As Notre Dame Flounders, Charlie Weis' Future May Be In Jeopardy

Chariie Weis had his usual 12:45 p.m. press conference, and it was more of the usual, especially for those looking for any indicators regarding his future as the head coach of Notre Dame. He’s not resigning, he has not heard anything about his future, but understands exactly where he stands in the eyes of those who sign his checks.

“If they decide to make a change, I’d have to say that I’d have a tough time arguing with that.”

Weis has been arrogant, he has made grave mistakes as a coach, and he has been no better on the field than his predecessors. (In some ways he’s been worse; his predecessors did not lose to Navy and Syracuse.) One area he has surpassed his forebears in, though, is honesty: his assessments of himself and his program have always been brutally frank, and that is something to commend even as he’s shown the door.

With today's loss, Notre Dame fell to 6-5, and next week will travel to Palo Alto to face a Stanford team that figures to be favored by a good margin. So, after unspectacular results the past few seasons and with his program staring down the barrel of yet another .500 record... Have we seen the last of Charlie Weis?

Pete Thamel of the New York Times investigates:

...A program steeped in lore is at a crossroads, its uncertain future again clashing with its mystical past.

Connecticut beat Notre Dame, 33-30, in double overtime Saturday, the latest setback for a program that has plunged into mediocrity.

This loss could be a defining one, the symbolic end of the Charlie Weis era after five seasons in South Bend. Weis has six years left on a contract that is probably going to cost the university more than $15 million to buy out. But a three-game losing streak, a second consecutive loss on senior day to a middling opponent and a trend of playing down to the competition have made Weis’s departure all but inevitable.

“Today’s not the day for me to reflect on things like that,” Weis said. He added that he would contemplate his future during his news media briefing Sunday afternoon. [...]

For Notre Dame, emotions and questions will be swirling until Jack Swarbrick, the university’s second-year athletic director, decides Weis’s fate. The decision could also affect the status of quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who has thrived this season and finished Saturday with 329 passing yards and 2 touchdowns.