So what do we do with Charlie? The Notre Dame alumni clearly echoes the buyout loud enough that the Irish brass postponed Weis's west coast recruiting trip following the Stanford contest. On November 30th, Charlie became free to look for another job back in the pros as offensive coordinator. The concise reason for the recent firing of Weis was clearly stated by University director of athletics Jack Swarbrick. "As an alumnus, Charlie understands the goals and expectations for our football program have not been met." The Irish assistant head coach/offensive wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello will assume responsibility for football operations until a new coach is hired. When did the majority of Notre Dame coaching woes actually begin? The finger has to be pointed at ex-AD Kevin White. He's the athletic director who was responsible for hiring the soon-to-be-called "Notre Dame's Dreaded Fearsome Foursome Of Coaches" during his tenure. He was responsible for the hiring of Bob Davie, George O'Leary, Ty Willingham & Charlie Weis in succession. If the new AD seriously seeks to improve a program in dire need of better talent that goes hand-in-hand with coaching/player development, he must start with a proven college coach who looks and plays the part of a big-time recruiter/coach. While it may not be an immediate 1 or 2-year fix for ND to rise from their sunken abyss, finding this caliber of a coach will at least start the ascent out of darkness. They must immediately turn around their recruitment ranking since they sank from 2nd to 21st this season. Somehow I don't think the usual pitch of an elite education, excellent facilities, a national independent schedule on national TV that takes you from NYC to Ireland and a pipeline to the pros is enough to win the crucial recruitment wars in Florida, Texas & California. They must make a serious push to land better defenders with size and quickness who won't be pushed around at the line of scrimmage. At least old Lou Holtz used to land some good players by finding a way to bend the rules a little by pulling some strings to stay competitive. That's harder to do when other big-time universities have low enough academic standards to win the recruitment wars. Let's look at 3 things that ND's new coach must conquer over in his quest for staying competitive in recruiting. The first one is climate. This only matters to some athletes. The potential recruit doesn't want to hear a speech where the ND recuiter points out that most NFL teams are in cold weather states so you better get used it now. The second one rests with scholarship guarantees. Upon signing under Weis, you were guaranteed 4 years on scholarship to get your degree regardless of performance. There's pros and cons here. Yes, you can convince parents that Notre Dame is unique. However, this in turn leads to complacency. In contrast, teams like the undefeated Crimson Tide of Alabama cut players and yank scholaships yearly. This remains vital to the success of the team. Lastly, ND does not allow junior college transfers. This is a BAD move! When you constantly deal with academic ineligibilty, graduation and injury, the Juco's can help alleviate some stresses of filling the void. For example, look what impact Terrance Cody made at Alabama over the last 2 years. So whose the man to replace Weis? A good deal of chatter centers with uprooting Urban Meyer from Florida. If ND would miraculously be able to pull it off with a sweeter deal than Florida can offer, Meyer's spread offense would take a few years to take root. Getting the necessary talent to run it takes time. On the down side, the type of player Meyer has successfully recruited in the past falls way short of Notre Dame's current academic standards. Another name brought up in the conversation of successfully proven coaches has to be Bob Stoops from Oklahoma. If lured away,he too will be challenged with getting the quality athlete that meets the ND academic standards. Others have even pointed toward Stanford's Jim Harbaugh. The most likely candidate has to be current Cincinnati Bearcats' mentor Brian Kelly. Here's a man that amassed a 118-35-2 record at Division II Grand Valley State along with 2 national titles in 2002 and 2003. He moved on to coach the Division I Mid-American Conference entry Central Michigan Chippewas whom he took to a 9-4 record, qualified them for their first bowl game and led them to an MAC title in 2006. He then went on to rule the roost at his current job with the Cincinnati Bearcats turning in a current 32-6 overall record using a pro-style offense. What's amazing about this year's squad is Kelly being able to go 11-0 with only having 1 defensive starter back from last year's Big East Champion. In his career, he's been named coach of the year 4 times. Despite having to win recruitment wars with nearby Big Ten giant Ohio State, Kelly has the knack to find talent that works into turning over into a winning team. This ability is paramount to the Irish faithful right now. The trick remains how Notre Dame can lure him away from the successful program he built at Cincinnati. Without pulling a successful proven coach away from a national contender, the Irish football team will continue to struggle. The ball is rolling in the court of the Notre Dame brass. Mike Handzelek
 

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