When Notre Dame hired Charlie Weis to take over for the fired Tyrone Willingham 3 years ago it was a decision praised by many.  Willingham had mixed success while at Notre Dame but had previously proven himself as a winning coach at Stanford so the next coach needed to be a significant upgrade.  The consensus was that Weis, the Super Bowl winning Offensive Coordinator, was it.  I'm not so sure.

Kirk Herbstreit recently remarked on ESPN's College Game Day that Weis simply does not have the players to be competitive and it is a big reason why Notre Dame's offense has been so horrible.  I do not buy it for a minute.  It took until the 4th game of the year for Notre Dame's offense to score its first touchdown.  I blame the coaching staff for not having their offense ready to play.  Otherwise, we need to assume that schools like Central Florida, Ball State, Appalachian State and Troy have better talent than Notre Dame.  Each of the previously mentioned schools has scored multiple touchdowns against top tier programs.  Are we supposed to believe that an offensive genius like Charlie Weis is unable to put his team in a position to score?  Are we supposed to believe that Notre Dame's talent on offense is incapable of executing?  Is there less talent in South Bend than in Orlando, FL or Boone, NC?

 The second reason that many cite as why you cannot blame Charlie Weis for Notre Dame's precipitous fall is that Willingham left the cupboard bare.  There are two reasons why this excuse does not pass the smell test.  First, if Tyrone Willingham was such a horrible recruiter and, as a result, left Notre Dame devoid of talent then how was Weis able to win so many games his first two years with Willingham's players?  All of those seniors that graduated last year arrived in South Bend when Willingham was the coach, not Weis.  This year's incoming freshmen are Weis' 3rd recruiting class (2nd with a full year to recruit).  So, secondly, where is the talent that Weis has been recruiting?  Granted, these kids are young, but isn't it a coach's job to get them ready?  Other coaches are having success with young rosters of kids that they recently recruited.

Finally, when you take a look at all that occurred 3 years ago when events fell into place to bring Weis to Notre Dame we see that maybe Weis does not understand how to handle personnel in the college game.  Let's contrast Weis with two other coaches that were part of an intersting college coaching triangle.  Notre Dame started it all off by arrogantly assuming that Urban Meyer couldn't turn them down but he took an offer from Florida instead.  Florida's job was available because Ron Zook had been fired by the Gators and subsequently scooped up by Illinois.  Notre Dame, after fumbling their attempt to get Meyer then hired Charlie Weis.  What has transpired since is a National Championship at Florida for Urban Meyer and, after some impressive recruiting, a 4-1 start for Ron Zook at previous Big Ten doormat Illinois.  Zook seems to be able to win with the young players that he recruited as demonstrated by the 66 underclassmen on the Illini roster.  Urban Meyer is continuing his success this season with the kids (90 underclassmen) he recruited.  Both teams are led by sophomore quarterbacks.  Contrast these successes with what Weis is doing with the kids he recruited.  Why has Notre Dame given him a vote of confidence with a big contract extension when they were so quick to get rid of Willingham?  Weis a genius?  So far, he has shown that he is as smart as those making the hiring and firing decisions at Notre Dame.