Good night, sweet prince

Well...

Mathematically, I think you had to have some doubt before tonight. It was still possible for Charlie to wake up, find the bottle of 2005 pixie dust in the back cabinet, win the last two games and a bowl game, get to 9-4 and still exude a certain sense of progress for the season. That whole package—progress on the record, another bowl win, knocking off the MSU and Boston College monkeys at least for one year—could have presented an argument to keep Weis, even with another loss to Navy and a loss to Michigan that now looks pretty rancid.

But now, hoping for 7-5, going on the road to face this…nasty? can I say nasty?…newly formidable Stanford team…yeah, he’s toast. Thanks for the recruiting, Charlie, we’re going to find somebody who can teach them to play college football now. I’m sure Swarbrick will wait until after the Stanford loss to proclaim his demise, but he’s GOT to be on the phone this week even if he somehow wasn’t before.

"Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals." --Churchill

by lordsummer on Nov 21, 2009 8:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

If We Lose Again............

I’ll once again read your “Apathy for the Ages” post from 11/11/2007 for third time in as many years.

by Bob Earle on Nov 21, 2009 9:31 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

link please

by SuperNewb on Nov 22, 2009 1:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

2007 does not seem all that long ago

http://www.rakesofmallow.com/2007/11/11/18420/723

http://www.rakesofmallow.com

by CW on Nov 22, 2009 11:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

thanks buddy

by SuperNewb on Nov 22, 2009 7:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

how many saviors can one program have?

It feels like Willingham was supposed to rescue us from the Davie era and restore us to prominence. Then Weis was supposed to rescue us from the Willingham era and restore us to prominence. Now whoever we get is supposed to rescue us from the Weis era. Swarbrick better get it right this time. I don’t know what the ratings look like, but at some point, people are going to stop watching, then NBC is is going to stop paying, then we’re just another mediocre Midwestern football program.

by long time listener on Nov 21, 2009 9:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sadly I have been thinking about the Davie era recently and longing for the days of a good defense at Notre Dame……

B-B-B-Byrd Byrd Byrd, Byrd is the Wyrd!"

by willgarr15 on Nov 22, 2009 5:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

early on in the season

i was wondering whether this team was poised for a breakout or just really, really average. obviously the latter was revealed to be true. a 2nd consecutive Senior Day loss was both shameful and embarrassing.

it’s been almost 20 years since this team was consistently competing at a high-level. i’m starting to get used to being let down.

as a side note, it’s tough not to feel great for Randy Edsall and his players. they’ve been through a lot this year.

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Nov 21, 2009 11:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

We have/had the talent to be 11-1

Sometimes I think Charlie has gotten some bad breaks… then I remember there’s absolutely no excuse for this team being 6-5, no matter what breaks you’ve gotten.

by SuperNewb on Nov 22, 2009 1:59 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

When you have top 10 recruiting every year, you need to win football games. Period.

B-B-B-Byrd Byrd Byrd, Byrd is the Wyrd!"

by willgarr15 on Nov 22, 2009 5:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

OU lost again

ole Stoops might be ready to move on in Norman. Could you imagine what he could do with your last three recruiting classes!

by Huzkerfan on Nov 22, 2009 6:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Truly amazing things

I am guessing he could bring in an amazing staff as well. Imagine what he could do with the young talent on defense.

by djta on Nov 22, 2009 6:41 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

probably the same thing he did at Oklahoma this year......6-6

I’ll be honest, I despise Notre Dame, so if you screw up another hire, it won’t bother me a bit. Stoops’ big game record shows you all you need to know. But if you’re smart, you’ll take three tractor trailers, fill them with crisp $100s, and drive one to Cincinnati, one to Palo Alto, and one to Boise.

--Dave
Addicted to Quack, SBN's Oregon Ducks blog

by Addicted to Quack on Nov 23, 2009 12:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for stopping by

When ND is in 4 of the last 9 national championship games (or Oregon for that matter), then I will start complaining about not winning in big games.

Thanks for the advice, but I’ll take my $100s to Gainesville, Norman, and Tampa.

by djta on Nov 23, 2009 12:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

you have a fair point

though I’m still not sold on Stoops, he’s certainly a step up from what you have had. If you could get him, you know that there is some safety in that pick.

Meyer is a pipe dream. Gruden is interesting. High risk, high reward. He’s certiantly much more engaging that Weis.

--Dave
Addicted to Quack, SBN's Oregon Ducks blog

by Addicted to Quack on Nov 23, 2009 6:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If you are not sold on Stoops

then who are you sold on? Seriously, there are maybe two coaches (Meyer, Carroll) with more impressive resumes than his in college football. It is truly impressive.

Agreed on Meyer.

Why is Gruden a high risk, high reward? He has has success as a head coach at multiple stops. He has won a Super Bowl. He has shown a desire to adapt to the college game (at least verbally). He would be far and away the most successful NFL coach to ever make the jump to the NCAA. It is hard to compare him to any other college coach. What is risky about him?

by djta on Nov 23, 2009 7:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I know that Stoops gets a bad rap for losing big games, but in some fairness to him, I don’t know that most teams could have lived with the LSU and USC teams that the Sooners faced in national championship games. The Boise State bowl win… well, when it’s that close at the end, what are you going to do?

As for Gruden… I don’t know. I’d have to wonder if he was going it as a placeholder before going back to the pros. That’s not much of a risk, but it would be a concern… the hard part, I would imagine, is that to the outside observer, Notre Dame could do with a coach who can both produce results and maintain them for a while to regain that sense of momentum over the course of several years. Would Gruden be willing to stick around?

This is certainly going to be an interesting coaching search.

by DC Trojan on Nov 24, 2009 12:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Notre Dame is not Oklahoma, USC or Florida (or Florida State, Ohio State or even Michigan)

Notre Dame is having problems, in my opinion, due to the uniquness of your school. Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll can go out and recruit anyone. Literally, every player in the nation is a possibility for them. That player will be admitted, coddled and carried to the games if needed. Notre Dame is NOT that kind of school. Those schools have huge enrollments, are major research universities—students can hide on those campuses, they are not religiously affiliated, etc.

Notre Dame is more like Stanford, Northwestern or even Iowa. Notre Dame has to recuit certain types of players and groom them. The advantage Notre Dame has is they will get more plug and play athletes than Northwestern and Stanford and Iowa, but they have to have a recruiting system. Iowa and Ferentz are kind of a model for you guys—go get certain types of guys that have a certain kind of character, supplement them (they are the leaders and set the tone) with great athletes who could play anywhere and have the players manage your culture.

Iowa has gone 29 games without losing a game by a double-digit margin. The only team in FBS with a longer current streak is Texas, at 31 games. Florida is at 29, Boise State 25. After that, not many teams have gone through 2009 without a 10-point loss. That is character. You need to find it, groom it and protect it.

Bob Stoops is not that coach. Believe me. I am an Iowa guy, we know the Stoops Bros. and you can be sure that Gruden is also not that guy. Meyer might be, but you are not getting him - not this year. Kelly might be that guy, but he is a risk with his record and not much of a defensive guy. Oh, and he has NEVER beaten a team ranked better than 21 in the nation, and he has had numerous opportunities.

Finally, you need a coach that coaches THE TEAM…it is very plainly evident that Weis has nothing to do with the defense and probably could care less about the details of that side of the ball. He always wreaked of being partial to one side of the ball. If I were a defensive recruit I would not play for him…he always talks about being able to beat people from an offensive POV (as in outscoring people) so the defense is the redheaded stepchild of the team.

If you could get him, Patterson at TCU (a bit of a risk, but better than Kelly because he is defensive minded and has beaten Top 20 teams) is your guy.

But I bet that you make a run at two people: Brian Kelly and Tom O’Brien.

My two cents.

"I think it's safe to say our concerns are many." -- Kirk Ferentz

by StoopsMyAss on Nov 24, 2009 9:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Leach

Leach at Texas Tech or Chris Peterson of Boise State would both do well for the Irish. Charlie bungled the whole season. He really could be 3 and 8 instead of 6 and 5. He was very lucky to beat Washington, Purdue and BC.

by bruin75 on Nov 24, 2009 12:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Two things

Leach??? No way, but Peterson, maybe.

As for Weis being lucky to be 6-5, you could just as easily say with a bit of luck he could be 8-3 or even 9-2.

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren

by lookingdeadred on Nov 24, 2009 4:39 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Im just throwing this out there...

But what about Ken Niumatalolo from Navy. Granted they only run the football… But is there any reason to think he couldn’t run a more traditional offense at a “better” school with better recruits? Im not saying he should be a target, but he gets an awful lot out of that team, and I imagine its a lot more than a lot of coaches could get out of those players.

And does anyone know how attached to North Carolina Butch Davis is?

This space for rent.

by averagegatsby on Nov 25, 2009 3:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Really bad idea, really bad

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren

by lookingdeadred on Nov 26, 2009 11:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Hmmm...

Guess I can’t argue with all those points you made there.

I think its entirely possible that if you can win with bad talent then you can win more with better talent.

This space for rent.

by averagegatsby on Nov 26, 2009 7:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

To actually defend not signing the guy

Niumatalolo hasn’t really proved anything to me except that he can live off of his predecessor’s recruits. I want to see what his recruits can do before I trust him.

My halloween costume: the Indiana secondary iPhone- no matter how much you want to love it, you know the coverage area sucks.
-ChronicHoosier

by Taskmaster on Nov 26, 2009 11:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Fair Enough I suppose...

And not to say that head coaches are not a major part of recruiting but a college’s recruiting staff has just as much to do with it as the coach. I can’t remember the guy and who he went to, but I know Saban had a recruiter that jumped ship and has been killing it somewhere… Or maybe he jumped ship and is now helping Saban. I dont remember, too much turkey.

To some degree I buy into the idea that ND recruits itself, though I guess it doesn’t recruit itself like it used to, sure would be nice if ND would allow an exception or 2… Ala Tony Rice and Zorich.

This space for rent.

by averagegatsby on Nov 27, 2009 12:36 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

He was playing not only with Johnson’s system, but Johnson’s guys. He has done nothing on his own yet.

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren

by lookingdeadred on Nov 28, 2009 11:52 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

How much recruiting does Navy really do though?

I doubt anyone goes to Navy to play football. More than likely they go to Navy to be in the Navy and the football is just a bonus. So for Niumatalolo to do what he does with what he has is fairly impressive.

And its not like he is on the top of the list, I just don’t think he gets enough credit, he couldn’t do much worse than Weis, at least under him players would play up to their potential instead of down to the opposition.

This space for rent.

by averagegatsby on Nov 28, 2009 4:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

its going to be Stoops

by mcboomofdoom on Nov 26, 2009 12:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

The report is out

Kelly

and it’s a gamble.

"I think it's safe to say our concerns are many." -- Kirk Ferentz

by StoopsMyAss on Nov 26, 2009 8:23 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

who says?

by SuperNewb on Nov 27, 2009 5:22 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The other poster is just repeating rumors

he has no facts. Kelly may get the job, that is hardly a scoop. Other “reports” say it is going to be Stoops, but the bottom line is no one knows anything, they are just speculating .

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren

by lookingdeadred on Nov 28, 2009 11:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They just reported during halftime of bama auburn game

Brian Billick is the lead canidate.I dont like that even a little.We need to get a proven college coach not another pro coach

by mississippisaintsfan on Nov 27, 2009 5:36 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Why?

by djta on Nov 27, 2009 6:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Im not sold on Billick

He was suppose to be some kind of offensive genius, but really never had that good of an offense in Baltimore. And I agree on having a proven college coach. In college it seems to me that you really need an educator and not an X’s and O’s guy, and its the opposite in the NFL because everyone is a ridiculous athlete in the NFL.

This space for rent.

by averagegatsby on Nov 27, 2009 11:27 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I Don't Believe That

Why would we go after a washed up NFL coach? I think Stoops, Brian Kelly and Urban Myer are the Administration’s top choices

Luck O' the Irish
THE Miami Dolphins

by JStarr23 on Nov 28, 2009 12:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Brian Kelly

I think Brian Kelly would be the best option. Cincy is ranked 38th in total defense (Notre Dame is 80th ranked and they are ranked 3rd in sacks with 32 (19 total sacks). Cinncy’s offense is ranked 3rd overall, while Notre Dame is 11th. Also, Cincinnati is ranked 43rd currently in Rivals recruiting rankings – this is good for Cincinnati here are there previous rankings:

2009 – 60th
2008 – 67th
2007 – 89th
2006 – 102nd

Obviously, he is a good recruiter, as it is very hard to recruit to a school such a Cincinnati. So, I believe he may be the best candidate out there if we cannot get Meyer or Stoops

Luck O' the Irish
THE Miami Dolphins

by JStarr23 on Nov 28, 2009 2:32 PM EST reply actions 0 recs