Heading into his fifth year as the Notre Dame Head coach, Charlie Weis has to produce to keep his job. It is widely speculated that if he does not reach that 9 to 10 win plateau he will removed of his duties. So far he is 29-21 and after the abysmal 3-9 season of 2007 and the sub-par record of 7-6 last season, all the pressure is on Charlie. The pressure is rightfully so on him because of his impressive three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots; and not mention, his tutelage under Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick.
This is Weis’ year to erase that embarrassing loss to USC, to the tune of 38-3; in a game where they did not get a first down until the second half of the game. Other losses include: their loss to
Last season, Jimmy Clausen (The Golden Boy) started to show flashes of brilliance. He averaged 245.38 yards per game, ending with 3,172 yards passing with 25 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. In his two years at Notre Dame, he has a 59% completion rate with 32 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Last season he was fully healthy and it showed by hitting his top receivers Golden Tate and Michael Floyd. The only area of concern is his interception rate which needs to reduce in order for this team to reach that BCS bowl bid or get nine wins on the season. If he stays healthy and reduces his mistakes, this team could be scary. Clausen will also have a better understanding of the offense being it will be his third year and also he will be more adept at reading defenses.
Looking at their schedule closely, they definitely could end up 11-1 and in a BCS bowl. Their toughest game will be against a defense-depleted Trojan team in the middle of October. They also face a Michigan State team with no Javon Ringer at running back, a Pittsburg team with no Lesean McCoy, a deflated B.C. team that has a new head coach and their best defensive player that probably will be out for the season, a Michigan team that will be better than last year but still not ready to complete with the Fighting Irish, a Stanford team that is always game when they suit up, and also a Navy team that shocked them in 2007, breaking their 43 consecutive wins over the Midshipmen. When it comes to the schedule there are no excuses that Notre Dame and Weis can muster up if they have a losing campaign this season.
Weis has been portrayed as cold, abrupt, and conceited by the press and other coaches in college football. This might be true; and of course, Weis thought that his offensive schemes that worked in the pros would work in college. The problem has to lie in the players. He has had a couple of good recruiting classes and it’s is time for these players to produce. Could it also be that his playbook and what they have to retain is too much for these young players to comprehend? Clausen spoke about how his first year it was a flurry of things he had to know and retain, and he said some of the pressure-cooker of retaining everything has been slimmed down. There is no denying that Weis is a good offensive mind, but is he better suited as being an Offensive Coordinator? Should he leave the head coaching job and numerous duties to someone else?
Notre Dame has invested a lot of money in Weis and it is widely said this is one of the reason’s he has stayed on as the head coach, because of that lucrative deal. Well, this upcoming season there will be no excuses for his players, him and his staff because of the schedule of games they have on their slate. Anything under nine wins is unacceptable and this season’s outcome will probably determine his future in
