Oh brother, is it ever on. It's now official. After a near collapse of almost epic proportions against Navy, no less, all doubt has been removed. It's a done deal.
The Charlie Weis watch has commenced. Put another way, the rotund and beleaguered Notre Dame coach is clearly on the clock. The countdown on his regime has begun in earnest.
Whether Weis can survive or not is open to conjecture and supposition. But based on the manner in which his football team has performed over the last three weeks, don't bet on Weis becoming a fixture in South Bend. Weis is on the verge of having worn out his welcome, if he hasn't already.
Unless he has a bang-up campaign in 2009 and wins a minimum of 9 to 10 games, which few people envision happening, Weis and the Irish will soon part company.
The Charlie Weis era is hanging by a thread. It won't take much to snip that last strand and send Weis hurtling into an abyss that has previously consumed the likes of Gerry Faust, Bob Davie and Ty Willingham.
After such a promising start, Weis has lost much favor and it would be no surprise if he goes the way of those aforementioned unfortunates. Right now, Weis doesn't have the look of a man who will ultimately get it done. He could be dead coach walking.
The woes that have befallen Weis are many and have been fully articulated by numerous writers, talking heads and fans. Some of his sins are particularly grievous and border on the unforgivable such as; can't win any big games, constantly stumbles against the likes of Michigan State, Pitt and Boston College, can't close the deal in tight contests, unable to get a grip on ND's ridiculously high turnover rate and fostering a team that often plays tentative, undisciplined and just plain stupid. And do we even need to mention his repeated embarrassments against USC.
You evaluate Weis on what he's done in his almost four-year tenure and there isn't a whole lot that inspires confidence. We keep hearing what a dynamic recruiter he is and while there's truth in that assessment, here's the problem. You can recruit your ass off but what good does that do if you can't get these supposed gems to play at a high level. While Weis might be able to procure talent, there's serious doubt as to whether he knows how to coach it up.
With each succeeding week and season, Weis is beginning to look like the classic case of a guy who was accomplished and competent as an assistant but out of his element when asked to run the show. Weis' ceiling may have come as Bill Belichek's lieutenant and offensive coordinator. He might very well be overreaching as Notre Dame's head man.
When you're this far into a coaching stint and you still haven't been able to establish any sort of consistency, toughness or even credibility, it's probably not going to work out.
Precedent at Notre Dame says that Weis' stay won't go beyond '09. Nowhere in Irish history has a coach flopped and underachieved in his third and fourth seasons and then made it past year number five.
The reality is that Weis is damn lucky he'll get one last chance to save his hide. A set of fortuitous circumstances most likely will allow him a final opportunity to get things right. Not the least of which is that it would take a massive buyout for the Irish to unload Weis and with the economy being so unpredictable, few if any athletic departments are inclined to say goodbye to that amount of cash and get nothing in return.
ND probably erred when it gave Weis a huge extension so early in his tenure and now they're forced to deal with the consequences. In many ways, they're stuck with Weis.
But in this case, being stuck won't be a permanent state. Charlie has no more wiggle room. His learning-on-the-job phase is long over. There's not one excuse or alibi that can justify any further mediocrity or inept play.
Next season, the Irish will be comprised of nothing but Weis' imports. He will have had a full cycle to bring in his kind of players, the type of athletes that fit his image. He'll have what every coach desires, a handpicked roster. He's the chef that put this concoction together. If it falls flat again, that's solely on Weis and will most certainly seal his doom.
Oh yeah, the Charlie Weis watch is most definitely underway. The clock is ticking and the hourglass has been turned over. Time is clearly running out. It looks as if Weis might need a Hail Mary in order to survive.
This writer sincerely hopes he's wrong in this opinion but based upon current circumstances, it's hard to see the Weis watch coming to anything but a sad end. The existing climate simply doesn't suggest any other outcome.