Weis' Irish legacy can go either way

One year ago today, Charlie Weis was hailed as a coaching genius, and the informed masses said it came as no surprise to them.

Now, Weis is being called a mediocre coach, and the informed masses say they knew all along he was overrated.

One has to be wrong, right?

"A lot of times the criticism is justified," Weis said this week. "Sitting here at 2-9, do I expect everyone to say, 'What a good job you're doing'? I don't see anything positive in losing."

Rather than a knee-jerk reaction, let's look at Notre Dame's Charlie Weis Era as a whole, as if it occurred 10 years ago.

-- The Genius Argument: Notre Dame was unranked in the preseason of Weis' first season at Notre Dame, 2005. In fact, the Irish received only one preseason vote in the Associated Press poll, putting it behind 45 other schools, including Miami-Ohio and Bowling Green. Somehow Weis got that team into the Fiesta Bowl, and it finished ranked No. 9. If exceeding expectations and making the most of the personnel are marks of a great coach, Weis fit the description.

Notre Dame's decision to give him a 10-year contract reportedly worth around $30 million after all of seven games was seen as a sage pre-emptive strike to end speculation that he would return to the NFL as a head coach.

On this day a year ago, the Irish were 10-1 and ranked No. 6, and Weis had a 19-4 record at Notre Dame. No Notre Dame coach since Knute Rockne had more than 19 wins in his first 23 games, and Rockne beat Weis by only one.

Weis had developed Brady Quinn into a quarterback who would finish third in the Heisman Trophy voting and get drafted by the NFL in the first round. After tutoring Brady Quinn at Notre Dame and Tom Brady at New England, Weis' status as a quarterback guru seemed secure.

The Irish have struggled this season, but that was to be expected after the massive loss of offensive talent. Notre Dame was unranked in preseason, and a winning record would have been considered a success. This was a transition season, and Weis had recruited Jimmy Clausen, widely regarded as the top quarterback prospect in the country, to groom as the next Brady Quinn.

Weis' recruiting class for next season is ranked No. 1 in the nation at the moment by scout.com.

-- The Mediocrity Argument: Weis had his success with players recruited by his predecessor, Tyrone Willingham, and has fallen with players he recruited.

Since this time last year, Notre Dame is 2-11, the worst 13-game stretch in Notre Dame history.

During Weis' three seasons, the Irish have not beaten a single team that finished the season ranked in the top 20, and last season, the Irish lost by at least 20 points to all three opponents that did finish in the top 20.

The Irish rank last in the nation in offense, which is supposed to be Weis' area of expertise, and Brady seems to be doing fine without Weis.

The decision to give Weis a big contract after seven games now is viewed as a hasty business move.

Weis notes that this Irish team has a chance to be the first Notre Dame team since 1992 to finish the season with two straight wins. However, that is a reminder that the Irish usually play in bowl games and have lost eight straight bowl games, including the two when Weis was coach.

Notre Dame still is considered the nation's most valuable football program (according to Forbes' assessment of its financial worth to the university), and the Irish still sell out their home games and nearly all their road games (Saturday's game at Stanford will be only the seventh non-sellout in Notre Dame's last 72 games away from home).

So is Weis a coaching genius or a mediocre coach? It's best to wait and see, but that is a copout these days when immediate assessment is required.

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