Notre Dame reportedly fires Weis as head coach http://bit.ly/8XhZ9B

In the meantime, Notre Dame players have begun arriving for a team meeting.

The Monday afternoon meeting will include a vote on whether the players want to play in a bowl game after their 6-6 season. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick has said he will consider the players’ wishes in deciding on a bowl trip.

From that same article.

Not a shocker. I see the bowl projections have ND facing my Chips in the GMAC bowl (Mobile, AL).

I saw Weis bragging about NFL OC offers earlier this morning. Wonder if that sent them over the edge. Otherwise you'd think they would have had him coach the bowl game first.

What kind of douchebag players wouldn't want to play in a bowl game, even if it's the Trojan Magnum's Bowl or something of that caliber?

They only play for fat guys.

Too soon?

Let me be the first to break the news

IZZO TO N.D.

Among the people considered possible candidates to replace Weis are Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, TCU coach Gary Patterson and Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh.


Stoops told ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit on Saturday that Notre Dame has not been in contact with him or his representatives. Stoops said he was surprised that his name was even brought up.


Weis, who has six years left on a 10-year contract signed midway through his first season, is 35-27 in five years as Irish head coach. His .565 winning percentage is worse than the .583 marks that got his two predecessors, Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie, fired.

LOL at the contract. did Dombrowski show them how to give out long contracts without seeing any performance first?

This should've been posted in the things that are obvious thread.

ESPN reporting Bowden has been given 2 options: Fisher as HC and Bowden will be ambassador, or resign.

Ambassador... LOL.

I hope he wears a robe to the games.

No shame in losing to TEBOW by 27 in your final game.

Good riddance. He will forever be a great offensive coordinator, but never a head coach. This teams defense made Tate Forcier look like a Heisman candidate.

Who do you like DBTM?

Or was the coach already hired. I haven't heard much news today.

What kind of douchebag players wouldn't want to play in a bowl game, even if it's the Trojan Magnum's Bowl or something of that caliber?

I understand the players turning this down. Besides, it'd cost Notre Dame more to go to the game than the payout. Notre Dame doesn't need shit bag bowl games. The players probably like Charlie and would want him to coach them.

Their motivation for this game would be less than zero, and it's nothing more than an opportunity to be embarrassed when the go up against a team with the world to play for. And after a long season--15 more practices? Who the hell wants to do that just to play some team with directions or fourteen words in its name?

[smilie=werd.gif]

Bowden "to announce retirement tomorrow". Shitcanned IMO.

why even let the players vote? all it does is make them look like quitters if they want to decline. its a crappy situation either way, the AD should man up and make the tough call.

i think theres a lesson in ND. the school hasnt had the right man aboard in over a decade, and probably put up with weiss several years too long. but after several fiascos-- hiring a liar and an unproven hot shot coach from standford (sound familiar?)-- they wanted to give chuckles every chance they could before blowing through another coach.

it seems common sensical to fire too early than too late, especially if it seems the writing is on the walls, as it somewhat does with RR. but really, one year can only make a big difference if the coach is bringing on sanctions. far worse than one lost year is bringing in the wrong guy again.

people think harbough is some sort of prodigy... lets see how he does without a heisman contending rb for a year. the way college coach's stock moves, by this time next year all the michigan fans who know right now he's the only man for the job might have a drastically different impression of him. or not. but whats another year?

"Let's see how he does without a heisman contending rb for a year"

Uh, diddy, Gerhardt was a freshman in 2007--Harbaugh's first year. Harbaugh recruited him. And gerhardt was a lowly three-star.

Ummm, yeah, let's see how Harbaugh does without him. Not that he has recruited any other good players.

Sometimes, you are a complete fucking idiot. Unlike DickRod, Harbaugh appears to know how to use the talent he brings in.

Coaches help make Heisman candidates BTW. talent means shit if the coaching doesn't exploit there strengths.

Let's see how Meyer does without a Heisman QB, or Carrol does without Heisman QB's...

That is bad logic. Look at Weis. He had a Heisman type QB and 2+ great WR's and did shit with that team.

harbough was 5-7 after year 2 at stanford, which followed a dazzling 4-8. this year, where he's the greatest coach of all time, he's 8-4. 3 more wins than rr.

i just dont see what the rush is to get this guy in. and based on his track record, he'll need more than the two years we gave RR to turn this around. would he get that, or is his ass fired too?

Harbaugh is an ass.

People love to kiss ass.

diddly, your points on Harbaugh are duly noted. But to quote Allen Iverson, "We talkin' bout stanfud. Main, dass stanfud. We all up in dis mug talkin' bout stanfud"

He didn't destroy Stanford and then put shit out on the field his first two years. They've been good like three times in the last century. Their academic requirements mean they have to recruit players who actually mean things like, "Um, yeah, academimums is impertinent to me" And he DO find ways to get his teams up for big games.

Lookie here: This is one of those "fit" things. Harbaugh would fit the same way Miles would have. If you don't see that, you need to be knocked upside your head. I'm not going to explain that concept.

Now not to say DickRod can't be a "fit" at UM. But what the hell does he need? Five more years to get "Hizz Guyzz"? How the fuck come we've hired the ONE coach in the world who is the onliest guy ever who needs players so goddamm specific for Hizz Systemzz? And why the fuck does Michigan have the ONE GODDAMM guy who is the onliest one in the world who knows what kind of player he needs?

That's BULLSHIT.

Who do you like DBTM?

Or was the coach already hired. I haven't heard much news today.

Personally, I like Urban Meyer, but only if I was playing with monopoly money. Give him 10 mil a year and see if he flinches.

Whoever it is, he must be a winner at the college level. No more of this NFL bullshit or ND alumni bullshit. Give me someone that can recruit offense AND defense and coach them up. Id rather have Bob Stoops than Brian Kelly, but Kelly looks like the most realistic scenario.

take w/ a grain of salt: Notre Dame msg boards (full of insiders!) are buzzing that Stoops and ND have "agreed in principal" ...

I go to thetwins81 for this shit.

My sources*are telling me Swarbrick's throwing out the feelers to Meyer, Kelly, and Kevin Sumlin.
* No actual sources

Kelly would be hilarious at ND, dude is such a loose cannon.

Rich Rod is my choice, and I'm sticking to it.

Brian Kelly will be next Notre Dame football coach (http://www.irishcentral.com/sport/Brian-Kelly-will-be-next-Notre-Dame-football-coach.html)

Kelly, a Massachusetts native and proud Irish American

BUT HE DIDN'T ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY

diddly, your points on Harbaugh are duly noted. But to quote Allen Iverson, "We talkin' bout stanfud. Main, dass stanfud. We all up in dis mug talkin' bout stanfud"

He didn't destroy Stanford and then put shit out on the field his first two years. They've been good like three times in the last century. Their academic requirements mean they have to recruit players who actually mean things like, "Um, yeah, academimums is impertinent to me" And he DO find ways to get his teams up for big games.

Lookie here: This is one of those "fit" things. Harbaugh would fit the same way Miles would have. If you don't see that, you need to be knocked upside your head. I'm not going to explain that concept.

Now not to say DickRod can't be a "fit" at UM. But what the hell does he need? Five more years to get "Hizz Guyzz"? How the fuck come we've hired the ONE coach in the world who is the onliest guy ever who needs players so goddamm specific for Hizz Systemzz? And why the fuck does Michigan have the ONE GODDAMM guy who is the onliest one in the world who knows what kind of player he needs?

That's BULLSHIT.

1) i wont disagree RR could have handled the transition better. but as we get deeper into his tenure, who cares? it'll be forgiven quickly if we win next year.

2) i like that harbough went after USC, and would love to see us go at OSU. but its 2 wins. if RR goes another crappy 5-7 next year, i'd want him fired. but he'd only have 4 less wins than harbough over 3 years.

3) doing it at stanford is maybe impressive, but its not like the pac 10 has been much the last 3 years (nor has the big ten last 2).

4) i disagree with the fit thing. i dont see it as an issue with RR and hate the point. if your arguing you need to be defensive minded... you need to be more so than he's been, but just recently NC games have been track meets. i dont think theres a golden formula. you just need to be good, have luck, and an ultra dedicated staff.

Most say you have to give coaches 2-3 years to get their players in. Harbaugh is in year 3. In year 2 he won every home game except USC (ranked #6 overall)

Meanwhile, RR has lost home games to crappy teams like Illinois and Toledo while not obtaining a winning record or a bowl game.

This is despite having a top 3 school in the conference. Stanford is a bottom 3 school in the conference for football recruiting power I would guess.

new coach, new excuses?

im not saying harbough isnt intriguing. he might be an upgrade. but why rush into a decision? are we really sure he's the dream candidate based on his 17-19 record at stanford?

one more year of RR is so unbearable? i just dont get it. in the world of college football coaching stock seems to fluctuate riduculously, i think its absurd to simply chase the hot name at the moment.

no one would hire harbough over the RR of 2 years ago.

ha ha ha ha, our boy TheTwins just posted a thread on gobluewolverine.com about BK to ND which is already over 24 hours old and he has been getting nothing but flack since the exact same thread had already been posted twice last night. He is pulling a nice Doc Tre over there.

1) i wont disagree RR could have handled the transition better. but as we get deeper into his tenure, who cares? it'll be forgiven quickly if we win next year.

2) i like that harbough went after USC, and would love to see us go at OSU. but its 2 wins. if RR goes another crappy 5-7 next year, i'd want him fired. but he'd only have 4 less wins than harbough over 3 years.

3) doing it at stanford is maybe impressive, but its not like the pac 10 has been much the last 3 years (nor has the big ten last 2).
4) i disagree with the fit thing. i dont see it as an issue with RR and hate the point. if your arguing you need to be defensive minded... you need to be more so than he's been, but just recently NC games have been track meets. i dont think theres a golden formula. you just need to be good, have luck, and an ultra dedicated staff.


Point 3: The Pac Ten was 5-0 in bowl games last year. 4-2 the year before. Umm, you may be one of those guys who doesn't watch their games because they come on late, but the conference is good. It's under rated because they play later and the member schools are located in places where you can go outside in the winter (for Michigan, that means 11 months a year) without freezing your dick off--and people are jealous of that.

Point 4: I said DickRod could fitzwell in at Michigan. If you don't see it as an issue with him, well then you haven't been paying attention lately and you must buy into the fact that Michigan football needed to be nuked and rebuilt up from nothing.
The NC games the last three years have been track meets for teams playing Ohio State. Last year's game between Oklahoma and Florida featured offenses averaging 50 and 40 PPG--and the final score was 24-14.

At some point I'd like you to stop living under perception. You really need to pull head out of ass and look around to see what's going on. You post as if you are some hermit who doesn't read newspapers, watch tv, and get your news from your equally suspicious neighbor Earl--who gets his news via his ham radio network and Star Trek Weekly.

Don't knock Star Trek Weekly.

Point 3: The Pac Ten was 5-0 in bowl games last year. 4-2 the year before. Umm, you may be one of those guys who doesn't watch their games because they come on late, but the conference is good. It's under rated because they play later and the member schools are located in places where you can go outside in the winter (for Michigan, that means 11 months a year) without freezing your dick off--and people are jealous of that.

Point 4: I said DickRod could fitzwell in at Michigan. If you don't see it as an issue with him, well then you haven't been paying attention lately and you must buy into the fact that Michigan football needed to be nuked and rebuilt up from nothing.
The NC games the last three years have been track meets for teams playing Ohio State. Last year's game between Oklahoma and Florida featured offenses averaging 50 and 40 PPG--and the final score was 24-14.

At some point I'd like you to stop living under perception. You really need to pull head out of ass and look around to see what's going on. You post as if you are some hermit who doesn't read newspapers, watch tv, and get your news from your equally suspicious neighbor Earl--who gets his news via his ham radio network and Star Trek Weekly.


even if i concede every point, even getting all my news second hand via star treck weekly, i dont think you've made much of a case that jimmmmmmmmah needs to be brought in this year.

its like, what are you afraid of? harbough sucking? rich rod succeeding? i'd rather find out harbough sucks sooner than year 3 of his tenure at michigan.

i know you hate apologists, but we lost to osu for 1 reason: tate forcier made like 4 freshman mistakes. in every other aspect we either were better by some or alot. richy outcoached sweatervest. we need more than moral victories, but its something.


-------

warren is almost definitly going pro it appears.

Why Did Mangino Suddenly “Resign” Yesterday? (http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/why-did-mangino-suddenly-resign-yesterday-27286)

http://simg.sportsbybrooks.com/8/3/83112172bd4d9a75490acc8b762fa2a9_corykipp.jpg

The joke here is too obvious.

Kelly officially makes his interest in ND job public.

Chicago Sun Times says that ND might be ready to announce as soon as tomorrow, it they say that Stoops is still in the mix.

But I bet it's Kelly.

@CoachBrianKelly: Just informed our team that Notre Dame has contacted me and I will listen to what they have to say.

NYT has reported that ND has spoken with Harbaugh

My sources say Izzo to ND.

^in the shadows.

Anyone curious about how you hire a coach?

Let's look at Nebraska:

A few years ago, they fired Frank Solich, who had gone 7-7, then canned half his staff, brought in a guy named Bo Pellini to coach the defense--and BOOM they go 10-3 with a bowl win.

This Solich guy had a record of something like 58-19 and finished in the Top Ten three of his six years. He did it with "Hizz Guyzz"--he was the top recruiter under Osborne, and Osborne's 1997 national championship team was chock full o' seniors.

So they fire his arse and at the 11th hour get Bill Callihan, who promptly shits all over Nebraska tradition and goes 5-7 his first year--but actually trashed about three other winnable games for HIS West Coast offense (sound familiar?).

Well, we all know how that ended, but a funny thing about Callihan: He got them to bowl games in Years 2 and 3--and even played Oklahoma for the big 12 champeenship in Year 3, doing pretty well as Nebraska lost 21-7.

Of course it fell apart in Year 4. The AD was shitcanned, Dr Tom resurrected from the purgatory of politics, and Nebraska hired Bo Pellini.

So, Pellini comes in and has NOTHING to work with. The quarterback he inherited was an off-the-scrapheap last second recruit who got an offer from Callihan because they went to the same high school or some shit.

And the defense? Uh, Pellini inherited a defense that gave up 65 points in the last game under Callihan--and that was the second most points they gave up in a game that season.

Well, yeah, Callihan left Pellini sme guy named Ndamukong Suh--but did not Rodriguez inherit Brandon Graham? But I digress.

So allz Pellini can do is get Nebraska to 9-4 with a Gator Bowl win in his first year.

So then all Pellini can do for an encore is get them to 9-4 in year two with a--gasp! quarterback who had NEVER taken a snap in college before. And they are within a controversial, did-you-not-think-they-would-find-it last second call of beating Texas and going to the BCS Bowls as the Big 12 champ.

Pellini is--are you sitting down? Winning with someone else's guyzz!!! And, oh yeah--he brought back several of the guys on Solich's staff (a couple who coached under Osborne) and the offensive coordinator under Callihan. You know, a bit of continuity there.

OUR Man DickRod inherited talent. Ryan Mallet, Justin Boren--driven off with about 25 other guys who either weren't Michigan Men or yeah, in some cases, just quit.

But I still bristle over Mallet and Boren. What could they have meant to DickRod other than maybe not putting together a team that kind of made DickRod look like Gerry Faust? But of course, those guys aren't Michigan Men and all Mallet did was lead Arkysaw to a bowl game after being elected as a Captain. And Boren? Only Ohio State's best offensive lineman (if you believe message boards, and boy do I ever, when they agree with me).

So DickRod also hires some guy as a DC who, well, what the fuck was he thinking? Except that guy put a pretty good product on the field that was hampered by the worst offense and special teams Michigan had ever seen. And the defense fell to shit AFTER Shafer was told to go watch old "Laverne and Shirley" reruns while the GENIUS DickRod and Tony Dews took over the defense for the Purdue, Minnesota and Ohio State games.

I guess if you are Brian on MgoBlog, you are happy with the results--expecially holding that juggernaut Golden Goopher team to six points a week after Iowa beat them 55-0.

So Our Man DickRod does the smart thing: He fires his Defensive Coordinator as a result of the disastah that was 2008.

You know, because it was Shafer's fault the offense generated an NCAA record 83 three-and-oots, plus 38 turnovers. It was Shafer's fault UM couldn't catch punts. It was Shafer's fault the team couldn't kick field goals. It was Shafer's fault the team blew halftime leads against Penn State and Illinois because the defense played the enitre game due to a completely inept offense. You get the point.

Anyone notice that Paul Johnson is winning at Georgia Tech with someone else's players and a completely new system? That the guy at Navy is winning with someone else's players? That Saban has resurrected Alabama? That Dantonio is going to his third bowl game in a row? That Bobby Petrino is going bowling with Arkysaw in Year 2? That Brian Kelly kicked some ass at Cincinnati? You get the point.

In hindsight, I do agree the hire looked good on Day One. many of us thought so, and I still believe, rightfully so. But, the last two years have been such utter wastes of time it seems almost counter productive to move forward with this slug.

Give him time? For what? To look even more confused? To continue to get outcoached by the likes of Danny Hope and Ron Zook? To continue to lose players? To continue to get UM highlights onto Youtube for mostly the wrong reasons? To be scheduled for other teams' homecoming games?

And boys, there are more question marks on this team than the day Rodriguez took over.

We lose our three best defensive players (if Warren goes pro). We lose our second or third-best player this season--the fucking PUNTER for chrissakes. We have nothing but untested players to replace them. We have no running backs in the fold who have made significant contributions, and the one who gave some hope will be recovering from ACL surgery this off season. Our best returning offensive lineman will be--recovering from ACL surgery this off season.

And yes, all of Michigan's tradition and winning culture have been unceremoniously crapped on. We were a last-second, shoulder falling off pass by Focier to Martavious Odoms from being WINLESS in the Big Ten--in a down year for an already bad conference.

Thank You, DickRod.

All I keep hearing are sometimes veiled, sometimes not, references to Harbaugh being "strange", "unusual" and "different" (nationally). Are those references to his religious convictions or is there something else there?

Kelly to ND being reported

Kelly to ND done deal. Even you Michigan and Spartan slappies out there can admit this was a great hire.

^I feel like I've heard this before.

I just don't get Notre Dame.......wish somebody would 'splain them to me

Chippewas coach Butch Jones will be named the next Cincinnati coach

LOL@Chris

I was hoping for that to happen. Now all that needs to happen is to have the coach from GVSU get the CMU job.

Uhg, I hate this shit. Poaching coaches sucks. You have all these big time schools that make shit hires and end up having to start over every 3-4 years. All they do is grab coaches and start the merry go round all over.

I don't understand why coaches can switch jobs whenever they want and the kids have to sit out a year to transfer. That's BS. make the coaches play out their contract.

Well most schools build in clauses to the coaches contracts that make the coaches have to "buy out" their contract. Now if their new employer wants to pay that out in addition to paying the new salary, that's completely up to them.

I do agree there is some unfairness here. The argument could be made that since coaches get paid and it's their profession, they should be able to do what they want. Again, I understand the aspects are different then most professions (contracts, recruiting, etc.)

With Urban stepping down, I'm thinkin the early money has to be on Izzo

Chuck Martin has left Grand Valley and is taking a position as the DB coach for Notre Dame. Clearly not a "glam" position persay, but if the D-Coordinator gets fired or takes a head coaching gig in the future you would assume Martin would be the next in line as a coordinator and it can't hurt having guys with head coaching experience on your staff as a positional coach.

Meyer only taking a leave of absence. Interesting.....

I was thinking it had something to do with recruiting ???

Well most schools build in clauses to the coaches contracts that make the coaches have to "buy out" their contract. Now if their new employer wants to pay that out in addition to paying the new salary, that's completely up to them.

I do agree there is some unfairness here. The argument could be made that since coaches get paid and it's their profession, they should be able to do what they want. Again, I understand the aspects are different then most professions (contracts, recruiting, etc.)
I don't think being paid makes a difference. I'm not under contract at my job. While they expect me to work here a long time (and I will), I'm not throwing anyone under the bus by leaving because I have no written promise to stay for a certain amount of time.

I feel they should honor their contract or be forced to buy themselves out without help from their new school (like when a European ball player comes over here). I don't have a problem with coaches leaving in their final year though (if the school hasn't made a commitment to extend them, I can't expect them to not look).

Sounds like one of the coordinators at GVSU got the head coaching gig.

Good article on Meyer (worth the somewhat lengthy read):

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=dw-meyerback122709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Leach fired:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls09/news/story?id=4781981

curious that he was due a bonus tomorrow.

Charlie Strong's getting shitcanned. My source is telling me they want Tom Herman, but don't be surprised if they reach out to MSU's Mark Dantonio.

Izzo?

Izzo?

Also a possibility according to my source

A thread seven years in the making…

Being told LSU and Tom Herman could be making things official soon.