This Hurts

I will always respect Charlie Weis. I completely understand where you are coming from Gaskill in your remarks about your disdain for Charlie Weis. However I cant hate the man who showed so much passion for the University of Notre Dame over the past 5 season. I predicted a few weeks ago that Weis would win a few more games and save his job as head coach, but I was blinded by my own love for ND and my desire for Coach Weis to stay on as head coach. With that said I am not blind enough to realize that it is time for a change in South Bend. The one flaw in Charlie's years as a head coach is that he never found any one close to his equal on the other side of the ball. He worked his ass off on the recruiting trail and the next coach will certainly reap the benefits. The knock against Willingham was his overall lack of interest in actually doing work. Charlie proved that you can still recruit top-flight talent to Notre Dame as long as you are willing to work at it. He consistently had top 10 classes over his years at ND but again, just couldnt get it the right pieces on the defensive side of the ball. Did Charlie go to back-to-back BCS bowls with Willingham's players. Yes. What most people don't know is that Brady Quinn would not have even gone to ND if it wasn't for his high school teammate, Chinedum Ndukwe, saying he would only come to ND if Brady was allowed too. Willingham didn't work on the recruiting trail at all and that's why when he went to Washington he was able to lead them to an 0-12 season.

So now, who will the next coach at ND be? There are rumors flying around every day that ND's next coach will be this guy or that guy. Hell I think even heard the Councilman's name thrown into the hat a few times. Who I ultimately believe will get the job is Bob Stoops. He is a catholic guy from Ohio and he is the perfect fit for ND. I really want it to be him because I believe he will be able to continue to recruit top-flight talent to ND on both sides of the ball. He is a defensive minded coach that would be able to work some magic on the defensive side of the ball much like Weis did with the offense when he arrived in South Bend.

Basketball
In watching Xavier over Thanksgiving break and to say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I constantly sat and wondered what happened to the team that truly epitomized team ball and not beating themselves by hitting free throws and not turning the ball over? I watched a lot of selfish and inexplicable play from our guards, and we simply cant have that if we plan on making any sort of run in March. Crawford has NBA talent, and Lyons is quick as a hiccup, but until those to begin to understand the concept of team ball this Xavier team will be stuck in neutral. At this point I am too frustrated to go on any further in this post. Between the Irish, G-MEN, and Xavier I am a drained and beaten man.

Holla Man

p.s. Christmas post coming next week.