Ice of any kind, particularly when it's thin, is no place for a 300+ pound man to be.
Alright, cheap shot, I admit it. But no matter how you paraphrase it, the bottom line is that Charlie Weis is on the hot seat as coach of the Fighting Irish. And now, according to a recent report in the Chicago Tribune, his buyout may not even save him.
It has been a widely held belief that his contract is too long and he makes too much money for the Irish authorities to fire its coach after only four seasons, despite pressure from alumni and Irish backers everywhere. But wait! Not so, according to the Tribune.
According to the article, the "standard" buyout for a coach being asked to leave is base salary x number of years remaining on his contract. Despite Weis earning a reported total of 3m+ per year, his base salary is in the $600K territory. So we're talking about a potential buyout of around $2.5m, chump change to the bean counters at South Bend.
And there should be a long line of suitors just clamoring at the opportunity to coach the Irish. In fact, chuckweis.com already has a list of favored replacements.
But as prestigious as it may be being the head coach of such an institution, the job also comes with expectations. Just win, baby, and you're as golden as the helmets on the kids' heads. But lose, and watch out. You're a dead man walking.
Especially when you have a large ego to match such a large body. Oops, there I go again with the fat jokes. Yet it's true that Weis has done little to make friends at Notre Dame. It's always been all about Charlie, and that attitude certainly won't help him in this situation.
Weis started out well, going 9-2 in his inaugural season, and the powers that be foolishly gave him a 10-year contract extension. In 2007, the Irish went 3-9 and even lost to Navy, the first time the Midshipmen beat the Irish in 43 games.
Ever since, "embattled" has become the new first name of Coach Weis, as in the "embattled" Charlie Weis.
Heck, his predecessor, Tyrone Willingham, would have been burned at the stake after such a season as Weis had in '07. Truth is, he was fired after finishing 6-5 in November 2004. Hey, that's the same record as the Irish have today. Yet Weis remains to coach another day.
After signing the contract extension, Weis commented that he would only leave Notre Dame upon his being fired or dying. Not to wish bad things on anybody, but has anyone checked his vital signs lately? Come to think of it, you shouldn't skate where the ice is thin. Everybody knows that.
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about 1 month ago
chuckweiss.com is not a fire charlie weiss website. It actually belongs to some guy named Chuck Weiss and has links to pictures of his family. Save yourself some time. His wife isn't even hot. Good Job, Bob.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Dwight, I fixed that. It's "CanCharlie.com" - good catch, I got some bad info apparently.
from about 1 month ago
Try chuckweis.com - Nathan was right, I misspelled the cocah's last name which also affected the link.
about 1 month ago
Actually, the main problem is that the man spells his name "Charlie WeiS", not Weiss, which probably didn't help w/ the link.
I'll edit your headline for ya. Nice article, though -- I liked the first line, especially. =)
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Nathan.
about 1 month ago
All I can say about ND is "God Don't Like Ugly" even if it comes from the Gold Domed temple in South Bend. One other thing you brilliant folks never mention...the 9-2 season was with Ty Willingham's team and now that Mr. Weiss is playing his own brand of player he is lousy. They should send Clausen back to whatever Disney stage they found him on and recruit a real quarterback. He should be dancing in the Mousketeer Club Review.
from about 1 month ago
Hey, don't you ever accuse me of being "brilliant". :) You're right, I didn't mention that Weis' best season occurred with Willingham's recruits because I figured that was obvious. But yes, that's another nail in the Weis coffin. Thanks for reading and commenting Patrick.
about 1 month ago
Look at opportunities that worked...Meyer at UF, Saban at Bama, Miles at LSU...even Houston Nutt turned in a winner. There is no place to hide at ND, either you get it done or you don't. Weiss has had the time to build a winner and they stink. You can lose to MSU or USC, but not Navy or Syracuse. This program should be never worse than 8-4...hell a grad assist. could bring you 5 wins.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain....
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Lucky. Good points.
about 1 month ago
Nice article...forgot to mention that...
from about 1 month ago
Much appreciated, thanks.
about 1 month ago
It all starts with our problems with the offensive line. If Charlie Weis refuses to acknowledge that portion of the team is a disaster, then fire him. If he cannot see the obivious fact that this unit places uneeded, tremendous pressure on the other units then he needs to go. When players do not play for 60 minutes, when balls are dropped and blocking missed- I think that those players should be benched. What angers me the most is that we were heading in the correct direction. What caused this implosion?
from about 1 month ago
I don't know, Michael, I wish I knew. But thanks for your comments.
about 1 month ago
I can't speak for everyone but one of my biggest problems is not necessarily 3-9 and 6-5 seasons but the fact that we are talking about Notre Dame, and the unanimous concesus is that they have zero chance to give USC a game this week. This is a problem that dates back to the first two seasons when they went to BCS games. Lets face it under past Notre Dame coaches (clarify Lou Holtz and before) Notre Dame was always given a chance and you knew no matter what, the team was going to go out and give 110% and no one could consider overlooking any Notre Dame team despite their record or how outmatched they were on paper. Weis's teams have never played inspired emotional football and he consistently acts like the whole thing boils down to X's and O's and I'm sure in NFL that attitude suffices but this isn't the NFL and 4 years is long enough to have learned that lesson. Notre Dame players and coaches in the past knew they didn't choose Notre Dame but Notre Dame chose them and they played and coached like it was honor, you just don't see that pride anymore and I can't help but believe that it starts at the top.
from about 1 month ago
That's a great point, Wes. It's the loss of hope, the loss of respect that's missing the most. Thanks.
about 1 month ago
I read the headline and came in with the intent to post "...And that's no place for a man his size to be." Kudos for taking the words right out of my mouth.
from about 1 month ago
I guess great minds do think alike Jay!
about 1 month ago
No matter how talented his recruiting classes have been, they haven't had the "tactical advantage" that Weis promised them. When you're getting outcoached by the lame duck in charge of a 3-8 program, it's time to leave. When you take over the playcalling and your on-field results get worse, it's time to leave. When possibly the most delusional fan base in all of sports begins to realize that you aren't the savior promised to them, it's time to leave.
Adios Charlie, it's been fun walking all over your teams for the past two meetings, in South Bend and East Lansing.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for reading and commenting Joe.
about 1 month ago
Does Weis go down as the biggest bust coach in the history of college football? It's one thing to talk the way he talks and back it up, but it's completely another thing when your the exact opposite of what you say you are. ND clearly has more talent than 90% of the teams it plays, but they are just so poorly developed and coached. I question now how much he had to do with the development of Tom Brady. Unless he can achieve something without being under Belicheks wing then I think he goes down as the most overhyped coach ever! It would be a shame if the only reason ND keeps him around is because of his oversized contract. At this point he seems to be satisfied with having a "decent" team and being "competitive". If after four years that is where he hopes to be then he needs to be coaching at Purdue or Indiana, cause it has always been unacceptable at Notre Dame. I'm sick of the excuses! It's time to start winning!
from about 1 month ago
And he's an alum, you would think he would care more. I don't blame him for having confidence when he first started but once you experience failure, you need to be open to new ideas and put your ego away for awhile and try other things. But he's too big (literllay and figuratively) to do that I guess. Thanks Sam.
about 1 month ago
Weiss willb e gone by Jan 1 , Sources indicate that ND is going after GT coach as well as UCONN coach , buyout really scraps from longshanks table for the ND alum
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the update Mik.
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