"For Whom the Bell Tolls"

I walk through Notre Dame’s campus with a companion on Saturday evening, and I hear church bells ringing. It gives you the chills, really.

Notre Dame on a cold November night, your breath is visible. There is a certain calming peacefulness to the whole situation. Images of the movie Rudy play in your mind. There is a spirit at Notre Dame, and a loyal Domer can feel it everywhere on campus.

Hearing the church bells as fans poured out of Notre Dame Stadium exemplified that spirit to me. It seemed to signal the end of Charlie Weis’ tenure as head coach. It was as if the whole campus, living or not, knew that the final home game of the season meant the end for Charlie and his “schematic advantage.”

A two-overtime loss to the Connecticut Huskies and a loss on senior day for the second consecutive year left me struggling to figure out just how I felt about my trip to South Bend as I walked in the cold night air.

First, out of frustration with a loss, I wanted to say that the trip was a waste of time and gas money. I could have been at home, watching football on TV and saving my money for the holidays.

But that’s not right. No matter the outcome, I always appreciate an opportunity to attend a game in the House that Rockne Built. And as I said, it is special when you walk through campus and can feel the Spirit that everyone talks about.

But the bells continued to toll, and again I’m back thinking about Charlie Weis.

It was touching to see the support the team has for its coach. Rather than running out of the tunnel at the beginning of the game like normal, the team marched arm-in-arm. It looked like a golden battle formation of tightly packed soldiers, with their Head Coach at the middle of the front line, arms linked with the team captains that stand by him through all of the rumors and negativity. He is their coach, and they are with him to the end. But the end is here. If a movie were to be made of Charlie Weis’ time at Notre Dame, the scene on senior day would have been known as “The Last March of Charlie Weis.”

When he was announced as the new head coach at the University of Notre Dame five years ago, he boldly proclaimed that the team was 6-5, and that it was not good enough. “That’s not good enough for you, and it’s certainly not going to be good enough for me,” he said.

And now his team stands at 6-5 after three straight losses. The argument can be made that the Irish are right on the cusp, walking a fine line between mediocrity and greatness. Five games decided by 7 points or less. Five scores away from a potential perfect season. It is a sign of improvement that the team is so close to so many wins. But it is not enough improvement. In the win/loss column, it could be zero improvement after the upcoming trip to Stanford.

You can see the difference in the team. The talent finally has experience. The players finally feel like they should win every game they play. There are no blowout losses, and every week’s effort is respectable.

But this team could have been great. The level of talent on the team is such that every game could have been won, and probably should have. But it did not happen. The talented players did not execute when the time was at hand for execution, and the coaches did not make the right calls when it was time to make them.

The team supports Charlie Weis. I’m sure they would be glad to have him back for one more year. But that was the mantra after last season when Weis was under fire: One More Year.

I believed it and proclaimed it loudly. “Give Charlie one more year with Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, and Armando Allen, and the offense will be unstoppable. Give him one more year for his defense to improve, and we will be contenders again. Give him one more year so his players get that experience under him, and the National Championship is ours.”

It was wishful thinking, but it was a very real possibility. However, it did not pan out. If he were to get “one more year” again, his team would again have one of the most talented and dangerous offenses in college football. I believe Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate would return to play under him for their senior seasons. Even if one or both of them did not return, Weis would have his recruits to run his offense, and it would still have firepower. The team would be in a position to have a chance at winning every game.

But time is up. He was given a chance to get the job done, and it did not happen. Waiting another year for change under Weis is no longer an option. Action must be taken. A new leader must be brought in.

Irish nation is impatient, and its patience with Weis has run out. Stability is important, but winning is more so.

Just as the bells on campus tolled Saturday night, the bell has tolled on Charlie Weis. It signals the end of his time in South Bend.

And probably Jimmy Clausen’s. And probably Golden Tate’s.

Message to Bengals: Do Not Bungle Your Strong Start

Words cannot express the frustration with the Cincinnati Bengals.

As much as I would like to believe that they can get to the playoffs and make noise, and just as I am ready to proclaim them as the a member of this season’s elite class, they mess it up.

An elite team does not lose to an inferior team when said elite team has a chance to put a chokehold on their division.

An elite team does not allow a backup quarterback on a bottom five team to drive 80 yards in eleven plays for a tying score as time ticks away in the fourth quarter.

I understand that it is the NFL, and that any team can beat any other team on any given day. Every team has professional talent on its roster, and that talent can show up at any moment and take over a game.

But the Oakland Raiders did not take over this game. The Bengals gave it away. I would rather have been dominated and beaten to a pulp than to lose by three. Especially in the fashion the game was lost.

Bruce Gradkowski puts together a solid drive and puts the Bengals secondary on the ropes, ultimately cashing in for the tying score. Okay, cool. Overtime. The Bengals are better than the Raiders; they will wake up and do what they need to do in OT. Oh wait, Andre Caldwell, you forgot the ball at the 17 yard line. The Raiders picked it up. There’s only 30 seconds left in the game. Shoot, they just kicked a field goal for the win. We didn’t even get to go to overtime.

It almost makes me feel disgusted. All week since the sweep of the Steelers, I have gladly stood up for Cincinnati, supporting them and backing them when all of these people say that “it’s the Bengals, they’ll mess it up late in the season.” I do not feel that they are going to mess it up, but now it is much harder to state my case.

Last week I said that this three game stretch would be an indicator of how mature the Bengals really are, and if they are legit. Three wins from three games against inferior competition would have added major cushion. But now we must hope for two of three.

The Bengals can live with letting the Oakland game slip away. But now they MUST beat Cleveland and Detroit. If the Bengals really have matured, and are contenders, they will pick themselves up, dust off that Oakland baseball field dirt, and win the next two games.

If they can keep from getting down and avoid a slump (losing a game to a bad team can put you in a slump very quickly) they will be all right. If they can respond strongly and show everyone that they are not going to lay down and “blow it” like everyone thinks, then they can continue chasing playoff aspirations.

But for now, I struggle with frustration. I wrestle with logic. I continue to defend the Bengals and their status as a playoff team, even after such an abysmal loss.

I hope my defending them is not in vain. We will know in two weeks whether or not the Bengals bungled their strong start.

There's No Crying in Football

Allow me to go on a short rant here, but I think it is needed.

All week on ESPN and espn.com, all I have seen on college football news (aside from Charlie Weis' job status speculation) is continuing updates in the "Mean Mark Mangino" saga. The Kansas University head coach is under fire for, basically, being too mean.

I understand that there is a line between being a fiery coach and going overboard, but I would not necessarily say that grabbing a player, pointing into his chest, and yelling in his face is warrant for physical abuse claims. Sometimes, a coach has to get "in your face" to get the attention and effort that he wants out of you.

If you are not taking a walkthrough before a game seriously, maybe you need to get chewed out a bit. Football is supposed to be fun, but game preperation during a walkthrough should be all business. They are often the biggest mental preperation periods of the week. You can still have fun, even, but chances are that if your coach notices how much fun you are having, then it is too much.

In my high school football days, we had a coach that loved to yell at us and tell us how terrible we were. If we did not run the football well in the game, or even practice, he would rip us apart during offensive line drills. He would say anything and everything to get us mad, to get us into that nasty mindset an offensive lineman needs. And at the end of the day, we knew it wasn't personal. It was a general understanding that when coaches yell and say things on the field, it is not about a personal attack. It is about motivation.

Not many people openly liked our offensive line coach, but everyone would admit that his tactics got the job done in terms of preparing us for physical play. There is nothing that gets you fired up more than your coach getting in your face and yelling "I have no clue why your teammates voted you team captain! The amount of effort you're giving, you don't deserve it!"

Enough reminiscing.

I researched the accusations of the players, and there seemed to be a few questionable comments made by Mangino. But I do not buy into the whole "he put his finger on me and said mean things while yelling" complaint. If you are a college football player, you should have developed some type of thick skin to a point. I highly doubt that a player could go his whole career without getting coached by at least one fiery personality, and expect every coach to be "soft."

Legitimate accusations or not, it sounds like a few of the players that have come forward have only done so to get into the spotlight. Their complaints are weak. My eight-year-old brother has put up with getting pointed at and yelled at, and he still loves his coach.

You have to take the hostility as motivation. Mangino took over at Kansas in 2002 when the program was in a deep hole. Five years later, in 2007, he lead them to a 12-1 record and Orange Bowl win. It was the best season in program history.

I don't think he put them back on top by being overly nice.

An Ode to Isaiah Pead

To the University of Cincinnati running back, and the man who broke Archie Griffin’s high school rushing records, we salute you.

In a rivalry game that was sure to be a close contest, you pulled through.

In an offense where passing is the norm and running the ball often comes second, you continue to prove yourself when given the chance.

In an offense where a Heisman candidate plays quarterback and a backup quarterback makes just as much noise, you do your job selflessly.

You catch the ball out of the backfield as a check down option.

You run the ball when the defense knows it’s coming.

You played second fiddle to a senior running back until you were given your chance, and it the game that mattered, you shined.

You rushed for 175 yards against West Virginia, and scored a touchdown. You were consistent when the team needed it, and put the offense on your back when the passing game was not as electric as usual.

But your defining moment is why we salute you.

It wasn’t when you rushed for 100 yards in the first half.

It wasn’t your touchdown run in the second quarter.

It was when your offense took over possession after a failed fourth down attempt by the Mountaineers. You took the handoff on the next play and made an excellent cutback, rushing from your own 24 yard line to the West Virginia 33, a backbreaking 43 yard rush.

With excellent vision and impressive quickness, you effectively put your team in position to earn a two score lead on your own.

You rushed for another three yards on the next play, and caught a 10 yard pass on the third play of the drive. You were able to put your team in field goal range in a matter of three plays.

West Virginia may have reached the end zone on the next possession, but your play gave your team the cushion it needed on the scoreboard.

We salute you for coming through when your team needed you, and for making December 5 the most anticipated date of the year for UC football.

Cincinnati Rising? Maturing?

The Cincinnati Bengals are a freak-play-away from being 8-1....

But I'll take 7-2 overall, with possession of first place in the division.

I'll take 5-0 in the AFC North: Sweeps of the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, with a possible sweep of the whole division riding on a game with the Cleveland Browns in two weeks.

The Bengals are in control of their own destiny. If they can take care of business the rest of the season, they won't need to sit and watch other games, hoping certain teams will lose so they can make a wildcard game. They will be the ones preparing for a playoff run, not worrying about what other teams are doing.

But lets pump the brakes.

Cleveland is never an easy out against Cincinnati. Detroit has weapons. And do you remember what the Oakland Raiders did to the Philadelphia Eagles?

Everyone assumes that these are three games the Bengals should feast on. But the teams that no one expects anything from are always the most dangerous. Victory is assumed, not worked for. You get complacent.

Now is the time when we find out just how mature the Bengals are. They deserve to enjoy a sweep of the Steelers after a victory at Heinz Field. But they cannot dwell on it. We will find out if the Bengals go back to work, or if they now think they are as good as the experts may say.

The Bengals are talented, and are a very dangerous football team. But it is always scary when the "experts" start to jump on the bandwagon. Newspaper and magazine articles and coverage on ESPN make me nervous. Will the Bengals see all of this and begin to think they are a great team? Or will they continue to work hard during the week, not assuming anything, and go out with an attitude on Sundays?

"People can't wait to see the Bengals fall flat on our face," said safety Chris Crocker. "All that does... it fuels the fire."

That is the attitude the Bengals must continue to have if they truly are a mature football team. They cannot get caught up in the wins, and the expectations that continue to soar with the home fans. They must believe that nobody believes in them.

Because no one does, except for themselves. And it has worked out pretty well so far for the maturing Cincinnati Bengals.

8 Reasons Why Notre Dame and Brian Kelly are a Match Made in Heaven

1. He knows how to sell a program-
Kelly was disappointed with local media's lack of interest in UC football, so he refused to answer the questions of a local freelance reporter. This sparked interest (obviously) and proved just how smart BK is when it comes to making a football program a hot topic.

2. It's his dream job! (According to rumors...)-
Okay, so it's been said about almost every head coach available, but is ND Kelly's dream job? I never found the exact words in any quotes from him, but we could stretch it and say that Notre Dame has all of the things BK wants: an indoor practice facility, more seating capacity in the stadium, etc.

3. ND fans love offense-
Irish fans got spoiled when Brady Quinn and Co. brought their team's passing game to a whole other level. Now they drool just thinking of Jimmy Clausen throwing to Golden Tate and Michael Floyd. Kelly is no stranger to having teams with stellar passing attacks. And hey, offense does sell tickets...

4. BUT DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!-
BK was a defensive coordinator at Grand Valley State before he became the head coach in 1991. He may be an offensive genius now, but he used to call defensive plays for a reason. After last season and a run to the Fed Ex Orange Bowl, BK had to replace 10 defensive starters for this season. Those replacements are all overachievers. He makes good hiring decisions and leaves his 'D' in capable hands. Notre Dame needs a coach like this.

5. He has the perfect personality to survive a job in South Bend-
Notre Dame coaches are some of the most scrutinized and second-guessed coaches in the country... by their own fan base. With great tradition comes great expectations, and Irish nation is demanding. But BK is a man on a mission when he coaches. The "Notre Dame Head Coach Mystique" would not phase him.

6. He has a track record of quick success-
Speaking of Notre Dame coaches being under constant scrutiny, everyone knows that Irish nation is not only demanding, but impatient as well. Again, its not so bad to expect greatness. They want national titles, and they want them NOW. Kelly is a man who is capable of finding success quickly: he took a Central Michigan team with little talent and lead them to a MAC championship in just his third season as head coach.

7. He is an excellent recruiter-
BK takes what is mostly local talent and no true "big name" recruits and still produces good teams. He knows how to spot athletes that can do what he needs them to do. Now imagine what his teams would play like if he could recruit all over the nation for "big name" talent, getting whatever athletes he wants to run his offense. That is what the name "Notre Dame" allows.

8. He is an Irish Catholic
This is pretty self explanatory for people who know anything about the University of Notre Dame. For those of you who don't know: to put it simply, he would be a perfect fit.

A College Coaching Internship

Maybe that billboard was right after all.

"Best Wishes to Charlie Weis in the 5th Year of His College Coaching Internship."

Don't get me wrong. Charlie Weis can recruit with the best of them. He pulled a No.1 quarterback out of California and away from USC. He pulled the most highly touted defensive recruit in recent memory from Hawaii and away from those schools out west, so much closer to home. He has a knack for taking unheralded athletes and turning them into every-down big-play threats (see: Golden Tate, Theo Riddick).

He is an offensive genius and a quarterbacks guru. His athletes allow him his promised "schematic advantage" (though not so much in red zone situations). In his first year of coaching he had Brady Quinn, Rhema McKnight, Maurice Stovall, and Jeff Samardzija - juniors and seniors leading a classic Weis offense: a high powered passing attack, an example for what passing offenses want to be.

And looking back at that set of players, times in South Bend are eerily similar now: Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, and Robby Parris. An offense of juniors and one senior, with a sophomore thrown into the mix, again leading one of the nation's most dynamic passing attacks.

But three losses later, this offense is not getting the attention or hype it deserves for just how great it is. You see Clausen throwing for 450+ yards and a couple of scores, you think thats a recipe for victory. Floyd and Tate each over 100 yards receiving, delivering like the best WR duo in the nation should. But it was not enough.

To me, this comes back on Weis. He takes responsibility for each loss, and that's nice, but eventually that gets worn out (just like my heart in every close game that should not be close). We can all second guess and shout about the plays he should have called in the red zone, but that's not the point. The point is this: Charlie Weis is not suited to coach a bunch of young men who are still learning and growing. He wants to have the perfect offense and to not worry about the defense. They have a bunch of those guys in the NFL. They are called offensive coordinators. They are not head coaches at the college level.

He has virtually no input with the defensive side of the ball. He leaves everything to John Tenuta and Corwin Brown. Usually, that's really not a big issue. Plenty of head coaches focus on one side of the ball. But a great head coach (which is the only level accepted at ND) is not completely absent from dealings with the other parts of the team. Weis will talk about Manti Te'o, and he will talk about defensive struggles, but he really has no input during the game.

If he is not involved during the game with a particular aspect, he still needs to be sure it is getting done. Nothing against the players, but it is not getting done. He needs to be able to relate to every player on the team as head coach. Weis relates to Clausen. He has a one tract mind.

Lets look at another offensive-minded head coach: Brian Kelly at the University of Cincinnati (he is on my mind as a HEAD COACH for a reason *hint*).

He has one of the best teams in the nation. They overachieve because he expects it from everyone on the team, not just his quarterbacks and receivers. His team won the Big East championship last year and had a defense loaded with seniors. Ten replaced defensive starters and one year later, and the defense is still one of the best out there. This is because of great coaching. Kelly knew the defense needed a change after losing so much talent (4 defensive players taken in NFL draft in 2009) so he replaced his D-Coordinator and changed the defense's scheme. He saw a defensive problem and fixed it, despite the fact that he is an offensive mastermind. He is not one sided. He is a HEAD COACH.

Charlie Weis, you had a good run and seemed to learn a lot from your internship. But you should realize you are not cut out for it. Hey, that's what an internship is for, right? Experience and testing the waters in a professional setting? You brought in stellar athletes, reached BCS bowls in your first two years as a "head coach" and even put the program on your back after a 3-9 season. You carried it through to better times.

But in your internship, you should make a life decision for your professional future. You are an offensive coordinator, a man with a brilliant offensive mind. You are not the head coach Notre Dame needs.

The NFL is calling you home.