In one of many memorable scenes from The Godfather, members of the Corleone family are plotting the assassination of a drug lord and the crooked cop hired to protect him.
Youngest brother Michael Corleone plans a strategy where he’ll dine with the two in a restaurant and then excuse himself to go to the bathroom, where a hidden, loaded gun is supposed to be planted.
Older brother Sonny starts getting antsy about the tactic and interjects, “Listen, the gun better be there! I don’t want my brother walking out of the bathroom with just his (appendage) in his hand.”
That is the scene that came to my mind in December 2004 when Utah’s Urban Meyer opted to coach at the University of Florida instead of Notre Dame.
Though there have been cries for Weis' job, they have rarely been accompanied by the names of reasonable replacements.
Tyrone Willingham was fired for three reasons: 1) not getting it done on the field, especially losing too many games to Boston College, Pitt, BYU and their ilk, 2) a reputation for laxness on the recruiting trail, thus imperiling the program’s future, and 3) the hottest coaching prospect in the country, Meyer, was supposedly the “gun for hire” Notre Dame had waiting in the coaching stall. It was necessary to act, because seldom do such opportunities occur.
Throughout Utah’s 12-0 run that season, publicity had been rampant that Meyer had an exit clause in his contract for the Notre Dame, Ohio State or Michigan jobs. The stars were aligned for one of those bonanza coaching hires the Irish have once every 20 years or so.
Knute Rockne turned down the Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State) job in 1917…and then was promoted to head coach at Notre Dame in 1918.
Twenty-three years later (1941), his protégé, Frank Leahy, made himself available at the perfect time.
Twenty-two years later (December, 1963), a falling out between Northwestern’s Ara Parseghian and the school’s athletics director enabled him to land in Notre Dame’s lap when least expected.
Twenty-two years later (November, 1985), Lou Holtz had his own Notre Dame clause in place at Minnesota and was the easy, smooth hire for Irish AD Gene Corrigan.
Two decades later again, all seemed in place…except this time when Notre Dame sought the Meyer revolver, it came out of the room empty.
I think of that scene every time I hear Charlie Weis must be replaced – pronto.
Each time I try to reply calmly with, “Okay, fine…now who do you bring in?”
You either get silence, stammering, or illogical names such as Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan, Bob Stoops…and I’ve even heard Ron Zook, because he can recruit.
Some still fantasize about Jon Gruden, who supposedly was near the Irish threshold in 2001. He’s this decade’s NFL fantasy coach to Irish fans, much like Don Shula was in the 1970s, Dick Vermeil in the 1980s, or Bill Walsh in the 1990s. Others mention a “central casting” figure, the Cincinnati Bearcats’ Brian Kelly. With all due respect, such a hire sounds right now more like a nice single to the opposite field than a grand slam.
Then there are always the flavors of the month, including South Florida’s Jim Leavitt last year, or Skip Holtz this past September.
Look, my faith in the staff has been shaken as much as anybody’s, but I’ve maintained since the beginning of the season that Weis would still receive a fifth season as a reward for his first two years, which featured two major bowls, and for the last two, which at least earned national plaudits for landing reinforcements amid difficult circumstances.
In May 2005, before he coached his first game at Notre Dame, Weis drew the proverbial line in the sand of what he needed to accomplish.
“When you have five recruiting classes, you have no excuses for failure,” Weis said. “You have an opportunity to have every guy in the program (that you recruited), to be the guy who had the due diligence to recruit for the whole recruiting period. If you can’t provide a program that is contending to win it all at a place like this, then you’re doing something wrong.”
One might argue that in 2009 he’ll still have only four “full” recruiting classes (he couldn’t fully recruit in 2005 while coaching at New England), but that won’t fly if the program doesn’t prosper.
The question is what constitutes “getting it done” in 2009? Not long ago, Weis made it known to everyone that “9-3 Isn’t Good Enough” after his first year. Will it be acceptable in Year 5?
Or is the bar subtly lowered because of the maladies from the past 15 years, and where anything looks better than 3-9?
The 'Three C's'
Not many coaches can, or are willing, to operate in such an environment where they feel constricted by the “Three C’s”: coverage, climate and classroom.
Coverage – While most coaches are under a provincial microscope, Notre Dame’s has a national one. This job has a life of 11 years – and that’s if you’re Hall-of-Fame caliber.
Not many coaches care to deal with such intense scrutiny, especially with a fan base that still expects yearly contention for national titles even though Notre Dame hasn’t once in the last 15 years had a season where it lost less than three games. Someone such as Oregon State’s Mike Riley, a 1974 Alabama grad, even turned down overtures from his alma mater. You can make a fabulous living elsewhere and still be a hero with seven or eight wins.
Climate – The advantage has tilted to the Sun Belt states and warm-weather schools. Florida, Texas and USC have the superior recruiting bases and the premier coaches in place to tap into such resources (plus, I am told, there is a fourth intangible “C” in the warmer climates called “comely coeds”).
I’m not sure how many coaches would have the patience and work ethic to go the extra miles in recruiting the way Weis does, and even he acknowledges it’s still extremely challenging to lure prospects away from the in-state powers.
Classroom – Do you think Nick Saban could sign 32 recruits in February at Notre Dame and come out even in the scholarship count by suddenly losing seven to academic eligibility? Meyer supposedly wanted a few concessions on the academic side too.
Weis erred in judgment when he made his “I could recruit hoodlums and thugs and win tomorrow” statement…but I have a hunch that a lot of elite coaches are of the opinion that Notre Dame tilts more toward Vanderbilt and Stanford than Florida, Texas and USC.
While Weis and Co. have done a remarkable job of keeping the Notre Dame brand name attractive in living rooms with their work ethic and proving they’re still a player, coaches seem to be a tougher sell to recruit to Notre Dame.
Ever since Zook’s midseason firing at Florida in 2004 helped set the wheels in motion to lure Meyer, it seemed to start a trend where coaches are getting axed more often during the season (Tommy Bowden, Phil Fulmer, Willingham, Ron Prince…) just so administrators can get better organized for a search.
In other words, if you want to come out firing…the gun better be in place.
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