powered by Google  
  Track your favorite teams and players.
Free membership, Register Now
Already a member, Log In
 

College Football Sports News
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Home   Fantasy     NFL  |  MLB  |  NBA  |  NHL  |  College FB  |  College BK  |  Golf  |  More CBS College | MaxPreps | Mobile | Shop  
College Football Home | Scoreboard | Standings | Schedules | Stats | Teams | Players | Rankings | Video | SEC Live | Recruiting
  Notre Dame Fighting Irish logo

Register to Customize or Login

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Location: South Bend, Ind. | Founded: 1842 | Enrollment: 11,417 | Colors: Blue and Gold | Stadium: Notre Dame
Capacity: 80,795 | Coach: Charlie Weis

Record: (6-6 )
Team Page Team Report ScheduleStatsRosterAlumni Trackerund.com
 

Show your school pride & sign up for College Bowl Pick'em - compete for the $10,000 Grand Prize!

 
Fighting Irish report: Inside slant
 

The Sports Xchange
 
 
Inside slant · Strategy and personnel · Notes, quotes
 
Presented by Epson

 

The regular season is over and a possible bowl game awaits for a 6-6 team. But everyone is waiting for much bigger news.

Coach Charlie Weis was fired Dec. 1, officially divorcing the coach from the team after another mediocre season that might bring, at the very best, a mediocre bowl invite.

The news came after the Irish finished the regular season on a four-game slide, including a 45-38 loss at Stanford on Nov. 28, when the Cardinal scored the last 15 points in the final nine minutes.

"It was a microcosm of our season," Weis said in a radio interview. "You know when we're up 38-30, and then they come down and score and then they go for two to tie. You figure, 'Here we go again.'"

It's no consolation or salvation that Notre Dame lost each of its six games by seven points or fewer. The grand total of its deficit in six losses: 28 points.

Numbers of greater concern were 35-27, Weis' five-year record at Notre Dame. By his own admission at the time of his hiring and as recently as last week, that's not good enough. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick concurred.

Weis leaves with a winning percentage (.565) that doesn't match predecessors Bob Davie (.583) and Tyrone Willingham (.583) but did take the Irish to two BCS bowl games. Getting to the games was nice, but it wasn't the goal of the program.

"We have great expectations for our football program, and we have not been able to meet those expectations," Swarbrick said. "As an alumnus, Charlie understands those goals and expectations better than most, and he's as disappointed as anyone that we have not achieved the desired results."

It was a wholly unsatisfying season for Notre Dame, which was perched to make a run at a BCS bowl when it was 6-2. But a 23-21 home loss to Navy was the catalyst for the late-season slide.

Weis is gone -- albeit with a golden parachute totaling some $18 million for the remaining six years on his contract -- and there's rampant speculation that junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen and, possibly, junior receiver Golden Tate, could be going too.

"I feel really bad for the outgoing players," Weis said after the Stanford game.

"I think too many times we forget that these guys are kids. There's a bunch of 22-, 23-year-old young men right there finishing out their career losing the last four games. They feel miserable and I feel miserable for them."

Assistant head coach Rob Ianello will resume responsibility for the team until a new coach is hired. Reports indicated Ianello isn't a candidate for the head-coaching job and that players were expected to vote on whether to accept a bowl game invitation if one is offered this week.

Swarbrick said the search has begun for Weis' replacement and the goal is to finish that search "as fast as we possibly can."

The leading candidates for the job according to the churning rumor mill were Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Stanford's Jim Harbaugh. Urban Meyer, a former assistant at UND, said last week he has no plans to coach at any school other than Florida.

Copyright (C) 2009 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.

 
 

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Message Board
Reputation:92
Level:All-Star
Since:Jul 22, 2009

December 2, 2009 9:46 am
I just stumbled upon this article about Golden Tate from the Long Beach Post and figured other ND fans would enjoy this as well.  Tate made the games fun to watch, despite the poor ending to the season. 

With little else to discuss besides coaching speculation, the article is definetly worth a read, giving the highest praise to Tate and his accomplishments despite a 6-6 record
...(more)
Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Sep 25, 2006

December 1, 2009 4:41 pm
Ok, if you're Brian Kelly and your current team (Cincinnati) is ranked #5 in the country, and you are only three years removed from your previous team (Central Michigan) which is currently ranked #25 in the country, why would you want to become head coach at the 60th best program in all of College Football?

Think about that while also considering Kelly's star is
...(more)
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Feb 3, 2007

December 2, 2009 11:34 am
Bleacher Report has an article from the sun times that says Brian Kelly could leave Cincy and coach Notre Dame in the bowl game! That a deal could be in place for him to ink on Sunday after the Pitt game.
Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:Sep 9, 2006

November 29, 2009 10:42 am
The first thing that comes to my mind after the denouement of the 2009 season and what looks like the Charlie Weis era is 'what a waste'.  We had arguably three of the most dynamic offensive players in the country with Clausen, Tate and Floyd.  Add to that a decent running attack (when actually utilized) and one of the best TE's in the business when healthy and you can't help but feel as ...(more)
Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:May 23, 2007

November 30, 2009 9:17 pm
I mean I dunno what is going on with Stoops. ND offered him the job. He says he will be in Oklahoma next year but he wont go the Urban Meyer route and say "I AM NOT GOING TO NOTRE DAME!".

I have wanted Brian Kelly day 1. If you knew UC football pre-Kelly... It was terrible. Dantonio made it respectable but I think that had more to do with being in the Big East over Conference
...(more)
Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:Oct 22, 2006

December 1, 2009 6:58 pm

The list shrinks.
Here is what I have found out today as far as the search for a new coach is concerned. 

1) Butch Davis Great recruiter wants the job! Already won NC with the hoodlums in Miami,can get us back on the right track quickly.

2) Brian Kelly  is drooling over the chance to pilot the Irish, the more i listen to him the more I think he would be a great fi ...(more)

Reputation:97
Level:Superstar
Since:Sep 9, 2006

November 28, 2009 11:38 pm
Get this skid mark out of my sight.  what he did shall never be excused, ever.  swarbrick should announce tomorrow or monday, decline a bowl game (if asked) and pay any amount needed to get a real coach who understands defense.  i wish never to see CW ever again, he is a disgrace.

How can a HC allow a defense to do what they did.  I mean even I could tell you just se
...(more)
Reputation:86
Level:All-Star
Since:May 8, 2008

November 30, 2009 4:57 pm
I cannot tall you how many people I have met that claim to be a big fan of Notre Dame football, but they never went to the school and most had never step foot on the campus, or even in the state of Indiana.  So if you have red hair and pale that entitles you to be a fan? I can understand people who live around the campus being fans or alumni, but aside from that, how are you a fan of the ...(more)
Reputation:93
Level:All-Star
Since:Sep 14, 2008

December 1, 2009 6:44 pm

Its rumored that Chris Martin has de-commited to the Irish, apparently he text messaged the AP saying as much. I hope ND can bring some stability to the program and they dont wait too long to make a hire and hopefully they get the guy they are after and not look bad by reaching out and getting denied by too many suitors!
Reputation:86
Level:All-Star
Since:Feb 21, 2007

November 28, 2009 11:21 am
I've been watching Game Day this morning, and the above equation is clear.   Somehow I don't think Tim Tebow is out leaving a bar with his girlfriend at 2:30 a.m. after a crushing/disappointing loss.  Notre Dame would be smart to change their "Play Like a Champion" sign a "Play Like Tim Tebow" sign.  If their sign said "Play like an over-hyped first round wannabe", then they co ...(more)
w/e
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Sep 3, 2006

November 30, 2009 3:37 pm
http://oklahoma.scout.com/2/924725.
html

http://www.ndnation.com/boards/show
post.php?b=football;pid=6420;d=this

w/e
Reputation:98
Level:Superstar
Since:Sep 3, 2006

November 29, 2009 1:46 am
The defense rolled over for Toby Gerhart, and Charlie's last game was another new low of his illustrious career: our first loss to Stanford in seven meetings. While the fact that this was likely Charlie's last game as head coach of the Irish was certainly highlighted by the media, an overlooked notion was that this was quite possibly the last game for the our two best players (and possibly two mos ...(more)
Reputation:94
Level:All-Star
Since:Sep 4, 2006

December 2, 2009 10:42 am
Although we lost C.Martin because of the coaching situation, Notre Dame was able to secure a commitment from Louis Nix without a head coach at Notre Dame!  Maybe, if Swarbrick hires the right HC, C.Martin reconsiders his commitment to ND. Anything is possible!
Reputation:91
Level:All-Star
Since:Sep 14, 2009

November 28, 2009 11:33 pm
Well, its over.  This game was a good example of the whole season.  The offense played beautifully.  The defense might as well not even shown up.  I am sorry, for every one good play Kyle McCarthy makes, he makes 10 bad ones, and they were showcased tonight.  And he's our best defensive player.  Teo is going to be good, but he is overly aggressive and gets pushed out ...(more)
Reputation:96
Level:Superstar
Since:Oct 1, 2008

November 30, 2009 3:05 am
How does a team lose its last four games of the regular 2 years in a row? Because ND has a coach that cannot motivate, game day coach, or discipline his team to save his life. A new HC cannot come soon enough! Bring on Brian Kelly!






GO IRISH!
 
 
 
CBS Sports Store
 
 
 
 
 
College Fantasy Football