2009 College Football Thread

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

His incompetence as a head coach has been.

Or at least it will have been, just as soon as he's officially let go.

[Shooter]

It's could be a buyer's market for XXXXXXL coaching gear with Weis all but gone and Ralph Friedgen and Mark Mangino also feeling some heat.

[Pre]

His incompetence as a head coach has been.

Or at least it will have been, just as soon as he's officially let go.

The comment after the Pitt game when Weiss threw his offensive lineman under the
bus by specifically calling him out and basically pinning the loss on one guy who didn't
even make a horrible play was sad, even for that douche bag.

Weiss seems to believe totally and completely that he has the best offensive scheme
in all of football and it is solely the fault of his players that they fail to execute it perfectly.

[Kermit, B.]

It's could be a buyer's market for XXXXXXL coaching gear with Weis all but gone and Ralph Friedgen and Mark Mangino also feeling some heat.

[PLAYED OUT]Someone tell BananaHands he's in luck![/PLAYED OUT]

[SKO]

Weis haters rejoice.  Rumor has it that Fat Charlie was told last week he's out after this season, which would explain why he was even more ornery and dickish about throwing his players under the bus after the Navy game.  Rumor has it his replacement will be (and I'm not sure how much I believe this) Tony Dungy.

The only thing I can think of is that Dungy has a connection with Swarbrick, the new AD, since I think Swarbrick's firm is the one that worked on the deal for the new stadium.  As long as their coach next year is NotWeis, I'll be happy.

Dungy?  Molder of men, destroyer of pregame shows?  Are there any Vick brothers left to recruit?

This sounds like one of those rumors that makes a lot of sense on paper (strong Christian values, loves to work with youth) but has no basis in reality.

It's got to be Brian Kelly or Chris Peterson, assuming either of those guys would be willing to leave a successful program for a shitty one.

Turning the ND program around isn't exactly a Herculean task. Their TV contract guarantees any player maximum exposure, and the Irish's PR Department can certainly gear up a trophy campaign once a half-decent player comes along. All this leads to easy recruiting of studs from around the country.

It takes a pretty special coach to be able to screw the pooch at Notre Dame as thoroughly as Frontbutt did.

These perceived ND advantages are long gone. Look at when ND hired Frontbutt, Urban Meyer never thought once about going there when Florida came calling with big money, plenty of TV exposure, and a rabid fanbase. All things that ND supposedly has over everyone else.

They're all still there. Bring in a half-decent coach and ND will once again become the Yankees of college football.

Seriously? They had a decent run during the early years of the Lou Holth tenure, but they haven't been "the Yankees of college football" since the 1960s, if not earlier. The Notre Dame mythos more or less hides the fact that there's absolutely nothing that makes them special. Army and Navy happily took their places as mid majors. Notre Dame won't fall that far, but they should just enter a conference and shut the fuck up. What makes a half decent coach, anyways? Front butt's a half decent coach, in that he can recruit, but he can't coach. Willingham had a brief run of competency before his inability to recruit hampered his effort. Davie was "half-decent." The fact is that Notre Dame fans need to just temper their expectations and realize that they haven't been the powerhouse they imagine themselves to be since the 1960s. At some point the "return to Glory" crowd needs to realize just how far back that glory really was. Of their 11 national titles, 7 came in 1949 or before. The others were in 1966, 1973, 1977, and 1988. This isn't a fucking anomaly of mediocrity, this is reality. Notre Dame is not a powerhouse, and most likely never will be again.

[CubFaninHydePark]

Of their 11 national titles, 7 came in 1949 or before. The others were in 1966, 1973, 1977, and 1988. This isn't a fucking anomaly of mediocrity, this is reality. Notre Dame is not a powerhouse, and most likely never will be again.

Emphatically, THI.

[Eli]

Weis haters rejoice.  Rumor has it that Fat Charlie was told last week he's out after this season, which would explain why he was even more ornery and dickish about throwing his players under the bus after the Navy game.  Rumor has it his replacement will be (and I'm not sure how much I believe this) Tony Dungy.

The only thing I can think of is that Dungy has a connection with Swarbrick, the new AD, since I think Swarbrick's firm is the one that worked on the deal for the new stadium.  As long as their coach next year is NotWeis, I'll be happy.

Dungy?  Molder of men, destroyer of pregame shows?  Are there any Vick brothers left to recruit?

This sounds like one of those rumors that makes a lot of sense on paper (strong Christian values, loves to work with youth) but has no basis in reality.

It's got to be Brian Kelly or Chris Peterson, assuming either of those guys would be willing to leave a successful program for a shitty one.

Turning the ND program around isn't exactly a Herculean task. Their TV contract guarantees any player maximum exposure, and the Irish's PR Department can certainly gear up a trophy campaign once a half-decent player comes along. All this leads to easy recruiting of studs from around the country.

It takes a pretty special coach to be able to screw the pooch at Notre Dame as thoroughly as Frontbutt did.

These perceived ND advantages are long gone. Look at when ND hired Frontbutt, Urban Meyer never thought once about going there when Florida came calling with big money, plenty of TV exposure, and a rabid fanbase. All things that ND supposedly has over everyone else.

They're all still there. Bring in a half-decent coach and ND will once again become the Yankees of college football.

Seriously? They had a decent run during the early years of the Lou Holth tenure, but they haven't been "the Yankees of college football" since the 1960s, if not earlier. The Notre Dame mythos more or less hides the fact that there's absolutely nothing that makes them special. Army and Navy happily took their places as mid majors. Notre Dame won't fall that far, but they should just enter a conference and shut the fuck up. What makes a half decent coach, anyways? Front butt's a half decent coach, in that he can recruit, but he can't coach. Willingham had a brief run of competency before his inability to recruit hampered his effort. Davie was "half-decent." The fact is that Notre Dame fans need to just temper their expectations and realize that they haven't been the powerhouse they imagine themselves to be since the 1960s. At some point the "return to Glory" crowd needs to realize just how far back that glory really was. Of their 11 national titles, 7 came in 1949 or before. The others were in 1966, 1973, 1977, and 1988. This isn't a fucking anomaly of mediocrity, this is reality. Notre Dame is not a powerhouse, and most likely never will be again.

YEAH, but ...

[Andy]

Of their 11 national titles, 7 came in 1949 or before. The others were in 1966, 1973, 1977, and 1988. This isn't a fucking anomaly of mediocrity, this is reality. Notre Dame is not a powerhouse, and most likely never will be again.

Hah!  You are wrong.  They are a powerhouse and they will be again.  Have you never seen Rudy?  For shame!

It's almost like you are saying in order to be considered a major player in college football you need to win lots of games.  We know that can't be true.  Hell, the sport can't even be troubled to have a tournament at the end of the year to pick their champion.  They just have a caucus.  It's tradition, damnit!

[Quality Start Machine]

What INCENTIVE does ND have to join a conference? They don't have to share revenue with anyone, can pick and choose their opponents, and negotiate their own TV contracts.

Plus, they win 6 games, and some bowl will always take them.

[Reuschels_Jowls]

What INCENTIVE does ND have to join a conference? They don't have to share revenue with anyone, can pick and choose their opponents, and negotiate their own TV contracts.

Plus, they win 6 games, and some bowl will always take them.

Well, pretty much any team that wins 6 games nowadays goes to a bowl game, including those outside of the BCS leagues (NIU went to the Independence Bowl at 6-6 last year).

But you're right about the revenue streams. As long as NBC is willing to re-up the deal to get the ND-Michigan and ND-USC ratings every other year, the "join a conference" stuff is just silly talk. Even when ND sucks, enough ND haters tune in for their weekly schadenfreude that the rest of the deal is worthwhile to the network. (I tune in for Tom Hammond's lip gloss myself).

[thehawk]

What INCENTIVE does ND have to join a conference? They don't have to share revenue with anyone, can pick and choose their opponents, and negotiate their own TV contracts.

Plus, they win 6 games, and some bowl will always take them.

Well, pretty much any team that wins 6 games nowadays goes to a bowl game, including those outside of the BCS leagues (NIU went to the Independence Bowl at 6-6 last year).

But you're right about the revenue streams. As long as NBC is willing to re-up the deal to get the ND-Michigan and ND-USC ratings every other year, the "join a conference" stuff is just silly talk. Even when ND sucks, enough ND haters tune in for their weekly schadenfreude that the rest of the deal is worthwhile to the network. (I tune in for Tom Hammond's lip gloss myself).

The question I have is what is to force Michigan and/or USC from re-upping their deals with Notre Dame?  The trend is to schedule cupcakes for the non-conference portion of the schedule (so as to ensure those 6 wins and a bowl payday).  Michigan has also lost lots of luster and is may want to start scheduling easier, and USC may be slipping a little as well.  Notre Dame's schedule could start to look a whole lot like Boise States

[Dr. Nguyen Van Falk]

What INCENTIVE does ND have to join a conference? They don't have to share revenue with anyone, can pick and choose their opponents, and negotiate their own TV contracts.

Plus, they win 6 games, and some bowl will always take them.

Well, pretty much any team that wins 6 games nowadays goes to a bowl game, including those outside of the BCS leagues (NIU went to the Independence Bowl at 6-6 last year).

But you're right about the revenue streams. As long as NBC is willing to re-up the deal to get the ND-Michigan and ND-USC ratings every other year, the "join a conference" stuff is just silly talk. Even when ND sucks, enough ND haters tune in for their weekly schadenfreude that the rest of the deal is worthwhile to the network. (I tune in for Tom Hammond's lip gloss myself).

The question I have is what is to force Michigan and/or USC from re-upping their deals with Notre Dame?  The trend is to schedule cupcakes for the non-conference portion of the schedule (so as to ensure those 6 wins and a bowl payday).  Michigan has also lost lots of luster and is may want to start scheduling easier, and USC may be slipping a little as well.  Notre Dame's schedule could start to look a whole lot like Boise States

ND doesn't qualify?

[Kermit, B.]

Seriously? They had a decent run during the early years of the Lou Holth tenure, but they haven't been "the Yankees of college football" since the 1960s, if not earlier. The Notre Dame mythos more or less hides the fact that there's absolutely nothing that makes them special. Army and Navy happily took their places as mid majors. Notre Dame won't fall that far, but they should just enter a conference and shut the fuck up. What makes a half decent coach, anyways? Front butt's a half decent coach, in that he can recruit, but he can't coach. Willingham had a brief run of competency before his inability to recruit hampered his effort. Davie was "half-decent." The fact is that Notre Dame fans need to just temper their expectations and realize that they haven't been the powerhouse they imagine themselves to be since the 1960s. At some point the "return to Glory" crowd needs to realize just how far back that glory really was. Of their 11 national titles, 7 came in 1949 or before. The others were in 1966, 1973, 1977, and 1988. This isn't a fucking anomaly of mediocrity, this is reality. Notre Dame is not a powerhouse, and most likely never will be again.

Mostly THI, though I disagree that they can't be a "powerhouse" again.  And by "powerhouse," I'm not saying they're in the National Championship every year, but they are at least in smelling distance of the top 10, and get the occasional (DESERVED, unlike the last two) BCS bid.  Keep in mind that USC was shit during the 80's and early 90's until they brought in a coach that knew what the hell he was doing and was smart enough to turn his head when the boosters were buying a condo for Reggie Bush.  And now they're clearly a powerhouse (this year excluded; tee-hee).  I know ND likes to pretend they're "different," but if they want to win, they'd better deal with the fact that the landscape of college football has changed, and the "mystique" of ND pales (quite literally, in most cases) to the allure of many of the warm-weather schools.  If they want to win and preserve their self-proclaimed "better-than-everyone-else"edness, they need a guy like Lou, who was smart enough to look like a saint, even though he was shady as hell.

Oh, who am I kidding?  I don't even care if they never win a BCS championship.  Just beat Southern Cal at least 60% of the time, for fuck's sake.  Hell, I'll more than 0% of the time, at this point.

[PenFoe]

Seriously? They had a decent run during the early years of the Lou Holth tenure, but they haven't been "the Yankees of college football" since the 1960s, if not earlier. The Notre Dame mythos more or less hides the fact that there's absolutely nothing that makes them special. Army and Navy happily took their places as mid majors. Notre Dame won't fall that far, but they should just enter a conference and shut the fuck up. What makes a half decent coach, anyways? Front butt's a half decent coach, in that he can recruit, but he can't coach. Willingham had a brief run of competency before his inability to recruit hampered his effort. Davie was "half-decent." The fact is that Notre Dame fans need to just temper their expectations and realize that they haven't been the powerhouse they imagine themselves to be since the 1960s. At some point the "return to Glory" crowd needs to realize just how far back that glory really was. Of their 11 national titles, 7 came in 1949 or before. The others were in 1966, 1973, 1977, and 1988. This isn't a fucking anomaly of mediocrity, this is reality. Notre Dame is not a powerhouse, and most likely never will be again.

Mostly THI, though I disagree that they can't be a "powerhouse" again.  And by "powerhouse," I'm not saying they're in the National Championship every year, but they are at least in smelling distance of the top 10, and get the occasional (DESERVED, unlike the last two) BCS bid.  Keep in mind that USC was shit during the 80's and early 90's until they brought in a coach that knew what the hell he was doing and was smart enough to turn his head when the boosters were buying a condo for Reggie Bush.  And now they're clearly a powerhouse (this year excluded; tee-hee).  I know ND likes to pretend they're "different," but if they want to win, they'd better deal with the fact that the landscape of college football has changed, and the "mystique" of ND pales (quite literally, in most cases) to the allure of many of the warm-weather schools.  If they want to win and preserve their self-proclaimed "better-than-everyone-else"edness, they need a guy like Lou, who was smart enough to look like a saint, even though he was shady as hell.

Oh, who am I kidding?  I don't even care if they never win a BCS championship.  Just beat Southern Cal at least 60% of the time, for fuck's sake.  Hell, I'll more than 0% of the time, at this point.

The whole more?

[World B Free]

What INCENTIVE does ND have to join a conference? They don't have to share revenue with anyone, can pick and choose their opponents, and negotiate their own TV contracts.

Plus, they win 6 games, and some bowl will always take them.

Well, pretty much any team that wins 6 games nowadays goes to a bowl game, including those outside of the BCS leagues (NIU went to the Independence Bowl at 6-6 last year).

But you're right about the revenue streams. As long as NBC is willing to re-up the deal to get the ND-Michigan and ND-USC ratings every other year, the "join a conference" stuff is just silly talk. Even when ND sucks, enough ND haters tune in for their weekly schadenfreude that the rest of the deal is worthwhile to the network. (I tune in for Tom Hammond's lip gloss myself).

The question I have is what is to force Michigan and/or USC from re-upping their deals with Notre Dame?  The trend is to schedule cupcakes for the non-conference portion of the schedule (so as to ensure those 6 wins and a bowl payday).  Michigan has also lost lots of luster and is may want to start scheduling easier, and USC may be slipping a little as well.  Notre Dame's schedule could start to look a whole lot like Boise States

So Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Delaware State are what exactly?  Michigan's toughest opponent out of conference is ND.  I'm sure that Michigan and USC make a pretty decent amount of cash off the matchup, so I doubt they will ever stop scheduling it, but who knows, maybe someone is itching for a home and home with a mid-major.  

I think you're a little premature on USC.  They lost a good amount of players and are starting a freshman qb.  They'll be back in a season or two.