Notre Dame dismissed football coach Charlie Weis today after a disappointing five-year run. (Brian Cassella/Tribune)
By Brian Hamilton
In a widely expected move, Charlie Weis is out as Notre Dame's football coach, athletic director Jack Swarbrick announced today.
Swarbrick cut ties with Weis following a disappointing 6-6 season that ended Saturday with a 45-38 loss at Stanford. Weis has six years left on his contract.
"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."
Assistant coach Rob Ianello will assume responsibility for football operations until a new coach is hired, Swarbrick said. Ianello has spent the past five seasons on the Notre Dame staff.
Swarbrick will address the media at 5 p.m. Chicago time. The news conference will be streamed live on und.com.
Swarbrick recommended the dismissal Sunday night to Notre Dame's president, Rev. John Jenkins.
"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."
The search for Weis' replacement officially begins now -- but the rumor mill has churned for nearly a month. It has spit out potential successors ranging from big names such as Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and ex-NFL coach Jon Gruden to a list of perhaps more attainable candidates such as Cincinnati's Brian Kelly and TCU's Gary Patterson.
The dismissal caps a tumultuous five-year run, with Notre Dame football now on the hunt for its fourth head coach since the end of the 2000 season.
In the last three years, Weis' teams went 16-21 with zero victories against ranked opponents. The continued failures against elite teams coupled with inexplicable, eviscerating defeats (two straight home losses to Navy, two straight Senior Day losses to sub-.500 teams) simply became too much to bear.
Swarbrick recommended the dismissal Sunday night to Notre Dame's president, Rev. John Jenkins.
"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."
The search for Weis' replacement officially begins now -- but the rumor mill has churned for nearly a month. It has spit out potential successors ranging from big names such as Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and ex-NFL coach Jon Gruden to a list of perhaps more attainable candidates such as Cincinnati's Brian Kelly and TCU's Gary Patterson.
The dismissal caps a tumultuous five-year run, with Notre Dame football now on the hunt for its fourth head coach since the end of the 2000 season.
In the last three years, Weis' teams went 16-21 with zero victories against ranked opponents. The continued failures against elite teams coupled with inexplicable, eviscerating defeats (two straight home losses to Navy, two straight Senior Day losses to sub-.500 teams) simply became too much to bear.
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LET'S EAT !!!
Good riddance you arrogant fool.
Weis isn't getting 8 years of pay, he will be bought out and Willingham was bought out too! Duh!!!!
Oh Charlie, you did not bring all that you could to Notre Dame but being fired by the Reverend John Jenkins that kissed Obama's butt should make the experience worthwhile.
You still the man!
But we are stuck with Obama.
jc
Notre Dame should join the Big 10 so Northwestern could notch another win every year.
I hear they called Bob Babich but Bob declined. "It's just not the job it once was," Bob said. "I'd rather stay with the Bears and park Lovie's car every day."
What was he getting paid for losing so much? In one year he made more that I in my life time? For that money I wish they would have hired me. I could have a losing season too.
Great. So....when is Lovie getting the axe?
The pressure of the job and the constant shrieking of the alums and fans will make the ND job less appealing than it otherwise should be. But to anyone who thinks that winter weather has anything to do with a program's success or failure -- well, I suppose you must think Columbus, Ohio, and Boise, Idaho, have suddenly become tropical vacation destinations, eh? The players are out there. And Charlie Weis showed they were willing to come, even if South Bend is a dump and cold for half the year. But they need a coach who can harness their abilities and succeed at the upper echelon of college football. ND needs to find that guy.
The Bears need to grab him IMMEDIATELY for the Head Coaching job. He is an NFL man, not a college, pretty-boy like Saban, Stoops, and Carroll.
The Bears and Illinois should do the same thing to Lovie, Turner, Angelo, Phillips and Zook.
This website is not overcaffeinated. Stoops is the man. He is Irish. I called it. I run my own business. I love the Internet. Mike Brey is going to be coach of the year in the ACC at NC State. My reputation is held together with duct tape.
Whoops!
hahahahahahaha....he thought he was going to come in and change the game. Th e joke is on him and the ND money he is keeping.
For you suckers that think that Charlie Weis is getting paid for the next 8 years are completely wrong. They buy him off with certain amount of cash and rip to pieces the current contract.
ND should just shutter the football program. It is an embarrassment to the institution.
It is a shame it didn't work out for Charlie Weis. He recruited well, is leaving the program better than he found it, and represented the university well during his tenure. He did a lot of great things for the community at large that were seldom reported. Charlie will easily find work as an NFL Offensive Coordinator, and a lot of ND fans will truly wish him well.
All that being said, 35-27 just isn't good enough, and he won't argue with that. Here's hoping there's a great coach out there who still sees something special at Notre Dame, and who is willing to take some risk for a chance to win in South Bend.
I's smiled mo today than I did during my entire pathetic tenure at Washington.
I will say this, Notre Dame sure do know how to fire bad coaches.
Such a waste of talent but going forward, the next coach (if the right one) will inherit plenty to work with. Remember, new coaches usually have a very good yaer the 1st year and it's what happens after that, that will tell the real story. I hope the next coach will really address the defensive play of the this team and I think ND will be back. ND is a sleeping GIANT that needs to eb awakecond!
Charlie did alright by himself. Notre Dame, with its untenable alumni and fan situation is a hell hole for any coach. No big name coach in their right mind will come to ND to coach. ND might get a second stringer but no one else. The whining and villification from these ND fans to a coach means they are going to be in the wilderness for a long time. Plus, ND in the winter or say, Florida? Whats the question?
For all you Charlie haters, he will end up with another gig and do just fine, 18 million dollars richer.
Aa-ha-ha-ha!! You reap what you sow, ND!!
So glad Charlie "the Messiah" Weis washed out...And I know my man, Ty Willingham, let an ever so small grin creep across his face when he heard the news....Farewell failure...
It was a LONG time coming and thankfully it has happened. How can a coach get so little (performance) from so much (a performance packed football squad). Who ever thought we would be looking back on the "good old days" of Gerry Faust, Bob Davie and Ty Willingham. Is it too late to get Lou Holtz back?
Haha! Serves him right. Dude waltzed in there like he was the 2nd coming. Only winning season he had was with Willingham’s players. See ya. Don’t let the door hit ya!
I am sure he got paid a lot. If you got paid a lot of money and could not produce, you should be fired!!!
Now what?