Here We Go Again, Take a Deep Breath

It’s funny how quickly things can change.

Yesterday, I compiled a few days worth of investigation into the Stoops rumor, and I finally took the plunge myself personally and thought it was only a matter of time that Big Game Bob would be Irish.

About an hour later, Stoops took my “smoking gun” and turned it on me.  Stoops’ proclamation, however, didn’t stop the Irish faithful from hanging on the audio of his interview and making us think we still had a chance to land Stoops.  Even ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that his sources confirmed Stoops would be Irish within the week.

I may or may not have this hanging in my cube.
There was still hope, still a chance.  If NFL insiders were saying it was only a matter of time, it must be true!!!
Well, until said rumors were shot down once again.
Of course, at this point, all Irish eyes immediately shot to Cincinnati and more South Bend realtors sent Brain Kelly business cards.  However, we were quite quickly met with disappointment as it seemed that Kelly (and Dungy) was off ND’s radar, and there is even talk of Kelly inking an extension (scroll a little way down for the “Cincinnati” section on that link).
Armed with this information, I started to put together a post on how I felt TCU’s Gary Patterson should be the Irish’s new top target, but he inked an extension with the Horn Frogs, effectively taking him out of the running.
Yes, I am having flashbacks to 2004; however, after this initial whirlwind of news and rumors, I have now come to the following conclusions.
Notre Dame Won’t Tip Their Hand
Swarbrick has been steadfast about not letting anything out.  While third parties may have been likely involved in the Stoops rumors that were flying about, beyond that we literally have nothing.  Ironically enough, this has caused even more panic, panic of which even I have fallen victim to.
However, we should’ve seen this coming.
After the Pitt game, as I mentioned before, Swarbrick blocked public flight tracking on the ND jet.  Anything else we hear, can’t be readily confirmed by anything other than the usual “sources” and even the media hasn’t given us anything more substantial than that as well.  Swarbrick and Jenkins were also at a luncheon on campus today, so they sure don’t seem to be in panic mode in the least jet-setting about the nation today.
Unlike 2004, we aren’t going to be able to watch us bounce around from coach to coach and every other day see someone else tell us no.  Sure, we’ve had some potential candidates exit the search rather early, but if that was the case, the chances of them actually going ND were slim to none to begin with.  We aren’t in a comedy of errors.  Both Stoops and ND have outright denied any offer being made.
There have been no embarrassing rejections, simply eliminations of coaches that are not on the market.

Potential Candidates Won’t Tip Their Hands
Our obvious targets are going to be coaches that currently have contracts and jobs.  We are going to get a slew of wavering “I can’t confirm or deny” comments from anyone that we set our sights on.
Brian Kelly is turning into a classic example of this. While there are “talks” of an extension being signed, that is all they are, just talks.  In the meantime, Kelly is also trying to coach his team to a Big East title, BCS Bowl birth, and still needs to focus on current recruits for his program.  As of now, his loyalties are to Cincinnati, not us. Period.
The fact is, until Kelly or any other coach signs the dotted line and becomes the Irish head coach, they have to play the coach-speak game.  Imagine the embarrassment and huge blow that would happen to Cincinnati if Kelly were to say, “yeah, I’m talking with Notre Dame right now”, and then contract negotiations feel through soon after.  Kelly could kiss any potential Cincinnati extension goodbye, have some recruits bolt, and then have to turn and coach some young men that would be very angry their coach cared more about another job than their success this season.
Any potential candidate we seek will look out for themselves and their families first.  While we all want to scream from the rooftops what a wonderful job and place Notre Dame is, we tend to forget that we are talking about someone’s livelihood.
Names might float out there; however, we shouldn’t be shocked when they try to ignore the rumors.
Remember when Nick Saban was definitely coming back to coach the Dolphins? Yeah I do too…

We Don’t Know Squat
We can read tea-leaves all we want, but the fact remains that we don’t know a damn thing about this search.  Unless we personally have a line to Jenkins or Swarbrick, we likely won’t ever know a damn thing until we see the man standing at the podium.
Re-read the titles of the two previous sections just to drive this home.  If neither ND or potential candidates are going to tip their hands until the deal is nearly done, how in the world are we going to know any different?
As of right now, anything that has been rumored has been proven completely false and considering that the rumor mill has completely stopped churning today, I have a feeling that all of our favorite “sources” are going to be dead wrong this time around.
So until we have a new head coach, I’m not going to try to pull my hair out digging for rumors or trying to read into coaches comments.  Any coach that is currently worth their salt to have a Notre Dame is still heavily entrenched in their team’s season and it would be outright classless for any of them to publicly commit to or negotiate with Notre Dame until, at the very least, the regular season is over.
Take a deep breath.  I know we all want this coaching situation resolved quickly, but we need to be realistic in our timeline here.  We need to make sure Notre Dame makes the right hire, and that can’t be done hastily.  If the right hire can’t talk for another two weeks, we damn well better wait two weeks.  If Swarbrick wants to interview multiple coaches for a month let him.
Let’s all focus on what really needs to be done: getting it right this time.

Breaking Down the Stoops to ND Rumors

I get a call Wednesday afternoon from a friend of mine.  She was at the Phoenix airport and heading my way in just a couple of hours.  The words she was about to utter were not of Thanksgiving flight delays, pick up times from DFW, or gate assignments, but this:

“I just got a text message from [name redacted] that said: ‘Holy shit, Bob Stoops to be announced as Notre Dame’s next head coach either Tuesday or Wedensday.'”

Now before you laugh at me doing a “name redacted” (P.S. always wanted to do that, but in all seriousness, not sure my buddy would love his name being pasted all over the internet), realize that I too was quite skeptical of this rumor.  However, this friend wasn’t one to jump on any little rumor that is posted on an Internet message board, so I decided to go ahead and publicize it, and start some research of my own.

While we were waiting for my buddy to let us know his sources for this, I hit my favorite investigative tool, Google, to see if this was just another Internet-made rumor.  What I found shocked me.

I expected to find a post or two from either a ND or OU forum talking about this rumor; however, there were none to be found on such boards, beyond reports that every ND fan had heard at that point: Stoops would potentially listen to ND.  However, once I told Google to let me see the most recent results on “Stoops Notre Dame”, I did finally find my smoking gun forum post.

From a UT message board of all things:

I don’t know if it is rumor but I just hear from ND source that Bob Stoops has already made a verbal agreement to coach at Notre Dame.

If that happens, then who the hell will we be facing for years to come?????

My interest all of a sudden piqued.  This seemed like just a random UT fan that wasn’t even aware if there was such a rumor out at the time at all.  As far as the source he heard this from and the time frame:

He works at Notre Dame. Apparently, Stoops will be signing the dotted line on Sunday.

We’ll see if it is bs by Monday. Stay tuned.

The timeline seemed somewhat off according to what I heard; however, in thinking about it, I could see Stoops making a de-facto agreement before Swarbrick’s Tuesday meeting with Weis and then Stoops being announced officially soon after.

Further adding fuel to the fire was tracing the sources my friend had heard the rumor from: it got traced back to someone “working at the University”.

I was still quite skeptical about the whole situation as I woke up on Friday; however, my eyes about popped out of my head when I saw a South Bend Tribune report confirming that Swarbrick’s top option was indeed Big Game Bob:

A university source (I know I hate that, but I have to) has Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops at the very top of ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick’s wish list.

Again, yet another inside ND source being cited that Stoops was the main target, but this time, an actual media outlet was reporting it.  There was no mention of Stoops actually signing a contract with ND, but this was the first sign of smoke of the fire that was the Stoops rumor.

As I woke up Saturday, I found out that Sports Illustrated was also running with the rumor.  This time though, another interesting wrinkle was added:

The South Bend Tribune, citing a ”university source,” reported Friday that Stoops is the first choice of ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who is looking for an experienced college coach with winning on his resume. There is speculation Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, whom Stoops likes, might be on the move to Michigan.

Pieces were starting to come together into a more solid picture, one that painted this whole Stoops to ND situation as quite likely: Stoops receiving backlash from OU fans for this season, sees not only that ND wants him to coach the Irish, but at the same time, he sees that his AD might be heading for greener pastures himself as well.  Making a move in such a situation really doesn’t seem too far fetched at all.

Then finally, the Internet machine that is fan forums finally got cranking.

I had another friend of mine send me an email late Saturday night.  He linked a rumor posted on a Notre Dame forum; however, this wasn’t just a “I heard from a source” post, a Oklahoma radio station actually reported that an offer was going to be made the next morning:

According to Oklahoma radio @ www.thesportsanimal.com. Deal is 8 years, $24 million.

No way Stoops takes a pay cut to go to ND! That’s a slap in the face.

Later on in the thread, the poster says that the information on the flight was confirmed on the radio; however, the numbers on the deal came from a thread on a premium message board that he was subscribed to.  He continued to relay information saying that the numbers were conflicting as well:
I was just posting what I saw on the thread at the time. I just checked the thread again, and the numbers are conflicting. Someone else posted in that same thread that they heard $50 MILLION over 10 YEARS, with all kinds of bonuses. If that’s the case then Stoops may well listen. It’s also conflicting as to whether the plane is there tomorrow or is already coming tonight. Surely not tonight. But, ND is definitely flying to Norman by tomorrow, that was confirmed on WWLS the sports animal in OKC.

Disclaimer: I am a Sooner fan, didn’t make that clear in original post.

…

This was from a reliable poster on OUinsider on the incentives, quoting a post he saw on one of the ND forums…not sure which one.

“I found this on a ND board, Im still looking for some more info.
Quote:
According to one of the Board of Trustees and a source inside the Athletic Department, Swarbrick and Jenkins have put a package together to lure Bob Stoops to South Bend. Here are the main details that are on the table as of yesterday:

1.) A 10-year $50,000,000 base salary, which doesn’t include endorsement and university incentivies.
2.) 3 “special player projects” a year, which may include JUCO transfers.
3.) A contract with Nike (football only)
4.) Additional incentives:
(a) $550,000 for Top 10 Finish
(b) $750,000 for BCS Bowl appearence
(c) $1.2 million for BCS National Championship
(d) $400,000 for 90% or better graduation rate”

His base deal becomes worth more than $7 million a year in years that he gets to the BCS championship and graduates over 90%. This isn’t even including sponsorships, etc. This would be tough to turn down, especially from a powerhouse like ND.

Again, the numbers may be all over and citing the usual “inside sources” (and the incentives package he posted was actually attributed to Urban Meyer a week prior); however, he made it quite clear the radio was supremely confident that ND would land in Norman to at least talk to Stoops.

Needless to say, the smoke seemed to be revealing an actual fire.  Regardless of the contract information, despite Swarbrick and Stoops denials, the two parties were definitely talking to each other in some capacity.

And then finally, the smoking gun seemed to fire.  A thread appeared early Sunday morning citing that “rmolek” posted on Rivals that the deal was indeed done.  For reference, “rmolek” is a highly respected poster on Rivals whom tends not only be on the frontlines of such college football rumors, but also seems to be correct on them with freighting accuracy.  A poster with a rivals premium subscription went to see just what was posted and reported was “rmolek” had heard:

Huge congratulations are going to be in order very shortly. I can’t mention but many of you already know I’m told. Barring something unforeseen you will have some dynamite news in the next 4-5 days. As an IL fan I am now very worried that Prater and Cooper will be Irish as well. No news obviously on their front as they don’t know who the HC will be yet but Zook, Carroll, and Stoops no, not that one ; ) will have a hard time beating out this man. I really can’t believe this is about to go down. It will be a transition similar to Zook-Meyer at UF. Your program really is in good shape…

Btw I heard gripes about me being wrong on SH. Well the situation with Weis is the reason he isn’t committed to ND. If ND was able to field a defense or win the close ones the last two years they would be a top 10 team Weis’ job would be secure and SH would be your LT next year. Should be interesting to see if a relationship can quickly blossom between he and the new hire. The SOONER this man gets in South Bend the better ND’s class will be…

Bold emphasis is mine for the smoking gun.

So now, with all the pieces coming together, it finally seems like this whole Stoops to ND rumor actually does have some legitimate legs and is worth paying attention too.

It does seem that ND is in a hurry to ship Weis out the door as well as I have seen several different reporters on Twitter report that Swarbrick will be meeting with the players today around 2pm (which also reportedly includes a bowl game vote) and that he will also meet with the coaching staff today as well.  Weis could very well be out the door today, meaning the original timeline I heard on Stoops being announced as ND’s new head coach (Tuesday or Wednesday) seems to be right on schedule.

As far as my opinion on all of this…call me Fox Mulder.  I want to believe.

An Open Letter to Tom Hicks

Yes, in the midst of Notre Dame’s coaching turmoil and their season on the brink, I have baseball on the mind.  Some news has recently come to light that Tom Hicks wishes to buy the Texas Rangers…again.  This causes some ever so slight concerns from me, so what do I do when I have said concerns?

Write an open letter to the man that he will never read.

Dear Mr. Thomas Hicks,

I have recently heard that you wish to still maintain ownership of the Texas Rangers.  In fact, you managed to get some big local names involved in this mix as well: Roger Staubach and Nolan Ryan.  Now I’m sure you are quite happy with these big local names that are legends in the Dallas area.  How can Rangers fans not be happy knowing that the most famous Cowboy and most famous Ranger now own the Rangers?

Simple, you are still a part of it.

Mr. Hicks, this thin veil you have created will only serve to mask your true intentions and will only further harm this franchise.  What you see is just another opportunity to profit.  This past season, the Rangers have created a buzz that is even bigger than the 90’s when they won the AL West three times.  That buzz translates to more fans in the empty seats that you’ve been starting at ever since the turn of the millennium.  Finally, the club which has done nothing but pile on debt (which must not be affecting you too much, you just had a huge party at your place for Brett Hull), can actually make you money.

Here’s the problem with your vision that you are seeing through your greedy-green glasses: we’ve seen this dance before, you aren’t in this for a title, you are in it for the money.  Even if MLB approves this re-buy of the team, you will be beyond fiscally conservative and the fallout will do nothing but hurt this franchise…again.

We are already seeing evidence of this.  Marlon Bryd, one of the gigantic catalysts on the club with both his bat and glove seems all but gone.  You will also need to extend Josh Hamilton in the near future as his contract is coming to an end.  Your young guns, Elvis Andrus, Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz, and Julio Borbon will be looking for their big payday in just a couple of seasons when they become arbitration eligible.  Somewhere along this supposed run to postseason glory you will likely need to add either a solid veteran arm in the rotation and likely another solid bat as well.

Are you really fiscally prepared to be able to do this?

Your window is running short.  You simply cannot cross your fingers and hope 2010 can be a season that puts you back in the black and be able to make some moves to take a run at 2011.  We were promised 2010, not 2011, stick to it.  With last seasons’ success coupled with the promise at a bright future, this offseason is the best chance we have to wrestle away a big name or two from the other clubs that constantly outbid us for their services.  The thing is though, our offers need to be on par with everyone else.

You and I both know that you can’t do it.  History has shown since A-Rod, you won’t do it.

Mr. Hicks, I speak for a large section of Rangers fans in saying we are sick of it.  Leave the Rangers in solid financial hands and be done with it.  You have two other sports franchises to take care of in the Dallas Stars and Liverpool F.C.  Stop spreading yourself and your pocketbook so thin.

Fans don’t care about your business savvy.  I’m quite confident that you could indeed turn a profit within a year or two if you do indeed re-buy the club.  You didn’t get rich by accident.  However, fans are interested in wins and losses–not restructuring debt, finding additional investors, number crunching, selling more ads, or whatever else you have planned.

Ranger fans have suffered long enough.  We are so close to being a legit contender for years down the road, but we need the cash.  Ranger fans deserve an owner like Mark Cuban or Jerry Jones.  While we may be upset with decisions they make or the way they act, fans of the Mavs and Cowboys know that money will not be an issue when making personal decisions.  They have never had to ask the NBA or NFL for money to make payroll–you have.

Mr. Hicks, I appreciate the effort you put into the club, but it is time to let someone else come in to finish the job.  You have helped the club in the front office with John Daniels and Nolan Ryan.  In return, they have delivered us coaches like Mike Maddox.  The result in 2009 was a solid, young club that is one or two pieces away from being a force to be reckoned with.

Now we need the money to complete this journey.  Mr. Hicks, please allow this club to be placed in the hands of someone that has the money now and is willing to spend it.  Don’t do it for your bottom line (without the Rangers, you will still be in good shape I’m sure), do it for the sake of Ranger fans and the future of this franchise.

Sincerely,

Ryan Ritter

Reexamining the Bowl Picture

A couple weeks ago, I took some time to take my first stab at the bowl picture, and where ND would land.  Now that things seem quite a bit more clear, it is time to take yet another look at things.

First it is time to take a look at the BCS picture so we can properly find out where the Irish may fall:

BCS Championship: Texas vs. Florida
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Pittsburgh
Fiesta Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Boise State
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. TCU

This is somewhat similar to what I had last time around.  Major changes this time though is that we now know Ohio State has clinched the Big Ten championship and will be Rose Bowl bound.  Also, the Big Ten at large bid seems to have fallen apart that I initially gave to Penn State and I have now given their spot to Pittsburgh.

The way I see it, Pitt is flat out playing too well to ignore.  While Penn State is an obvious bigger draw for tickets, how in the world can you take Joe Pa’s crew when they are on the edge of BCS at-large eligibility (#14) while Pitt is in the top ten.  In the mix though is Oklahoma State, and the Fiesta may just try to take them in to replace Texas if they play continue to play well.

The games that will affect these new projections will be: Penn State vs. Michigan State this week, Pitt vs. Cincinnati next week, and OK State vs OU next week.

The PSU/MSU game has all the makings of a trap game.  MSU is at home and they haven’t been playing half bad all season.  Regardless though, I don’t see PSU making a big enough statement to boost their ranking much higher, and this is there last chance to do so.  Unless PSU can blowout MSU, they are likely out of the mix.

If OK State were to beat OU, their ranking will likely get a boost up; however, if they were to fall they will fall out of the running completely.  Right now, I can’t see OU losing that game at all, meaning OK State will likely fall out of the running.

Pitt/Cincinnati is an interesting case.  I could very well see both of these teams making the BCS regardless of the outcome; however, things would get dicey if OK State manages to beat OU.  In that case, I can’t see two Big East teams going BCS bound as the Fiesta will likely tow the Big XII conference line.  However, if OU does indeed win, neither team is going to take a very big hit in their rankings.  Except both teams to be BCS bound this season.

Now what does this mean for the Irish?

Well, initially I felt the Gator Bowl was all but lost for the Irish after falling to Pitt, and if you remember I projected that if the Irish feel out of the Gator Bowl, the Cotton Bowl would snatch the Irish up over an SEC team as this is the last year they can do so until new contracts are made.

Now that chaos has completely shaken up the BCS top 10 though, the Gator will likely not be taking the second best Big East team, but the third best since two Big East teams are likely BCS bound.  In this case, that means the choice the Gator has is between West Virginia and Notre Dame and Notre Dame will win that battle.

Although that is completely dependent on ND winning a game.  West Virginia will likely end 8-4, and I can’t see ND being taken if drop their last two games, falling to 6-6 (oh dear God not again…).  The Irish can still likely edge out West Virginia at 7-5.

Of course, if the BCS doesn’t take two Big East teams, that will mean the Gator will take either Pitt or Cincy, and there is no way you could justify the Irish going over either even if they win out and finish 8-4.  If that happens, ND could very well be Cotton Bowl bound.  However, they have to be good enough to replace Ole Miss who will likely finish out at 8-4.  Unlike the Gator, I’m not completely confident that the Cotton would replace ND over Ole Miss if the Irish finish 7-5.  It isn’t out of the realm of the possibility, but not as definite a selection for sure.

With all that being said, since my current projections this week have two Big East teams in the BCS, and the fact I think ND will still win one out of their last two, I project the following for ND:

Gator Bowl: Miami vs ND

I’ll revisit the bowl picture once again next week as I’m sure everything will be turned completely on its head once again.

ND, Weis Era Fall to Pitt

What a difference a few years can make.

I remember working my last preseason practice as a manager in 2005 before ND traveled to Pitt.  It was a scrimmage inside Notre Dame stadium, and one I will always remember for two reasons.  Firstly, I was on the wrong end of Weis’ infamous “You have one fucking job to do” tirade (thank you chain gang refs for giving me the wrong down to start the drill).  Secondly though, I remember Weis’ speech after practice.  He gathered the team up, had them take a knee, talked about all the work they had just been through, all the doubt that had been cast upon them in the media, and that no one was giving them a shot.  Then he said in a very matter-of-fact tone:

But come Saturday night, after the game is over, the whole nation is going to wake up and say: “Holy shit, Notre Dame is good.”

I believed it, the other managers believed it, and so did the team.  For those behind the scenes, we all saw practice and we all knew that this team wasn’t the same team we saw in 2004.  It wasn’t overconfidence or false bravado by Weis.  He was stating what we all believed as truth.  When the Irish took the field against Pitt, they played like it.  It wasn’t just a win, it was a beating and everyone was caught by surprise.

Five years later, and on the heels of an embarrassing loss to Navy, the exact opposite occurred.  The Irish came out completely flat, and even though the score board showed a five point loss, I felt we were trailing by fifty.  People at my game watch were taking “Fire Weis” shots, discussion quickly shifted to who will coach next year for us.  We all knew it, and every Notre Dame fan knows it.

Weis is done.

As I was contemplating the game Sunday, my mind went back to 2004, the first game I worked as a manager.  Ironically enough, the game was against Pitt.  I had been able to work a few football practices here and there, and I felt had a somewhat decent feel for Ty’s “coaching” abilities beyond what I saw from the stands.  I wasn’t on the “Fire Ty” bandwagon yet, but once I got back to my dorm room, the first thing I did was update my AIM away message (Facebook did not yet have status updates): “That’s it, I’ve had it — end the agony” and linked to (the now non-existent) FireTyWillingham.com.

What I saw that game was a horrendous lack of effort, awful officiating, and a coaching staff with Ty at the helm that didn’t have any idea how to fix it.  The team in general had given up.  Sure you had a few players here and there that refused to give in, but overall from just looking at the overall demeanor of the team, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling we wouldn’t win.  ND tried to make a game of it, and the effort of a few nearly propelled a 4th quarter comeback, but the Irish fell 41-38 on a last second field goal.

Fast forward to 2009, and we saw a horrendous lack of effort overall, an inexplicable ruling on a “fumble” by Clausen from the replay booth, and Weis seemed to have no answer for how to get us back in the game.  Golden Tate did his damnedest to will us to victory, but our 4th quarter comeback feel short.  I felt the whole time we wouldn’t win, and I was right.

I realized I was in 2004 all over again — our coach is done.

I still believe that we would be taking a huge risk by firing Weis, but it is just so overwhelmingly obvious now that he is done and Notre Dame simply can’t keep the charade up any longer.  The players and recruits alike all likely see the writing on the wall and there is no sense in trying to hide it.  Even the biggest of Weis defenders know this is the case.

So the questions now are who, when, and will the buyout keep Weis here?

The last two are easy to answer.  ND’s Athletic Director, Jack Swarbrick, has made two things abundantly clear: the buyout is a non-issue and a final decision won’t be made until after Stanford.  Much like 2008, Swarbrick will likely sit down with Weis after the final game on the West Coast (this time Stanford instead of USC), and until then, he won’t say a word about it.

The who though is the big question.  We can likely rule Gruden out immediately since ESPN has extended his contract and quite literally said he will not look for any coaching jobs in the foreseeable future.  Brian Kelly is of course, the hot name at the moment as it was last year; however, I feel quite nervous about hiring a hot-shot Big East coach to replace the guy we feel just isn’t cutting it anymore — I think I’ve seen that scenario play out somewhere before.  The Chicago Sun Times reported that Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops could be possible replacements for Weis.  And before you laugh at the possibility of Stoops going Irish (as I initially did), you may want to do a bit of reading because it may not be as far fetched as we all think.

And no, I’m not even going to mention Urban Meyer, cut it out, he isn’t coming here and I refuse to entertain that thought any longer than this sentence.

I’ve had several different people throughout the last couple of days ask me (even via Twitter) who I think Weis replacement will be.  Folks, your guess is as good as mine at this point.  I don’t even know where to begin because the rumors are coming up left and right and it is enough to make anyone’s head spin.  Much like trying to project bowls, the picture isn’t going to get much clearer until the season nears its end.

However, one thing I do know is that Notre Dame should most definitely be making some phone calls or visits right now to potential targets and get interest gauged immediately before what appears to be the eventual canning of Weis.  We got major egg on our face after we fired Ty, not just because he didn’t deserve it, but because we didn’t get our first choice, Urban Meyer, and then we kept going down the list having several people say “thanks, but no thanks” until we settled on Weis.

We cannot afford to settle this time around.  This program needs a gigantic shakeup and if we are going to do it properly is needs to be with our top choice, not the top choice that is leftover when the dust settles.

Whether or not Notre Dame is indeed getting a head start this time around is going to be impossible to tell.  Hell, this year they even blocked public tracking of the private jet Swarbrick uses, so don’t expect that to help out this time around.  I am hopeful though that this little maneuver means that ND is actually making plans to reach out to coaches before seasons end.  It would make sense, keeping the public eye away from what you are doing, allowing a decision to be made after the Stanford game instead of ND fans assuming it is made, causing more havoc.

But again, your guess is as good as mine on that one.  Brace yourself, we are about to be in for one hell of a whirlwind to end the season.

Take Cover — Navy Fallout Continues

Just when I thought it was safe to start thinking about Saturday night’s primetime showdown against Pitt (you know the one that will likely determine our bowl game and our last chance to beat a ranked opponent this season), it seems that I must remain on Navy for at least another post.

You would think there would be more than enough to worry about around Notre Dame Nation.  The hot topic of course has been Weis’ job security (or lack thereof) and wanting to know if Kelly would jump ship to coach the Irish or if John Gruden would job us some friendly hints during Monday Night Football broadcasts.  It’s a topic that has spawned more blog posts and articles than I care to even try and link.

However, now we have another issue.  Yesterday, Corwin Brown decided to blast the ever living hell out of Navy calling their head coach classless and accusing them of playing dirty.  Yes, he fired a verbal missile at future Naval officers and the man coaching them — on Veteran’s Day.  You can’t even really claim folks are taking his comments out of context, there’s video of this and it does not make anything he says look any better in context.

So much for the annual game that is supposed to be a rather friendly affair.

Clearly Navy was under Brown’s skin:

I thought it was very disappointing, what the Navy coach said after the game.  He didn’t want something to be misconstrued, but then he said it, regarding how we prepared and what we prepared to do. I’m going to tell you this – we came out in the second half, minus one mess-up, they don’t get anything.

Whether you think it’s the right thing to say or not, in this profession, with all the classy guys that I’ve watched and played under and studied, they would never say a thing like that.  To say that we didn’t prepare well or we didn’t have a good game plan, that’s crazy.

Was Brown watching the same game I was?  The one “mess up” was the only shot Navy took at ND to score and guess what, they got it.  Beyond that, Navy did exactly what a triple option team should do when they have the lead: bleed the ever living hell out of the clock.  ND still couldn’t stop that.  That was not an adjustment, the defense was still failing miserably.

But hey, he didn’t stop there:

What I think is crazy is a lack of imagination for what they do. I don’t ever get up here and talk about the illegal cut blocks. They hit (Brian Smith) illegally last year and put him out.  They hit (Robert Blanton) on one of the most malicious plays I’ve ever seen since I’ve been playing. And I called him about it. And I told him I thought it was very poor. He probably thought I called because we lost; I was going to say something to him before the game but I didn’t. Very malicious. And in this game, which we’re supposed to be playing for our kids, you don’t let your players do something like that.

In his defense, the hit against Blanton was rather vicious:

Video courtesy of Her Loyal Sons.

Now, yes that hit was an awful, dirty, and horribly undisciplined hit; however, emotions run high during games and players get out of hand on occasion (ask Brandon Spikes and LaGarrette Blount).  The penalty was called and while we could all claim ND would be roasted at the stake for doing the same thing, if we were, we’d most definitely respond: “the penalty was called, this is a dead issue.”  And that’s exactly what it is.

As far as making the claim that Navy constantly employs a method of cheap cut blocks, Andy Staples of SI.com puts the comment in better perspective:

Brown, Notre Dame’s co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach, ripped Navy’s cut blocking, calling it “malicious.” He may very well be correct on that front, because option teams often tread a fine line between legal blocking and outright kneecapping. Brown called Niumatalolo this week to tell him just that, and hopefully the conversation was productive.

You have to keep in mind, this is not only an option offense, but one that is also undersized.  When you have a severe height and weight disadvantage, you are going to cut block and walk that thin line — end of story.

And if all that wasn’t enough, Brown tops it off with this wonderful analysis:

Now, coach (Charlie) Weis, and (defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta) do a great job getting us prepare on offense and defense. And I don’t care what foxhole they’re in, I’m jumping in the foxhole with them every time. We had a damn good game plan. And that’s all I got to say.

SBNation has the best analysis of this comment:

Yes, they had a good game plan. A lofty game plan. A losing game plan. Brown, if you wanna make it out of Notre Dame with all your limbs, you’ll dig your own foxhole about one click away from Charlie’s. [Insert joke here about the enormity of Weis’ foxhole.]

Although I disagree with SBNation and Brown on one point.  He isn’t jumping in the foxhole with Weis.  Brown just jumped on a live grenade.

The worst part of this team has by far been the defense and heads are going to roll because of it — either Weis or one of his assistants.

I wonder which head is firmly pressed on the chopping block right now…