During the winter there was a lot of moaning and groaning about the hiring of Brian Kelly at Notre Dame because the team was switching control from one pass happy coach to another who is just as determined to air the ball out.

However, do not take Kelly’s penchant for throwing the ball as a sign that Notre Dame will continue to have a weak running attack.

In fact, the Irish may have a very powerful ground game in 2010, one which could see the Golden Domers gain the most yards in nearly a decade.

That means Notre Dame may approach a milestone believed unthinkable during the Charlie Weis era:

2,000 yards rushing.

Thanks to Weis’ strong recruiting efforts, Brian Kelly is now walking into a situation in South Bend where there is a lot of talent and experience at the running back position.

So much so that I believe Kelly will ultimately lean heavily on the ground game this coming fall.

It may seem unbelievable given Notre Dame’s past struggles in this area, yet the running game could end up being the strong point for the offense in 2010.

Now, let’s address the four main questions heading into the season.

Will Armando Allen Stay Healthy?

This is obviously the biggest question heading into the season since Allen is the anointed starter and a senior with a ton of experience.

Without a healthy Allen, it is likely Notre Dame will struggle on the ground in the same manner the program has over the past eight seasons. Not since 2001 has Notre Dame rushed for 2,000 yards as a team, a depressing fact if there ever was one.

But, with a strong, rested and healthy Allen the Irish ground game has a lot of potential to do damage on Saturday afternoons.

If Allen is able to run more north-south and hit the holes with speed in Kelly’s new offense, then a 1,000 yard season is well within reach.

How Much Production from Cierre Wood?

Cierre Wood is an x-factor simply because he is projected to be Allen’s backup and his yardage could swing the potency of the Irish ground game in either direction.

A nice and productive red shirt sophomore season from Wood likely means Notre Dame will be, at minimum, a good running football team, while a season of struggle from the Oxnard, California native means the Irish will probably stay a below-average rushing team.

I’m betting on the former and I believe Wood should immediately share carries with Allen at the start of the season.

I don’t think Wood should be the backup and only handle the rock whenever Allen is tired, but that the sophomore is ready to be treated as if he is a legitimate number one runner.

Knowing Kelly’s penchant for using multiple backs, it is likely that Wood will get his fair share of carries and make an impact from the opener against Purdue and onward.

I know Wood is still very young and hasn’t proved anything yet at the college level, but this kid could be something special.

He was one of the top running back recruits in the country a year ago who had a sensational high school career (4,234 yards with a 13 YPC average to go along with 54 touchdowns as a junior and senior), and he looked amazing in the spring game (even if it was against a vanilla defense).

Perhaps more importantly, Kelly switched Theo Riddick to receiver specifically to get Wood carries in the backfield this year, quite a statement for a player who has yet to step on the field for any game action in an Irish uniform.

Most Irish fans would agree that it was freshman Theo Riddick who looked like a future superstar with his admittedly small sample size as a kick returner and running back in 2009, but now Kelly is basically saying Wood is going to be the future at the position.

Is it possible that Wood will be even better than Riddick?

Will Wood be part of a revival of the Notre Dame running game in the future?

That may very well be, and it looks like Wood will be an integral part of the offense from the beginning and is thought of very highly by the new Fighting Irish coach.

What Will Dayne Crist Add?

A lot of pressure will be riding on Crist to take over this new offense and move the ball through the air, but his ability to make plays with his feet could add another dynamic weapon on the ground.

Due to his injured knee, we may not see Crist run the ball a lot early in the season, but at some point he will increase his carries and begin racking up yardage on the ground.

Given the lack of a rushing attack from the Irish quarterback position in recent years, anything Crist offers can be seen as a bonus and just another reason why Notre Dame could have a stronger ground game than in past years.

Last season, with mobile sophomore quarterback Zach Collaros under center, Brian Kelly had his signal caller rush for 344 yards on 57 carries with four touchdowns.

That is 72 fewer yards on 31 fewer carries with one less touchdown than Robert Hughes, Notre Dame’s second-string back in 2009. And that is also with Collaros stepping in for the injured Tony Pike and not even playing a full season.

So, it may not be realistic to expect a whole lot from Crist in the running game in 2010, but his talent combined with the coaching and offensive system indicates that there is the possibility that Crist makes plays with his feet this fall.

Crist may not be a true burner, but given full health he should be able to scamper for six or seven yards on quarterback keepers and reads from time to time.

How Many Carries and How Many Runners?

How often will Brian Kelly run the ball, how many different runners will he use and how many carries will each player receive?

In terms of offensive plays from scrimmage, there was not much of a difference between Kelly’s Cincinnati teams and Weis’ Notre Dame teams as Her Loyal Sons has documented over the past week.

From 2007 to 2009 Kelly’s teams averaged 69 plays per game while Weis’ teams averaged 68.5 plays per game for the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Since the amount of plays per game should be roughly the same, how many rushing plays can we expect under the new regime?

Again, the amount of rushing plays for both coaches mirrors the overall amount of plays from scrimmage.

Kelly averaged 33 rushes per game, while Weis averaged just over 32.

Certainly neither coach ran the ball a ton, but these are pretty decent numbers from coaches who are known to throw the ball and it shows that both were at least somewhat committed to the ground attack.

And anyway, the problem with Weis’ Notre Dame teams wasn’t that they didn’t run, but rather, his teams weren’t very good at it when they did so.

Poor red zone play, missed opportunities on third and short and a general inability to keep opponents honest with the ground game have all been well documented problems from the Weis era.

Kelly on the other hand, is much more efficient.

Last season Notre Dame averaged only 3.8 yards per carry, while Cincinnati averaged 5.0 per rush.

That extra 1.2 yards per carry is a huge difference and one that can translate into winning two or three more games a season.

In Kelly’s first year at Cincinnati he actually ran the ball 13 more times than he threw it, and I expect the run-pass ratio in 2010 to be about even and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up calling more running plays throughout the entire season.

This means, we may see Notre Dame run the ball close to 500 times in 2010.

At any rate, let’s assume Notre Dame averages 70 plays per game and that the run-pass ratio is even. At 35 running plays per game, here is how the season could play out:

Allen-182 carries, 1,019 yards (5.6 YPC)

Wood-130 carries, 663 yards (5.1 YPC)

Gray-52 carries, 223 yards (4.3 YPC)

Crist-52 carries, 234 yards (4.5 YPC)

Hughes-26 carries, 114 yards (4.4 YPC)

Others-13 carries, 97 yards (7.5 YPC)

If you add up those numbers, the team will have rushed for a whopping 2,350 yards putting them somewhere close to 30^th in the nation.

As mentioned before, it is highly likely that Kelly will use a running back by committee philosophy as he is not known to rely on one player to carry the team’s load on the ground.

Keeping his runners fresh and utilizing the depth chart could be a big advantage for Brian Kelly in his first season in South Bend and a key to maintaining a potent offense from September through late November.

Last season, Kelly had one runner with over 100 carries while the back up carried the ball 74 times. The remaining 166 carries were given to a handful of players, including quarterback Zach Collaros.

In 2008, Kelly had two players with 130 carries or more and five players shared the 477 carries during his first season at Cincinnati in 2007.

This fall, Allen should get the most carries and I have him projected to run the ball 14 times a game with a decent increase in his yards-per-carry average from 2009. As long as he stays healthy I think these are very reasonable numbers.

What’s more, Cincinnati’s starting running back Isaiah Pead averaged 6.7 yards per carry in 2009, so is it too optimistic to think that Allen could do the same?

I have Wood running the ball 10 times a game with a very respectable yards-per-carry average, but he is still an x-factor who could be a boom or bust player. He may struggle and not come close to this kind of production, but I think he has the necessary skill set to do so.

Jonas Gray is another interesting player who may very well end up getting a lot more carries than this, but it is still too early to tell what role he will have.

As a back with a great mixture of size and speed, Gray may be used quite heavily in short yardage situations and will certainly be called upon if there are any injuries ahead of him on the depth chart.

As I mentioned before, it is tough to tell what Crist will do on the ground, but three rushes and one sack per game is probably a good estimate, if not slightly conservative.

Nevertheless, I think Notre Dame fans will be happy with at least 200 yards and a quarterback that is able to convert third down plays with his feet. Instead of throwing fades and passing the ball at the three yard line, Crist will be much more likely to stuff it home on his own.

I don’t see Robert Hughes getting a lot of carries, but there should be sufficient short yardage situations where he’ll be touching the ball a couple times each game. This fall, his impact may be felt more as a pass receiving fullback or blocker rather than a runner.

The last category involves the three playmakers that will get their hands on the ball in any number of ways. Personally, I think this category could triple in carries and yardage but we’ll have to see what kind of plays Kelly draws up for Riddick, Floyd and Rudolph.

We can probably expect a handful of reverses to Floyd and some running plays to Rudolph through the tight end option play that was used in the spring game. Maybe these plays only pick up a small amount of yards over the course of the season, but there is also potential for something bigger.

Just thinking about Rudolph taking a quick flip from Crist as a hole opens up in the middle of the line should get any Irish fan excited about the upcoming season.

A lot of people are probably wondering how Riddick will be used now that he has switched to receiver.

He probably won’t be a prime-time threat in the passing game early in the season because he still has much to learn at his new position, but Riddick could make a sizeable impact on gadget plays, reverses, and plays in which he motions into the backfield.

Even if Riddick only touches the ball twice a game in this regard and still averages a healthy yards-per-carry average, the team will have rushed for an additional 200 yards or more.

In fact, don’t be surprised if Riddick surpasses Golden Tate’s rushing statistics from 2009 because Kelly’s system is more conducive to getting the ball to the team’s playmakers and he will probably want to get Riddick a certain amount of touches outside of catching the ball from Crist in the slot.

There may be no wildcat formations, but you can bet that Riddick will get his fair share of looks through the running game even though he’s moved to wide receiver.

Summary: Realistic or Rosy Expectations?

Maybe it was the promise shown during the Blue-Gold game (soft defense duly noted) or the fact that Kelly has coached surprisingly good running teams in the past, but I like Notre Dame’s chances on the ground next year.

Perhaps we’ll see a couple injuries and too steep of a learning curve with the new offense and the ground game will struggle to gain 100 yards each game.

But I think those days are long gone with the arrival of Brian Kelly and his coaching and offensive playbook.

I think it’s more likely the Irish approach 2,000 yards and turn into a spread offense similar to Oklahoma’s that can beat teams through the air as well as on the ground.

So expect Notre Dame to continue throwing the ball with fervor this fall, but don’t be shocked if the Irish also have a very respectable running game.

There are only about 100 more days until we find out.

Related posts

• No related posts.

On Friday March 26^th, a football program makeover was unveiled as Notre Dame held its first spring practice under new head coach Brian Kelly.

After three months of leading the Fighting Irish, Brian Kelly has already brought significant change to South Bend and that transformation was on display as Notre Dame took to the LaBar practice field complete with their gold helmets and cleats.

Even before Friday’s practice, the program had been subject to numerous changes from the departure of Charlie Weis and the previous coaching regime. Yet, nothing was more eye-popping and dissimilar than this first practice under Kelly.

Moving at a frantic pace for the entirety of the practice, Notre Dame demonstrated the up-tempo style it will be perfecting over the next five months.

Unable to take their helmets off during any point during the workout, the Irish showed incredible emotion and energy in what has been described as the fastest practice in Notre Dame history.

In a press conference before the practice, Brian Kelly told the media what his practices would be all about and how he will handle the program for the spring.

He stated that there will be no posted depth charts and players will work in “pods” or groups that can and will be moved around as time goes on. Kelly also described his system of holding guys back who have injuries while reaffirming the importance of taken part in practice.

Luckily, only Theo Riddick and Dayne Crist were “protected” players, still nursing off-season injuries yet still fully participating in practice. There are a few “restricted” players, such as Kyle Rudolph who is coming off shoulder surgery, but the entire roster took the field on Friday.

Although there is a lot of learning to do, Kelly said he was happy with the team’s effort and also added that the offense is already into their five-wide sets.

For anyone who watched the practice, it is clear that Brian Kelly wants to address a number of issues with his ball club, none more important right now than fitness and thinking on your feet.

Moreover, even though Kelly has only been head coach for a short time, and Friday’s practice was a bit of a surprise to watch, the fact is he has been instituting some major changes in South Bend since day one.

It’s almost like Notre Dame has finally joined the 21^st century and is ready to compete at the highest level possible.

To address the fitness problem, Kelly brought in his long-time strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo who has whipped the team into shape over the past couple months with high intensity weight lifting and football drills.

The players were also subjected to the brutal mental and physical trials of “Camp Kelly” a Rocky-like training regiment designed to test the collegians to their max.

What’s more, a much needed training table has been introduced and is helping to keep the players at optimal playing weights with the addition of a proper meal after workouts are complete.

The results so far are that almost the entire team is in phenomenally better shape.

Offensive linemen have slimmed down, dropped fat and added muscle to fit into Kelly’s fast-paced offense. Defensive linemen and linebackers have added bulk and muscle. Players like star wide receiver Michael Floyd have dropped ten to fifteen pounds in an effort to become more lean, muscular and able to handle the load of a quick-strike offense.

The mental aspect has already been in place with the addition of a computerized playbook that trains and teaches players Brian Kelly’s new offensive and defensive philosophies. That training meant the team was ready to open the playbook, audibles and player motion included, on the first day of practice.

Also, Kelly has been using a similar computerized system to track recruits like no coach at Notre Dame before him has ever been able to do.

The Irish head coach says it’s all about maximizing your time and effort and these changes could play a key role in his success later down the road.

Maybe the best news of all from the first weekend of practice was the relative health of quarterback Dayne Crist who was able to participate in all of the drills and show off his mobility. Although he may not be 100 percent at this time, it is clear he will be more than ready when the season starts.

Overall, it was an exciting and intriguing weekend for the Fighting Irish as they embark on yet another spring practice and the first under Brian Kelly.

The players are in excellent shape, the roster is nearly injury free and it is clear the team is ready to learn Kelly’s system and has done extremely well so far in this area.

Although it is still much too early to be talking about “awaking the echoes”, I think the program and its fans are quietly surprised and ecstatic about the changes taking place at Notre Dame.

Related posts

• No related posts.

As I was finishing the 2005 best-selling book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking  by Malcom Gladwell, I was struck by how some of his research and stories made sense of what happened to Notre Dame football over the past five years.

In a nut shell, the book looks into various ways our unconscious mind plays a role in our decision making in everything from spotting fake ancient sculptures, taste-testing soft drinks, creating facial expressions, choosing dating partners and catching criminals.

For a nice concise summary of the book, click here.

Gladwell asserts that we form (in the matter of seconds or sometimes milliseconds) intuitive responses unconsciously, or what he terms “the blink” or “thin-slicing”, and that often times this form of thought is powerfully correct.

What does this have to do with Notre Dame football? Well, the book itself dives into many different areas of our unconscious mind, both positive and negative, but there were three key arguments that kept setting off alarm bells for a major reason why Charlie Weis failed in South Bend.

Quite simply, Weis and the teams he led onto the field thought too much. They overcomplicated everything from day one, be it through sophisticated game plans, the continuing hiring and firing of coaching and the switching of personnel.

His players never used “the blink” very often, by making use of the powerful ability to make snap decisions in the heat of the moment, because Weis had his players bogged down with too much information. Instead of picking a simple formula for success, Weis led government-like scouting reports that laid too much chance for success on complicated offensive schemes and blitz packages.

A great example in the book came from a story about a man who came up with a simplified medical chart to help the over-crowded Cook Hospital in Chicago treat its chest pain visitors.

The problem beforehand, was that doctors were using too much information, taking too many tests (which often contradicted each other) and many times ended up giving poor diagnoses.

But with the simplified chart, the doctors were ordered to follow its three-step procedure and base the rest of their decision on their gut-feeling as medical professionals.

The result? The hospital diagnosed patients properly over 90 percent of the time with the simplified process, compared to roughly 50 percent before.

If diagnosing heart attacks were like trying to win football games, Charlie Weis would be the doctor too caught up in a mountain of data and test results to bring about victory.

The second example is the story of Paul Van Riper, a heavily decorated retired Marine officer who was brought in by the Pentagon to be part of a 21st Century war game.

Van Riper’s assignment was to be the leader of a rogue nation in the Middle East that would be battling U.S. forces in a multi-million dollar simulated war inside the halls of a cavernous northern Virginia government complex.

The disparity between the two forces before the war could not have been any greater. The Americans (Team Blue) had an overwhelming amount of power in troops, ships, artillery and planes to go with nearly unlimited technology and surveillance. It was expected that Team Blue would win the conflict swiftly and with ease.

However, Van Riper’s Team Red ended up defeating the Blue side almost as quickly as the Blue’s thought they would win the war.

The main reason was that Van Riper was decisive and gave his commanders a lot of power to react to situations in the moment to gain advantages wherever possible. On the other side, Team Blue held long meetings and briefings, poured over enormous amounts of data, acted slowly and found themselves dead in the water in a matter of days of simulated time.

The final example from the book details the outcome of the Battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War.

On the Union side there was General Joseph Hooker and over 130,000 troops against the Confederacy’s Robert E. Lee and roughly 60,000 men. Before the battle, the Union held nearly every conceivable advantage including an impressive maneuver to encircle Lee’s army and pin them against the Rappahannock River.

However, the battle was not won by the Union and Lee dealt a serious blow to the Union’s chances of winning the war in one of the greatest victories and upsets in military history.

Why? It was because even with more troops, artillery, spies and information, Hooker became indecisive and was unable to coordinate his army during the heat of the moment. In contrast, Robert E. Lee was boldly decisive and took the initiative with less information and less power to use.

I can’t help but think that Charlie Weis was to Notre Dame what Joseph Hooker was to the Union Army.

In both the war game and Chancellorsville, Team Blue and General Hooker were overly satisfied with their advantages and superiority. Just like Weis, they believed a major “schematic advantage” would win the day.

Often times Weis would lead the Irish on to the field against a weaker opponent only to find himself licking his wounds after a Notre Dame loss. Against teams like Syracuse, UConn and Navy, Weis’ teams had a monopoly of talent, yet they did not win. A schematic advantage was not enough.

The Irish teams from 2005-09 suffered from major “analysis paralysis” that hindered the team’s ability to perform at the highest level. Instead of picking one offense, Weis made his teams learn a multitude of differing packages, often switching game plans in the middle of a contest.

Meanwhile, while opponents were busy making adjustments in real time, Weis continually sought out too much information, consulting his atlas sized play sheet for a different formation to send to the huddle. In effect, Weis was merely guessing his way through games as coach of Notre Dame.

It’s not so much that Weis used such a thick playbook and tried to use his “schematic advantage” to beat teams, but that his entire system of operation was bogged down in paralysis because this “schematic advantage” permeated through every player.

Just think about Harrison Smith looking lost at the line of scrimmage and leaving a receiver wide open for a big play. Does that look like someone who was thinking without thinking? Or did it look like someone too confused by the plethora of coverages to know what he was doing?

If Weis had run a power running game similar to Alabama, concentrated on performing that system to perfection, and then used some of his offensive genius to make big plays, perhaps things would have worked out.

Instead, Notre Dame ran the ball 50 times one game, switched to a pro-style offense the next game, switched to shotgun Texas Tech ball the next, switched to West Coast style the next and everything in between. And the biggest problem was that these moves were made during games and sometimes from series to series.

And most of all, this attention to schematic advantage lessened the influence of crucial qualities which college football players need such as motivation, development and conditioning.

In short, Weis was not a very good leader. In the above examples of the Chicago heart chart, Pentagon war game and the battle of Chancellorsville, each problem was solved by someone with incredible intelligence. While it certainly takes a lot of studying and experience to be able to find solutions to the most difficult of problems, knowledge alone is not enough.

No one can deny that Charlie Weis was a smart man, but he never figured out that you can’t treat players like professionals and that scouting and clever formations alone wouldn’t win football games.

Almost immediately, Notre Dame fans have been struck with how different of an approach Brian Kelly is taking in South Bend.

Because of Kelly’s intelligence and experience, he knows what it takes to succeed. We’ve already heard him speak about how important it is to get players to develop and push themselves, to buy into the system, to learn it through and through and to be able to perform at the highest of levels without even thinking about it. It’s something Kelly calls, “unconscious competence.”

As Kelly said, “You can move them to a level that they can’t get to by themselves. That’s player development. That’s at the core of what I mean, to get people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do on their own. ”

In other words, Kelly wants Notre Dame football players to have “the blink” when it comes time to step on the field. He wants them to have confidence in their abilities as players and build a team that can think without thinking. That’s how you take a bunch of two and three star recruits to an undefeated season in the Big East.

Player development, strength and conditioning and fundamentals are three major areas that Kelly has stressed throughout his entire career and it is obvious that his players have been able think without thinking because of their preparation under this system.

When the entire coaching philosophy trickles down the program from a schematic advantage viewpoint, players cannot be developed very well. Without player development there is no harnessing of the potential of the unconscious mind and the ability to think without thinking is slowly stifled.

And the ironic part of is, the team that stresses schematic advantage usually ends up being out-schemed on the field because its players are not adequately prepared for a team that has confidence to think without thinking.

Do not think I believe that the solution to all of Notre Dame’s problems comes from “the blink” factor. There are too many aspects to coaching and winning football games to break it down to something that simple.

However, it is an interesting topic that showcases how successful people, organizations, company’s and teams can harness the ability to act decisively with the proper training in order to gain an edge on the competition.

In a lot of ways, Charlie Weis’ coaching staff was a lot like the U.S. Government during the Pentagon war games. Weis hired some of the best coordinators and recruiters in the country, just like the government brings together the best talent from different federal agencies.

The problem is, without an effective leader laying down a plan for everyone to follow, the odds of success are severely diminished.

Weis hired two defensive coordinators, each of whom had different coaching philosophies. Corwin Brown thought his way would work best, but John Tenuta believed his would work even better.

This is no different than the CIA or FBI trying to work together when both agencies are working in opposite directions.

The result is major dysfunction and a total lack of comprehension during the most critical times of battle during war and on the football field.

As Gladwell points out in the end of the book, “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding.”

Both Weis and Kelly have the knowledge. But so far, Weis has proven he did not understand college football.

So far, Brian Kelly has shown through his coaching hires, speeches and football past, that he is the type of coach who knows how to lead and set a foundation for success.

Related posts

• Utah at Notre Dame Football Tickets | November 13, 2010 (0)
• Tulsa at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 30, 2010 (0)
• Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010 (0)

As we are all aware, former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis will now be the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. After a disappointing end to his tenure at Notre Dame, Weis is now back to doing what he does best. That is an NFL offensive coordinator.

I don’t know how other Notre Dame fans will root. I am sure some will want him to fail and others won’t really care one way or the other. Me personally, I will root for him to do well and I hope he gets a chance to eventually be a head coach again at the NFL level.

I could never hate on Weis the way I do Willingham. The reason is really quite simple. Willingham really didn’t aggressively recruit and he drove the program to the brink of irrelevance.

I have no doubt that Weis gave all he had to Notre Dame. From the brink of irrelevance, Weis immediately took this team to the BCS two years in a row. Because of Weis, top recruits once again are going to Notre Dame.

There is no doubt that Weis did a really good job with the offensive players. Notre Dame had two really good quarterbacks in Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen. Weis offenses also had guys like Golden Tate, Jeff Samardijiza, Michael Floyd, Darius Walker, Armando Allen, Kyle Rudolph, Anthony Fasano, and the list goes on.

Under Weis, Notre Dame produced some of the most exciting offenses I have ever seen.

Unfortunately though, Weis apparently didn’t recruit as well on the defensive side of the ball. Nor did he hire the right guy to be his defensive coordinator. That is what ultimately did him in. He did recruit Manti Te’o, but he was a day late and a dollar short on that one. I guess he always was an offensive coordinator at heart.

At the end of the day though I know Weis gave it all he could. He is a Notre Dame alum. I always root for Notre Dame players to succeed at the next level no matter where they are. I feel the same way about Weis.

The ironic thing is that he will now be working with a former USC quarterback in Matt Cassel. Don’t be surprised if Golden Tate ended up there as well. Then you would have USC throwing to Notre Dame. How weird would that be?

Related posts

• Tulsa at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 30, 2010 (0)
• Notre Dame at USC Football Tickets | November 27, 2010 (0)
• Notre Dame vs. Navy Football Tickets at New Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ | October 23, 2010 (0)

With each passing week, rumors and speculations grow on who will take over as the newest head football coach for the most watched, scrutinized, hated, and loved team in the country.

Although many believed even before Notre Dame’s Saturday afternoon overtime loss to Connecticut that Charlie Weis was as good as gone, this one leaves very few, if any,  supporters of him in South Bend.

Entering the stadium, arm in arm with his captains and his football team behind him, Weis supplied a watery-eyed moment as he took the field for maybe his last time in South Bend.

Does he already know what lies ahead in the next week or so?

Some say yes.

Rumors were making their way through the Notre Dame community before the game that Weis had told his team he had planned to resign after the Stanford game. Even if that appears to now be false, the entrance itself showed a coach that seemed like he had nothing left in him.

After the game, Weis was seen again sporting the waterworks during the Irish alma mater and then snubbing sideline reporter Alex Flanagan for only one question before making his way into the depths of the tunnel.

The real question now is when, not if, Weis will be fired or if he will resign.

In either case, the call shouldn’t have to be made at the end of the season. Anyone that knows what a football is can sense that Weis’ time in South Bend has run out.

With that said, Jack Swarbrick should inform Weis that he will be letting him go (if he hasn’t already), let his team know, and let them play one last game for their sorrowed coach.

This need not be a messy break-up.

Pat Haden said during the game that Swarbrick has not and will not contact any other programs about their coaches until the end of the season. Choosing to stay quiet on prime-targets who are about to sign extensions through the year 2075?

Not the smartest move, Jack.

Getting the news out about Weis’ future and trying to lure the next big name to South Bend doesn’t need to wait another week. Not only is the Irish fan base on edge, but the current recruits must really be scratching their heads on where Notre Dame is headed.

Patience is a virtue in some cases. In this situation, decision-making is the virtue that needs to be attained.

Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, Brian Kelly, and all of the other 35 names mentioned with the Notre Dame job are all in their primes and have phones ringing off the hook. Most of these targets haven’t denied interest in Notre Dame, but simply have replied by saying “this isn’t a relevant conversation if there isn’t a vacancy.”

Make that vacancy, Jack.

South Bend needs it. The fan base needs it. The future needs it.

And most importantly, Charlie needs it.

Related posts

• The Blink Theory: Why Charlie Weis Failed at Notre Dame & Why Brian Kelly Will Succeed (0)
• Video: Brian Kelly Introduced At Notre Dame – UCLA Basketball Game (0)
• Brian Kelly’s First Class Lands at #14 (0)

Charlie Weis addressed the media yesterday, cancelling his traditional Sunday press conference after a ship-sinking loss against Pittsburgh.

"This is my dream job!"

The biggest piece of information coming from his mouth was he believes a decision hasn’t been made on his future, even though most of Notre Dame nation has already made that decision for the program.

“Oh no, I don’t think that any decision’s been made because I probably would know, and I don’t know,” Weis said Tuesday.

Charlie is half-correct on that response to a difficult question. A decision hasn’t been made, but the search has already gotten underway.

The next two weeks are going to be two of struggles and question marks for Irish fans. Many will be anxious to get the season over with in order to unwrap their Christmas gift early and find out the next big name to sit on the throne of the Notre Dame football office.

Well, who are the heir apparents?

There are plenty of names being thrown around in the replacement theory of Weis: Paul Johnson (option, anyone?), Jon Gruden (MNF bound), Pat Fitzgerald (squashed), and Bob Stoops (definite possibility) to name a few.

However, the following two names stick out the most in this process, and by taking a look at their résumés and bios, here is why:

Brian Kelly, Cincinnati Head Coach

-Consistent, experienced head coach (will have 231 games under his belt at the end of the ’09 season) who defines the word “improvement” in the dictionary of college football coaching.

-As close to Urban Meyer at Utah as you will find; 48 years old and in his prime.

-Irishman from the north shore of Boston.

-118-35-2 record at D-II school Grand Valley State, which includes two national championships.

-Turned Central Michigan into a conference winner in his third year in the program. Improvement case No. 1.

-In the middle of the four greatest years of Cincinnati football. His team sits at No. 5 in the BCS rankings and is undefeated at 10-0.

-Can coach, but can also coach academic excellence. His current team holds the highest team GPA in the Big East and is one of seven teams to post a 90 percent graduation rate in 2008.

-Proven recruiter, especially in the backyard of Notre Dame and in the Northeast.

Urban Meyer, Florida Head Coach

-45 years young and a Catholic who was named after a pope.

-Former assistant coach under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame who has proclaimed the Irish head coaching gig as his “dream job.”

-Notre Dame is one of three schools that his wife Shelley apparently cannot veto him from taking the job at. I believe if Shelley says yes, he ends up an Irishman.

-Two national championships and considered the top coach in college football today.

-A small buyout ($500,000) makes the move even more appealing and friendly to the economy of South Bend.

-Tim Tebow graduates this season, leaving the Gators heading into the post-Savior era. If Meyer doesn’t leave this year, there is a good chance he will never end up leaving.

-Overall coaching record sits at 93-17, including a 5-1 bowl record.

-One of the best, if not the best recruiter in the nation (as many Irish fans know). Think Omar Hunter and Justin Trattou.

Related posts

• Utah at Notre Dame Football Tickets | November 13, 2010 (0)
• Tulsa at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 30, 2010 (0)
• Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010 (0)

Charlie Weis was one pain-staking loss to an inferior team away from losing the support of the Notre Dame community and fan base.

That very loss came on Saturday when the Irish played one of their worse collections of four quarters of football during the Weis era, losing to a more disciplined, sound team in the Navy Midshipmen.

Is the "internship" over? More than likely.

Fresh off a blowout win in San Antonio against Washington State and with BCS talks starting to brew, Notre Dame overlooked a Navy team that had proven all year long that it could compete against BCS teams across the nation. Instead of competing in South Bend, they decided it was time to take a win from one of those teams.

Although this loss digs up many new questions, the most appealing one at the time is who will replace Charlie Weis?

My views and opinions are full of extreme optimism. In previous weeks, I also stated I was hanging in regards to supporting Weis, but that could change with just one bad loss.

With three games still left to be played, including a trip to Pittsburgh, a matchup with a good Connecticut team, and a west coast road trip to face a team fresh off an upset victory of Oregon, the Irish will be happy with an 8-4 finish this season, likely earning them a Gator Bowl invitation.

Weis and his team lost to the one team that could change their fate so negatively. With that, almost all of the Weis supporters that were still on his bandwagon have jumped off and started running towards Cincinnati, Gainesville, or elsewhere to find a replacement.

Weis is one of the best recruiters ever to come to Notre Dame. He has brought top talent into South Bend, a tough task with the rigorous academic requirements, consistently for five years.

However, what good is elite talent if all of it cannot be developed?

Saturday, four and five-star players were playing against unranked to two-star players. On paper, Notre Dame would have won this game without any concern as most experts had predictions of the Irish winning by 17 or more.

Instead, Weis’ team came out flat and was dominated by a less talented, yet extremely well coached team that consistently executed.

Weis is one of the best offensive coordinators not only in college football, but in any league.

However, there are two sides of the ball. Defense wins football games, which has not been evidenced by Weis and his staff thus far.

Notre Dame fans will now be calling for a coach with college experience that has a history of preparing his teams, making them fundamentally sound, and one that can recruit yet develop that same talent.

The rumors of Brian Kelly to Notre Dame will now begin to heat up, and expect plenty of more fans to begin to support the push for a Kelly-like hire.

Kelly has his Bearcats ranked No. 4 in the country and a team dominating the Big East without any trouble. Not only can he recruit, but he can develop. Not to mention, in all of his previous three coaching gigs, his teams have improved dramatically.

Brian Kelly should be a top priority for the Irish.

Other rumors calling for the head of Weis will come along with the requests of the hire of a famous Notre Dame coaching alum, Urban Meyer.

Everyone knows whats on Meyer’s resume. With experience coaching on the Notre Dame staff already, it only makes sense for his name to be brought up. This is the same guy that called Notre Dame his eventual “dream job”.

Other names that could arise include Skip Holtz, Gary Patterson, Nick Saban, and Chris Peterson. Hell, go out and interview Paul Johnson or Ken Niumatalolo.

These are college football coaches.

Weis is a great man and a like able person, especially coming from a Morris County, Jersey guy like myself. He has a great personality, is loved in South Bend, and has a great family who is actively involved in the school community. Not only that, but he is the founder of the Hannah and Friends charity organization dedicated to his young daughter’s disease.

However, Weis’ luck may have ran out on Saturday.

Friendly advice from one of the previously biggest Charlie Weis supporters in the fan base: pack your office, let Charlie Jr. spend his fours years as a Notre Dame student, run your foundation, go on to have a spectacular career in the NFL as an offensive genius, and leave the door open for the next person in line for a coaching internship in South Bend.

Related posts

• Utah at Notre Dame Football Tickets | November 13, 2010 (0)
• Tulsa at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 30, 2010 (0)
• Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010 (0)

Notre Dame’s best receiver has been sitting on the sidelines the past five weeks in the form of a sophomore sensation derived from the depths of Minnesota.

After going up for a jump ball in the right corner of the endzone against Michigan State, what also seemed to be his sixth touchdown of the year, Floyd hit the ground, grabbed his shoulder, and shook his head, putting a pit in every Irish fan’s stomach.

Notre Dame gets it's best wide receiver back in Floyd.

He was diagnosed with a broken collarbone and was orginally expected to miss the remainder of the season.

But doctors seemed to forget that this wasn’t any ordinary human being they were diagnosing-this was Michael Floyd, the most talented wide receiver in college football.

Before his devastating injury, he miraculously hauled in five touchdowns, 358 receiving yards to go along with a 27.5 yard per catch average, all coming on only 13 receptions.

Those stats were totaled in a time period of only nine quarters of playing time.

Patrolling the sidelines with an anxious look permanently cemented on his face as he watched Golden Tate make SportsCenter-worthy highlights every Saturday, Floyd has dressed the past three weeks in order to feel like a player again.

Now, with recent good news coming from Monday’s MRI on his previously broken collarbone, Floyd is expected to play against Navy this weekend in South Bend.

What does that mean for the Irish?

Charlie Weis’ offense goes from great to elite.

Many believe that with the sophomore receiver, Notre Dame would have beaten USC due to Floyd being Notre Dame’s top red zone threat, where he is almost unstoppable.

If for not going down during the last quarter at Michigan (he received 15 stitches in his leg after the game), the Irish would have had a great shot at also beating the Wolverines.

Without playing the “what if?” game, let’s just say that Floyd is a difference-maker. And a big one at that.

Last season, Floyd went down with a knee injury against Navy and missed the rest of the season. The Irish offense, especially Golden Tate, struggled to live up to it’s name.

“I didn’t really realize it until the ‘SC game, how much we really needed him,” Tate said. “It was almost like I could do nothing. Whatever I did, they were there. It was all out of my hands.” said Tate.

However, this year Tate added the title of “wide receiver” to his resume next to “all-around athlete”. Without Floyd, he has averaged an incredible 124.6 receiving yards per game and has hauled in six touchdowns.

Throw in his rushing stats and miracles with the ball in his hands, Tate has put his name on some Heisman ballots.

Now that the best receiver on the team returns healthy, the Irish again have the best trio of receivers in the country in Floyd, Tate, and sensational-sophomore, Kyle Rudolph, who has seen decreased production after the loss of No. 3.

With the sophomore from Minnesota patrolling the No. 1 receiver slot, opponent secondaries are in trouble. Who do you double team?

Does it matter?

If opponent’s choose to double Floyd, that will leave Tate with single coverage, something he has dominated this season, and take away attention in the middle where Rudolph is most efficient.

Double Tate, and opponent’s may have an even bigger problem if Floyd proves to be as healthy as he is thought to be.

Tate has proven he can beat the double coverage, and single coverage on Floyd is a death wish for any opposing defensive back. Not to mention, Rudolph will have made a living in the middle of the field.

Now that Notre Dame has produced a fairly decent rushing attack with a healthy Armando Allen, Robert Hughes, and even Theo Riddick, opponent’s now have their hand’s full during preparation for one of the best offenses in the country.

Pick your poison Ken Niumatalolo, Dave Wannstedt, Randy Edsall, and Jim Harbaugh.

Related posts

• Utah at Notre Dame Football Tickets | November 13, 2010 (0)
• Tulsa at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 30, 2010 (0)
• Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010 (0)

After plenty of last minute wins, the Irish finally got what Charlie Weis has wanted since their season-opener against Nevada—a blowout win.

The Irish traveled south to San Antonio in order to beat the Cougars 40-14. Although a bit sloppy and constantly called a “workman-like” effort by Pat Haden, Notre Dame came away with yet another win. Nonetheless, the Irish ran their unbeaten streak on Halloween to 15 straight.

Likes

Golden Tate is the most electryifying player in college football.

Golden Tate

Golden Tate is bigger in Texas.

The box score on Sunday doesn’t speak for how spectacular Tate was in the Alamodome last night. Notre Dame fans were complaining about paying admission to see a poor game in a neutral site stadium, but they got their moneys worth thanks to the ‘ooh’s and ah’s’ of Tate.

The highlight of the night came when Clausen heaved a 50-yard pass to the right corner of the endzone, where Tate and three Cougar defensive backs waited for the ball. Standing at only 5’11″, Tate leaped over all three defenders and came away with the ball for six points.

Not only is he the most overlooked player in college football, but he is also the most electrifying.

Front Seven

For a second straight week, the Irish front four find themselves in the “Likes” category. That could only mean one thing.

Improvement.

Darius Fleming, Steve Filer, Ian Williams and Ethan Johnson led the attack as the Irish pass-rushers found themselves consistently putting pressure on the hapless Cougar freshman quarterback, Jeff Tuel.

Thanks to the front four’s dominace, everyone else’s job was made easier. The linebackers played extremely well. Every play Manti Te’o is on the field, he makes everyone else around him a better player.

“Backup” Running Backs

Robert Hughes has earned plenty of doubters during his three years in the program. However, there is no denying that when the time comes for him to step up, Hughes delivers.

He has earned the right to be the offensive version of Kyle McCarthy, Mr. Dependable. With Armando Allen sitting out in order to be fully healthy for next week, Hughes carried the ball 24 times for 131 yards and a score. Fighting for each and every yard, he was able to help control the time of possession for the Irish (40:54) and served as a check-down option for Clausen every time he didn’t have an open receive.

And then there is yet another freshman, No. 32.

Coming out of Manville, New Jersey, Theo Riddick looks like the successor to Armando Allen and Robert Hughes. In fact, he may even be given some more carries after giving an opportunity on Saturday. Riddick ran the ball 9 times for 51 yards using a combination of power, speed and finesse.

Dislikes

Penalties

The penalties are what turned this game from a great game for the Irish into a good win. With all of the momentum in the world and total control of the game, the offensive line still had reason to commit personal fouls.

Eric Olsen was hit with two personal foul calls and got an earfull from Weis. Being an offensive captain and one of the leaders on the team, the Irish cannot afford these penalties from their veterans against the likes of Pittsburgh and Stanford.

Hopefully this is the last we will see of these mental mishaps.

Punting

While Ben Turk had a beautiful punt of 52 yards pinning the Cougars on their own two-yard line, he also had kicks of 11 and 19 yards.

Not only did the freshman punter still raise question marks for the second straight week, but long-snapper Jordan Cowart had a bad snap which forced Turk to rush a kick, going off the side of his foot.

Consistency is the key in the kicking game and Turk hasn’t quite found that yet. However, that is not to say he won’t because he has the leg and he has the talent. The freshman just needs to put the pieces to the puzzle together.

News, Notes, and Rants

-The Irish are ranked No. 19 in the AP poll, 20th in the Harris poll and No. 21 in the USA Today poll. Look for the Irish to be somewhere between 17-20 in the BCS rankings this week.

-Dayne Crist may have a serious injury. If so, it hurts more than anyone thinks. If the rumor of being an ACL injury is true, Crist is looking at a 6-12 month recovery period.

-Weis said in his post game presser that Trevor Robinson’s injury was probably just a rolled or sprained ankle. Losing Robinson for any amount of time would be a huge loss the rest of the way.

-Before going to commercial at halftime, Clausen went up to Tate after the hail mary touchdown. In his ear, Clausen mouthed “Money, money, money.”

-Robert Hughes needs 6 or 7 touches before he gets going in what seems to be every game. New pregame routine, anyone?

-Jonas Gray may be the odd man out in the future of the running back rotation. He seems very tentative and still cannot hold onto the football.

-Nick Tausch hit his 14th straight field goal, a Notre Dame record. The freshman’s value to the kicking game is hard to put into words.

-Navy rolls into the Bend next weekend with their triple-option attack offense. The Midshipmen lost to Temple this weekend, but also took Ohio State down to the wire.

Related posts

• Tulsa at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 30, 2010 (0)
• Notre Dame at USC Football Tickets | November 27, 2010 (0)
• Notre Dame vs. Navy Football Tickets at New Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ | October 23, 2010 (0)

Similar to this year’s version of the Fighting Irish, Charlie Weis found his ’08 team sitting at 5-2 heading into November, his fourth season as the head coach of the nation’s most hated, yet loved, college football program.

After an up-and-down start to their ’08 campaign, the Irish began their disappointing second half of the season after the longest game in school history, a deflating overtime loss to Dave Wannstedt’s Pittsburgh Panthers.

Charlie Weis and his team now face a decision heading into the month of November, after a Halloween “fright fest” match-up with an unfortunate foe in the Washington State Cougars.

Do they build on their momemtum and run the table? Or do they fail to live up to expectations and take another late-season plunge?

Contrary to popular belief, the Irish have plenty to play for the rest of the way.

Reaching a BCS bowl isn’t out of the question, even with the Irish sitting at No. 23 in the latest BCS rankings. With a bit of a break in the schedule for the Irish, vs. Washington State and vs. Navy, Notre Dame seems to be ready to make its way up the polls.

If the Irish can take care of their opponents the next two weeks, it isn’t unfathomable to find them somewhere in the range of Nos. 18-20 heading into a very important November 14 matchup with Pittsburgh. Some people have overlooked the Panthers, and if they can also take care of business the next two weeks against South Florida and Syracuse, this game will push for the game of the week.

Notre Dame cannot reach a BCS game without running the table, including a win against a top 15-ranked Panther team. There are still plenty of “if’s” out there (including a six-game winning streak), but Weis knows his team will need more of the luck of the Irish (is that even possible?), now more than ever.

One question looms for this team: Can it run the table?

My response: Why not?

If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t bet on it due to the number of last-minute wins and the Irish defense, or lack thereof. However, with Michael Floyd expected to return at latest for the game against Pittsburgh, and an improving defensive front seven, Notre Dame will be at full strength heading into its deciding stretch of the season: at Pittsburgh, vs. Connecticut, and at Stanford.

Again, a big if, but if Weis and his team can take care of their competition, they will have made a strong case for a BCS bowl game bid.

Another thing going for them: The BCS computers seem to have a small crush on this year’s team compared to rest of college football. The computers have Notre Dame’s schedule ranked as the 19th hardest in the country.

The Irish need to finish in the top 14 in the BCS rankings in order to be eligible to be invited to a BCS bowl this year. If they get as high as No. 8 somehow, they will be a lock for a bid.

Although many will say the biggest test of the remaining schedule is against Pitt, a case can also be made for the season finale in California against Stanford. If Notre Dame enters the game with a 9-2 record, expect the Cardinal to do anything possible in order to serve as this year’s BCS late-season spoiler.

It will be interesting to see how the pass defense turns out in the home stretch of the ’09 campaign. The Irish will go as far as their defense will bring them. Even if they can reach the level of average, Notre Dame will be in a BCS bowl.

If they continue to struggle and let the likes of Bill Stull and Andrew Luck to pick them apart, the Irish are Gator Bowl-bound.

Besides a very rewarding BCS payout and invite, Notre Dame has plenty else to play for: a Heisman trophy, five-star recruits, and job stability for Charlie Weiss can all be gained with a six-game winning streak to end the ’09 season.

Which path will this year’s team choose: success or disappointment?

Related posts

• Tulsa at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 30, 2010 (0)
• Notre Dame vs. Navy Football Tickets at New Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ | October 23, 2010 (0)
• Notre Dame at Boston College Football Tickets | October 2, 2010 (0)