Give Weis his due also for taking the ND job, which at the time he was hired was not an attractive position to take…

Barkley is only worth 4.5 points

If coming to our site is what they need to get fired up before this game………

C Weiss was able to get 5 star skill players to come to Notre Dame, no question about that. But his failures after that are, in my opinion, what cost him his job. He fell in love with these 5 stars and did not recruit depth behind them or other players to replace them if they backed out of a committment. Floyd, Tate and Riddick all used up 4 years in 4 years. Who did he recruit to be ready to play when Floyd and Tate left? Why was there no experience waiting in the wings. Compare that to Hendrix (Kelly get), Golson, Kiel at QB and Zaire coming in for 2013. For the first time in a long time, there is depth at wide receiver and tight end across mutliple classes. The offensive and defensive lines are deep.

Add to lack of depth building during recruiting the fact that, again in my opinion, players never seemed to get better under Weiss. Is that a function of the first problem? I don’t know. Perhaps expecting all of your incoming 5 stars to start from Day 1 is a bit of a mistake in that there is never time for player development, only time for game planning. To me it is refreshing to see a freshman like Chris Brown come in and be able to contribute in a positive way while learning how to play Division I football. TJ Jones, DD, Riddick and Eiffert can carry the bulk of the load and the freshmen receivers can contribute as needed and where their skill sets provide added value.

The Kevarie Russsells will become the acception rather than the rule as Kelly continues to have recruiting success at many positions year in and year out while continuing advanced player development.

Spot on. My philosophy has always been pride comes before the fall. Evidently Coffey missed this in scripture.

Click on the link http://magazine.nd.edu/picks-of-the-week/the-phantom-letters/

Thanks

Maloy gets too often treated unfairly on this board. I was there during the Davie and Willingham years and, yes, they were painful beyond words. Yes, Maloy emphasized academics over athletics. But I don’t think he purposefully tanked the football program. His choice of George O’Leary to turn around the program after firing Davie was one that might have brought us back to #1 last decade. I blame Kevin White and his athletic department for the botched background check and panicked hiring of Willingham. Ultimately Maloy was responsible for hiring White and everything ND, and his football record was abysmal, but to say he intentionally tanked the football program and did not believe in ND football greatness is unfair to the man.