Charlie Weis & the Notre Dame Failing Irish Football Team

Charlie Weis was brought to South Bend, Indiana to return the Fight back into the Notre Dame football team. Five years later, the team looks more like, the Notre Dame Failing Irish. While the sports world is a fickle one, and coaches are at times fired prematurely, the Irish have been patient with Weis, but unfortunately he hasn't been able to deliver.

Blessed with a team full of returning players, Weis and Notre Dame should have found success this year. The only freshman on the defensive side of the ball was the highly recruited, Manti Te'o. Te'o was considered the best defensive recruit in the nation, and was pursued by several teams including, USC. With the talented freshman on board, the Irish defense should have been formidable. Instead, Notre Dame has the 80th ranked defense, giving up over 388 yards per game, and 24.2 points.

The Irish are currently 6-5 with early loses against, Michigan, and USC. Recently, Notre Dame has lost three in a row, at Pittsburgh, and two disappointing defeats at home against Navy and UCONN. At their final home game of the season, the Irish walked out arm and arm with their coach as a show of support. Unfortunately, the team wasn't able to get Weis a victory.

The end of the season for Notre Dame will conclude the Weis era. There is also a good chance there will be another QB leading the Irish next season, with Clausen deciding to declare for the NFL draft, instead of returning to play for another coach in a new system. The replacement for Weis will need a strong recruiting class, and the ability to motivate the players to perform up to their abilities, something the current coach has had trouble doing.

The Irish couldn't take advantage of the career year QB Jimmy Clausen is having. The Irish QB has passed for over 3,333 yards, with 23 touchdowns, only 4 interceptions, and a 67.3 completion percentage on the year. The future is now for the Irish. Clausen will be a future NFL QB, Notre Dame will have a new coach, and maybe Charlie Weis will return to the NFL as an offensive coordinator, something he's had success with.

Football in South Bend will look different next year, hopefully for Irish fans, it'll look better.

Sources:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=231813

http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-09/indep/2009-notre-dame-fighting-irish-football-schedule.php

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/sortableStatsTeam?stable=def-points&stat=YPG&dir=ascending

http://americaswhiteboy.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-manti-teo-signed-with-notre-dame.html