Legacy?
domer.mq
A few weeks ago, Charlie Weis was asked what he thought the ND Seniors’ legacy would be. He responded that he felt that the seniors’ legacy would be determined in the last few weeks of the season (including the bowl game). “You’re always rememebered by how it ended,” Weis said. So now the question remains, is this how the ND seniors are to be remembered? The class that couldn’t beat Southern Cal? The class that couldn’t win the really big games?
No. Notre Dame fans will always look back on this class fondly. This is the class that turned things around. This is the class that gave us hope. This is the class that fought back.
But there is a legacy being left here, and hopefully Charile Weis can leave it in the dust. That’s the legacy of Tyrone Willingham. Because Willingham was never willing to do what it takes to recruit top talent from across the country. It might have cut into his golfing time, and we all know how hard it can be to master the bump and run. Meanwhile, coaches from USC, Michigan, and Ohio State were poaching the very talent that Notre Dame should have been recruiting, assembling classes of talent that make Notre Dame look like a bunch of nice guys trying really hard to win one for the Gipper.
Notre Dame’s last 3 losses in the last 365 days have come to, arguably, the top 3 teams in the country. And each time Notre Dame has been outclassed. I find it really interesting to listen to people who don’t follow college football all that closely during these games. I keep hearing the same things, “They look so big compared to our guys.” And, “why don’t our guys run that fast?” are quite common. And those comments usually come right before I find myself huddled in a corner somewhere, mumbling something about Willingham and sitting in a recruit’s home, refusing to leave his house for 8 or more hours. And it’s sad because I’m right. This Notre Dame team can and will beat most of the collegiate teams out there, but they cannot and will not beat the elite teams until the roster is stocked to the brim with elite talent.
Southern Cal, Michigan, and Ohio State just have gobs of talent, while Notre Dame has 5 or 6 first day draft picks on offense, and then a patchwork of converted players playing different positions on defense, a “senior” offensive line made up of 1 hyper-potential freshman and a bunch of other guys that wouldn’t start at Ohio State or Michigan. Southern Cal, Michigan, and Ohio State cause people like Brent Mussberger to use terms like “flying to the ball.” Notre Dame’s defensive backs get a lot of “great efforts.” And that’s only when they aren’t being posterized.
I spent the entire day watching football yesterday, and save for the last 4 hours of the evening, that was glorious. But one thing kept leaping out at me watching teams like Florida, FSU, even Pitt: These teams tackle. They stick someone and then wrap up and bring a man down. At Notre Dame, the defense just doesn’t tackle. Rarely does the first man to the ball, often behind the line of scrimage, take the ball carrier down. What does this have to do with talent levels? Well, Charlie Weis has said in previous comments that Notre Dame doesn’t practice taking a man to the ground. Why? Because Notre Dame’s depth is thin. Razor thin. And so our guys just don’t have the proper technique practiced well enough to take really talented players down to the turf. Meanwhile teams like Southern Cal have such gobs of talent that they manage to thru a season with only one loss despite injuries across the board. And, oh, by the way, they probably practice tackling too. I’m not sold one way or the other on Rick Minter, but I do know that his schemes caused our defense to hit their ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage several times. A good tackling team would have converted those opportunities into long 3rd downs and gotten the ball back. Our team simply allows the opponent to rack up broken tackle numbers.
Ty Willingham has left his mark, his legacy, on this program like smallpox. And the result is scar tissue left behind in the form of razor thin talent levels. 1st day draft picks teamed with questionable talent. And that just leaves Notre Dame exposed in these big games where every face on the opposition’s roster makes NFL scouts take notice.
If you read the many Notre Dame message boards, you’ll find a lot of theoies. Some have already begun the “how much rope should we give Charlie?” type questions. And that’s riddiculous. You can’t question that Charlie Weis is an excellent coach. Tell you what, give Alton Brown a can of artichokes, some anchovies, white pepper, and some raisins and tell him to go make a great chocolate cake. That’s what Charlie’s being forced to do here - make a great team out of a few solid ingredients and a lot of really crappy ones. And that’s the sort of response you should give to anyone asking why Charlie can’t get his players to shine like Lou could. Lou had the ingredients. Charlie doesn’t even have the cholocolate. And then remind them how much the 1996 squad stepped up against OSU.
And so we simply must wait. We have to wait for Tyrone Willingham’s legacy to shrivel up and die. And that’s what Charlie’s trying to make happen today, as he hits the recruiting trail rather than going home to sleep it off. Because Charlie may have to honor the scholarships that Ty Willingham handed out, but he doesn’t have to play Ty’s players. Charlie’s bringing in his own army now, and soon they’ll snuff out Ty’s legacy.
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19 Comments
Absolutely, unquestionably and exponentially accurate! Ypur insight is completely spot on. Things will get better. Eventually…….
IRG
I don’t have a problem with Weis.
I DO have a problem with the defense in general and Rick Minter in particular. The defense stinks, no matter how you sugar coat it.
I am also very concerned about recruiting. We’re stuck at 11 for some time now. Top flight athletes are going increasingly to mediocre programs (Benn & Wilson to Illlinois, for example).
With as few sophmores & juniors as ND has, the next couple years are going to be difficult. I can accept that. But, we have to make up for Davieham’s poor recruiting legacy, and it has to come now.
I enjoy the smell of my own farts.
You hit the nail right on the head! I’ve been screaming for years at our piss-poor tackling. I think we are damned lucky that Weis could take such a mediocre talent level (save for a few diamonds in the rough) and create a winning program. I’m very excited to see what he can do with his own players. See you 2009 at the national championship game!
I wouldn’t know a football if a football player shoved one up my arse.
I eat my own boogers.
gwzimm,
Have you ever stopped to think about your comment? Maybe bashing Minter in an open forum like this and our recent recruiting issues are related.
As long as nd fans continue to bash Minter, defensive recruits, who read the ND blogs and message boards, will question their desire to attend ND. Quit bashing Minter. You are only adding to our problems.
JVH, you flatter us. The idea that some recruits might read this blog is cool.
Anyway, I sort of agree with your point of view. And I don’t buy that the coaching of the defense is the problem. It seems like, against elite teams, our guys are stuck in mud while the opponent is on a speed track. That can’t really be coached. Sure, go to all the speed camps that you want, but you wont be doing anything that the elite opponents aren’t already doing anyway. They don’t just sit around munching doritos while ND’s guys are working to improve.
I can’t imagine not wanting to play for ND if you’re a big-time defensive recruit. You’re almost guaranteed to start quickly, you’re on true national television every week, and you’d almost drown in the glory if you won a NC.
Anyone even whispering about CW ‘being on the ropes’ or having done anything wrong is patently insane. We are back in the national rankings, and we’re 2 games shy of an NC berth. Yes, we’ve been beaten soundly by the 2 best teams on our schedule this year and yes we have some areas that need improvement. But I think Q is spot on in stating that it’s just a matter of time. CW is pulling in better guys and the momentum is building…9-3 last year. 10-2 this year (with the bowl win). J. Clausen and a handful of top WR’s coming in…things at ND as a football program are getting better and better, and soon enough it will be hard to remember the days when we thought of USC and OSU more talented than the Irish…
JVH,
Nothing I can say about Rick Minter alters the public perception of his coaching prowess. All you need do is look at the defense’s performance over the past two years. How many big plays have they given up; plays 40 yards or more? Has any other team done the same? I mean, when North Carolina can decimate the secondary, let alone Michigan or USC, is there any lingering doubt that something is wrong?
I can’t get past 4th and 9 from inside the 10 yard line in the USC game last year. There is no excuse for someone completing a 67 yard pass in that situation.
I think you have a point on big plays JVH, and that is something we all know. But 67 yards on that one play was not the coaches’ fault.
They had the right D called, and the coverage was there. Our CB was about 1/20th of an inch from knocking that ball down and Matty L. had to put it perfectly in the right spot, and I mean perfectly, to even complete it.
Finally, I don’t think you can put all the blame on Minter. He has been working to implement a system, just like Charlie. It just turns out that CW inherited a sweet offensive team with a few superstars and Minter inherited some young and talented, but slightly overmatched Defensive players. That side of the ball will come around, through recruiting and development, as well.
Yeah, that pass play at the end of USC 2005 wasn’t on the coaches. Either ND or USC was gonna make the play there, and it favored USC.
If you look at that play (I think the guys at BGS broke it down), the only question is “where was the safety help?” to keep that play from breaking for 67 yards rather than, say, a harmless 20. I believe the issue was that the safety got tangled up in trying to keep track of Bush. I’ll have to go back and look at that.
I don’t want to beat the Minter thing to death, but my point is that over the past 2 years there have been MANY long gains against ND’s defense; gains of 40 yards or more….too many. Of course, talent, or the lack of it, is part of the problem. But SO MANY play like that calls coaching into question.
While blaming Ty for the problem the team has of not beating “top” schools you can’t compare Charlie to Lou. Gerry Faust was much worse than Ty ever was and Lou did great things even in his first year at ND. I believe ND was the only team ever ranked in the AP poll with a losing record 0-1 vs. Michigan(he also beat USC that year). That was his first year, by his third year he won a national championship (once again, beating a #2 ranked USC team). Once again I fail to see much a similarity between Lou and Charlie. Time will tell though.
HEK,
While Faust was a horrid coach, he was a far better recruiter than Ty. He actually put a lot of heart and soul into recruiting. Lou didn’t have near the dire talent issue that Charlie does.
And as much as I love Lou, and he’s a legend, he also had his share of blowouts in big games. Go take a look at his record. And that with all the top-shelf talent he had.
You’re right. Lou had a few tough games, but at least he beat SC consistently. I’m really getting sick of this losing streak. Next year they go down!
I’m sick of it too. And I’m sick of losing bowl games.
The monkeys will die.
HEK,
Faust also wasn’t dealing with the “instant gratification” generation of today. I think ND was still able to do a lot of recruiting for itself back in Faust’s days, particularly since they had a far more recent NC under their belts.
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