Comments on: Weis offers more evidence that he's a class act

By: StephenOfTroy

StephenOfTroy — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:09:49 +0000

el: Hear, Hear! Good post. Keith Arnold and others try to ignore the responsibility Weis bears for that woeful defense. He’s the head coach. Not the offensive coordinator.
(Now I’m just waiting for Art Vandelay to accuse me of being el. He has already tried to link me with Keith Arnold and with Robert T. Gilleran in a 3-headed-unholy-mostrosity. But I’d be proud to be confused for el.)

By: el

el — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:55:04 +0000

Do you really think it’s that easy? Just find someone to “run the defense”? They had someone to “run the defense.” It was the defensive coordinator that “Touchdown Charlie” chose. You see, that’s part of his problem. He’s an offensive coordinator who never grasped the reality that being a head coach requires more than just being the coach of the offense. He picked the defensive coordinators. He recruited the defensive players. As captain of the ship, he had the final say on defensive strategy. The fact that Notre Dame’s defense was consistently bad during the past five seasons is, in large part, because Charlie Weis was at the helm. He’s not a good head coach. He’s a coordinator.
Please, if you’re to defend Charlie Weis, go beyond the reductive.

By: Ted (Class of '90)

Ted (Class of '90) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:23:30 +0000

Art, No, it doesn’t imply that they know who the coach will be. Just that Charlie’s message was that ND is about more than playing for Charlie Weis. It got him fired up to go there and play for the new guy, whomever he is.
Charlie has taken a lot of criticism for his coaching, and some of it was well warranted. But one thing nobody should question is his commitment to the school and the students. As an Alum, that’s not surprising, but it sure is great to see.
Maybe it happens, but I’ve never heard of it — the coach who was just fired getting on the phone to the prospective recruits and encouraging them to still come. It doesn’t get much more stand-up than that.

By: Art Vandelay

Art Vandelay — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:51:12 +0000

“He got me fired up to play for the new coach and to know who he is,” said Smith…..what does this mean?? Do they know who the coach will be? The first “he” of this sentence clearly refers to Weis, but what about the second one?

By: sharkey

sharkey — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:08:57 +0000

Never understood the personal attacks against him and his family.
I can understand attacks and criticisms against his coaching, but never will understand the personal, especially the ones about Hannah.
Thanks, Charlie. I’m glad we, the fans, have not jaded your feelings for Notre Dame.

By: NDFAN401

NDFAN401 — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:57:10 +0000

That last sentence is going to prove to be a problem for Jack Swarbrick, I do not believe they are going to find another coach that loves Notre Dame the way Charlie Weis does. Even after his dismissal he shows how much he cares not only about the school but about the kids he has not and now will not coach, all I have to say is THANK YOU COACH WEIS!
There are a lot of questions that are going to have to be answered between now and the arrival of a new coach. It comes down to this in the early days of the search for a new coach none of the men talked to or about have really seemed motivated or excited about taking over the program at our school and this worries me deeply.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:01:34 +0000

Just more evidence that Charlie stands for what Notre Dame believes in. It also shows what a mistake action jack made by firing Touchdown Charlie. I still don’t understand why we just didn’t hire someone to run the defense and keep charlie for another year.

By: NDDC

NDDC — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:01:13 +0000

I would love to see Charlie stay around in some capacity. That would allow him to continue with his Hannah and Friends mission. Perhaps we could keep him on as head of recruiting or offensive coordinator or Director of Football operations. I mean we are already paying him so he doesn’t need the money and as of right now, he doesn’t have any other gigs lined up.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:42:09 +0000

Thank you, Keith, for including that last sentence.