Gee, what a surprise, I say with tongue firmly in cheek. A Notre Dame athletic director gets it wrong when it comes to addressing the football coach issue.
Why am I not shocked? Because that's been the pattern for 16 of the last 27 years. It's become the norm. Domer AD's have made a habit out of misfiring when it comes to rendering decisions about the gridiron.
So why should we expect Jack Swarbrick to be any different. Whether it's making a bad hire or sticking with that hire beyond all reason, the Irish AD's have messed up repeatedly ever since the over-his-head Gerry Faust was tabbed.
The only AD who showed any insight since 1981 and got it right was Gene Corrigan, who breathed life into a moribund program by bringing aboard the charismatic and gifted Lou Holtz. Other than that, it's been nothing but strikeouts and whiffs.
Faust began the procession of failures and save for the decade-plus run of success by Holtz, it's basically been downhill ever since. Bob Davie flamed out, Tyrone Willingham struggled mightily and now Charlie Weis is taking gas.
Four bad choices out of the last five hires is a disgraceful ratio. The higher-ups who did the selecting showed themselves to be possessors of colossal bad judgment. Because of their incredible shortsightedness, ND football has lost much of its' magic and appeal. And, as a result, too many times in recent history, the Irish have been in the tank.
And it looks like they'll stay there for another season thanks to Swarbrick. Presented with a chance to make a bold statement and reenergize the program, Swarbrick went soft and whimped out.
He took the easy path. He elected to stick with an increasingly incompetent Weis. And what will be the result of Swarbrick's gutless inaction. Most likely another disappointing season, where games are blown, turnovers abound and a once proud tradition will be further tarnished. The program will continue to hemorrhage and the inevitable change that should have been enacted now, will have been unduly delayed for no good reason.
Faced with what was probably the most important decision he'll ever make as Irish AD, Swarbrick blinked. He failed this major test miserably. The writing was on the wall but Swarbrick either couldn't see it or refused to look.
Shame on him for staying with such a losing hand. Swarbrick is making like Nero and fiddling while the Irish program burns. As far as this writer is concerned, he now becomes just as culpable as the very coach who has created this destructive inferno.
To this reporter, it's astounding that Weis remains the Irish coach. He should have been bounced no later than the Monday after ND suffered yet another humiliation at the hands of USC.
Given the truly atrocious job he did in '07 ( 3- 9 ), coupled with a monumental meltdown this season, Weis should be out on his ass. Unless Swarbrick finds 15 losses in consecutive seasons, a Domer first by the way, to be acceptable and a selling point in Weis' favor.
The reasons to have jettisoned Charlie are endless. I've got my laundry list handy and it reads like a copy of War and Peace. Let the knocks begin;
1.) Weis' reputation as a play-calling whiz is in taters after two shoddy years in which the offense has been absolutely putrid at times. The Irish are painfully predictable when they possess the ball.
2.) Weis seems incapable of developing a ground game. His recent offensive lines aren't assertive and are subject to frequent breakdowns.
3.) Weis can't inspire or motivate to any significant degree. He shows no fire whatsoever on the sideline and makes no visible attempts to shake up his players when they suffer from lethargy or come out flat.
4.) Charlie's teams constantly falter in the second-half. Under his watch, ND has lost the ability to close out games. They've turned blowing leads into an art form.
5.) Under Weis, ND plays with no rhythm or tempo. In virtually everything they do, the Irish look mechanical and pedestrian..
6.) The Irish are often devoid of energy or passion when playing for Weis.
7.) Tellingly, Weis never wins any big games. Moreover, he loses to teams he should beat with regularity, i.e., Boston College, Michigan State and Pitt.
8.) He continually embarrasses himself against USC, a cardinal sin if ever there was one.
9.) There are now serious questions about his capacity to get the most out of highly rated talent.
I've just gotten started and could continue with this litany indefinitely but you get the idea. Weis has so many holes, he's probably more perforated than a piece of Swiss cheese.
Weis has been given more than adequate time to establish his credentials. At a time when his program should be on firm footing and a consistent top-25 team, at the very least, the Irish are nothing but mediocre and beatable.
But all these faults and deficiencies apparently didn't resonate with the myopic Swarbrick. After meeting with Weis in San Jose, of all places, the Irish AD came away convinced that he and Charlie were on the same page as to how to right the ship. There was consensus as to what changes needed to be made although neither man would articulate on what those changes would be.
It's apparent that Weis must have told Swarbrick exactly what he wanted to hear. Who will ever know, but in a way, Weis may have talked his way out of getting axed.
The case for not giving Weis the boot was flimsy and dubious. The points most often cited were possible fallout with recruiting, conveying an image of instability and the cost of having to buyout Weis' contract.
I'm not saying those are completely incidental considerations but if they're the only reasons you're holding on to someone, it's obvious you've got the wrong guy.
As harsh as it may sound, Charlie Weis is simply not a very good head coach. He's mediocre to middling at best. He may have been a superior assistant under Bill Belechick but when handed the tiller, Weis discovered he's not sure how to steer. That's why the Irish have crashed onto the rocks and are on the verge of running aground.
Though he should have played executioner, Swarbrick instead showed leniency and removed the noose from Weis' neck. Swarbrick obviously sees something in his coach that few of us do.
But Weis' reprieve could prove to be a temporary one. Swarbrick won't be nearly as generous the next time around if Weis doesn't show immediate and dramatic results.
While no threshold has been publicly stated, it's generally understood that anything short of an eight-win season in '08 will spell Weis' doom. His margin for error has evaporated. The safety net has been removed.
Weis is great when it comes to putting up with his mouth. Now it's time to put up where it counts. On the field.
Jack Swarbrick must have been wearing rose-colored glasses when evaluating Weis or else he would have given Charlie a forceful shove out the door. The evidence for change was overwhelming. The debacle of the last two years demanded an overhaul.
Yet, Swarbrick opted not to drop the bomb on Weis. It's a decision he will come to rue. For a year from now, in the aftermath of another Irish implosion, the Irish AD will have to wipe an awful lot of egg from his face. And he'll be left to wonder why he allowed the Weis travesty to continue for as long as it did.
By not pulling the plug on Weis, Swarbrick insured that his suspect coach won't be the only thing circling the drain. For the foreseeable future, so will Irish football.
But then again, maybe we shouldn't be too hard on Swarbrick. After all, he's merely continuing a time honored tradition of ND athletic directors fumbling the football coaching issue.
For some unfathomable reason, they just can't seem to get it right. So that puts Swarbrick in some very good, ah, make that bad company.