Thats right, I said it. How else can you explain how White Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis still has a job coaching the Gold Domers!
After Notre Dame’s 2004 campaign, Ty Willingham was booted because of his 21-15 record over three years at the school. In his final season, Willingham guided the Irish to a 6-5 record and an appearance in the Insight Bowl. As a reward, he became the first Notre Dame coach fired before his contract expired.
Only in the land of apple pie, baseball and hypocrisy would a major sports organization have the audacity to give a White football coach a record contract for winning five of his first seven games just a few months after prematurely firing a Black coach who won his first eight. Weis' new 10-year contract, reportedly worth between $30 million and $40 million … strikes me as racist. There's just no way Notre Dame, or any school for that matter, would do the same thing for a black coach.
How do I know this? Because Willingham was far more impressive in the first two months of his initial season than Weis has been. He still has not proven that he's the second coming of Joe Paterno, or Jimmy Johnson, or Pete Carroll, or even Bob Stoops. Weis has not won one football game that he wasn't supposed to. Notre Dame has beaten a mediocre Michigan team, a Dave Wannstedt-coached Pittsburgh team that is .500 only because the Big East is terrible, the third- or fourth-best team in the Mountain West Conference (BYU), a bad Purdue squad, and a Washington club with one victory (vs. Idaho).
Please don't tell the CIA I told you this -- this information is classified top secret -- but the combined record of Weis' victims is 17-24.I know, I know. You turn on the TV, pick up the newspaper or click on the Internet, and you're led to believe that Notre Dame, under the ingenious direction of the "Great Weis Hope," is undefeated, having hammered USC, Texas and Virginia Tech all in the same weekend. Sadly, it's not true. Weis' greatest accomplishment so far is that he led Notre Dame to a close loss against USC. Buddy Teevens (Stanford) and Karl Dorrell (UCLA) put the same thing on their resumes last year. But they're still waiting on their 10-year, $30 million-$40 million contracts.
In case you've forgotten, in 2002, Tyrone ran up an 8-0 record against Maryland, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Air Force and Florida State. Six of those teams -- all but Stanford and Michigan State -- played in bowl games that year. The combined record, including bowl games, for those eight clubs was 60-43.
And how 'bout this? Willingham won those eight games with Carlyle Holiday, an option quarterback recruited by Bob Davie, running Willingham's West Coast passing offense. The Great Weis Hope is beating marginal teams with a Willingham-recruited quarterback -- Brady Quinn -- so talented that some NFL draft experts suggest he would be taken ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart.
Yes, Weis is doing a nice job working with the offensive Willingham recruited. But while Willingham inherited offensive personnel recruited to run the football, Weis inherited players recruited to operate in a pro-style passing offense. Forgive me for not being shocked that Weis is getting points out of all that mature, experienced talent Willingham left behind.
Who's gotten a sweeter deal than Weis after seven games?
I'm sorry if this column comes off like a vicious attack on Weis. It's not. I think Weis has a chance to be an outstanding head coach. I'm actually rooting for Weis to be successful. Two members of his coaching staff -- defensive coordinator Rick Minter and tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee -- go back to my Ball State playing days. Minter owns the best football mind I've ever been around, and he deserves another head coaching position. Parmalee, my former teammate, is as good a human being as you'll ever meet. I consider Minter and Parmalee friends. If Weis succeeds, it means my two friends will benefit. Weis just needs to earn it, like everyone else.
Weis and his handlers shouldn't get away with floating the story about his $1.5 million buyout and how that makes Notre Dame vulnerable to an NFL team stealing him. The media shouldn't act like Notre Dame had no choice but to hand Weis a new deal. If the New York Giants or any other NFL team decides it wants Weis as its coach, there's no amount of money that is going to stand in the way of that getting done. Only Weis can stop that deal by saying he'd prefer to remain a college coach. You think Weis is the only college coach the NFL has ever been interested in?After winning a national championship, Stoops has had to turn down the NFL almost every year. You think an NFL team wouldn't give Carroll another opportunity? This is a gigantic overreaction by a school administration that should know better. They watched Willingham experience early success and then struggle. Notre Dame has no clue whether Weis can recruit or sustain success. Let's call this exactly what it is: greed and stupidity
This current team has earned a total of negative 14 in rushing yards. Charlie Weis has put together a team that might go down in the history of division one as the worst team in the history of Notre Dame. Charlie maybe needs to go back and hold the camera for his boy Bill "the cheater" Belichick in New England.
So where is the cry from the fans, alumni and boosters to move on to the next episode and get rid of coach Charle Weis? No one is saying anything and the white coach is getting a big pass on his performance.