Charlie Weis Notre Dame Era Officially Closed

Charlie Weis was Notre Dame's savior just five years ago. Now with the Charlie Weis Notre Dame era over, the Irish faithful are cheering for his departure. Weis was finally fired and put out of his misery today, as Notre Dame decided to officially move on. In the hearts of South Bend, Weis was fired a long time ago, but now the divorce is final. With the search for a new coach well under way, the Charlie Weis Notre Dame years will be cast aside as another lost era.

Charlie Weis couldn't have started any better in Notre Dame, and couldn't have ended any worse. He may be best remembered as a cautionary tale, since the Irish gave him an expensive contract extension after just seven games. That alone is the reason why he wasn't fired any sooner, even though he never improved on those first few months.

The turning point of the Weis tenure at Notre Dame was that heartbreaking loss to USC in 2005. After that, he was defined by two straight embarrassing losses in BCS games, to Ohio State and LSU. In 2007, the bottom fell out for good, and Weis limped on at Notre Dame ever since.

Charlie Weis got Notre Dame to two winning regular seasons, and mediocrity at best for the next three. 2007 brought an historically awful 3-9 record, and 2008 brought a 6-6 regular season - though it did bring the first Irish bowl win since 1994. This season was supposed to be his last, best chance, with a supposedly easy schedule that would guarantee a BCS berth.

The 2009 season instead became Charlie Weis's goodbye at Notre Dame, and it was a microcosm of his entire tenure. He came so close to getting a better record and winning back the faithful, but was just short in the clutch every single time. Each of the Irish's six losses this year could have, and perhaps should have, been victories. But although their games were always thrilling, they just didn't win enough of them.

A second straight 6-6 finish was enough, as Notre Dame decided at last to pay Weis's expensive buyout. They did everyone they could to avoid it, but they finally had no choice in the matter, especially after four straight horrific losses.

With the Charlie Weis Notre Dame years now over, fans are mostly happy - but it could be a very costly win. Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate were their biggest weapons in 2009, and were the reason the Irish had a chance to win every game. Now that Weis is gone, his two prized recruits could choose to enter the NFL Draft, leaving the new Notre Dame coach to truly start from scratch.

Nevertheless, the likes of Brian Kelly, Bob Stoops, Gary Patterson, Kirk Ferentz, Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer and more will be hounded with Notre Dame questions for some time. Stoops already vowed to stay at Oklahoma, and Meyer promised to stay in Florida days ago, so the bulk of rumors will center around Brian Kelly.

Given his Midwestern background, his recruiting skills, and his ability to make Cincinnati a national power, Kelly is already seen as the perfect choice to bring Notre Dame back. However, they felt the same about Charlie Weis five years ago, and that was after he won three Super Bowls with the Patriots. If Kelly does take the job, he must be ready for how fickle Irish Nation can be.

Charlie Weis's time at Notre Dame is ready to be discarded and forgotten - until the next coach slips up and is compared to him. But first, they have to find that next coach, in a search already under more scrutiny than the national championship picture.

Sources

FOX Sports- "Why Weis didn't work at Notre Dame"

Bloomberg- "Cincinnati's Kelly Is Favored to Replace Weis at Notre Dame"

ESPN- "Just not good enough"