even with superior talent making his play calls look good). However, a college head coach he is not. He is completely overmatched in this regard, and proof positive is him handing over the offensive play calling to Mike Haywood. Seriously...Charlie Weis has won three Super Bowl rings as on offensive coordinator...how may has Haywood won? Whom would you rather have calling plays for you based on sheer resume alone? That having been said, even when Charlie was calling the plays I still don't think the Notre Dame offense was anything spectacular.
At the end of the day, play calling is great (especially if you find a way to get more out of your players than you should, which is what truly great offensive coordinators do). However, you still need great players and great players to execute. Charlie, for whatever reason, just doesn't do that. As I've said before...a college coach wears so many hats it's very, very difficult for the normal NFL coach to step down and do more than they are used to. Sure, Pete Carrol is the aberration, but by and large NFL guys just don't work out. They are too used to players already being grown young men...already knowing technique...and they are expecting to work with them 40+ hours a week like a job instead of sharing time with classes, breaks, family, etc. It's just a different world.
For all the hype we get about the Top Five classes Charlie has been hauling in, we just aren't seeing the domination on the field like we should. I don't care if they are freshman or not. Freshmen at schools like Florida, Oklahoma, USC and others make an instant impact faster and more dominantly than ours have been doing the past couple years. That comes down to preparation, scheming, talent evaluation, coaching...all sorts of reasons. Right now for example, Jake Locker is playing better and more enthusiastic football for Ty Willingham than Jimmy Clausen is for Charlie Weis, and Clausen was supposed to be the #1 football player in all the land.
Sure, Weis took us to a couple of BCS bowls (and we got blown out of them). I think our trips to them were more about the "Notre Dame Clause" (which we should do away with because it makes us look pretentious) than his effective coaching. Other than that, what has he really done that's made you stop and say "Wow! He's SO much better than Willingham or Davie!"? Not much if you ask me. Remember, when we started our coaching search, Weis was our fourth or fifth best option after the people we really wanted said no. People act like he was our first choice and number one guy to fix everything. Um, we went after real program changers and they turned us down.
I definitely want to see us do well this year, but in my humble opinion it's only a matter of time before Charlie gets canned. The Administration wants results like yesteryear and they aren't going to get them in this changed landscape of college football unless they come to understand several key things:
1. We need to be in a conference because being Independent anymore is a waste.
2. We need to play a reasonable schedule, which we are starting to.
3. We need to expect certain things from our football + academic program that schools like Miami and USC just don't have to worry about (like going to class consistently).
4. We need to do away with the "Notre Dame Clause" in the BCS because it's unfair and makes us look like douche bags.
5. We need to take a giant step back, retool, hire the right people for every single position coach, hire a truly great college football coach, and focus on winning ANY bowl.
6. We need to begin recruiting the way academic schools do (since we are one) and stop trying to beat the "pro football springboard" schools at their own game. That's a losing situation. At Notre Dame, it's mostly cold with no beach and you have to get good grades in tough classes. At say, Miami, well...it's sunny, there's bikini clad women, it has a beach and your academics are questionable. Um, which would you choose?
Just my 2¢.
