I know what you were thinking when you read the headline. It was something along the lines of "Oh, great. Another Notre Dame fan that's drinking the Kool Aid."
To borrow a line from one of ESPN's more colorful commentators...not so fast, my friend.
I haven't even touched the Kool Aid. I'm too busy drinking coffee in an effort to wake up from this nightmare.
And no, I haven't made it Irish. I'm not 21 yet and I sometimes fear that the South Bend PD could raid my house at any moment.
I just don't feel the need to throw gas on the fire when the flames are big enough already.
The Chicago Sun-Times and ESPN
The story broke on Monday: "Weis Watch" had begun.
But who, exactly, says that Charlie's seat is so hot? As far as I can tell, it's just the writer who broke the story (Neil Hayes) and the countless Notre Dame haters that were already discussing the topic at length.
There is no mention of a source that bestowed this nugget of information upon Mr. Hayes. It's just your typical editorial.
So now there's a different question. Why is ESPN saying that coach Weis is officially on the hot seat?
I have always been under the assumption that the term official was to be reserved for matters confirmed by the organization or school in question.
If all it takes to put a coach on the hot seat officially is one writer saying that said coach is on the hot seat, then I could put just-hired Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha on the hot seat right now.
Of course, I won't. Despite his association with the Cubs' division rival, I think he's a very good coach. And everyone who has seen "Spiderman" knows that with great power comes great responsibility. I don't want to get the guy fired before he even shows up to work.
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about 1 month ago
Charlies been at work for 4 years now with almost constant regression. I don't think that's the way its supposed to work. It is not Notre Dame haters that wish to see Weis fired, that statement is ridiculous. Notre dame haters are wanting this guy to coach there as long as possible. the people who wish to see him on the hot seat are the people with Notre Dame like expectations, and not mid-major team expectations that so many of the newere fans seem to have. 5-4 with this schedule is unexceptable regardless of what excues people make.
about 1 month ago
I understand how you could say that there has been almost constant regression for both this year and last, but to say four years is a stretch. His first two years were successful by most teams' standards. It was just less than what Notre Dame fans (including myself) wanted.
I disagree, however, with your belief that the newer fans have mid-major expectations. They expect Notre Dame to return to prominence before too long. They just don't believe that it's reasonable to think that it could be turned around in one year. There are very few coaches in the history of football that did what Nick Saban is doing and I doubt that any of them did it so well. When Babe Ruth was hitting more homeruns than the half the teams in the league combined, did those teams begin to expect their cleanup hitters to belt 50 or 60 the following season?
Also, the statement I made about Notre Dame haters was not meant to exclude current Irish fans that expect every season to include a National Championship. What I was saying was that the Notre Dame haters had already been on the topic for quite some time. As far as I know, there were only a few Notre Dame fans that had Charlie on the hot seat coming into this season.
about 1 month ago
Matt,
This is the first intelligent and reasonable defense of Weis I've read. Well done. Gave it a POTD and I've only given out 3 or 4 of those in almost 3 months.
You read my article on ND football being the devil. Well, I set out to write a different article about ND, then stumbled onto Davie and the 100% thing. Got so mad that I totally forgot about my original idea.
I actually intended to write about how Davie left, TW came in, had success w/Davie's players, and then failed once the team became completely his. Then TW left, CW came in, had success w/TW's players, and now seems to be failing after the last of TW's recruits have left.
That's a weird pattern and one that deserves some attention, but it never gets any b/c it gets lost in all the ridiculous racism/recruiting talk.
Great article though. So refreshing to see a passionate fan write objectively (even if I don't totally agree with everything you wrote). I'm a fan - in a non-romantic, heterosexual kind of way even though I may be coming on a bit strong.
Sorry, those are disclaimers you get accustomed to making as a straight dude in SF.
Andrew
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the Platonic love Andrew. I actually gave your article a four star rating despite my own disagreements with it, so I understand where you're coming from and I praise your appreciation of a good, logical argument. The hardest part of being a passionate fan is being able to see things objectively.
And thanks for being a fan. Don't be afraid to tell your friends.
about 1 month ago
Matt, thanks for writing this. This is straight-up truth and it's damn refreshing to hear.
I'll admit as an ND fan that it's easy to get impatient with a lack of immediate success, but I just want a coach to stay for more than five years right now. If Weis can win a f---ing bowl game I will be pleased no matter what our overall record is.
In addition, I'd like to point out to all the haters and disenchanted fans out there that while Weis' record against prime competition may not be the best, you can't deny that his teams are always "up" for those big games. You want proof? Both '05 and '06 USC games were, for the most part, competitive. '06 Penn State. Look how competitive the North Carolina game was this year. Once all these underclassmen playmakers become juniors and seniors, look out. We all know what Weis did with Willingham's recruits during their junior and senior years. I can't wait to see what he's going to do with his own. Therefore, I say keep him around for a while.
from about 1 month ago
Great points there. Don't forget the Pittsburgh game from just a few weeks ago, either. They haven't had the toughest schedule of the bunch and their two losses (Bowling Green and Rutgers) weren't exactly to powerhouses, but they are a ranked team.
And I agree completely about the juniors/seniors comment. Charlie's best times were in the NFL coaching players at a level of experience and maturity that the younger college players can't even approach. Once he's got his own top-level talent matured, opponents will need to watch out.
Thanks for the feedback, Peter.
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