Blame for this year's ND team

[Tweety]

This year's ND team is a complete disaster. Never before have they lost 5 in a row at home. The team ranks 118th out of 119 in scoring offense (in all of 1A), and they're the worst team in any year since 1999 in rushing yards per attempt. So far at ND, Weis now has a worse record than Willingham did through 34 games.

So why is everyone giving Weis a pass? A lot of Weis apologists point to the severe lack of talent in the upper classes, which represent Willingham's recruiting efforts and not Weis'. But Weis was content to take the credit for the team's relatively strong performance in the previous two seasons, due largely to Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, and other Willingham recruits. Weis boldly went on 60 Minutes and said no coach in America can outcoach him. During those seasons, the team lost virtually every game against top 15 talent, mostly by embarrassing margins. At this point, that claim Weis made on 60 Minutes makes Al Gore's claim of inventing the internet look less laughable.

I'm curious to hear thoughts on this. Is Weis really off the hook for this year? Can the ND boosters really be happy about hiring this guy right now? Everyone knows they wanted Urban Meyer, but when they got Weis people automatically assumed the program was in great hands.

(1) Is Weis not to blame for this wretched season, and (2) is he really a great coach? He may be a good offensive coordinator, but can he really be a successful head coach?