Let The Wild Rumpus Begin!

Well, I don't think there's any doubt that Charlie Weis' days at Notre Dame are numbered. So who will be the replacement? I may be in the minority, but I think the obvious candidates aren't necessarily the best...

Brian Kelly, Head Coach - Cincinnati - Yeah, he won a national title at Grand Valley State. Yeah, he made Central Michigan slightly better. And, yeah, he's done well with Cincinnati. But let's say for the sake of argument that Brian Kelly's name was Bill Krakowski, and that he was a Protestant and not Catholic. Would he still be the number one candidate for the position? I say no. I think people are putting too much emphasis on the Irish-Catholic angle and allowing it to blind them (just like they did with George O'Leary, and we all know how well that turned out). Kelly is Charlie Weis with previous head coaching experience. He runs a high-flying, fast-paced spread offense and calls all the plays. And he's benefited greatly from playing in the shithole that is the Big East. Pass.

Jim Harbaugh, Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football/Head Coach (I'm not joking)- Stanford - Oooooo... he's instilled his toughness in Stanford, molded them in his image. What a bunch of hooey! Let's forget for a moment the outcome of the last head coach ND grabbed from Stanford. Harbaugh has been blessed with having a big, white tailback in Toby Gerhart that has carried his team for 3 years. Take away Gerhart and Stanford instantly reverts to the mediocre, finesse passing team that they were before Harbaugh (and, more importantly, Gerhart) arrived. He's a big talker with a record of 16-19 at Stanford. That, and he's a Michigan grad. Pass.

Bob Stoops, Head Coach - Oklahoma - Just stop kidding yourself. Really, it reeks of desperation and vanity.

Urban Meyer, Head Coach - Florida - See Stoops, Bob.

So where should Notre Dame be looking? Well here are a few coaches that haven't gotten as much publicity as those listed above, in no particular order (actually, they're in alphabetical order - by first name!!!)...

Butch Davis - Head Coach, North Carolina
Chris Peterson - Head Coach, Boise State
Gary Patterson - Head Coach, TCU
Mike Riley - Head Coach, Oregon State
Paul Johnson - Head Coach, Georgia Tech

Maybe you think those are bad choices for one reason or another, whatever - you're not the athletic director so who cares. I guess my point is two-fold. One, I hope ND is only considering coaches that have extensive head coaching experience at the highest levels. Two, I truly hope that Jack Swarbrick is more intelligent than everyone on the ND bulletin boards (myself included) and is casting his net far and wide.

Regardless, the most important thing at play here is that the next Notre Dame head coach, whomever that turns out to be, MUST be able to return the program to consistent top-10 status. The cupboard appears to be as well-stocked as it has been in years, and another 5 years of failure would be a self-imposed death penalty for the program, one from which it might not recover.