Notre Dame Does The Inevitable... Fire Charlie Weis

I don't really care that much about Notre Dame Football, but I can't help but see the striking resemblance of Notre Dame Football to UK Basketball after year two under Billy Gillispie.

Both programs have been criticized to varying degrees for their treatment of African American coaches (Tubby Smith and Tyrone Willingham). There were some that played the race card when Tubby left Kentucky for the green pastures of Minnesota. I never bought that argument for a second, and Gillispie's unceremonious dismissal is further evidence that race didn't play a part in Tubby's treatment at UK. Many complained when Weiss was given a huge extension half way through his first season after accomplishing relatively little. He also benefited from a slightly longer leash than his predecessor Willingham. Willingham got off to a similar start as Weis, and there did appear to be a difference in how the two were treated.

Both programs are paying a lot of money to two men for nothing. There are reports that Weis will get 18 million dollars as part of his compensation, and Billy Clyde got a little more than 2 million for his trouble after his dismissal. (Before I go on... 18 million. Really? We might see Notre Dame asking for a government bailout soon. Luckily for Athletic Director Jack Swarbick, he wasn't the one that handed out that extension... Notre Dame might have to take one from the New York Knicks playbook and wait out the past administrations terrible financial decisions. I will say it one more time... 18 million. Ouch.)

The comparison doesn't end there, as both of these guys were unjustifiably smug and unlikeable. Neither Weis or Gillispie had ever achieved much as head coaches, but that didn't stop that from being Bobby Knight-esque arrogant. (If you are going to be a jerk, you really need to have the results to back that up. Nobody likes a jackass that is also a loser. You might can get away with one of the two for a little while, but it is going to catch up to you.) The two also had self control issues in their personal life as evidenced by Billy's DUI's and Charlie's wasteline.

Both programs suffered really embarrassing losses. Notre Dame has lost two out of their last three games against Navy among several other losses to teams that were meant as schedule filler. Gardner Webb and VMI were the headliners of the many teams that beat UK in Lexington the past couple years.

Both programs became a big story while losing. Most schools have to win games in order to be a part of the national conscience. Not true for UK and Notre Dame.

They became, arguably, even bigger stories through losing in an embarrassing way. There are other blue-blood programs out there that draw attention when they struggle. I don't believe there aren't two brighter spotlights than at UK and Notre Dame though. That spotlight can be great when things are going good, but things can get ugly in a hurry when things go bad. These two programs are without a doubt placed under a magnifying glass that is unique in their sports.

Things turned around in a hurry for UK when they hired Calipari, but football is a different animal. It will be nearly impossible for a new coach to have the immediate impact that Calipari has had in Lexington, but luckily the bar has been lowered enough that a solid season next year might get the coach a 100 year-40 Billion Dollar guaranteed contract in South Bend. So the Fighting Irish do have that going for them, if nothing else.