Weis, whose head-coaching experience before Notre Dame had been limited to one season at Franklin Township (N.J.) High School, nonetheless intimidated some players enough to keep them in a shell. Maybe that helps to explain the rash of transfers and player arrests - four that we know of - under his watch.
Look, say what you will about Charlie's on-field performance… I certainly can't defend him after an abysmal 3-9 season… but give me a freaking break! In today's college football environment, four arrests in over three years is nothing short of a miracle! And it's not like we're talking serious offenses here either. We're not dealing with players dealing ecstasy (USC), firing automatic weapons in crowded areas (Florida), or even anything as simple as getting into fights (like pretty much every other team in the country). Let's take a look at this "rash" of player arrests…
1) RPN pulled over for DWI. Stupid? Yeah, but college students are nailed for this all the freaking time. Hardly a sign of an out of control program, unless you want to classify the entire student body as out of control.
2) Will Yeatman also pulled over for DWI. Whoop de flippin doo.
3) Jimmy Clausen cited… and not arrested I might add… for violating an ass-backwards Indiana law that says a minor literally can't ride in a car if there is unopened booze in the trunk, even if the adult who legally purchased the alcohol is in the car too. Jimmy is one badass mofo.
4) Darrell Hand arrested for solicitation. He obviously put himself in a bad situation, but no charges were filed and it appears from his punishment, or lack thereof, that this was a case of entrapment. Either way, by far the worst thing any player has done under Charlie's tenure.
Truly, the above list constitutes a veritable crime spree… perhaps even a concerted attack perpetrated by Charlie's band of renegades against the very foundations of our society. Give me a freaking break. Our almost unbelievably low crime rate, coupled with our 100% graduation rate (excluding transfers) and the fact that our team has maintained at least a 3.0 GPA since Charlie arrived, make Charlie's Notre Dame a candidate, if not the obvious choice, for the cleanest program in the country. My dorm had far more legal incidents over the same time period, and it was filled with a bunch of lame, rich white kids. To classify four minor incidents in three years as a "rash" is nothing short of disingenuous.
Now on to the transfers…
Weis chalked up the departures to playing time issues, but it can't help when some of your own recruits are scared to talk to you, allowing small problems to fester into major issues.
Utter crap! Ty recruited poorly and Charlie recruited well. Transfers happen when younger players are better than older players. It's that simple. Every top-tier program with plenty of talent experiences transfers every single year. But hey, I'm sure that's not the case at Notre Dame, a team that just pulled in three top-10 recruiting classes. Our players must be scared of Charlie. Not being able to retain four quarterbacks who were all four stars or better on the roster at the same time must surely be a sign that something is wrong with the head coach.
This next bit is directed at most Notre dame haters, not just Greenstein.
I've seen Weis walk away from conversations with people in mid-sentence. Harder to do that when you're the first Irish coach since Hugh Devore to lose to Navy.
Why the hell do we get so much shit for playing the Naval Academy?! They're better than over half of the teams in the Big-10! We got blown out by frigging Air Force, but all these misinformed jackasses want to talk about is an overtime loss to a somewhat respectable team that has beaten much, much, much better teams than the 2007 Notre Dame squad. It's disrespectful to Navy, and shows just how little the so-called "experts" really know about college football. The streak against Navy had to survive a multitude of close calls and lucky breaks to last as long as it did. This hack doesn't even mention the bajillion point loss, at home, to a miserable Air Force team, or the fact that we were tied with Duke… FRIGGING DUKE… at the half. I'm not defending our season or making excuses for the loss to Navy. We played like crap and Charlie shat the bed with his playcalling. I'm just pointing out that Navy is not an awful team, and if this guy knew even a tiny bit about college football, he'd have much better ammunition than "omg you play Navy every year lol they're a service academy lol."
Teddy Greenstein is a complete hack. How this tripe gets passed off as sports journalism is beyond me. I know Notre Dame bashing sells, but this stuff doesn't even make sense! Also, what kind of a name is Teddy for a grown man? There are two types of people named Teddy in this world... former presidents and fat eight year olds with freckles. Grow up, hack.
Labels: Asshat of the Week
