(This will be a daily feature until Notre Dame actually decides who
will replace Charlie Weis as the head coach of the Fighting Irish. I’ll
report rumors, hearsay, speculation, anonymous tips, absolute
falsehoods, and predictions. If you’ve got a hot lead, email me at
KeithArnold@nbcsports.com)
If you thought there were fireworks on day one of Action Jack’s crusade to find a new coach, then day two probably blew you away.
What started out as a seemingly mundane morning full of cyber-water cooler gossip, turned into pandemonium, when word leaked on a few message boards that not one, but two different coaches were done deals and ready to sign with Notre Dame by the end of the week.
But before we get there, let’s pack-pedal and cover some familiar ground…
* For those of us looking for a timetable on the changing of the guard, quarterbacks coach Ron Powlus may have given us the best idea, without providing an actual timeline. Cincinnati Enquirer writer Mike Dyer reported that when Powlus was visiting St. Xavier high school and five-star offensive lineman Matt James, Powlus confided to James’ coach Steve Specht that he thought the job would be filled within 7-10 days. (Dyer doesn’t mention this in his actual column, but he did on his Twitter page.) I’m not sure if this qualifies as news exactly, but it certainly got people thinking that maybe Action Jack has a coach already in hand…
* Meanwhile, in Chicago, Sun-Times writer Brian Hanley threw out a new name into the coaching search, claiming that a source told him that UConn coach Randy Edsall had been “contacted by a Notre Dame representative to gauge his interest in becoming the next Irish coach.” This had a large faction of Notre Dame fans panicking, because even if Edsall did manage to get a victory in South Bend (the victory that likely sealed Charlie Weis’ fate), he’s far from the glamor coach many were hoping for.
Of course, a local Connecticut writer caught wind of this rumor and actually thought to check it, and he found out that it was false. Courant writer Desmond Carter also told Huskies fans to chill out about Kansas rumors as well. (Apparently Randy Edsall is a popular guy…)
* Also add Kirk Ferentz’s name to the list of coaches who have distanced themselves from the Notre Dame job. Ferentz, who inexplicably finds his name linked to either a high profile college or NFL job every year without ever actually winning big at Iowa, said he wasn’t likely to consider going to Notre Dame, even if the Irish asked. Here’s hoping that’s true. I’ve watched Iowa for years and never have I once hoped that Kirk Ferentz would come lose two or three early games for my team and then sneak back into the tail end of the Top 25.
BEST RUMORS OF THE DAY:
This has to be a tie between the Bob Stoops report and the Brian Kelly “news.”
* For those of you that weren’t glued to their computer today, news broke this afternoon on the message boards at IrishSportsDaily.com from a poster named “radioactivegoldfish” who said that he worked for a search agency that Notre Dame hired and a coach was already in the fold. Word spread so quickly that within minutes ISD’s servers crashed, and a few minutes after that the servers at NDNation grinded to a halt. Nevermind that the poster turned out to be a complete fraud…
* Some website called IrishCentral.com reported that Brian Kelly will be the next Notre Dame coach. Writer Sean O’Shea said that “informed sources tell IrishCentral” that the Cincy coach is the next man for the job, playing out the season and BCS Bowl before reporting to Notre Dame. The only bit of “reporting” in this report is this snippet:
The source, who is a well-informed person of influence at Notre Dame, says the Cincinnati coach is the preferred choice for the job, and that he is expected to eventually sign a deal.
Wow. I’d rather ask the girl at 31 Flavors if Ferris Bueller is sick than take that report to the bank. I’m not really sure that qualifies as a scoop, but good work by IrishCentral. I’m guessing their hits are up about 4,000,000 percent.
And now to our FAVORITE THEORY OF THE DAY:
Comes from Twitter, where John Sullivan (not the former Notre Dame center) reveals he’s got the inside scoop on why Bob Stoops is really still coming to Notre Dame.
“Got word from my aunt, the principal at st joes elementary, the Stoops’ asked about open seats for Drake and Isaac.“
There you have it folks. Bob Stoops is still coming, according to John’s aunt, who I’m assuming is named Mrs. Wiwi.
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- sharkey - Dec 3, 2009 at 9:27 AM
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Keith, any rumors about Jimmy or Golden leaving or staying?
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- joe from Dublin - Dec 3, 2009 at 1:31 PM
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Some reports have surfaced that Jimmy Clausen’s parents sold their house near South Bend in the last two weeks. If that is the case then he seems like a goner. Hard to argue with where he is now projected on the draft board. Tate’s comments seem to make you think he really has not decided anything yet. My guess is he stays another year so he can improve his draft position (#48 on Kiper’s board)
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- Matt - Dec 3, 2009 at 2:26 PM
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My Uncle in Serasota, FL heard on the radio that Tony Dungie is a candidtate. This is mainly due to the ties Jack has to Indianapolis and Tony Dungie’s Indianapolis Colts ties. Is there any truth to this? I think that would be a good choice!
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- Jake - Dec 3, 2009 at 3:04 PM
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“Action Jack” as you call him is a master at mis-direction. He has everyone chasing every rumor in town (about half probably planted by him).
What could be better? He is getting millions worth of free pub and this is simply priceless in recruiting. He’s playing the media and the public like a master musician. He has probably always had someone in mind and probably in the fold but holding out causes a media fire drill of biblical proportions.
This guy is really good.
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- robertg - Dec 3, 2009 at 4:43 PM
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1. as we previously stated, if jack swarbrick and father jenkins were ignorant and stupid enough to ignore the advice of the notre dame alums who really know about football and who stepped up to save notre dame football after the tyrone disaster in 2005 and fire charlie and his staff, notre dame football has no future.
2. coach kelly has a young family. coach kelly and every other qualified candidate are intelligent men.
3. each of the alleged candidates has seen the shameless manners in which certain people in notre dame’s asdministration(none of whom knows, or has bothered to learn, anything about the current corrupt officiating, rules enforcement,and rankings systems which have turned college football into the massive con operation that it currently is)have treated bob davie, tyrone, and charlie and their assistants and their families, along with notre dame’s student athletes who also play football?
4. coach kelly has stated publicly, on many occasions, that he will not subject his young family to the type of vile attacks by media shills to which notre dame’s administration has allowed bob dave,tyrone, and charlie and their staffs and families to be subjected, for any amount of money.
5. the other qualified candidates all feel the same way.
6. the other qualified candidates also know that notre dame football will continue to be cheated by dishonest conference officiating crews and that these acts of monumental stupidity by jack swarbrick and father jenkins have killed off the trust in notre dame among recruits and their families and their high school coaches that charlie and his staff and notre dame’s student athletes have worked so hard to built back.
7. certainly, jack swarbrick and father jenkins are intelligent men who have some knowledge in some areas, not including college football or notre dame football, and who do love notre dame.
8. however, their decisions to fire charlie and his staff are both monumentally stupid and fatal for notre dame football and for notre dame the university.
9.at this point, even if they realized what idiots they had been and went back and apologized to charlie and his staff and their families and to notre dame’s student athletes who also play football and recruits, why would charlie and his staff and their families ever trust notre dame again unless notre dame gets rid of jack swarbrick and officially remove all decision making power over notre dame football matters from father jenkins(now a 2 time idiot with tyrone and charlie) and anyone else in the notre dame administration who does not have some genuine knowledge of college football and notre dame football?
10. for my associates and myself, our tasks are now much simpler. we just destroy economically in the civil courts every person and entity involved with crooked college sports enterprises without any conceran about rebuilding the rotten systems.
11.although we have never met keith or his staff, we remain extremely impressed with the honesty and character which keith and his staff have demonstrated and, when notre dame central ceases to exist, they know how to contact us.
12. and yes, given some very suspicious friendships of jack swarbrick with con artists involved in crooked college sports enterprises, such as jim delany, the current commissioner of the big 10 conference, and other con artists at the ncaa and conference levels, we will be taking the depositions of jack swarbrick and father jenkins and other members of notre dame’s current admistration.
13. whatever his motives may be, jack swarbrick has painted himself, notre dame football, and the university of notre dame into very tight corners from which they cannot emerge unscathed.
GO IRISH!! PLEASE COME BACK TO NOTRE DAME!!!
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- Lindsey - Dec 3, 2009 at 4:45 PM
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Let’s get Bill Cowher!!!
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- qb - Dec 3, 2009 at 4:52 PM
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jimmy just moved up top 5 and #1 qb on mel kipper. i would think he’s as good as gone
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- Irish - Dec 3, 2009 at 5:07 PM
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robertg – why do you number your statements?
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- dabears - Dec 3, 2009 at 6:57 PM
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robertg, have you in fact filed a single suit yet against any college football organization, journalist or referee? I can find your threatening statements on boards going back for years now – when do you act, man?! If you are not going to act, please SHUT UP.
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- Jake - Dec 3, 2009 at 8:24 PM
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No he hasn’t filed and never will. He needs council that’s as, ahh, strange as he is. In the unlikely event that it happens he will be met at the gates of ND by an army of lawyers that will immediately bury him in writs that would tie it up for decades.
Perhaps we could direct his zeal to say, Hanger 52 or Roswell.
Life without Robertg would be good and confirm for me there is a God.
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- StephenOfTroy - Dec 3, 2009 at 8:29 PM
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Keith Arnold: If joe from dublin’s information is correct, that means SOMEONE BESIDES ME thinks Golden Tate will be a second-round pick. Number 48, as far as I understand it, is in the middle of the second round. Ahem. Maybe you don’t think Mel Kiper knows anything. But at the very least you shouldn’t have tried to chide me for not sharing your ridiculously fawning opinion of Tate.
Robert T. Gilleran: You told us ND had “zero future” without Charlie Weis (and his assistants) under conditions you specified. They now don’t have Weis and you can bet your bottom dollar they won’t have his assistants for much longer. So why are you shifting around and trying to move the goalposts? Now it’s something about if they don’t listen to certain alums, ND has no future? You have no credibility. And you’re a fair-weather fan if you think ND has no future, under ANY scenario.
And, Robert, let’s not forget that you last told us you were going “back to work” on the civil RICO cases. You’ve heard of hearsay within hearsay, yes? Well, that’s a lie within a lie. You never WENT to work on civil RICO cases, so there’s no going “back” to work on them. And you didn’t go back to work on them. You just posted more garbage about things that never happened and never will. You’re not taking anyone’s deposition, you disbarred disgrace. Nor are you destroying, economically or otherwise, anyone involved with college sports. Nice touch, giving up on rebuilding the “rotten” systems. You could never do anything to rebuild the systems anyway. You remind me of Aesop’s fable about the fox sneering at out-of-reach grapes and claiming that they surely must be sour.
But, all that said, it’s nice to see you back here. I had this image of you standing on a chair in your one-room apartment, noose around your neck, swatting in futility at the light bulb that dangles from the ceiling, wishing you had the coordination to kick the chair out from under you. Happy Holidays. Let me know when you need me to show up for my deposition in your attempt to bankrupt me for my alleged participation in “crooked college sports enterprises.”
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- Big Tony - Dec 3, 2009 at 11:00 PM
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Robertg
You need some entertainment. I suggest watching the NY Mets
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- little c - Dec 4, 2009 at 1:09 AM
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I work with a guy who golfs with a guy who knows kyle rudolfs parents and claims that he is going to the draft no matter what, i think that is a very dumb idea but that is what i was told, who knows what is really going to happen though
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- robertg - Dec 4, 2009 at 2:00 AM
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1.the 1st case of required reading for any law student or and attorney trying to learn how to plead a civil rico cause of action is united energy owners et.al vs united states energy management systems et al 837 F.2d 356 (CA 9,1988,judges nelson,thompson, and hall).
2. the entire opinion is available for a fee online from lexisnexis.
3. the attorney who briefed, argued, and won that case, as is apparent to anyone who bothers to print out and read that case,was and is me.
4. it was that case which made the then dead civil rico statute a living and deadly weapon, although many others have followed in which my associates and i have played key roles.
5. we have already stated the procedures that we follow in cases like this one. 1st, we hit with civil lawsuits those persons who are likly to fess up, tell the truth, and settle out of court. we are in the midst of that phase right now. when cases are settled, the case files are sealed and the terms of settlement are confidential.
6. then, we get to the parties and entities with whom we will not settle out of court for any amounts of money. we will post those cases online, along with information on deposition and trial dates, as we did in the enron and mci worldcom civil rico cases.
7. we will also post the dates, times, and places for jack swarbrick’s deposition. while we are informed that jack swarbrick is an attorney, we are also informed that jack swarbrick knows as little about civil litigation as he does about college football.
8. people like stephen of troy are small bit players compared to the real powers behind crooked college sports enterprises and, while such people certainly merit economic extermination in the civil courts, cases like stephen’s get only the attention of the rookies within our group since, like the defendants in my ninth circuit case cited above, people like stephen of troy end up in the bk courts long before any real public jury trials. we chase them into the bk courts as well since civil liabilities arising out of this type of civil litigations are not releasable in the bk courts.
9. in addition, we always find that people like stephen of troy have many enemies in addition to us and we purchase and pursue those civil causes of action as well.
GO IRISH!!! PLEASE COME BACK TO NOTRE DAME!!!
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- Darren - Dec 4, 2009 at 4:06 AM
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Why hasn’t Mike Shanahan been mentioned as a potential coach? As a long time ND and BRONCO fan, I can’t help but think his experience as a head coach would help ND. The BRONCOS screwed the pooch when they let him go, hopefully ND takes a look at Shanahan, before they decide to screw up again. Just saying.
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- robertg - Dec 4, 2009 at 5:26 AM
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1. having already been the victim of some idiot owners at denver, why would shanahan even consider the notre dame head coaching job for any amount of money?
2. the same problems exist for any qualified coach.
3. why would any qualified head coach and their staffs and their families ever trust a notre dame administration that has such a horrendous 3 coach track record as the notre dame administration currently has?
4. the answer is that, with the sole exception of the take the money and run types, no qualified coach will take the notre dame job with so many key players leaving early for the nfl or transferring to other schools and with notre dame’s top 2010 recruit having already decommitted and many others likely to follow and with notre dame so correctly not trusted by recruits and their families or by any high school coaches.
5. as those geniuses jack swarbrick and father jenkins are now finding out, the problem is not with the candidates that they are looking at, but with any qualified candidate trusting jack swarbrick or father jenkins of the notre dame administration.
6. we are informed by the new owners of nbc- comcast- that they are going to terminate nbc’s tv contract with notre dame as a direct result of these ugly atrocities committed by jack swarbrick, father jenkins, and certain members of the current notre dame administration.
7. notre dame could be a very valuable valuable asset for nbc if notre dame really did stand for honesty and integrity and family loyalty.
8. right now, jack swarbrick and father jenkins and certain members of the notre dame administration have turned notre dame football and the university of notre dame into national jokes.
9. not even ferris bueller is proud of notre dame now. for ferris, swarbrick and jenkins and certain members of notre dame’s current administration quite correctly remind ferris of his high school principal and of the undertakers and morticians whom jack swarbrick and father jenkins so accurately have depicted in their conduct and actions.
10. since jack swarbrick obviously considers himself to be such a genius at evaluating football coaches, perhaps jack swarbrick would like to show us all what he can do as notre dame’s head football coach.
GO IRISH!!! PLEASE COME BACK TO NOTRE DAME!!! sack jack swarbrick and father jenkins and bring charlie and his staff back with long term commitments and public declarations of war against the current corrupt officiating,rules enforcement, and rankings systems wich have turned college football into the massive con operation that it now is.
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- robertg - Dec 4, 2009 at 5:46 AM
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1. as the infamous ed rooney, ferris’s high school dean of students, once said about ferris ” les jeux sont fait.”, meaning ferris’ butt was rooney’s.
2. in the end, it was rooney, not ferris, who ended up looking like the complete fool and power tripper that ed rooney always was.
GO IRISH!! BRING CHARLIE AND HIS STAFF BACK TO NOTRE DAME!!!
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- IndianaJoeB - Dec 4, 2009 at 8:42 AM
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You know, with out robertg and StephenOfTroy, life would be so dull. They also reconfirm (for me) why I didn’t want to be a lawyer. Thanks guys.
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- bolsh - Dec 4, 2009 at 9:33 AM
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little c – Kyle is only a Soph. He needs 3 years after high school to go pro, so he can’t enter the draft until he completes his Junior season.
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- JackS - Dec 4, 2009 at 12:20 PM
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There is always some mentally-challenged individual on a forum. It’s nice to have a laugh at their expense, especially when they try to talk really big and they know they are nothing but empty words. Keep it up, we all need someone to make us feel glad we’re (at least) not that pathetic!
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- Keith Arnold - Dec 4, 2009 at 12:38 PM
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@SOT: Any hypothesis on Golden Tate’s draft status without a confirmed 40 time is a waste of time. If Golden runs something in the 4.4s, he’s a first rounder. If he’s in he 4.5s, he might slide. As you guessed, I’m not a huge believer in Mel Kiper’s prognosticating powers… He’s not really respected by anyone in the NFL, but I do enjoy his work, even if I don’t consider it bible.
@RobertG: I think you might be a little tough on Jack Swarbrick. Even if you don’t personally agree with the decision to fire CW, he had nothing to do with the bungling of the Willingham era, and isn’t to be judged for that. I think Swarbrick wanted badly to keep Weis, but with back-to-back 6-6 records and that 3-9 campaign, he just couldn’t do it.
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- jrey - Dec 4, 2009 at 1:13 PM
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Hey Bob,
I was wondering where you had moved your rantings to since I had not seen any on the Southbend Tribune Site in the last year or so. Were you banned from there? I thought you were going to buy that paper and fire all the inept reporters there?
Anyway, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
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- Art Vandelay - Dec 4, 2009 at 1:40 PM
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Wow, Keith Arnold is responding to both robertg and StephenofTroy in one post furthering my suspicion of the three headed Chimaera theory. I am pleased that robertg is back. I am also pleased that no coaching announcement has been forthcoming yet. I think the longer we have to wait for that the better, as it probably means the new hire is someone who can’t be announced yet (someone vying for a nat’l championship or BCS berth perhaps?)
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- Art Vandelay - Dec 4, 2009 at 1:44 PM
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Oh, and with Nixon’s committing, I wonder what do the recruits know? It seems to blow a hole in Michael’s theory that recruits will only sign for a particular coach. If they are keeping the recruits in the dark, then Nixon committed to a team without a coach. Explain please.
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- Jake - Dec 4, 2009 at 5:46 PM
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I don’t know Stephen, your stock has really dropped. Your going to be economically “extinguished” but it is to be relegated to a minor minion of Robertg’s powerful legal team. However, I suppose you should be proud to have attracted the all and powerful Oz.
Buck up Bro, your the vanguard of all of us that really think this guy is crazier than a three legged coon dog at a pheasant festival.
