Obviously, it has been a horrible year for one of the two football teams that I really care about (well, I guess you could make an argument for both). Waking up this morning I found this article, which is probably the most sane explanation that I have seen for an otherwise crappy situation (with links added to help those of you that have no idea what the dude is talking about).
In the beginning, Charlie made the most out of a bad situation. He hired assistants quickly 
and without a lot of time for vetting, because he had made a commitment to his then-employer and he had to keep it.
and without a lot of time for vetting, because he had made a commitment to his then-employer and he had to keep it. Then he made the most out of a bad situation again. His chosen QB coach resigned unexpectedly after a heart attack. Weis hired a pretty good replacement, but he had lost a former head coach who knew his stuff (and who really could have helped this year).
Then he did it again. He started 2005 spring practice with a team that had been poorly coached and repeatedly humiliated, and he coached them into a BCS berth. That season was no gimmick -- ND beat the crap out of some teams that year. Save two last-second plays, that team would have played Texas for the national title. (editorial comment: I don't necessarily agree with the premise here, obviously from anyone who watched the not-so-Fiesta Bowl, there was no reason for ND to be anywhere near a national championship game that year. The games fell right, and the team made the best of the situation.)
Last year, though, that defensive coordinator he hired over the phone, the one Holtz recommended, was coaching his way out of a job. At the same time, Weis's predecessor's recruiting failures started to peek through to the surface. The offensive line was thin and the defense was thinner (and more confused). Fortunately, the QB was built like a linebacker and stayed (relatively) healthy all year.
But this year, the bad situations finally got the best of Weis. He entered August with one pedestrian QB, one injured blue-chipper (edit: yes, I think it is EXTREMELY sad that this dude has a .org dedicated to him.), and one guy who scared him to death and excited the hell out of him at the same time. He rolled the dice with the last guy, and crapped out in a hurry. That offensive line the recruitniks had been fearing for three years turned out to be worse than advertised. Things unravelled in a hurry, and Weis tried to cute his way out of it. It didn't work.
Should Weis have made sure the line was fundamentally better than they have been? Absolutely. Then again, the 2007 ND coaching job is like the first day of work for the new mayor of Detroit -- do you deal with the unemployment or the murder rate? QB's or line? New defensive scheme or three new starting wide receivers? Special teams or new starting running back? Oh, and no one better get hurt, because we barely go two-deep at every position.
Weis failed this year in the sense that the team is awful. That, I suppose, could be the end of the inquiry. Everyone faces tough problems -- the difference between the great ones and the others is what they make of those problems. Then again, this year was in many respects a formula for disaster, and it's tough to fault Charlie for failing to win a title that was never in the cards in the first place. That he has recruited so well in spite of these challenges is a testament to his optimism and work ethic.
Can Charlie win a title at Notre Dame? Or will he outsmart himself out of a job?
I agree with the recruits -- the book on Charlie Weis remains just interesting enough for me to want to turn the page.
Obviously, there are some things the guy mentioned that I don't necessarily agree with, but the overall point stands. There has been a Good-Brett, Bad-Brett situation going on here but with the man-children that could arrive in less than a year, I want to see where this takes us.
Oh, and this is all not mentioning that whole blood contract thing Tweedle-Dee presented to him. But that's a whole other issue...
5 comments:
so how about the Bungals?
trade rudi for the best linebacker you can get and have every single wide reciever do hand drills like its the first practice of their high school career and i promise they would be a playoff team.
i think its a little too late though. i wont be surprised if (1) Chris Henry has an immediate impact once he comes back from suspension (soon) and (2) palmer tries to get traded after this season if no improvement is shown. he is a man among boys
At this point, though, if the talent is thin, whose fault is that?
Weis has been there long enough that he's winning or losing with his own boys, isn't he?
I wish it were so cut and dry. The way i would describe it as Weis being in year 2 and a half of his own boys. In other words, the Freshman and Sophmore class is definitely his (which actually, has a majority of the people that have had fairly good years). That half year was the year of Weis's hiring, which occured in early December, which is all but the end of the recruiting year. Since Weis decided to still focus all of January (the official end to recruiting) on his previous employeer and Super Bowl [roman numerals], he recruited essentially over the phone. It was kind of a catch-22, do you try to salvage a recruiting class that is all but closed up, or show some loyalty to the people paying you at the time, though the writing is on the wall?
Summary: The ones that are his boys should, on a normal full 85-scholarship team, still be sitting bench for the most part.
Admittedly though, my biggest issue with Weis is that so far he has shown no ability to develop kids on the fundamentals (i.e. straight out of high school).
holy-shit-longest-comment-ever
Marvin has to go.
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