Let’s review the last three seasons of the last three coaches at the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  The third year will be compared at ten games into the year, for a side-by-side comparison. 

As you will see, Charlie has performed miserably – far worse than his two most recent predecessors and poor by any measure. 

Further, he has earned dubious distinctions that aren’t conspicuously revealed in the W-L columns: losing to rival Navy…twice…at home in past three years; most 30 point defeats as percentage of games coached; worst record against winning-record teams; 0-5 against USC; etc.

Davie (1999-2001): 19-15  || 55.9%

 

Willingham (2002-2004): 21-14  ||  60.0%

 

Weis (2007-2009): 16-19  ||  45.7% 

Here are some of the excuses for Notre Dame and its alumnus, Charlie:

1)  ND’s academic standards are too high to enable a competitive team

(Really, tell that to Stanford, which has more stringent student-athlete academic standards than that of ND; what is an athlete’s "academic standard" at ND?  I can highlight ACTs and high school GPAs of many football starters, but will just say ND has a lot of 18 ACT scores, which is below the 50th percentile, by the way).

2)  Charlie inherited a team with depleted talent

(On a relative basis, perhaps; that was December 2004, too.  Yet, ask any coach at Boise State, Boston College, Stanford, Texas Christian, Texas Tech, Brigham Young, Navy, et al, whether he would love to have had that depleted talent – even that depleted talents’ backup players, and they would salivate at such an offer)

3)  Charlie needs more time

(More than half-a-decade?  Really?  The top coaches in the country have been vocal about the top-notch talent at ND, particularly its current juniors and seniors, and the depth on the squad)

4)  Next year will be better

(Charlie loses the core of his starters as most are seniors; Tate and Clausen will likely enter the draft since both will go high in first-round and it’s the last year of no-cap rookie salary; So, do the math…2010 equals rebuilding year…even though the house was never built!)

The Brains AND Brawn, Mama Say Knock You Out, Stanford Cardinal is, hands-down, the role model for a Division I program that wants to instill class, discipline, athletic competitiveness and academics.  

Bottom line: Can Notre Dame’s administration change its ways and do what it requires to improve student-athlete standards and perform on-and-off the field as does the Stanford Cardinal?

That is the question, Dear Readers…