Premature
Normally, I stray from college sports. Without stating the reasons in detail, I haven't been a fan for quite some time. Yet, as I struggle through the Arena Football League-like scores to find a preseason NBA game (my time of year, baby!), I couldn't help but to notice that Charlie Weis is a beloved man. So beloved in the state of Indiana that Notre Dame signed the rookie head coach to a new ten-year contract that would continue into the 2015 season. With a 5-2 record and number 9 ranking, Weis has been credited for bringing his offense prowess to what seemed to be an offensively-challenged program. People are mistaking Brady Quinn for Tom Brady (just imagine Julius Jones still there), but this is the first time in years that South Bend is the eastern center of college football.
Tyrone Willingham must be simmering in frustration, anger and confusion. Even if he is too classy and employed by the University of Washington to so any emotion. You know when you have a guest that people aren't truly fond of leave the room to only be talked about incessantly? And when the guest actually leaves, suddenly, the fun begins? Notre Dame looks like those host; a group of high school girls talking about the new friend that replaced "the unpretty girl" in the crew.
No matter how people felt about Willingham's firing after last season or the manner Notre Dame went about it, it is hard deny this: Weis is the truth. I think that no matter how dire the situation, it'd be retarded to not take the chance to hire a coach on five Super Bowl teams, including three titles with the Patriots. Yet, to extend a contract just months into its first year, let alone sign a contract longer than that of the previous coach is a bit odd. And that is a nice way of putting it.
Prior to Weis' arrival to South Bend, the program was shellshocked by Willingham's firing. A few players, including the late-blooming Quinn felt that the administration did not give Willingham's recruitment class time to go all four years. Up until Weis interviewed and was hired during the Pats' third Super Bowl run, ND was at the end of wholesale criticisms from current students to college football analysts to civil liberties activists. In the eyes of most of the critics, it was not just the fact that the school's first black head coach in any of its sports was canned, but that this school did not honor its contract with this coach. Though the team slipped from a 10-3 record in 2002 to 5-7 in '03 and 6-5 in '04, many felt that compared to Gerry Faust and Bob Davie, Willingham should have been given as much slack as two coaches that defined Fighting Irish mediocrity.
It was obvious that back in 2002, the former Stanford coach was not the man Notre Dame wanted. In fact, like a download on LimeWire, he was waiting in line, fourth to the three in progress. Add to the mix that the university apppeared more and more irrelevant because it was not "a football factory" such as Miami, FSU or even USC, the buzz around the hiring process after firing Davie made the school somewhat intriguing again. Wait, snatch that rebound for a moment, this school hired and fired George O'Leary, who lied several times on his resume. Others strayed from the mess such as Jon Gruden and Steve Mariucci. Yet, the sun did come out tomorrow. If the school was not praised enough for hiring Willingham since he was its first black head coach in any sport, the 8-0 start in his initial season made students, alums and fans take notice again. Sure, the 5-7 mark the following year disappointed some, possibly no more dissatisfaction than in that fabled locker room, but for those who did not take the field, the time to change was near.
For whatever football reason the coach was canned, he followed the school's mantra for NOT being a "football factory". High graduation rates (for a school that no matter what it believes, is not as academically elite as Stanford, the school he left) and solid recruiting without compromising this proverbial integrity. Despite all of this, it took a season and a half for the "Fire Ty" rallies as opposed to three years of "Fire Bob".
Oh, yes, prestige. Image. Pride. That's what this is about, isn't it? Weis has a team that is more exciting offensively and nearly beat its western rival USC in a much revered game a few weeks back. Weis has the most hyped and beloved 5-2 team in recent memory as even the BcS currently ranks them 14th. You know, that 2002 team was ranked fifth by this time and still didn't lose until two weeks later. Yet, this 5-2 team seems to have "America's Team" written all over it. Seems to be a lot of pride and talk for a team that has two losses under its belt. There has been much more said about the team and school now than when they were spoken for national title contention three years ago.
But not much said by anyone about suddenly, all is right again at Notre Dame. Barely a mention in the media about how this all looks, even as you can't correct the wrongs of the past.
It is not that Weis is a better coach than Willingham or visa-versa. And in college football, where reason doesn't necessarily reign over revenues, it is obvious to see that bowl games are of the highest priority. However, the manner in which the University of Notre Dame has decided to reclaim its relevance should always be questioned. For a school that claims to not be like its competitors, it has the damndest of times figuring out who it is and who should represent it. Weis is a good soldier as Willingham was. And no one is going to say anything critical of the program or college right now. Yet, what if next season, the team deadpans? And the season after that, that third year litmus test? Will ND wiggle its way out of its ten-year pact or will they continue prop Weis up to the heavens? Why don't we see Touchdown Charlie have the chance to fail first. Or at least finish this season.
Say What?!?!: I've read the unanimous predictions of another Spurs title in '06. Real risque. How about this for bold: the Eastern Conference for the first time in a decade is the better conference. Name all the teams in the league that improved in the offseason and those that digressed. I bet that you'd see more improvement in the East and greater digression in the West. Welcome back to the promised land, east coast.
Tyrone Willingham must be simmering in frustration, anger and confusion. Even if he is too classy and employed by the University of Washington to so any emotion. You know when you have a guest that people aren't truly fond of leave the room to only be talked about incessantly? And when the guest actually leaves, suddenly, the fun begins? Notre Dame looks like those host; a group of high school girls talking about the new friend that replaced "the unpretty girl" in the crew.
No matter how people felt about Willingham's firing after last season or the manner Notre Dame went about it, it is hard deny this: Weis is the truth. I think that no matter how dire the situation, it'd be retarded to not take the chance to hire a coach on five Super Bowl teams, including three titles with the Patriots. Yet, to extend a contract just months into its first year, let alone sign a contract longer than that of the previous coach is a bit odd. And that is a nice way of putting it.
Prior to Weis' arrival to South Bend, the program was shellshocked by Willingham's firing. A few players, including the late-blooming Quinn felt that the administration did not give Willingham's recruitment class time to go all four years. Up until Weis interviewed and was hired during the Pats' third Super Bowl run, ND was at the end of wholesale criticisms from current students to college football analysts to civil liberties activists. In the eyes of most of the critics, it was not just the fact that the school's first black head coach in any of its sports was canned, but that this school did not honor its contract with this coach. Though the team slipped from a 10-3 record in 2002 to 5-7 in '03 and 6-5 in '04, many felt that compared to Gerry Faust and Bob Davie, Willingham should have been given as much slack as two coaches that defined Fighting Irish mediocrity.
It was obvious that back in 2002, the former Stanford coach was not the man Notre Dame wanted. In fact, like a download on LimeWire, he was waiting in line, fourth to the three in progress. Add to the mix that the university apppeared more and more irrelevant because it was not "a football factory" such as Miami, FSU or even USC, the buzz around the hiring process after firing Davie made the school somewhat intriguing again. Wait, snatch that rebound for a moment, this school hired and fired George O'Leary, who lied several times on his resume. Others strayed from the mess such as Jon Gruden and Steve Mariucci. Yet, the sun did come out tomorrow. If the school was not praised enough for hiring Willingham since he was its first black head coach in any sport, the 8-0 start in his initial season made students, alums and fans take notice again. Sure, the 5-7 mark the following year disappointed some, possibly no more dissatisfaction than in that fabled locker room, but for those who did not take the field, the time to change was near.
For whatever football reason the coach was canned, he followed the school's mantra for NOT being a "football factory". High graduation rates (for a school that no matter what it believes, is not as academically elite as Stanford, the school he left) and solid recruiting without compromising this proverbial integrity. Despite all of this, it took a season and a half for the "Fire Ty" rallies as opposed to three years of "Fire Bob".
Oh, yes, prestige. Image. Pride. That's what this is about, isn't it? Weis has a team that is more exciting offensively and nearly beat its western rival USC in a much revered game a few weeks back. Weis has the most hyped and beloved 5-2 team in recent memory as even the BcS currently ranks them 14th. You know, that 2002 team was ranked fifth by this time and still didn't lose until two weeks later. Yet, this 5-2 team seems to have "America's Team" written all over it. Seems to be a lot of pride and talk for a team that has two losses under its belt. There has been much more said about the team and school now than when they were spoken for national title contention three years ago.
But not much said by anyone about suddenly, all is right again at Notre Dame. Barely a mention in the media about how this all looks, even as you can't correct the wrongs of the past.
It is not that Weis is a better coach than Willingham or visa-versa. And in college football, where reason doesn't necessarily reign over revenues, it is obvious to see that bowl games are of the highest priority. However, the manner in which the University of Notre Dame has decided to reclaim its relevance should always be questioned. For a school that claims to not be like its competitors, it has the damndest of times figuring out who it is and who should represent it. Weis is a good soldier as Willingham was. And no one is going to say anything critical of the program or college right now. Yet, what if next season, the team deadpans? And the season after that, that third year litmus test? Will ND wiggle its way out of its ten-year pact or will they continue prop Weis up to the heavens? Why don't we see Touchdown Charlie have the chance to fail first. Or at least finish this season.
Say What?!?!: I've read the unanimous predictions of another Spurs title in '06. Real risque. How about this for bold: the Eastern Conference for the first time in a decade is the better conference. Name all the teams in the league that improved in the offseason and those that digressed. I bet that you'd see more improvement in the East and greater digression in the West. Welcome back to the promised land, east coast.
posted by Jason Clinkscales @ 11:38 AM
2 Comments:
At 3:19 PM,
bbwillrk said…
I agree completely with the post and the comment. Giving Weis this contract extension is a little premautre because ND could still fall flat on its face. But as the comment pointed out, this team and the 2002 team are completely different creatures. This team moves the ball and does not rely on defensive turnovers and help from special teams to win games. The 2002 team, and I know this has already been mentioned, won games in absurd manners. Remember the game they won at MSU on an 80 yard slant to Arnez Battle, or the game where Purdue refused to score at the end. Even their big win against FSU was against Chris Rix in a game where FSU couldn't hold onto the ball. I went to USC, and back then I did not think much of the ND program. Today, I admit, they are back and here to stay.
I don't think this was a racist issue and I think writers such as Skip Bayless and Jason Whitlock should stop writing stupid shit just so their name is in the limelight. Both those guys are idiots.
At 4:00 PM,
Jason Clinkscales said…
I feel loved.
As said, I do admit lack of complete knowledge within college football's intricacies, so the insight is much appreciated. However, just as many question the legitimacy of this season's White Sox: these guys are not going to be given credit as winners because of a plethora of reasons. Yet, at the end of it all, they're hoisting up a trophy and 29 other teams aren't. A lot of championship teams and top teams of a season are not necessarily the most talented or even the best team (2001 D'Backs, 1998 Falcons, 1999 Knicks, etc.) but they win when it counts. That's what both coaches had/have done.
Thanks for the posts.
BTW: I usually cannot stand Whitlock, but he said something no one else did (even if he is a stirrer most of the time). As for Bayless, doesn't he look like a rejected fashion designer who couldn't get a TLC show?
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