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I genuinely want to know how this season can be explained away to leave Weis' reputation in tact.
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Obviously ND fans will hand-wave away this season and blame "Ty's recruits".
ND fan nation logic:
- Season goes well with Ty's recruits? Make a BCS bowl with Ty's recruits, guys like Quinn, Samardzijxjipja, McKnight, Stovall, Carlson, Fasano, Walker? --> all credit goes to Charlie's coaching acumen.
- Season going terribly? Have the 119th ranked offense in the nation, despite the fact your current coach is an ostensible offensive "genius"? --> all blame on Ty and his terrible recruiting classes ranked in the 30s and 40s by national publications and ranking services. As someone in another thread noted, when you add together a couple of recruiting classes ranked in the 30s and 40s nationally and mix it together with one of the greatest offensive minds of all time, you somehow get the 119th ranked offense in the nation. Does this cause ND fans to bat an eye? Nope; this is rebuilding year, so once Ty's Guys are purged, Charlie can finally get down to winning national championships every year. Despite the fact he hasn't been there in three years, Ty is obviously at fault when Notre Dame players fail at basic football competency things like "snapping the football" and "blocking defenders".
It went the same way last season too. Before various big games ND was about to play, various posters here, on ND boards and blogs claimed in unison: "Charlie will have the troops ready to play! He'll have an NFL gameplan ready that college teams won't be able to defend." After getting blown out in said games, that narrative was unsurprisingly: "Ty's recruits let Charlie down." Charlie is one of those special coaches who will always have the troops ready to play... until they lose, in which case they were doomed from the start due to Ty's uncoachable recruits.
When you read this:
Ty Willingham Fact Sheet
...it's hilarious how many of these arguments for firing Willingham apply aptly to Weis. But in ND's fans minds, this is completely meaningless. Getting blown out 5 games in a row just means that "Returning to Glory" will have to wait a couple of more years. Weis will get the troops ready by 2011, no worries.
It's going to be comical watching ND fans strain for excuses once the last vestiges of Willingham's classes are gone, and Weis's signature accomplishments still only include a narrow loss to USC at home, beating a 7-5 Michigan team, and winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy numerous times.