I don’t know Charlie Weis. I’ve never met the guy and likely never will. All I know of Coach Weis is what I’ve seen on television or heard in interviews, but he seems like a nice enough guy.
I’ve never had any allegiance to either him or Notre Dame, the school that just fired him. In fact, aside from Jerome Bettis running roughshod over the Gators in the 1992 Sugar Bowl, and my buddy Rocket Dan finding their mascot, the “Fightin’ Irish,” wholly offensive, I’ve been relatively apathetic towards Notre Dame over the years.
On Monday, the Weis era officially came to a close in South Bend. Notre Dame’s four-game losing streak to end the season capped off a disappointing year, and tenure, for Coach Weis. Entering this season, his team had lofty expectations, yet with each loss, his job security came further into question.
During that losing streak, I didn’t hear a single analyst project that Weis’ job was secure. Turns out they were right. Yet in the relentless pursuit to be the first to report the Weis firing, journalists may have ended up breaking the man as well as the story.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2009.