Little news flash to the media talking heads and scribes: The PR battle’s over and ND won.
We replaced our head coach, our DC and recruited three straight top ten recruiting classes… game over. “You” tried to create an atmosphere that would prevent it from happening and lost. The rest, history, will be decided on the field. Write to your hearts galore about the 0-3 start, but it doesn’t matter a whit what the national media thinks any more. It really doesn’t. I actually think it’s better to let them babble negative, because the argument has already been framed. We know they’re mostly internet/tv whores shopping for viewers/hits… nothing new, they’re hair pullers trolling for action.
Now, “mediathink” as I wrote last year did matter then and the year before when ND still had to attract recruits into a dying program… but… unbeknownst to most media babble, that critical phase has already passed. Now, the media war is rather irrelevant.
On point.
The Willingham argument just isn’t credible anymore. Everyone’s aware that he checked out during recruiting – again it’s fact. And no matter what you think of the start of this season, there is no doubt Willingham left a wreck of a program behind. Can you blame Global Warming on it? Well no, but that’s hardly the point.
Anecdotally, here’s one for you from inside the Husky administration about Willingham:
“I can’t believe how little he works for a head coach.”
Postmark Seattle, four days ago. Did you say… FORE?
Wait till you tally up his rate per hour, UW.
You forget, I used to live in Seattle. I know people who know people. Willingham “still” hardly works and that fact will be will come home to roost in due time for him. We shouldn’t concern ourselves anymore. The only reason we had to defend Notre Dame in the media was to save the direction of recruiting.
Notre Dame is back, even at 0-3.
What’s interesting is that even writers like Pat Forde and Stewart Mandel know what’s going on if you’ve read their articles.
Thankfully, the media war is one we don’t have to fight anymore. It DID matter, because our recruiting depended on it, but Mark May Inc. already lost… the critical program changes – the only things they can affect ND’s future performance — have already happened. If ND falters now, it’s not because of media bias, it’s only because of ourselves — and Notre Dame doesn’t get a talent like Corwin Brown if the coaching world thinks ND won’t rise again.
We’ve got a head coach who is also an excellent coordinator, what we wanted, and cares about the program.
We have a defensive coordinator who will do more with less and we have the most talent coming into ND since Lou Holtz in the early 90s.
Done. Game over.
I’d be more worried if we didn’t’ have the best incoming defensive line class (maybe in modern history) fantastic linebackers and defensive backs who already play like college juniors.
But that’s not an issue.
Clausen is special and more importantly, he’s a fighter. He’s actually kind of a dick in a competitive sense and that’s a complement. Notre Dame needs more like him. I’m in the tank for Clausen, even more so than Quinn.
He’s skinny, but a tough SOB, while still smart. Our OL recruits look terrible this year, but even having to suffer through this, and knowing their talent, I believe they will form the basis of an Irish cyclone that will sweep many a team over the precipice.
Remember that next year.
Call me on it.
Get your laugh’s in… soon it will be over.
0-3. Screw you.
Crappy offense? Go cry to your family.
0-3 and life is still good from where I sit, because I know the fever from the infection that was Davieham/Davingham has almost passed. It may take a few more night sweats to get it out, but it’s almost gone.
Never forget that what separated those two idiots from Weis, regardless of coaching talent, was a passive-aggressive contempt for Notre Dame. That’s what links them together in infamy and why Willingham never got five years; he didn’t get five years because he followed a blood-sucking standard lowering twin in Bob Davie.
It wasn’t that three years was enough with Willingham, it’s that EIGHT YEARS of Davieham usery was too much for anyone who cared to bear.
When Willingham was at Stanford he would opine about what he could do with “Notre Dame level talent,” then he came to Notre Dame and opined about what he could accomplish without “Notre Dame’s restrictions.”
I’m sure everyone’s worked with such an excuse molder in every lower form.
Then he went and talked to the Administration at UW about coaching there while he was still at ND … and was fired.
“The lead’s are weak, Ty? You’re weak.”
When Ty was hired he sung Notre Dame’s praises; when he was fired he cried racism. Screw him and the Boob who came before him.
As a person, I hope they have happy fulfilled lives. As a fan, I hope they rot for their combined betrayal (and let’s face it, their lives are in the 99.9999999%ile of good because of Notre Dame cash and notoriety.) Whether it’s Boob’s administration stabbing of Lou in the back and mediocrity peddling or Ty’s crying race while playing the back nine, leaving Notre Dame with no offensive linemen and pocketing over $5 Million large while teeing up another team, the two are inseparable and pathetically equal in my mind.
And with that, I mention my last word ever about BobTyDavieWillingham, the greatest combination fraud ever perpetrated on Notre Dame soil. They are one in the same from the Notre Dame perspective… not black, not white, just users who both took the money and ran and never cared except for that which Notre Dame could do for them.
Neither even liked Notre Dame.
Thankfully, TyBoob doesn’t matter.
The media critics don’t matter.
I predict they, the critics, will be falling over themselves to gush about Notre Dame… after pronouncing Notre Dame dead a few more times and after we start winning.
And it’s going to hurt in the meantime, but the infection has almost been purged.
Hike up your kilt; suck it up. Yeah it could be “better” but only better like a “C-” with beer goggles better. It would still be different degrees of bad if Stoops or Belichik or whomever were coaching this team.
“The only thing now that matters is to get them to score on the line that is coned.”
That which needed to be done, was done. The big media battle has already been fought and Notre Dame won.
That said, I’ll still swear and throw things on Saturday until we get better.
NDNation.com 
September 20, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Here, here. Very well said!
September 20, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Good SI article on how ND’s horrible recruiting under Ty has killed this season:
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — It’s easy to understand why Notre Dame is 0-3 for the second time in school history. The Fighting Irish are last in the nation in rushing offense and total offense, are among the worst teams at stopping the run and have nearly twice as many punts as they do points.
What isn’t so easy to understand is how a team went so quickly from receiving consecutive Bowl Championship Series berths to becoming the butt of late night talk show jokes.
After last week’s 38-0 loss to struggling Michigan, the question the media and fans were asking is: Does this Irish squad have any talent?
The answer, experts say, is yes — but not enough in the junior and senior classes.
“I don’t think they have as much talent as the teams they’ve played — certainly not among the upper classmen,” Rivals.com recruiting analyst Bobby Burton said.
Coach Charlie Weis said he understands why some people are questioning his team’s talent level.
“Right now if I were looking at them and watching how we’re playing, I can see how they can make statements like that,” he said. “But I obviously feel different about this team.”
NFL draft analyst Gil Brandt said he recalls a conversation with Weis at the Super Bowl in Detroit in 2006 when Weis said he was worried about the 2007 and 2008 seasons.
“Here’s a guy that was coming off a great year and he was really concerned about what was going to happen because of the fact he did not think they had the guys there that could make them competitive,” Brandt said.
Weis said he doesn’t recall the conversation.
The Irish do have some talent among their fifth-year seniors, Brandt said. He has fifth-year senior John Carlson rated as the top tight end in next year’s draft. He also has center John Sullivan and safety Tom Zbikowski highly rated and had praise for defensive end Trevor Laws.
“But they just don’t have the talent levels in the juniors and seniors in my estimation that you need to play against all these good teams,” he said.
The reason for that is two years of bad recruiting in Tyrone Willingham’s final full recruiting class and Weis’ first class when he was finishing up as the New England Patriots’ offensive coordinator.
On the day Notre Dame signed 17 players in February 2004, CSTV recruiting analyst Tom Lemming called it worst class for the Irish in at least 20 years. He now says it was even worse than that. The next year’s class, which was a hybrid of Willingham and Weis recruiting, wasn’t much better, again finishing out of the top 20.
“One bad year is real bad, but it’s not disastrous. Two is disastrous,” Lemming said. “When you have all your talent in your freshman and sophomore classes, you’re going to suffer. And you’re going to lose to real good programs.”
Still, that doesn’t explain how the Irish are 12½-point underdogs at home Saturday to Michigan State (3-0), a program that has posted one winning season in the past five years. The only time in recent memory the Irish were bigger underdogs at home was in 2005 against No. 1 USC, when they were 13-point underdogs in a game they lost 34-31.
Two substandard recruiting years also doesn’t explain why they have looked so absolutely inept. Even bad teams score touchdowns on occasion, and even bad teams manage positive yardage. Bad teams can block on at least some plays.
“You look at everyone on the offensive line, they were all highly recruited players,” said Max Emfinger, editor of National Blue Chips. “Jimmy Clausen’s running for his life on every play. It’s like a sieve.”
What might be most worrisome for Notre Dame fans, though, is that the game against the Spartans might be Notre Dame’s best chance to win until early November. Notre Dame’s next four games are at Purdue (3-0), at UCLA (2-1), at home against No. 14 Boston College (3-0) and at home against No. 1 USC (2-0). The Irish are surely to be underdogs in each.
Weis said there are many reasons why the Irish have struggled, but he believes the problems can be fixed.
“I didn’t turn into a crummy coach overnight, my staff didn’t turn crummy overnight and the players didn’t turn crummy overnight either,” he said. “There’s a whole bunch of problems that are all involved right there. I think we’re going to be judged from where it goes from here. And let’s face it, it doesn’t get much lower than where you are right now.”
September 20, 2007 at 4:20 pm
This might be the best Rock Report I’ve ever read. Very well done.
September 20, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Well done, my friend. The lowest ebb is always the turn of the tide.
September 20, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Awesome job of explaining exactly how I feel SME. I would love to tell all except a very few guys in the media, “SCREW YOU”, wait until 2009 you !@#$ %$#@ers. Thanks again for putting my thoughts into words. Keep up the good work.
September 20, 2007 at 5:06 pm
My thoughts exactly, screw em all.
September 20, 2007 at 5:33 pm
The “war” for recruits is never over. That is why this (so far) bad season can still hurt the Irish going forward. And, while Ty’s final two recruiting classes were below par for ND, they averaged better than 40th in the nation. Notre Dame has not played as well as the 40th team in the nation. Not even close. And that is something that cannot be blamed on Daviehamm; no matter how fast one spins.
September 20, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Anon-
Not only were the classes poorly rated, most of them have left. So it’s not just the rating, it’s the defections.
September 20, 2007 at 8:13 pm
aside from everything we’ve already heard about the team being young and inexperienced, bad recruiting by willingham, no upperclass offensive lineman, etc etc etc … I REALLY think that one of the biggest things that Charlie had to adjust to was learning how to teach the kids fundamentals and run physical practices. some of the most eye opening pieces i’ve read in the last week as how this week was the first time all year that they practiced full contact “tackle to the ground” practices.
it was the theory of weis coming from an nfl practice environment of having as much time as necessary to get it right and that the fundamentals were already in position so it was just practicing scheme and x’s and o’s. i think this 0-3 start was necessary for charlie and the staff to learn how to run college practices and really be college coaches.
honestly i think that’s what we’ll look back on in a week, a month, a year, a decade and realize that charlie just had to learn how to be a college coach and quite frankly, i really think he has.
GO IRISH…WHAT BETTER STAGE FOR A WIN THAN VS. THE TEAM THAT WEIS SAID ND WOULD NEVER LOSE TO EVER AGAIN ON HIS WATCH!
September 20, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Being young/poor recruiting explains this team being 0-3. But it DOES NOT explain Notre Dame being ranked dead last in D1 in nearly every offensive statistic and by a land slide at that. It DOES NOT explain a perceived lack of fight/spirit on the sidelines. Three core components go towards building college football programs: talented recruits, support (boosters, facilities, etc), and coaching. As bad as the talent is on this ND team, it’s STILL better than most of D1. The support this team has is second to none. Those two alone should assure that this team be at least mediocre. There is something fundementally wrong in the way they are currently being coached for the team to have sunken this low. Again, a young team being 0-3 is one thing, having ten more sacks than points in the season, negative rushing yardage, no offensive TDs, apathetic play, etc. is a problem with CURRENT coaching.
September 20, 2007 at 10:04 pm
A sad attempt to normalize a coach’s poor leadership and inability to recruit top talent and mold it into winning team. Blame it on the media. Blame it on Ty. Blame it Davey. Blame it on anybody you want. The fact is, we hired a guy who has never held a top coaching job at any level. We will suffer while he learns.
September 20, 2007 at 11:16 pm
If you read his article I believe he said “screw you”, anonymoron.
September 20, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Absolutely fantasic post. No politically correctness just right to the point. Very well done indeed.
September 21, 2007 at 1:24 am
absolutely love the rant, want to frame it
September 21, 2007 at 2:10 am
Nice job on the Glen Gary Glen Ross drops. We’ll find out everything we need to know about the character of this football team and its leadership this weekend.
September 21, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Thank you for putting my feelings into words. Others cannot understand why I am not losing my mind over this season. It is shaping up exactly as some fans saw it. I watch these games (more than once) and look for the signs of a seed growing. I think we will be looking back on this season with a lot of pride in a few years.
September 21, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Thank you for this. Perfectly summarizes my feelings on this season and the TyBoob era
September 21, 2007 at 5:05 pm
right on…couldn’t agree more…next year will be different, one year doesn’t make a legacy. anybody who thought the irish were going to win 9 or 10 games this year wasn’t looking at the situation correctly. our time will come. go irish.
woofish1@verizon.net
September 22, 2007 at 3:49 am
“If ND falters now, it’s not because of media bias, it’s only because of ourselves — and Notre Dame doesn’t get a talent like Corwin Brown if the coaching world thinks ND won’t rise again.”
Why are we good? “Because we have Corwin Brown.” Why is Corwin Brown good? Because he’d better be or you’re not happy?
Who are you kidding? To quote Philosopher-King CW — “you are what you are” and in year 3, he is 0-3, and buck naked dead last in every category. Spare me comparisons to coaches fired in 2004 — he is what he is, and so is Corwin Brown.
September 22, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Very good points, but when assigning responsibility for a defeatist ethos at ND you should aim higher, at those who hired Davie and Willingham. As the Russian proverb reminds us, “A fish rots from the head.” Or in the context of ND, would Edmund Joyce have hired these two losers? No way.
September 25, 2007 at 1:57 am
Amen. This was such a great post.