Charlie, we hardly knew ye

Notre Dame is enduring one of their worst losing seasons in a dog's age & you can point out multiple factors for why the Irish are so horrid: they can't run the football, their offensive line is porous like the Atlantic Ocean (allowing roughly 60 sacks this season alone), QB-wise, they can't seem to find any consistency from game to game, yada yada yada.

But this time around, you can't help but pin much of the blame on Charlie Weis.

Sure, Weis has some very impeccable NFL credentials on his resume & these have worked wonders during his time @ South Bend. But these credentials weren't enough to save Bob Davie's job or even Tyrone Willingham's behind. Which leads to 2007, one of the most putrid years on record for one of college's football powerhouses: Where did the Irish AD go wrong when he hired Weis?

But that'd be digressing. One can see the youth, the inexperience of Notre Dame in who knows how many aspects of the game; we don't need to be told about this for the thousandth time. One can see the struggles which come with being green & inexperienced, stepping into pretty big shoes which you're not accustomed to wearing. We've seen it all before in who knows how many variations from the Irish all season long. It's on the head coach & his staff to set things right, to lead his ballclub in the direction where they need to go to become successful. And as hard as Weis has tried to steer ND back on course, it seems that his team is lost in translation, speaking a completely different language when they take to the field.

Then again, that would be a grievous understatement. Weis himself, it seems, has been on a different page than his ballclub & naturally enough is speaking a foreign language which is better suited for say, anyone who's in the NFL paying their dues. It's not that hard to figure out. But come next season, one hopes that Notre Dame doesn't repeat themselves as they have done way too many times in 2007, that they take one word into consideration fully & with sincerity, a word which they desperately need more than all else: leadership.

Who will step up as leaders? Who will lead the way selflessly? These are questions the players will find answers to, though they may not come easily. However, it is on Weis to find out who is up to the task as far as leadership is concerned.

PS Boy, did the Irish ever need leadership badly this season. And we thought that we'd get at least several wins for '07, Charlie? The very thought that we'd get 6 or 7 victories was another false hope which this season's ballclub has done nothing to change.