Reports: Weis will be back
ND declines comment on embattled coach
- |
Charlie Weis will return for a fifth season at Notre Dame despite another disappointing year, several media outlets reported last night.
WNDU-TV in South Bend, Ind., the South Bend
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick did not respond to phone messages and e-mails from the Associated Press. University spokesman John Heisler declined to address the reports.
"When we have something to say and it's the appropriate time to say it, we'll say it," said Heisler.
Swarbrick had said after the Irish lost, 38-3, to Southern Cal Saturday that he would evaluate Weis's performance and that he planned to meet with the coach next Monday. Swarbrick was fund-raising on the West Coast and Weis was recruiting, Heisler said.
Weis has seven years left on a 10-year contract signed midway through his first season, but Irish fans upset by some embarrassing losses had called for his firing. The Irish lost to Navy last season and this season lost to Syracuse when the Orange were 2-8, marking the first loss ever by Notre Dame to an eight-loss team.
Weis has led the team to back-to-back disappointing seasons of 3-9 and 6-6, with the 15 losses the most by the Irish in a two-year span. The Irish earned BCS berths in his first two seasons, going to the Fiesta and Sugar bowls.
Weis is 28-21 in four years as Irish coach, a .571 winning percentage. That's slightly worse than his two predecessors, Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie.
New Mexico St. fires coach
New Mexico State fired coach Hal Mumme, ending a four-year run during which the program often ended up in the news for the wrong reasons. Athletic director McKinley Boston said he has begun a national search for a successor. During Mumme's tenure, the university paid $165,000 to settle a 2006 lawsuit brought by three former Muslim players who claimed they were dismissed from the team because of their religious beliefs . . . Coach Brian Kelly, trying to end speculation that he's leaving 13th-ranked Cincinnati (10-2), said he's happy with the program's development and he plans to stay. He was upbeat following a meeting with the school's president, AD, and head of its board of trustees to get an update on plans to expand the Bearcats' small stadium . . . Oregon has picked offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to be head coach Mike Bellotti's eventual successor, though school officials did not say when that will happen. Asked if he would step down after this season, Bellotti told reporters he didn't think so . . . Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning resigned, one day after the Tigers officially hired Dabo Swinney as head coach. Koenning said his role next season was in question so he decided to leave before Clemson's bowl game to have more job options.Tebow a Camp finalist
Florida's Tim Tebow and four Big 12 players are finalists for the Walter Camp Foundation's Player of the Year award. Three quarterbacks - Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, Texas's Colt McCoy, and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell - and Harrell's teammate Michael Crabtree are the other finalists. Crabtree has caught 18 touchdown passes and has 93 receptions for 1,135 yards. Harrell ranks second in the nation with 4,747 yards passing and has thrown for 41 touchdowns. Tebow, last year's Heisman Trophy winner, has thrown for 2,299 yards and 25 touchdowns and run for 12 more scores. The winner will be announced Dec. 11 after a vote by the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches and sports information directors . . . North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year . . . No. 2 Florida will be without defensive tackle Brandon Antwine (torn ACL) when it faces top-ranked Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game Saturday. Fellow defensive lineman Matt Patchan (knee) also will miss the game . . . Connecticut tailback Andre Dixon was arrested early yesterday in Storrs, Conn., on a drunken-driving charge and suspended indefinitely from the team. Dixon was pulled over by campus police shortly after 1:30 a.m. when an officer noticed he was tailgating her car, according to a police report. Police said the junior from New Brunswick, N.J., failed a field sobriety test and was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence and following too closely.
