Michael Rosenberg on Charlie Weis

It sounds very much like Harris and Weis share a similar ego and attitude. Wlat probably still doesnt get why he was canned at Stanford and forced out at Pitt. It wasn't the losing. It wasn't 8-4 when the team was capable of 10-2 or 11-1. It was the "hey, the kids didnt do what they were coached to do." In order word, "don't blame mah ass, it was THEM!" Hey, you're paid a pretty damn good bit of money to make sure that they DO what they are coached to do. That's called good coaching. That's called good leadership. It's just good teaching.

 

I truly believe that most folks are missing the mark, by miles, as to why CW won't be fired....for a LONG time (if ever). While I'm not enough of a writer to really break this down, it comes down to one simple fact:

He's one of them. An ND alum. If you're familiar with ND mindset / inner mythology (the 40 year promise!! we take care of each other forever!! you never walk alone!!), you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. The very thought of one of your fellow alums being publicly declared a failure (which, in their minds, is what a firing would be), makes the prospect of firing him a complete non consideration.

IMHO.....

 

There's a problem with this idea that everything can be blamed on Ty's '04 and '05 classes--schools like West Virginia, Wisconsin and Rutgers. Go to Rivals and check out their recruiting classes from '04 and '05. They don't look much different from Notre Dame's, in terms of star-ratings.

In a situation like this, Weis' players should be out there making great plays and glaring errors, assuming they're as good as advertised. They're not. So when will people ask about Weis' recruiting instead of Willingham's?

 

Notre Dame aside for a second........ In the sports world, it's fairly obvious that college football is racism's last big stronghold. All you have to do is look at the coaching ranks.

For that reason, I think it's great Weis is having all this trouble-- because it's going to get people talking about race. And hopefully thinking more about it. I'm not saying it is racism, but it's one of those things that will have to be given legitimate consideration and debate.

When it really gets interesting is if Notre Dame plays poorly next year.

 

Ask Terry Brennan about that.

As an ND fanboy, but not a Weis lover, I have to say this season is at least fascinating to watch.

If they were halfway good, playing just well enough to lose close games to Michigan, Penn State and GaTech, nothing much would change. Now at least Weis has to question himself and his methods.

And I forget who said earlier in the thread that by obliquely criticizing Ty's recruiting, Weis is criticizing the players Ty recruited. Actually the majority of the players he recruited have left the team for various reasons. I forget how many of the 25 or so scholarship seniors remain, but it's not much.

With the recruiting Ty did in his last two seasons, it's as if ND got hit with a major NCAA penalty resulting in taking away scholarships.

 

Here's where it all began:

http://www.asapsports.com/show_conference.php?id=7034

 

Wow - Charlie got right out of gate being a prick and laying down the gaunlet:

COACH WEIS: Good morning, folks. Before we get going on any questions and answers, let me just clarify a couple things about how business is going to be done as far as the media goes. I don't want anyone anymore contacting a player or a coach on your own, okay? They're all off limits. You want to interview a player or a coach, I'll be more than happy to give you permission to talk to them, but I want all requests going through our Sports Information Department to me with the subject not just who you want to talk to, the subject of what you want to talk about. Obviously, one of the things I've tracked in the last month, why this whole thing has gone down, we have too many team spokespeople around here, okay? The kids were put in a very uncomfortable situation of having to talk about the past staff, of having to talk about the present staff. I mean, you guys took total advantage of them, and those days are over. So let's get that straight first, okay, because I'm not hanging the kids out to dry. I don't think that's right. They're all open to you. Anyone you want to talk to, there's open to you. I just want to know what the topic of the conversation is. Because if you want to talk about, "Hey, tell me about the difference between Coach Willingham

 

With all what has happened to South Bend and with regards to tomorrow's game vs. MSU, it seems light years removed from last year's game.

It's nice to bring this back up: http://houserockbuilt.blogspot.com/2006/09/msu-radio-host-melts-fucking-down-on.html#links

The Rant:
http://www.hipcast.com/export/P210e2df3bfc42b1d4f91438000c2ac92YlpxRlREYmJ1.mp3

For those who have joined SportsJournalists.com over the past year, do yourself a favor and listen to Mike Valenti. It's doesn't get any better than him.

 

Good column but major typo in the lead. Notre Damn is an it, not a they.

 

All that tells me is how idiotic all of these recruiting gurus and star ratings are. Like Rivals is the fucking Gospel or something, gimmie a break.

Edit: My rancor is directing at the whole obsession with recruiting and these fake-ass star ratings, not you bomani jones.

 

Not to mention your average Rivals recruiting guru is a car salesman from 9 until 5 and then calls kids during the evenings and weekends.

 

Speaking of race,
http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-dezfbcol0921.artsep21,0,875016.column?coll=hc_sports_util
I think the original headline (or at least in the paper) was Double Standard at ND.