…Because this whole Journalism thing just isn’t working out.
Jon Wilner wouldn’t know a fact if it beat him within an inch of his life with a lead pipe. And as a result, he’s turned in this piece of detritus as his latest hack job. No link for Jon. The bold words are mine:
Why does Weis get a golden pass?
By Jon Wilner
Mercury News Staff Columnist
It has been more than a week since Notre Dame got hammered by Louisiana State in the Sugar Bowl, more than a month since it got whipped by USC, almost four months since it got waxed by Michigan and just over a year since it got thumped by Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
So why hasn’t Irish Coach Charlie Weis been fired?
Why, at the very least, isn’t his job in jeopardy?
After all, Tyrone Willingham’s poor performance in big games got him fired after three seasons in South Bend. Weis is 0-4 in big games in the past 54 weeks. Shouldn’t he be held to the same standard?
Because Willingham wasn’t fired for his losses in big games. Or, at least, not just for his big losses in big games. His losses to teams like Purdue, Boston College, BYU, etc… hurt Willingham more. The losses to elite teams hurt, but the losses to the supporting cast of characters on the stage of college football damn a program to irrelevance.
The Irish couldn’t possibly be treating the white coach differently . . .
Before we go there, let’s review the facts:
• Willingham became the first black coach in Notre Dame history in any sport when he left Stanford for South Bend after the 2001 season.
• Willingham was the first Notre Dame football coach to be fired before his first contract expired — in his case, after three years.
• Willingham was not fired because of the team’s off-field performance. The players stayed out of trouble and did well in the classroom.
• Willingham was not fired because of his record (21-15), which was better than the three-year marks of two predecessors, Gerry Faust and Bob Davie. Both of them were brought back for a fourth season — and a fifth.
Actually, Willingham was fired for his record. The bar isn’t set at Gerry Faust and Bob Davie. God help us if any program were to set the bar at Bob Davie. Willingham knew the score. And if he didn’t, that’s his fault. ND wasn’t just going to say, “ooh, that whole Bob Davie era? Forget it. We’ll just pretend it didn’t happen.” Willingham needed to win and win immediately and then keep on winning. He failed.
No, the Irish needed a reason they could justify, and it was this: Willingham’s teams were not competitive in big games.
According to who? What official announcement claims as much?
Notre Dame’s president and athletic director opposed the dismissal, but members of the board of trustees made it happen — perhaps because they didn’t like the performances in big games but more likely because Willingham wasn’t a Notre Dame guy and because Urban Meyer was available. (Yes, the same Urban Meyer who just won the national title with Florida.)
Now here we are, two years into Weis’ tenure. No question, he’s a terrific offensive coach, and he has a better record through two seasons (19-6) than Willingham (15-10). But again: Willingham, who’s now at Washington, wasn’t fired by Notre Dame because of his record. He was fired because of bad losses in big games.
You keep saying that, but I see you don’t use any supporting evidence.
Interesting that you bring up the 2-year records of Weis and Willingham. Weis has 19 victories in 25 games. How long did it take Willingham to garner 19 wins at ND? 31. It took 31 games for Willingham to win 19, and that’s after he won his first 10 in 12. So he only garnered 9 wins in the next 19.
Tell me, Jon, do you really think the comparison is apt considering Weis only needs 2 more wins to match Willinghams benchmark, and Weis has only coached for 2 seasons thus far? Further, do you really think Weis will enable you to compare records any more after next season? Even with the loss of so many “big names” after this past season, do you really think Weis will only win 2 games in his third season?
In the past 54 weeks, Weis has four of them:
• Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 20.
• Michigan 47, Notre Dame 21.
• USC 44, Notre Dame 24.
• LSU 41, Notre Dame 14.
I probably don’t need to point out to Jon that 2 of these “big games” were brought about by virtue of the fact that Weis got the team into 2 BCS games in his first two seasons. Even with the “hot start” that Willingham had, he didn’t reach a single BCS game. Didn’t even sniff one his 2nd and 3rd year.
Applying the same standard to Weis that was applied to Willingham, Weis’ job should be in jeopardy. Instead, he’s the golden boy under the Golden Dome, owner of a huge contract, beloved by fans and trustees alike.
But not, apparently, by a former Irish coach.
Warning: Wilner’s using Bob Davie to support his points. It’s sort of like using Attila the Hun to support Manifest Destiny.
“When you lose to Michigan, you lose to USC and you lose to LSU in a bowl game by a significant score, there will be ramifications from that for Charlie Weis,” Davie told ESPN radio, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“I think the shine is off, to be quite honest. I know going around the country talking to football coaches, particularly head coaches, I think a little bit of the mystique is definitely off.”
Pretty strong stuff. But Davie wasn’t finished.
“It’s hard to say Notre Dame improved this year with probably the No. 1 player in the NFL draft, (quarterback) Brady Quinn, with (receiver) Jeff Samardzija, with potentially five first-round NFL draft picks,” Davie said. “I don’t think they’re as good a team as they were last year. On defense they continued to go backwards.
“Notre Dame has had two successful seasons, two BCS bowl games in a row, but I think it’s hard to say that the program is really going in a positive direction right now.”
Everyone ok? Good. Moving on…
So, why isn’t Weis at least on the warm seat? Because, Notre Dame supporters say, he doesn’t have the players to compete with the USCs and LSUs — he still has Willingham’s recruits.
But that argument reeks of hypocrisy.
Actually, it’s because to any serious observer of the sport, it’s clear that Charlie Weis can and will do what’s necessary to win. Willingham wouldn’t know much about that. You don’t learn a lot about successful recruiting when you’re out on the golf course.
Further, time to let the “Willingham’s Players” myth die. It’s almost impossible to say Weis is winning with Willingham’s players on a metaphysical level. For one, there are almost no “Willingham Players” on the team. He did such a rotten job of recruiting not only quality, but simple quantity that his recruiting product is largely heavy with players from the Brady Quinn class. And heck, don’t even get me started with how Willingham recruited Quinn. He didn’t. Ndukwe’s father essentially recruited him. Shark was a largely unnoticed recruit from a town just down the road from ND. How hard could it have been to recruit him? And by the way, why didn’t Willingham ever play Shark? Was it a white/black thing?
The Irish didn’t cut Willingham any slack because he had Davie’s recruits. And the players Davie left for Willingham were not as good as the players Willingham left for Weis, starting with Quinn. We’ll see how the next few drafts turn out, but I’d bet the ’06 Irish have more upperclass talent than the ’04-05 Irish.
Only because Weis coached them up to their potential. Willingham wouldn’t have a clue about that. He wouldn’t have a clue about coaching anyone up to anything, really. Ever watch the guy at practice? He acts kind of like he acted in games, except he says less.
Why the apparent double-standard? I don’t think Willingham was treated differently by Notre Dame because he is black. I think he was treated differently by Notre Dame because he was different, and being black was not an insignificant part of that difference.
He was treated differently because ND’s supporters didn’t want to go thru 2 more years of mediocrity (to put it kindly). Granted, he paid for the sins of Davie, but he knew that going in, or he should have. Shame on him for his own naivety if he didn’t.
Willingham wasn’t a Notre Dame guy. He didn’t go to school there, had no ties to South Bend and, with his reserved personality, wasn’t the type to make boosters and trustees feel comfortable and important — to make them feel like the head coach was one of them.
Ask boosters and trustees how much time Weis spends hobnobbing. Answer: Very little. His job is to coach football. He understands that and so does ND. Willingham thought his job was to sneak onto the ND golf course without signing in so that his bosses would have no idea of all the time he spent working on his short game rather than recruiting.
Weis is one of them. He’s a white guy who went to Notre Dame.
You’re right. He’s white and he attended ND. Yay. What’s the point?
ND doesn’t demand that you attended ND in order to be part of the family. Ask the millions of Subway Alumni. You just have to be willing to be part of the family. Neither Willingham nor Davie were ever willing to do that.
Look, I’m not saying Weis should be fired this winter; he deserves another year. But if the Irish get pounded by Michigan and USC again next season and all is still swell with Weis, then Notre Dame could have an enormous public relations problem on its hands.
Only if you make it so, Jon. And if yo do, you’ll be setting your “cause” back yet again because you’re picking battles that just aren’t there. But seriously, consider trade school. I’m sure you have talents, but, like Willingham, you just haven’t figured out what they may be.
Further: The more I think about this, the more it ticks me off. The Civil Rights movement is far too important and far too valuable to this country to put up with some little snot like Jon Wilner and his efforts to trivialize it with straw-man arguments within the relatively unimportant context of college football.  I do not know the history of Jon Wilner, and after today I don’t particularly care to know. However, I do know that Jon should really re-examine his life and his values. He took a precious piece of American history and made a mockery of it, especially in releasing this piece of trash on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Shame on him, and may karma and God judge him and treat him accordingly. It’s well within his rights as (I presume) an American citizen to act like a complete idiot for all the world to see, but it’s a measure of a man’s character in whether or not he chooses to do so.
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OB's
I’m continually amused at journalists that want to call their intellect into question by forcing this argument. It’s tired. You can’t get housed by two of your biggest rivals (Michigan and FSU) while getting shut out in the process. You can’t lose to your biggest rival by 31 points three seasons in a row.
Interesting he didn’t once mention Charlie’s current recruiting class. Or the fact that Willingham never went to see Brady play. Or that he never played Samardzijia.
Willingham was an uninspiring drone that didn’t recruit who didn’t even manage a game all that well. Nice column Jon. Way to mail it in.
The Biscuit
F that shite.
NDcivil03
i’m still waiting for the article about those football factory racists at Stanford who fired Walt Harris after 2 years, just because he had a noticeable lisp. i’m still outraged!
gwzimm
Or how about Zook getting fired at Florida DURING his 3rd season. It was HIS athletes that won a NC this year, not Urban Myth’s. Where’s the outrage?
Bad Kermit
Awesome work, Q. A couple of points.
***
1. Why in the name of all things holy do people still call the 2-TD loss to tOSU a blowout? If the score had been 17-3, would that have been a blowout? And, if my memory serves, wasn’t the last touchdown an aesthetic one for tOSU? Was ND ever down more than 2 scores? How is that a blowout? Screw every writer who uses that game as a “blowout” to serve their own agenda.
***
2. Why in God’s name do none of these “ND is racist” jackasses ever point out the actual on-field COACHING in comparing these coaches? Oh, I know why. It’ll totally undercut their drum-beating. How many times has Weis sent 12 guys out to field 11 positions? How many times have we seen a complete lack of understanding of clock management under Weis? I don’t consider myself anywhere near the football mind the rest of you jackasses are (I’m here for my looks), but I’ve questioned Weis’s playcalling maybe 5 times in his 2 seasons here. 4 of those times I probably only questioned him because he has mammoth testicles, and I fear risk. I think I questioned Willingham 5 times a quarter. That’s not even including the times I’d question his decision making on a Wednesday afternoon.
***
3. This article is so freaking tired (good call, OB). I just wish there was one “ND is racist, and everyone there smells the smelly smell of something that smells smell” article that all of these assholes could purchase for a fee and just put their name on the byline. Has ANYONE contributed anything significant to this anti-Weis argument in the past 2 years?
ty got screwed
Just to ponder how small are the differences in the events that shape our world, consider the following:
In 2004 ND played one of the toughest schedules in the country, in which 8 of 12 teams were ranked at some point during the season including 5 of the top 25 in the final polls. This team beat two teams that finished ranked in the top 15. In 2006 ND played one of the weakest schedules it’s had in recent memory with only 5 of 13 opponents ranked at any time, and only 4 in the final rankings. This team beat no teams finished in the top 20
In 2004 Notre Dame gave up 41 points and 490 yards of total offense to undefeated National Champion USC, lead by the Heisman Trophy winning Quarterback. In 2006 Notre Dame gave up 44 points and 410 yards of total offense to the youngest USC team in over a decade lead by a first year starter and who lost to TWO unranked teams.
Willingham’s last season had three losses (two of them to ranked teams) by 3 points or less that could have changed on a broken play or missed tackle on the last possession. This year Weiss had 3 wins (none of which to ranked teams) by 4 points or less that could have changed without broken play a missed tackle on the last possession.
Any combination of three of these six games breaking the other way would give Willingham’s 2004 season, and Weiss’s 2006 season the same number of losses, and probably the same final ranking in the national polls. One hypothesis is that Wiess’s leadership makes all the difference, another is that natural maturing of young stars is worth a field goal a game. Consider:
The team leader in rushing, touchdown receptions, and passing for Willingham in 2004 were a young and still learning Brady Quinn, Rhema McNight and Darius Walker. The team leader in rushing, touchdown receptions, and passing for Weiss this year are very experienced Brady Quinn, Rhema McNight and Darius Walker. Also Willingham had to start true sophomore Ryan Harris at left tackle protecting Quinn, while Weiss has 4 year starter all-American Ryan Harris at left tackle protecting Quinn.
Willingham’s first two full recruiting classes were ranked in the top 10 and top 5 respectively, and Weiss’s first full recruiting class was in the top 10, and is on track to have a second one in the top 5.
Going into the 2004 season (his third recruiting) class ND publicly refused to extend his contract and there were rumors swirling that the Board of Trustees wanted him out. Going into the 2006 season Weiss got a 10 year extension to help with recruiting, has vastly better facilities to help with recruiting, way higher salaries for his assistant coaches, and more leeway on getting fifth year eligibility for players (recall you didn’t used to get a red-shirt for purely football reasons).
After the 2004 season Willingham was fired. After the 2006 season Weiss has total job security, and next year is going to make 4 times more than Willingham was ever given.
So in conclusion I’m pretty much back on the “Ty got Screwed†bandwagon.
Oh yeah, only 1 nd player was taken in the first 4 rounds of the NFL draft after the 2004 season, whereas Weiss could be losing as many as 6 taken in the first three this year.
domer.mq
Ty Got Screwed,
Once you’ve caught your breath from you smart little assault of statistical massaging, why don’t you look at Bad Kermits comments and tell us how many 12-men on the field penalties Ty had vs. Weis. Or how many times did Ty mismanaged a clock while Weis and his team seemed to have mastered it, even with the idiotic rules.
After that, tell me how often you figure people saw Ty out on the golf course when he could have been recruiting. Then do the same for Weis. And then remind me how highly ranked each of the recruiting classes hauled in by Ty were after the class that included Quinn. Then let me know what Weis’ first 2 full classes look like. Oh, can you recall how many offensive linemen Ty recruited in his last 2 years?
Once you’re done with that, remind me how many 30 point losses Ty suffered. How many times was he shut out? Then tell me the same for Weis.
How many times did Ty’s teams play the “team of the century” down to the wire?
How many times did a ND team have big comebacks when under the command of Ty? How about Weis?
After all of that, go and read past transcripts of press conferences by Ty and Charlie. Charlie finds 10-3 to be unacceptable. I seem to recall Ty bragging about having won “6 of the last 8” when taking into account games from the previous season. Remind me how often Ty lead by example for the young men commited to ND by not accepting mediocrity. Go out and find me a direct quote.
Remind me how many 4-year seniors and juniors will be playing for ND next year thanks to Ty’s recruiting efforts.
Remind me of how Ty refused to leave a top recruit’s home to the point of creeping out the recruit’s family b/c he allowed his golf habit to ruin his recruiting to a point of desperation.
Remind me again how weak a schedule we had in 2006 considering our first 5 opponents were undefeated heading into our games.
Remind me how many times the molder of men innovated or even adjusted on offense beyond the bubble screen.
Remind me again how we lost to BYU in Ty’s last year, only to discover that we could beat Michigan the next with some unknown frosh running back that we didn’t even have on the plane for BYU.
Hey, how many times has Weis been blown out by the likes of Purdue?
Chicks don’t dig stupidity, TGS.
Mike
To Bad Kermit and domer.mq:
I feel your pain, but you’re picking on a limited lifeforce, unable to broaden its narrow scope of reference, and unable to integrate facts that run counter to its programmed prejudice. Easy guys. Time will tell. Time will tell.
Bad Kermit
TGS, your argument would have been more effective if you wouldn’t have misspelled “Weis” in two different ways. Actually, upon rereading it, no it wouldn’t have. Ty set the program back three years ON TOP OF the 5 years Davie had already set it back. I expect that, within the next 5 years, ND will consistently be legitimately contending for the N.C. with top-level talent. If you think that would have happened with Ty at the helm, you’re out of your gourd.
Greg C
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Ty was treated poorly because he was not part of the “family” – nice code word guys.
The hysterics the ND Kool-Aid drinkers go into when this issue is raised suggests that they know Ty was treated VERY differently for reasons society as a whole is still struggling to address.
domer.mq
Greg C,
Don’t be an idiot.
It would be naive to think that society has developed beyond the point where race is no longer an issue in all aspects of life, but don’t you dare throw us into some clump of cromag, racist, idiots.
When Ty was winning (Back in his first year), we cheered him on. When ty had a rough 2nd year, many of us stuck by him. By his 3rd year, things were horrid. He wasn’t recruiting at all. And it was just a continuation of 8 bad years started with Davie.
The only “differnce” in the way Ty was treated had nothing to do with race. It had to do with timing. We weren’t going to accept more losing after losing with Davie. Davie had the luxury of following a legend. Big shoes to fill, but at least he didn’t have a fan-base of people already hurting like Ty did. It’s hysterical that a columnist use Davie in some way to defend Ty, when so much of what Davie did during his time at ND didn’t help at all.
There are people of all races and backgrounds who are part of the ND family. All that we ask is that you respect the history, tradition, and weight of ND. Neither Ty nor Davie did so, and as such were no welcome. Don’t go parsing words when there’s nothing to parse.
Bad Kermit
Greg C, I’ll second Q’s post by pointing out that I (naively, in hindsight) dressed up as Tyrone Willingham for Halloween with angel wings and all, thinking that he would deliver us from all the crap that Davie had put us through. Guess what? It got worse.
***
Poorly disguising the fact that you’re calling us racist doesn’t get around the fact that you’re calling us racist. I hated Davie. I hated Ty. Both lied to the student body. Both failed miserably at the task before them. Both deserved to be fired.
***
You remind me of David Brent, only minus all of the funny.
***
One more thing. Q makes great points about how the administration was already fed up with 5 years of disastrous coaching, so it was reasonable for them to pull the trigger a little quicker when the new coach was pulling the same shit. I’ll go even further and say that the NEW administration is the reason the school had enough sack to fire Ty. Monk was a wannabe elite, social-climbing, overly-politically-correct jackass (sorry, God) who was just about Ty’s only supporter toward the end (except for the clueless figurehead that is Kevin White and the idiot secretary who shaved her head). The new administration has a clue that Notre Dame has a long and storied tradition based (like it or not) partially in football, and that mediocrity was unacceptable. Monk, White, and baldy were thrilled with a progressive hiring and perennial 5-6 records. Jenkins wants Notre Dame football to mean something again. It’s easier to cry “racist” than to think, though, isn’t it? It certainly makes for a shorter post.
ND Alum
“Me thinks doth protest too much” is right…how come we’re still reading articles claiming that Ty was treated differently because of his race? The man was fired over two year ago. And before the race card is fully pulled, consider how Ty had the job in the first place. Would a racist organization have even hired Ty Willingham? Me thinks that if ND was truly racist, Ty wouldn’t even have been on the interview list, let alone have a black leprauchan running around the field as the very visible mascot of the university (look it up…for two years the guy was the best leprauchan we had for as far back as I can remember).
I think the hysterics that the kool-aid drinkers fall into when the issue is raised because raising the issue is calling Notre Dame the institution racist. And there are few things uglier than a racist taint. Not protesting would be seen as a tacit admission of guilt by those members of the media with an agenda.
Bad Kermit
ND Alum, I think ALL taints are ugly.
E
Thank you for not posting a link to that article. That website needs as few hits as possible to bring attention to the writer.
As for the whole Ty situation, the early rumblings of fans at UW are enough to confirm that what we felt about Ty’s quality of work was correct. Hopefully when Washington fires Ty, the whole ‘ND is racist’ should go away because, clearly, the University of Washington will be the ones that are racist.