In the last two days, two-high profile coaches from very historically prestigious schools have been let go. Charlie Weis, who went just 35-27 in five years at Notre Dame, was dismissed in a fairly official manner, while news came out today that Bobby Bowden, who himself amassed a staggering 388-129-4 record in 50 years of coaching, is gone as well.It's no surprise that either is now gone. Weis was on a very tight leash coming into the season, with expectations set at 10-2 and a BCS bowl-game or bust. Bowden, on the other hand, was just trying to keep Florida State afloat after falling to mediocrity in a fairly weak ACC conference.
Bowden has the track record, Weis doesn't. Still, I don't think everything can be blamed on both of them. Weis' offenses were typically very good-Notre Dame's biggest weaknesses came on the defensive side of the ball, where an undersized Irish unit always seemed to be dominated by most teams. There was plenty of talent in South Bend, the only problem was Weis and his staff never seemed to be able to put it all together.
Ever since Bobby Bowden named Jimbo Fisher the official "head coach in waiting" things haven't gone very well for Florida State. Their defense, which once produced All-American after All-American under the tutelage of guru Mickey Andrews, is nothing like the outfit we saw that literally dominated the college football world in the late 80's and 90's. The offense has been there, especially with Christian Ponder at the helm- but it will take a strong defensive coordinator, good quality recruiting, and a few years to rebuild that defense.
Now that the coaching search is on for Notre Dame, we will just have to wait and see who is selected as the next Irish head coach. Brian Kelly is obviously the front runner right now, but over the weekend numerous reports surfaced that Bob Stoops was a possible candidate for the job. Bob said he'll be sticking with Oklahoma, but it will be an interesting development to watch over the next few weeks.
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