The state of Notre Dame football.

[Bigdaddydvo]

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The day ND starts improving is the day they quit talking about or obsessing over Ty Willingham.

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You're absolutely right and I'm as guilty as anyone about this. I think a lot of lingering resentment towards Ty comes from the perceived lack of effort he put into the job. The golfing stories, weak recruiting, even-keeled "meh" attitudes during bad losses, talking w/UW midway through 2004, gross gridiron inconsistency, and failure to publicly eliminate race as the reason for his dismissal still irk the [censored] out of us. If Weis fails at ND (which, if this season is an indication, is certainly a possibility) we know it will be with him working himself to death to return the Irish football program to excellence. Weis will either succeed wildly or fail spectacularly...I hope for the former but can forgive the latter knowing he's giving this everything he's got.

[NozeCandy]

Whatever, the buffet line just isn't as visible as the golf course.

[FlyWf]

I remember the OSU people were madly in love with Hawk from the beginning of his career(played as true freshman). It was not a situation where he bloomed late in his career, OSU just evaluated his skillset differently.

[Bigdaddydvo]

Forgot to address this earlier in the thread:

The consensus among college football literate Irish fans was that the Weis 10 year deal was ridiculous and premature. It was principly the doing of notoriously incompetent ND Athletic Director Kevin White, who, among other things, a) botched the O'Leary/Willingham hirings b) "went against the family" in saying he disagreed w/Ty's firing c) tirelessly works to revenue whore ND at the expense of tradition (i.e. advocates putting a Jumbotron in ND stadium). I could go on and on.

White's move was analagous to the 19 year old kid who loses his virginity to some drunk chick in the club and pops a ring on her finger the next day. Can't say I blame Weis or his agent for taking the deal, but the deal will certainly bode poorly for us if Weis doesn't substantially improve the program in the next few years.

[Dudd]

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Apparently you didn't see Husky football the couple years before Ty got there.

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So you still think you should have Gilbertson? After all, he only had two years, and teams can improve a lot from year to year.

[damaniac]

Just in time, an article from Slate about Charlie Weis. For full disclosure, the author is a Michigan grad/fan.

[mmbt0ne]

dam,

Neutered Fame?

[Bigdaddydvo]

[ QUOTE ]
Just in time, an article from Slate about Charlie Weis. For full disclosure, the author is a Michigan grad/fan.

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meh, he really didn't mention much that hasn't already been posted in this thread.

[domer2]

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Ty was an OK gameday coach that fits well with a program like Stanford or Washington. Couldn't coach the offense worth a lick, and couldn't hire competent coordinators. His defenses were good and his special teams were decent.


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So far he's done a better job than Weis. He started with less and got more out of his players.

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Are we watching the same Washington team? Going to miss a bowl game for 3 straight years.

Plus, his pathetic recruiting continues at UW.

ND will play Washington next year and we'll see a match-up of Weis recruits and Willingham recruits. Hopefully it'll put that argument to bed.

[shemp]

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The consensus among college football literate Irish fans was that the Weis 10 year deal was ridiculous and premature.

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Oh, my.