Notre Dame Fires Head Coach Charlie Weis

Notre Dame's athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, held a lengthy press conference Monday evening, in which he addressed the timing of the firing (Weis knew it was coming), the criteria the Irish brass will be looking for in a replacement (winning games while staying well away from the lush fields of partial qualifiers would be swell), and the progress of the search itself, which is where we find this interesting tidbit:

Q. Have any potential candidates been approached in any way, shape or form?

JACK SWARBRICK: Absolutely not.

Q. So as of right now, no contact has been made in any way?

JACK SWARBRICK: None.

You know what this means, right? The writing's on the wall. Bob Stoops AND Urban Meyer will be hired as co-head coaches before the week is out. They're just playing it coy.  Real coy.

The AP, Joe Schad on ESPN, and the University itself all confirm that Weis is gone.

From the email sent out to ND students:

Nov. 30, 2009
For Immediate Release

Weis will not be retained as Notre Dame football coach

University of Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis will not be retained, University director of athletics Jack Swarbrick announced today (Nov. 30).

"We have great expectations for our football program, and we have not been able to meet those expectations," Swarbrick said. "As an alumnus, Charlie understands those goals and expectations better than most, and he’s as disappointed as anyone that we have not achieved the desired results."

Swarbrick recommended the dismissal Sunday night to Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

"We have established an evaluation process for all of our athletic programs that, in the end, results in a recommendation from Jack to me," Father Jenkins said. "I accepted Jack’s decision and look forward to working with him on selecting a new head football coach who is the very best choice possible for the University and especially for our student-athletes.

"I am most appreciative to Coach Weis for his service to Notre Dame and our community. He and his family have my prayers and best wishes."

In the interim Rob Ianello, assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator, will run the efforts to hold onto their recruiting class. He will not, however, coach the team in a bowl game. The players themselves voted down the idea, and that’s their loss, because no one—repeat, no one—puts on a show like the Meineke Car Care Bowl.