New ND coach angst, fka Off to the Homeland (Indianapolis: appointed, attorney)

[DLK55]

If Swarbrick doesn't play this properly and have his #1 or #2 man on board(Assuming he has been on the ball), whoever that may be, before they make a move on Charlie, he may as well keep him around. Kevin White botched things up enough, Swarbrick needs to stop the trend. If he can't get the coach he wants, settling for the 3rd, 4th or 5th guy on the list will only perpetuate this path of mediocrity unless he gets lucky.

Abysmal couple of weeks. Both games ND was running the ball pretty well but it was all but abandoned well before the game was decided. Methinks Charlie pushed the panic button in both games and it didn't turn out well. Watching those games was almost like getting a root canal without any anesthetic. Between the red zone offense and run defense against Navy and the (lack of) pass protection, run defense and horrible tackling against Pitt...Ugh.

[domergurl]

There was a time when the ND job was the most coveted job in college football. It's not like that anymore. Between their refusal to join a conference and their egos ... well, I say they keep Charlie on ... and as soon as they lose to Stanford, he checks himself into a rehab facility where he can focus on getting healthy, mentally and physically.

[Southside Shrek]

I don't see Swarbrick and the Administration keeping Charlie on for another year. If that happens, I'll be very surprised.

[DLK55]

Domergurl, there isn't really a most coveted HC position anywhere these days. There are still "marquee" schools and ND is still one of them but it hasn't been handled as such by the AD recently. The Davie hire was a mistake and I wouldn't be surprised if they miscalculated after he was fired, believing the job would sell itself. I think they tried to get it right after Willingham but just didn't.

I can understand their reasoning for wanting to stay independent but it was more easily justified when there were still a slew of "name" programs that hadn't yet joined conferences like Florida St., Pitt, Penn St. and Miami.

If there is one thing I've noticed different about Charlie this year going back to spring ball, it's that he hasn't looked well and he hasn't sounded the same. I don't have any doubt that the surgery he went through has had lasting effects on him and I think it shows. I think it goes beyond the pressure of this being the year he had to take the team up a notch although I'm sure that added to it.

It's a sticky situation as far as keeping him around goes. On the one hand, if the team manages to win their last two games and a bowl game, it's a two game improvement over last year. If they were to go to a bowl game and lose, it's a one game improvement and there would be some howling. Add to that the fact that by the time a bowl game rolls around, most other teams looking for coaches will have either hired a new coach or been well into their searches.

If they split the last two games, a bowl win would be a one game improvement. Split and a bowl loss and you're at the same record as last year. Throw in the Navy loss at home again and a loss at Pitt where they were next to nonexistent for the first three quarters and it gets to be harder to justify keeping him around. Either way, there's risk involved and there's the rub. Finishing the season with 3 straight wins and a bowl win would have made it a less risky decision, even with the Navy loss.

If ND loses to Connecticut on Senior Day I think that's it, regardless.

I like Charlie. I spent most of my life in NJ in the county he was born in before moving to Indiana and liked having that confident, no BS Jersey Guy at the helm but the pressure is on, he knows it and feels it and the chinks are showing up in the armor. You can see it and hear it.

If these are his final games as ND's coach, Swarbrick needs to hit a home run. The team is better off than they were 5 years ago and there's enough talent for a good coach to step in and take it to the next level.

Kind of off the topic at hand but if you don't receive WNDU, Maureen McFadden has a three part interview with Ara that's been airing the last couple of nights and they have it on their website. Good stuff.

Southside Shrek, the wild card in this is indeed Swarbrick. We knew what to expect with White after awhile. With JS, despite his standard reactions to the "What are your thoughts" type of questions, we really don't know what his mindset is. It isn't just about whether he thinks the time has come, it's who he thinks would be good enough to get this team back in league with the USCs, Texases, Floridas or Oklahomas, whether they really are good enough and if he can get them here.

[domergurl]

When we went to THAT navy game ... i watched Charlie plod along ... the man is just not healthy and it's getting worse. he's getting heavier and heavier. i bet his cardiologist is on pins and needles with that guy. I have a feeling he's the world's worst patient for a physician. After the season is over, he needs to check into a clinic somewhere and learn how to live a healthier lifestyle. Regardless of his coaching or not coaching ND, he has a wife and family that needs him more.

I just have a sneeking suspicion that they are going to keep him. Ty dug a recruiting hole at ND that Charlie has managed to at least get them back to the surface. The funny thing is that when he was first being bandied about for the job, everyone thought that recruiting would be his downfall. But it's his coaching, or his choice of coaches that has been his downfall.

Swarbrick has already stated that money isn't an issue. Some fatcat alum will pay Charlie his contract money. If they want a new coach, they have to go big, not medium.

[Southside Shrek]

DLK55
I read that Maureen McFadden interview with Ara Parseghian and was amazed that he was paid just $20,000 a year when he was first hired by Notre Dame in 1964. How times have changed.

What Ara did for the program was nothing short of spectacular.

[domergurl]

the ND message boards are lighting up like wildfire:

Urban Meyer Notre Dame Rumors HEAT UP: Fighting Irish Head Coach Job May Be Up For Grabs

apparently, there's a sports guy in NYC saying it's a done deal.

[Southside Shrek]

I believe that Mrs Meyer has to be sold to return to ND. She holds the trump card.

[domergurl]

yep, the missus doesn't like the cold weather.

[Southside Shrek]

Maybe ND can work out a deal with Urban Meyer to leave the wife and kids at home in Florida and fly Urban home every weekend after the game. The Colts did that with Tony Dungy.