Before we start to roll out the red carpet for Charlie’s departure and praise him for the wonderful job he has done with this football program, I’d like to put some of my thoughts out there. As I am likely to black out during this rant, I would like to warn all that this may become long (that’s what she said…just for you JD) and may jump around from topic to topic. The reason being is that when I begin to talk about Charlie Weis and Notre Dame football, I tend to get a little heated and will probably go on all sorts of tangents about what I think is wrong with Notre Dame. So bear with me.
First things first, I do not hate Charlie as a person and I never have. I hate him as a head coach. So please don’t think I’m attacking him on a personal level. Do I hate his arrogance as a head coach, yes. But he has done great things with his foundation and has represented the University as any alum should and you can never take that away from him. He is a family man and doesn’t deserve any of the criticism that is directed towards his family. Yes, he has succeeded at doing a lot of good charity work, but we didn’t hire him to be the CEO of a charity. We hired him to be the head football coach.
And as a football coach, he is not very good (Yes, I’m stating the obvious) and did many things make me dislike him as a head football coach. For instance, after the Navy game, telling the media that he will never change. Well, Charlie, it is your stubbornness not to change that cost you your job. And then to call out Ian Williams after he spoke the truth stating Navy did out scheme Notre Dame and say that’s the reason he is not a captain is terrible. That’s something you keep behind doors and not something you discuss in the media. And then after the Pitt game to mention Dan Wenger’s chop block about 5 times as a reason the game was lost. No the game was lost because you were conservative:
"It was how we called the game," Weis said. "We were playing the game relatively conservatively. When you're playing the game on the road, with a raucous crowd, I think it's important to understand how you call a game. You don't call a game the same way at home as you do on the road. We're sitting there 3-3 with five minutes to go in the second quarter. To be honest, at the time, we were in a pretty good spot."
You just lost to Navy for the second time in three years. Your seat has never been hotter. Yet, you want to come out a play conservative. Yes, I am not a head football coach and have no idea how to develop a game plan. But if I was and I’m in Charlie’s position, I am pulling out all the stops to save my job. He is the only one to blame for that loss. Not an offensive lineman who made an honest mistake (As an offensive lineman, things happen fast and at the time, Olsen wasn’t engaged with the guy Wenger cut. But also, maybe that says something about coaching. Instead, of teaching your lineman to man up and block a guy, your teaching them to cut. I make this assumption because I see our lineman cut blocking a lot on pass protection.)
There has never been a nastiness with the ND Football teams under Charlie. This is the worst tackling team in America! The O-Line is terrible. There is no physical toughness with this team. We can’t run the ball when we need to. And that’s why we can’t beat the teams we’re supposed to beat.
As pretty as a passing attack is with Clausen, Floyd, Tate and Rudolph we’re never going to win a championship through the air unless we have a running game. We will continue to lose games we should win because we can’t run the ball (Syracuse, Pitt, and NC last year….Michigan, Navy and UConn this year.) I think I’m in the minority when I preach to run the ball even though we have Tate and Floyd, but we will never win if we can’t run the ball. Passing offenses don’t win championships in college football (see Texas Tech). Good, physical defenses and running games win championships. Just look at the Navy game this year, we threw for over 400 yards yet lost because we had 70 yards rushing. Besides, what good are Floyd and Tate when you can’t get them ball (at least in space or on the run lately) because they are doubled covered. Here are a few stats. ND is 20-0 under Charlie when we have rushed more than the opposing team. We are also haven’t won this year when Jimmy threw more than 40 times. It’s easy to defend Notre Dame right now. The O-Line sucks and can’t block a 4 person pass rush. Therefore, teams can leave two safeties over the top while their defensive line does work on our O-Line. With a running game, we can run out the clock when you’re up. For instance, if we had a running game against Michigan this year, which we did until Armando got hurt and we put in Jonas Gray over Robert Hughes for some crazy reason. Instead of throwing an incomplete fade (which even if completed I still would have been upset…and I’m being honest) and another incompletion, we could have run the ball for a first down. But this is all in the past and there is no point to cry over sour grapes because the future is now.
Personally, I think the decision has already been made and Charlie has been told. I would like to see Charlie resign and not have ND fire him. I am actually calling for Charlie to do this and if he does he will gain some respect in my book. He should do it because he should recognize he is not the guy and will never be the guy. He should do it because he is a graduate of this University and should realize that his supposed buyout of 18 million is ridiculous and can be spent more wisely within the school. I don’t want to hear anyone say that he deserves all of that money. He didn’t succeed here, and that is by his own standards. He even said he can’t argue against a change if they made it. So if you can’t argue against it, be the good person that you are and resign and negotiate with the University to come to a reasonable agreement on his buyout. Yes, that buyout is part of his contract, but that contract was made by a terrible Athletic Director and Charlie’s agent couldn’t get him to sign it fast enough. But knowing Charlie, he still thinks he can win a championship here and will not resign.
Yes, Charlie will leave ND in a better position than it was when he got here. I appreciate his effort and work he has done on the recruiting trail. But as much as I like to think this is going to be a Ron Zook leaving Florida type of situation, it’s not. Because of our flip flopping of defenses in the past three years, our defensive line is not good and depth is not good. Ethan Johnson is a stud, but he is not a defensive tackle. He is a defensive end. Flemming is not a defensive end. He is an outside linebacker. If he is a defensive end, then make him add weight. Yes, he has made many tackles for a loss. But if you watch him every play, he is easily pushed around. John Ryan….enough said. All of our committed defensive lineman recruits this year are around 240. If we don’t have two legitimate defensive tackles, teams will continue to run all over us. Yes, have we just missed on some solid defensive tackles? But instead of picking up a body we cried about coaches poaching our players. In my opinion, defensive line is one of the easiest positions to teach and if I had to guess there are many 2 and 3 star recruits doing well on good teams at defensive tackle.
As for the other line, they’re not good. Put a speed rush and Paul Duncan and it’s a sack. The depth we have there is not that great either. Yes, we have players lined up. But if there isn’t a backup tackle that can start over Sam Young or Paul Duncan now, then what is there to look forward too. We will for sure have three new starting lineman next year and possibly 4 if Stewart leave, which is possible because he graduated last year. So it will be another starting over process with the O-Line next year. Great, just great.
This brings me to who I want and hope we get as Head Coach. BOB STOOPS. I personally think we have a good shot at getting him. Bradford is leaving and Oklahoma has been irrelevant this year. I want him because of his defense. I want him because he has won a national championship. Has he lost the big game, absolutely? But at least he has played in the big game. I would take a national championship win along with 3 championship losses in a heartbeat. I would hope that everyone else would too. The only thing more you can ask for is the current Florida situation, but Urban isn’t coming here. Defense will be the quickest way to turn this program around. I think Bobs Stoops can take what we have right now and make it tremendously better. Another reason why I want Stoops, 3 losses at home since 1998. THREE! We’ve been averaging three losses a year it seems like.
This brings me to another problem with ND Football Stadium. And that is the pussification of Notre Dame Stadium. South Bend has to be one of the easiest places to play these days. We’re not intimidating at all. We are quiet fans. The atmosphere isn’t exciting. People tell you to sit down when it’s a key play in the game (My season tally was 4 times. And that would have been higher had I been able to make it to Washington and Navy and not sat in the last row as I did for other two games.) The ushers say welcome to Notre Dame when you walk in like its Disney World. Thanks pal but this isn’t my first rodeo. Either shut up or say Go Irish! Oh and don’t even get me started on this Irish Green crap that they have for the kids before the game. Instead of looking forward to a football game, we have kids looking forward to getting their face painted by a clown. What they need to do is start showing highlights of the past so these kids realize what true Notre Dame football is. Not the crap they see on the field now of losing to Navy, Syracuse, UConn, and on and on and on.
Sorry, got sidetracked. Back to my point, we will never win a National Championship if we can’t win at home. The only way that’s going to change is by getting a coach in here that knows how to win and lead his players and motivate them. A jumbotron and some loud music would help too. I’m being serious. I’m tired of this tradition crap and letting the band entertain me during TV timeouts. And it’s embarrassing, absolutely embarrassing the scoreboard they have up now. Whoever approved that should be fired. During UConn it was flashing D and then a picture of a fence. In red and blue. Are you kidding me? Are we watching Pop Warner games now? Either make the full switch or go back to the old one. People get bored at Notre Dame Games. And bored people do not cheer loud enough and do not make a difference in the game. Yes, fans have an impact on an opponent. When I was younger and Lou was the coach, ND was playing a big ten team. Notre Dame was called for a timeout because the crowd was too loud. And this wasn’t the first time; I have seen a few more instances on ESPN classic. Does this have a lot to do with the product on the field, absolutely? But I can guarantee you it would be a much livelier and more entertaining game. I mean why do you think people rather go watch the game in legends. Alcohol, yes. Don’t have to pay for such an expensive face price ticket, Yes. But I also think that says something about the stadium atmosphere. It isn’t exciting enough or enticing enough to pay the price. I mean the loudest and most into the game the student section got against UConn was when the band played Taylor Swift. Enough said.
For me, there have been more bad memories than good memories and these good memories stem from the people I was with more so than the product on the field (Did I just get anyone to shed a couple of tears?) Yes, USC in ’05 was great…but we lost. That was a great stadium atmosphere, but that was for only one game. If ND wants to win the NC, the stadium needs to be like that for all games. As said earlier, a jumbotron would help. All I’m asking for a Jumbotron during timeouts and for replays. Turn the thing of for all I care during play. Many schools have managed to use both a band and a jumbrotron.
JD, you yelling at a girl, classic. But that’s another problem with this program. Most of the student body cares more about the band rather than the team winning or losing. Instead we clap for our players when we lose a tough one to Syracuse or Navy. F*ck that. These players need to understand their performance isn’t acceptable and should take it personal. Maybe then they would start winning at home.
Another thing that grinds my gears, the 1812 Overture. That should be banned until a national championship is won. All that does these days is trigger a unified booing attack.
Alright, I’ve gone on long enough. I think it is obvious at this point that Charlie isn’t the guy. I want Bob Stoops. I don’t want to take a chance on Brian Kelly. I picture him as another Charlie Weis with his passing offense. John Gruden would love college football and I think players would love to play for him. What scares me is he is coming from the NFL. So we will see. But Notre Dame returning to what it once was and being in contention year in and year out can, and will, no doubt happen in the future. I will never lower my expectations as Joe Montana once suggested. Never.
Go Irish! Beat the Trees and their coach.
Wow, that was long. Sorry but had to get it off my chest. Also, a lot of the problems I mentioned that I have can be forgotten with a better product on the field. A new coach will hopefully do that.
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