Charlie Weis Fired, Who's Next for the Irish?

Charlie Weis was fired today, much to the surprise of absolutely no one. I think he got a fair shot to keep his job, and he has absolutely no one to blame but himself. It came down to the fact that Notre Dame did not have a defense that could stop anybody and relied too much on its offense to bail them out of games. Weis put a target squarely on his large back when he said 6-5 wasn't good enough for Notre Dame and that the Irish would have a schematic advantage every week.

With Weis being fired it gives the media the opportunity to debate whether or not Notre Dame is still a great job to have in the world of college football. I think it is, of course my opinion is biased as I am a Notre Dame fan. It's not as great as it used to be in the past when Notre Dame was one of the few programs on television every week. But it's still a great place to go to school and to play football. The facilities there are top notch and the fans there really care about their football. The next coach for the Irish will be given incredible talent to coach, even more so if they can convince Jimmy Clausen to stay for his senior year.

I think the next coach for Notre Dame has to be someone with head coaching experience and I think when it's all said and done it will come down to these three candidates:

Urban Meyer: I know he's already said that he's staying at Florida for as long as the Gators want him, but I still think the Irish have to talk to Meyer and see if he can be convinced. Meyer loses Tebow this year and may want to take on the challenge that will be Notre Dame. The Irish have to give Meyer a call and see what his true feelings are and make sure he wasn't just putting up smokescreens to avoid being a distraction for his team while they are trying to win a National Title.

Brian Kelly: I think he's probably the guy who gets the job and might be the best shot at convincing Clausen to come back for one more year. He's been a winner at every program he has taken over and given the talent that Notre Dame is able to bring in he might win in his first year. Cincinnati, while a good program will never get the attention it may deserve because they compete in the same state as Ohio State and it makes sense that Kelly uses this undefeated season as a stepping stone to a bigger program.

Gary Patterson: This is the candidate that I wish Notre Dame would hire. I think the Irish should hire him because of the defense that his TCU Horned Frogs have been playing the past 2 years. The Irish have had a high octane offense for the past 5 years that Weis was there but the biggest problem was they couldn't stop anyone. Defense wins championships and that's what is expected at Notre Dame. TCU has gone undefeated this season yet they will probably not play in the National Championship game. An undefeated season for Notre Dame would undoubtedly put the Irish in the title game and if the Irish came calling I think Patterson would listen and strongly consider the offer.