Those Crazy Persons In The Media: Stay the Course

Ok, I've said it already but it needs to be said again. The people who crucify us in the media are the same people who anoint us before. They see improvement on the field, translate that into talent rather than coaching, anoint us as a better team, and then crucify us when we don't live up to their self-placed expectations. This is just proof that most of the so called pundits know nothing about college football. Furthermore, they never realize the obligation they have to delve into the real reasons and blame the truly responsible parties. They just chalk it up as another reason to hate the Fighting Irish.

I know what you're thinking, Weis talks just like the pundits do. But what else should he do? Is the guy going to bash his own players? Is the guy going to say we shouldn't or can't win against a certain opponent? Will he ever do anything but blame himself at the forefront of the interaction with the media? No. Does he know we aren't where we need to be in terms of talent? I'm sure he does, but he sure as hell isn't going to tell the general public that. That's not fair to the players he has right now nor is it productive to the future direction of the program.

The notion(s) and argument(s) that we don't have the talent of the top teams in the country and don't deserve a BCS bid aren't ill-founded, they are just ill-constructed. It is readily apparent that we don't have as much talent as other top teams in the country. I don't know if anyone has ever disputed this. We have talent, and in a good amount in some cases and at some positions, but not the kind of talent that allows us to win without mistake-free football. Weis isn't going to publicly admit that. That would be devastating to the team and players he currently coaches. What he is doing is only losing to top 5 football teams, winning the games he is supposed to, and winning recruiting battles.

The concern I have is that, while at New York and New England, Weis always had pretty good defenses. That isn't the case right now. And this is not only true from a talent level but also potentially from the coaching level. That has to improve and that is a valid, well-founded, even well-constructed concern. But the media's constant over-stating and then criticizing of our football program is pure publicity, story-spinning, and hate for a university that tries to do things right. And for all those people out there who think we lower our standards to recruit...go talk to Dwayne Jarrett. He was peeved because we stopped recruiting him when we found out his grades weren't up to snuff. He took it personally that we said he wasn't smart enough to attend Notre Dame. Last time I checked it isn't our responsibility to make sure high school athletes who want to play college football do their homework.

Stay the course, keep the faith. I have doubts as does many people close to the program. But stay the course, keep the faith, let's keep winning these recruiting battles, doing things the right way, and conducting ourselves with respect and class.