Charlie Weiss retained by ND

[tomson75]

If any school can afford a $4 million buyout, Notre Dame can.

Exactly. The potential losses attributed to yet another pathetic season could far outweigh the costs to let Weiss go.

What happens when that $60 million contract extension washes up? The ratings are already dropping. If they arent' on TV every week...good luck recruiting. Hell, I'd bet their recruiting class this year takes a huge hit. The guy needs to go.

 

[Dallas]

If any school can afford a $4 million buyout, Notre Dame can.

You are certain its 4million? I don't believe it is. Do you have a link to some solid proof of his buyout clause?

 

[big dog cowboy]

CW recruited the #2 class by all accounts last year. The Year before it was top 5. This year so far several recruiting services has ND's current crop #1. Who needs a conference?

Recruiting? Your talking recruiting?

It's about all about W's and L's.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Recruiting? Your talking recruiting?

It's about all about W's and L's.

Well when you are consistently having top rated recruiting classes and you still are struggling...

 

[Rogah]

He's got $15 million worth of job security...

btw, if ND wants to truly get back to its glory days level...maybe it should join a conference. I know basketball is in the Big East....honestly, I think ND should join the Big 11. That would make it an even 12....They can change the name to Midwest 12 or Great Lakes 12.

joining a conference would help so much with recruiting.

I am not so sure that is the problem. Recruiting isn't exactly Notre Dame's problem. And what could be a better recruiting tag line than telling a prospect "Play for us and almost every game you play will be on national television"..?

 

[Rogah]

After 3 seasons Bob Davie led Notre Dame to a 21-16 record. He was given two more seasons. Bad decision. Bad hire in the first place. He is a good defensive coordinator, but a poor head coach.

After 3 seasons Tyrone Willingham led Notre Dame to a 21-16 record. He was let go. Good decision. Seemed as if they learned something from their time with Davie as head coach. The team was not going in the right direction, so they moved on.

After 3 seasons Charlie Weiss led Notre Dame to a 22-15 record. He got a 4th year and is now going to get a 5th year. Why? Again the team is not going in the right direction. It is time to move on. I don't care that they have an easy schedule next year. They had an easy schedule this year and still only managed a 6-6 record. They got slaughtered by the good teams and barely beat the bad teams. Heck, they lost to the worst team(Syracuse) in college football at home and after having the lead going into the 4th quarter.

This team does not "have a decided schematic advantage" that Weiss promised. It is time for him to go. Hail mediocrity.

I believe all 3 of the above coaches stink and all should have been let go after their 3rd season. So why are they keeping Weis? Well, a lot of people are saying it's because of the buyout, but I think it is more likely that they just don't see a suitable replacement anywhere in the works.

 

[joseephuss]

I am not so sure that is the problem. Recruiting isn't exactly Notre Dame's problem. And what could be a better recruiting tag line than telling a prospect "Play for us and almost every game you play will be on national television"..?

USC, Texas, OU, Florida, Ohio St. and many other schools can say the same thing. More and more games are shown on national television, so that is not as big a factor as it used to be.

 

[Rogah]

USC, Texas, OU, Florida, Ohio St. and many other schools can say the same thing. More and more games are shown on national television, so that is not as big a factor as it used to be.

That's just not true. Those teams don't have anywhere near as many national games as Notre Dame. Oftentimes they are simply on regional television, unless it is a big game. I couldn't even watch Florida-FSU this past weekend.

Plus there's a difference between being on NBC versus being on ESPNU or the Big-10 Network.

 

[burmafrd]

What saved CW was two things: he has right now a recruiting class that could be #1; and there were no real good coaches available RIGHT NOW.
And the admin did not want to look like Michigan did last year.

 

[Cochese]

Weis built his career on Patriot cheating. Without knowing the defensive plays, he is an utter joke. Decisive schematic advantage my arse. Glad to see him carry on for another year.

 

[jimmy40]

I heard the buyout is rumored to have been anywhere between 10 million and 20 million dollars. That's a lot of money to swallow to get rid of the guy.

If Auburn can afford 6 million I believe ND can afford 20 easy.

 

[joseephuss]

That's just not true. Those teams don't have anywhere near as many national games as Notre Dame. Oftentimes they are simply on regional television, unless it is a big game. I couldn't even watch Florida-FSU this past weekend.

Plus there's a difference between being on NBC versus being on ESPNU or the Big-10 Network.

Yes, they do. Notre Dame is not on national television during every single road game because NBC on covers their home games. More and more they are only seeing regional coverage while they play on the road. And even if Notre Dame has an advantage it is only a slight one. That was my point. It is not that great a difference as it used to be in the past. The selling point is not as big as it used to be to these kids. These young men that are being recruited know which teams are on their TV sets every Saturday. Heck, more and more high school games are being broadcast on ESPN and the FOX sports channels and these kids know that. They are not going to be easily swayed by Notre Dames connection to NBC. That will probably be one of the least important factors to recruits.

 

[tomson75]

Yes, they do. Notre Dame is not on national television during every single road game because NBC on covers their home games. More and more they are only seeing regional coverage while they play on the road. And even if Notre Dame has an advantage it is only a slight one. That was my point. It is not that great a difference as it used to be in the past. The selling point is not as big as it used to be to these kids. These young men that are being recruited know which teams are on their TV sets every Saturday. Heck, more and more high school games are being broadcast on ESPN and the FOX sports channels and these kids know that. They are not going to be easily swayed by Notre Dames connection to NBC. That will probably be one of the least important factors to recruits.

Even if Notre Dame's home games were the only ones being broadcast nationally, that would make them a far more televised team outside of their local area than any other team in the nation. The fact is, at least in my region (northern VA.), that they have been televised every week for almost as long as I can remember....and that includes this season. There isn't another team in the nation that gets the publicity that Notre Dame gets week in and week out.

The ratings, however, have been slipping badly. Notre Dame fans (and college football fans like myself) have begun to turn their backs on Notre Dame. It's almost as if the only ones watching them are the ones that take solice in the Irish losing. I seriously doubt that NBC is stoked on that $60 million extension right now, and I doubt they have plans to extend it any further.

Anyone that follows college football can see this....including recruits. I'd say it ways heavily on the Irish's ability to continue to get commitments from top level players. The NBC agreement ends in 2010. That means the guys that come in now may not be on TV every week by their Jr. year. these young guys are watching Sportscenter...they are watching the ridicule that the Irish are prone to. I doubt they want to be apart of it when they could likely commit to a better program.

The honeymoon with Weiss is over....and while its conveniently pleasant to know that Notre Dame now believes in honoring their hiring commitments, this guy should be gone. The hype is gone. He should go with it.

I could easily see this costing Notre Dame more money in the long run than any buyout that Weiss could possibly have.

 

[Rogah]

Yes, they do. Notre Dame is not on national television during every single road game because NBC on covers their home games. More and more they are only seeing regional coverage while they play on the road. And even if Notre Dame has an advantage it is only a slight one.

I guess we just live in different parts of the country and are going to have to agree to disagree. ND and Florida each have played 12 games this season. Where I live I only missed 1 of Notre Dame's games (the one against Navy), but I was unable to see 5 of Florida's (including this past weekend's big game against FSU). I consider that a significant difference.

Another thing I can't help but notice is the 5 teams you chose as your examples are all in the top-10 this year so yeah, they are getting a lot of national exposure this year. But each and every one of them will pretty much disappear off the national radar screen when they come back down to earth. Miami, FSU, Nebraska, Michigan and Tennessee all used to get a lot of attention, but were all pretty hard to find on national television over the past 4 months.

One thing we've learned over the Charlie Weis era is that Notre Dame still gets a heckuva lot of national exposure even when they suck. I don't think there is a single other college in the country that can say the same thing.

 

[Rogah]

If Auburn can afford 6 million I believe ND can afford 20 easy.

It's always pretty easy when it's not your money, huh?

 

[joseephuss]

I guess we just live in different parts of the country and are going to have to agree to disagree. ND and Florida each have played 12 games this season. Where I live I only missed 1 of Notre Dame's games (the one against Navy), but I was unable to see 5 of Florida's (including this past weekend's big game against FSU). I consider that a significant difference.

Another thing I can't help but notice is the 5 teams you chose as your examples are all in the top-10 this year so yeah, they are getting a lot of national exposure this year. But each and every one of them will pretty much disappear off the national radar screen when they come back down to earth. Miami, FSU, Nebraska, Michigan and Tennessee all used to get a lot of attention, but were all pretty hard to find on national television over the past 4 months.

One thing we've learned over the Charlie Weis era is that Notre Dame still gets a heckuva lot of national exposure even when they suck. I don't think there is a single other college in the country that can say the same thing.

The teams I chose are some of the most well known teams of all time. That is why I chose them, not because of their rankings this year. They have been in the spotlight for decades.

I saw a stat a several years ago that had USC and Texas as the top two teams with the most television appearances. They were separated by 1 game while everyone else was further down the list.

Okay, I do to agree to disagree. I don't see a decided advantage for Notre Dame when it comes to television exposure. That is just the broadcasting of games. If we count highlights packages, pre-game shows, post-game shows and the like then Notre Dame is brought even further back to the pack.

 

[Rogah]

The teams I chose are some of the most well known teams of all time. That is why I chose them, not because of their rankings this year.

Sure it isn't And yet you conveniently left out a team like Michigan. That is probably the one team I would say has the most national exposure through the years 2nd only to Notre Dame - but that observation of mine is certainly biased by where I grew up. And like everyone else (except Notre Dame) they disappear when they have a bad year.

They have been in the spotlight for decades.

Oh, well then it's much easier to disagree with the statement. Because I can say with absolute certainty that when I was in high school and college during the late 80's and early 90's, I was seeing Notre Dame every single week without exception but I was lucky if I got 2 or 3 Texas or Oklahoma games a year (and always only on cable, never on broadcast TV). It's just not true to say those 2 teams were in the national spotlight week in and week out during the 90's. I remember seeing a helluva lot of Nebraska though.

I didn't live in Big-8/SWC/Big-12 country. The opportunity to watch Oklahoma games was a very rare occurance.

I saw a stat a several years ago that had USC and Texas as the top two teams with the most television appearances. They were separated by 1 game while everyone else was further down the list.

I would be very interested to see where you got this statistic.

 

[joseephuss]

Sure it isn't And yet you conveniently left out a team like Michigan.
Oh, well then it's much easier to disagree with the statement. Because I can say with absolute certainty that when I was in high school and college during the late 80's and early 90's, I was seeing Notre Dame every single week without exception but I was lucky if I got 2 or 3 Texas or Oklahoma games a year (and always only on cable, never on broadcast TV). It's just not true to say those 2 teams were in the national spotlight week in and week out during the 90's. I remember seeing a helluva lot of Nebraska though.

I didn't live in Big-8/SWC/Big-12 country. Watching Oklahoma games was a very rare occurance.I would be very interested to see where you got this statistic.

That is my whole point. This is not the late 80s or early 90s. You are right,back then ND had a decided advantage when it came to television exposure. That is not the case now. Those teams are on television quite a bit and in recent years even more than ND. A recruit can go to any number of schools and get seen on television.

I never said that ND did not hold a decided advantage at one time. I agree that they did, but that advantage has shrunk quite a bit. It is no longer a huge advantage and depending on the college barely an advantage at all.

I was watching an UT game when that stat was talked about during the broadcast. Like I said, it was several years ago. I believe Mackovic was still coach of UT at the time, so it may have been 96 or 97. I was surprised at the time and wonder how much of that has changed.

 

[Rogah]

That is my whole point. This is not the late 80s or early 90s. You are right,back then ND had a decided advantage when it came to television exposure. That is not the case now. Those teams are on television quite a bit and in recent years even more than ND. A recruit can go to any number of schools and get seen on television.

I have to admit I am a bit confused. You chose the 5 teams you did because "they have been in the spotlight for decades." And yet you admit that as recently as 10 years ago, they were not on national TV all that frequently. You also claim your selections had nothing to do with the fact that all 5 of those teams happen to be in the top-10 right now at this very moment (with 4 of your teams being in the top-5). Man that's a heck of a coincidence, wouldn't you agree?

The point I am trying to make is that the 5 teams you listed are very much like teams such as FSU, Miami, Tennessee, Michigan or Nebraska. Sure, when you're top-10 team you are going to be on national TV an awful lot. But even today, with all the media we have, a couple bad years and you fade very quickly from being broadcast on national TV week in and week out. It's a long way from CBS, ABC and ESPN down to FSN, Versus and the Big-10 Network.