Weighing in on Weis

It looks like the final nails have been ordered for the Charlie Weis coffin at Notre Dame. Unfortunately for him the toughest game on the regular season schedule--yes sports fans trying to win at Stanford this year is tougher than hosting USC--remains and so unless he does to Stanford what an inspired Syracuse team did to him last season (i.e., win one for a doomed coach) the team's losing streak will continue.

In many ways Weis deserves what is coming to him. He is arrogant when winning, to the point of not making friends among administrators, alumni and press who could help him now. He is a poor game manager, as evidenced by stretches of every game where his team tanks and he is unable to make adjustments. He is a poor judge of assistant coaching talent. He is unable to develop anyone on the defensive side of the ball. His team's almost always lose the intensity battle to the opposition, which is why they have performed so poorly against seemingly over matched teams like Navy. He plays favorites. He...

That's enough. I am kicking a man while he's down. Weis did do some things right, namely recruit well, graduate players and produce a good, if inconsistent offense. And he kept the tradition of the place front and center. But, he did not win enough games. It usually boils down to that factor.

The bigger concern for Notre Dame fans is the question of his replacement. Notre Dame has done a pretty poor job of hiring football coaches since tabbing Ara Parseghian 46 years ago. Sure Dan Devine and Lou Holtz are both Hall of Famers who won titles at Notre Dame, but even their tenures ended with both sides unhappy. But hiring Gerry Faust, Bob Davie and Charlie Weis without head coaching experience? The fiasco regarding George O'Leary's resume? Hiring Ty Willingham despite his reluctance to recruit and then canning him for Urban Meyer--who took the Florida job instead? That hiring record does not inspire confidence.

The main obstacle in any search is that the candidate needs to be near perfect to succeed.
+He must have successful head coaching experience. Frank Leahy, Parseghian, Devine and Holtz all did well elsewhere before coming to South Bend and winning with the Irish.
+He must be able to handle intense pressure. Both Leahy and Parseghian left coaching as relatively young men due to the pressure to win every game.
+He must be able to recruit players from across the nation who are both talented and able to handle the classes at Notre Dame. Weis seemed to do well in this regard except his recruiting classes were lopsided in favor of the offense. Most of the other top recruiters do so at large state schools without rigid requirements.
+His players must graduate. People keep throwing out the name Chris Peterson of Boise State as a candidate, but Boise is at less than 60% graduation of the players signed in 2002 and that is despite not having kids leave early for the pros.
+He cannot embarrass the school nor allow any players to do the same. Meyer's public squabbling with USC, Tennessee and yes even Notre Dame would not be appreciated, nor his recruiting kids who have committed transgressions both on and off the field. Weis lost his backup TE before the season started because the kid went streaking and then was banished from campus by the Office of Residence Life.
+He must have the attributes of a good public speaker. Holtz was a home run in this regard while the faithful could not stand the dour Devine.
+His teams must be known for toughness. Weis failed in this regard despite coming from a Patriots organization known for its toughness.

The job is even more complicated when factoring in the Catholic angle (don't have to be one--see Rockne and Parseghian--but it helps) and the cold weather (good ol' boy Southerners could have a problem).

So who could handle the position? More importantly, who would want to? Stay tuned, but Irish fans should not be too optimistic.