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November 16, 2009

George Bremer: Irish eyes look for new coach

Sorry, Charlie. Saturday night likely marked the end of the Weis era at Notre Dame.

Oh, he’ll finish out the season (most likely at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville), but the guess is he won’t be back in 2010 past Jan. 1.

The writing was on the wall two years ago when, during a 3-9 season, Notre Dame lost to Navy and ended a 43-year winning streak. For good measure, the Irish fell to the Midshipmen again this year.

Weis survived the first unthinkable defeat. He isn’t likely to survive the second.

All that saved the former coaching genius last year seemed to be a dominant win over the host school in the Hawaii Bowl.

Have the standards in South Bend really fallen so far?

Of all the disappointing outcomes in this lost season for college football in Indiana, Notre Dame’s 6-4 record causes the most discouraging looks.

Weis, himself, said he likely had to compete for a Bowl Championship Series berth to keep his job this year.

It was there for the taking.

Notre Dame lost close early season games to Michigan and USC. At the time, both losses were seen as encouraging signs by some fans.

But the Wolverines and Trojans both have since been exposed as frauds.

After a 4-0 start, Michigan sits at 5-6 and tied for last place in the Big Ten with Indiana.

A 55-21 humilation at the hands of Stanford (who visits the Irish in two weeks) Saturday dropped USC to 4-3 in the Pac-10, good for a tie for fifth place.

Notre Dame could have, and perhaps should have, beaten both and taken an 8-0 record into this year’s Navy game.

Back-to-back losses to the Midshipmen and Pittsburgh have ended any remaining BCS hopes.

They’ve also likely started the clock on another Notre Dame coaching search. Many believe that quest will lead to Cincinnati and wunderkind coach Brian Kelly.

The Bearcats are ranked No. 5 in the nation, and they remain a darkhorse candidate to play for the national title.

Kelly has built amazingly successful programs at Division II Grand Valley State, Central Michigan and now UC.

He’d arrive in South Bend with few questions attached.

There’s always a chance Notre Dame could chase a former NFL champion like Jon Gruden or Mike Shanahan. Both men’s names came up during the last search that netted Weis.

Weis was no better than Notre Dame’s second choice in 2004.

The guy the Irish really wanted, Urban Meyer, is on track to play for his third national title in the past four years at Florida.

Notre Dame lost out on Meyer in part because it waited too long to officially cut ties with embattled Tyrone Willingham.

Whomever the Irish have in mind this time around, they can’t afford to make the same mistake again.

Contact George Bremer: 640-4831, george.bremer@heraldbulletin.com

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