ND supports their students, faculty, and staff. The football coach plays very little in the academic success of his players. Clearly, Charlie is not a bad coach, but he has not delivered for ND either.
It's time for a change.

Guess what guy's? Kevin White is GONE! I remember the last coach who was humiliated by Jimmy Johnson, and the Miami Hurricanes 58-7! Gerry Faust graduated players, but was way over his head at ND. So they hired Lou Holtz, and allowed Prop 48 players in. All of a sudden All the Haters stopped running their mouths! It goes in cycles fella's, Jack Swarbrick will make the right hire, and money is never a problem! So go ahead and get your last cheap shots in Haters, cause you don't have much time left!

Reality is finally crashing down on Notre Dumb ... you Irish fans need to quit watching "Rudy" and look at reality.
No one big time coach wants to coach you!! ... no big time players want to spend 4 years in South Bend!!
I frankly wish that they would keep Charlie - so that the Irish will keep losing ...
Even you most die hard Irish fans have to admit ... going 6-6 with the kind of schedule you had this year is pretty damn PATHETIC!!! ... losing to Navy at home?!?! ... get real

What many people don't realize (haters and non-haters alike) is that this is what college football is about: your team is either gonna have a feast or a famine. Sure, ND (i'm from the South Bend Area) has a fantastic history around it's "Glory Years" and what-not, but times change and some schools have a killer year while others have a terrible drought. Up until recently (and forgive me if my football history is fuzzy), who really can remember the dominance of Boise St. or TCU in the past 15 years. Up until Boise St. won the Fiesta Bowl, I know I never heard of them being a football powerhouse. I believe that ND will one day return to glory, and that even Florida (and yes i am a Florida, FSU, Miami fan, hell all florida sports in general) will have a few bad years, along with Texas, 'Bama, and so forth. Again, just to reiterate, it's college football, baby. Anything can happen.

Give Charlie Strong a chance!!! Go Gators!!!!!!!!

i have family that went to ND and i have friends that went to ND but you can call me a ND hater. why did you ever let lou holtz go? the program has gone down hill ever since he left.
i like that ND is losing but it's getting pathetic. it was more fun teasing my friends when ND was a good team and got upset by a bad team once in a while. ND has become one of the bad teams and it's just sad. bring back lou!!!!

Hey #31
read the words!!!! 3 in 1 is an oxymoron. read your dumb catechism. three distinct and separate in one------a completely stupid play on words.

Notre Dame is a great school. Great academics and extracurriculars.
And the Notre Dame football program has much to be proud of. But not recently.
For after Ara P. left the program's pride mutated grotesquely into arrogance.
The attitude was (and still is) "We are Notre Dame Football -- we can do anything."
They felt that they didn't need to search out a skilled and knowledgeable coach -- they could simply "annoint" one. (Hey, it works for Popes.... once the white smoke comes out of the chimney the new guy is infallible!)
And so Faust - without a single day of coaching experience at the College level -- took over the most elite program in college sports. The results were predictable. And there came the inevitable fall that this kind of arrogance is usually followed by. Then Hotz was hired -- and, to some extent, he righted the ship. But he was a bit too uppity for the ND brain trust and since he didn't win enough national championships they moved him out. "This is Notre Dame -- we can do better -- we can do anything."
There followed a string of horrendous decisions that I won't document here. Deals were made. Schedules were weakened. Conference overtures were scoffed at. ("We are Notre Dame -- we can...", awww, you know the rest.)
And now the ND program has reached its nadir. This year's schedule was weak by any school's standards. Yet the Fighting Irish won't break .500.
They might be the sixth place team if they played in the big East. Probably the seventh place team in the Big 10 or Pac 10. They have become the punch line on late night tv. There is a whole generation that has never seen Notre Dame win a major Bowl Game or seriously contend for the National Championship.
Now the dynamic may change. It will become harder to live off the past. The next TV deal -- if there is one - will not be as lucrative. Recruits who used to have ND as their #1 choice are selecting other options. It will become harder to schedule even decent teams on a home - home - neutral site - home basis. The conference invitations will not be automatic. Irish QB's and RB's will not automatically be Heisman candidates. The BCS will delete some of its special wording for ND in its Bowl arrangements. Etc., etc.
Yes, Notre Dame needs a new coach.
But they also need a new mindset. They need to take a page from Knute Rockne's book and start acting like the underdog again, not the ultimate overlord. They need to admit their mistakes and do what is required, to start from scratch and put a superior product on the field -- talented, well coached, and the will to work hard to win, not just show up in the ND uniform and expect to win! They need to join a conference. (The days of the independent are over thanks to the BCS. If ND was undefeated this year they would be no better than 5th in the BCS standings based on their schedule. Do the math.)
There's still time. With a good coach and the right new mindset Notre Dame could easily turn things around and be back in the NC mix more years than not. But their window of opportunity is growing smaller.... and I still see a lot or arrogance.

Bring back RUDY !!!

Yeah...Yeah Notre Dame is irrelevant. THAT'S WHY ALL YOU LAME ASSES CONTINUE TO POST ON EVERY STORY ABOUT N.D. The Irish will get the coach they need and will get the athletes they need under that coach.
Check the ratings loser's and quit making things up. A mediocre ND on NBC still outdraws all of your J.V. team games on ESPN.
I do understand your hatred however. N.D. is a superior university with a more compelling story, Even a down N.D. team gets more attention that your State U's.
#16 good post. You accurately sum up the current situation.

I'd like to see the religious schools due it out each year in the same way the academies duke it out. BYU - ND. TCU - ND each year for starters. Then maybe some catholic kids would decide to play for the Irish to defend the home team.

It wasn't that long ago that Notre Dame was a class football team where high school quarterbacks dreamed of going.She has fallen on hard times.Like a ship without a rudder.I know of someone tat would make a great coach and great players from far and wide would wat to play for him.His name is Joe Montana.
A Hall of Fame player that the kids would want to work hard for.And win.I do't know if he would be interesed but if he was it sure would be a great story.

Charlie your still a class act.....nd would be worse off without you........let them choose......move on if you have to....thanks for Brady Quinn....jimmie Clausen.......jeff samarja.......golden tate....etc....etc.....you helped make these guys great........

# 43 hilarious! Sad part is they had better have a replacement on the hook, or keep charlie. Last time when they whacked willingham they thought urban meyer was a lock and then he turned them down. Charlie was probably the only guy other than tom clements who would take the job. IF brian kelly says he will come fire charlie and give brian kelly 5 years @ 4-5 million per year!

Nobody seems to get it. A coaching change wont change anything. Who was Florida playing last week? If Notre Dame played as many stiffs as some of the SEC boys they would be 10 and 1 maybe 11 and 0 because they'd be rested up for the big games. Then they need to lower their entrance requirements spelling SAT and running a 4.5 forty should just about do in. Then they need to go into reform schools to recruit. like I don't know Tennessee or Miami-Fla not Ohio. Then they need a guy coaching that doesn't mind a few violations. You only get caught once every ten or twenty years. Yeah it could work. Oh yeah then listen to a bunch of yahoo's who have never coached at the NCAA level for even a minute hollering for the coaches head. There that's it.

charlie got the bums rush. give em another year.

Give the guy a break. How many coaches must they go through before they find a "winner" and how long will that last. While not a ND fan, they do play a pretty decent schedule and get better results than most schools. Maybe those tough late losses this year will turn into wins next season. Just can't keep changing. This is only college.

I suppose teams like USC and Florida are "humble".
dumbass......

ND is what college football is really all about. They sell out every game and attendance never wavers rain or shine.Home game weekends light up the campus and the student body is jacked up for the game.This is what college is all about besides academics! It is the best four years of one persons life and it ends much quicker than you can believe. Its not all winning and losing and hiring and firing the coach.Its about the kids who choose the school for whatever reason they do and what each one takes away with them after four years. They will remember those years forever and thank the good lord for their good fortune. I graduated from New England College, Henniker, N.H. in 1960 and am looking forward to my 50th reunion next year. I would have attended Notre Dame in a heartbeat if affordable.Charlie Weishas done his best and thats allone can ask. N,D. will sell out every game next year and the beat will go on and on for years with or without him . GO IRISH!!!!!!

I admit I hate Notre Dame. They just have not selected the right coach. For years they have been too cheap to hire a proven winner. Alabama and USC have made the same mistakes in the past. Notre Dame just needs to step up and hire a great college football coach. Too many of these pro football coaches do not understand the Student athelete at the college level. Notre Dame will be OK all it takes is one good hire. Everyone made the same comments about USC and Bama. They said noone wants to go to those schools. Horse Hockey, A Notre Dame education is worth something the last time I checked, and the Program gets plenty of love from the media. I wish Notre Dame would get good again, as it is hard to hate em when they are this bad!!

good bye CHARlie

As a ND fan i am very disappointed where we have arrived in charlie weiss;s time at the helm.I also happen to like him as a person.However, since Lou Holtz left there has beenvery little to be excited about. I personally feel if we cannot get one of the best college coaches out there available then we have to look to a former NFL HEAD COACH who would be interested with the right deal offered to him.the reality is if the academic standards cannot be relaxed then we have to offer the athletes something that is of value to them.apprenticing to what it is like in the NFL may send some of the better talent our way.we need more than a good coach,we need a edge.otherwise we cannot compete with schools that offer no education stress and free stuff/money.toys etc.if we do not find a way to attract more talent then more time will pass without a championship since 1988.archer.

What ever happened to the Luck of the Irish ? Blame the leprecauns . Maybe hire some SEC refs for home games.

All great college teams go through phases. All ND-haters, mainly those from southern cal, have suddenly forgotten the Trojans from the 60's and 70's, or the Crimson Tide before Nick Saban, or Utah before Urban Meyer. In favor of Coach Weis, he has shown that ND can recruit top players to South Bend, even from California or Hawaii. He has shown that the high academic standards are not a barrier to attract Manti Te'o, Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, Dayne Crist, Shaquelle Evans, etc. The cupboard is getting replenished. The question to ponder is if Weis will be the Coach to propel ND back to be a contender for a National Championship.