It has been a rather eventful off-season for Notre Dame football. Charlie Weis has been retained, and two assistant coaches, Jappy Oliver and John Latina, have not. Meanwhile, Mike Haywood, running backs coach and offensive coordinator, has left to become head coach of the Toledo Rockets. Joining the staff will be offensive line coach Frank Verducci and running backs coach Tony Alford. There is still an opening at the defensive line coach position.
At this point, it is high time that Irish fans moved on and accepted the fact that Weis is still the coach. There have been many rumors floating around that ND would like to hire Jon Gruden, who was recently fired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, this flies in the face of athletic director Jack Swarbrick's own words that Charlie Weis will be the Notre Dame football coach in 2009. Meanwhile, Blue and Gold Illustrated is reporting that Brian Hardin, Football Director of Media Relations, says that the rumors are being spread in order to hurt ND's recruiting. ND fans need to move on lest they aid our enemies in their endeavors.
Instead, we should hope that Weis somehow figures out what it takes to become a college head coach. He is going to need to develop a tougher team that can block and run successfully. His first four teams, including the surprisingly good 2005 team, all failed in these key areas. A key in turning things around just may be the new offensive line and running back coaches. If not, Irish fans will most assuredly get their wish for a new coach in 2010.
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