Let me get this straight...Weis could design an offense in the NFL, where, even if his talent level was not great, the talent of most teams is pretty comparable - yet could not coach his team, even though young, to beat extremely out-talented teams like Navy and Air Force?Big difference.
The jump from HS football to college football is far greater then the jump from college to the NFL.
Guys who enter in the NFL are essentially refined players. They've had four years of strength and technique work so all a coach really has to do is polish them off and teach them the system. DeMarcus Ware was raw but when Parcells got him he already knew how to play with leverage and he had some refined technique.
College football is much different. Often times you're dealing with raw kids who lack strength and technique. This is why you often see offensive linemen come into play after 3 year in a program. If you throw them out there as freshmen, as ND was forced to do, they're going to have to go up against 21 and 22 year old Jr's and Sr's who have had years more of strength and technique work.
At that point star differential doesn't matter as we're not dealing with potential, we're dealing with a reality gap of years, age, strength, and experience.
Next year Florida will be a contender for the MNC and a probable top 5 team....ND, not so much..
Because there but for the grace of god went Ron Zook. You simply cannot compare the talent that Zook left Meyer to the talent and gaping holes that Willingham left Weis.
As I said, we literally had no experienced OL. In contrast Urbie's OL had 4 SR's (all Zook recruits) and one FR (Pouncey).
but the evidence is clear to me that Charlie Weis is a below average coach.
I guess I have a different opinion. When Weis took over a program that had won 5 and 6 games in the two seasons before he arrived, I don't recall anyone saying he's overmatched against teams of similar talent when he went 19-6. He lost 6 games in those two years and 5 were to top 5 teams (USC twice, LSU, OSU, and Michigan) his only loss outside of those came to #15 MSU in his first home game.
It's now only when Weis essentially has to start over that people are screaming that he can't coach and is overrated. It's intellectually dishonest, but it's all part of the pressure of coaching at ND. Opinion is never balanced it just swings from one extreme to the other.
I suspect that when Weis' talent matures ND's national ranking will resemble their recruiting ranking.
ND91, Georgia started a true freshman, 2 redshirt freshman, a sophomore and a junior. They seemed to do OK with a disaster situation.
The situations may have be analegous but you left out one factor.
UGA QB - Matthew Stafford (Sophomore) who started 8 games as a true freshman.
ND QB - Jimmy Clausen (True Freshman).
You can get away with some youth in the OL if the QB has some experience. Expeience means he understands his offense. It means that he now recognizes things and understands what the defense is trying to do and what his reads are accordingly. Experience means he's had time to build timing with WR's.
Clausen had no OL, little understanding of the offense, and hadn't had time to build relationships and timing with his WR's. He basically had to figure everything out on the fly with little help.
And before you ask why he played. He was clearly the best QB on the roster. Frankly, he impressed the hell out of me. He took a absolute pounding and never flinched or bitched about it. That's one tough kid.
The jump from HS football to college football is far greater then the jump from college to the NFL.
Guys who enter in the NFL are essentially refined players. They've had four years of strength and technique work so all a coach really has to do is polish them off and teach them the system. DeMarcus Ware was raw but when Parcells got him he already knew how to play with leverage and he had some refined technique.
College football is much different. Often times you're dealing with raw kids who lack strength and technique. This is why you often see offensive linemen come into play after 3 year in a program. If you throw them out there as freshmen, as ND was forced to do, they're going to have to go up against 21 and 22 year old Jr's and Sr's who have had years more of strength and technique work.
At that point star differential doesn't matter as we're not dealing with potential, we're dealing with a reality gap of years, age, strength, and experience.
Next year Florida will be a contender for the MNC and a probable top 5 team....ND, not so much..
Because there but for the grace of god went Ron Zook. You simply cannot compare the talent that Zook left Meyer to the talent and gaping holes that Willingham left Weis.
As I said, we literally had no experienced OL. In contrast Urbie's OL had 4 SR's (all Zook recruits) and one FR (Pouncey).
but the evidence is clear to me that Charlie Weis is a below average coach.
I guess I have a different opinion. When Weis took over a program that had won 5 and 6 games in the two seasons before he arrived, I don't recall anyone saying he's overmatched against teams of similar talent when he went 19-6. He lost 6 games in those two years and 5 were to top 5 teams (USC twice, LSU, OSU, and Michigan) his only loss outside of those came to #15 MSU in his first home game.
It's now only when Weis essentially has to start over that people are screaming that he can't coach and is overrated. It's intellectually dishonest, but it's all part of the pressure of coaching at ND. Opinion is never balanced it just swings from one extreme to the other.
I suspect that when Weis' talent matures ND's national ranking will resemble their recruiting ranking.
ND91, Georgia started a true freshman, 2 redshirt freshman, a sophomore and a junior. They seemed to do OK with a disaster situation.
The situations may have be analegous but you left out one factor.
UGA QB - Matthew Stafford (Sophomore) who started 8 games as a true freshman.
ND QB - Jimmy Clausen (True Freshman).
You can get away with some youth in the OL if the QB has some experience. Expeience means he understands his offense. It means that he now recognizes things and understands what the defense is trying to do and what his reads are accordingly. Experience means he's had time to build timing with WR's.
Clausen had no OL, little understanding of the offense, and hadn't had time to build relationships and timing with his WR's. He basically had to figure everything out on the fly with little help.
And before you ask why he played. He was clearly the best QB on the roster. Frankly, he impressed the hell out of me. He took a absolute pounding and never flinched or bitched about it. That's one tough kid.
