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A look back at the data from Charlie Weis’ 3rd season as head coach of Notre Dame football.
I’ve never been a teacher but I think that evaluating Charlie Weis’ third season as Notre Dame football’s head coach from their perspectives is helpful. It’s been a really long day and you and a student have been working on times tables. Things have not been trending well and it’s seeming like with each question you’re moving closer to quantum physics. There’s a glimmer of hope but things tragically hit rock bottom and you’re both just left to sit in shock.
That’s pretty much the story of Charlie Weis’ third season at the reins of the Notre Dame football program.
Weis kicked off his third season in 2007. It marked the 60% of his 5-season career in South Bend. From a numbers perspective all things leading up to it were going in the right direction. He finished his first season with a 9-3 record and Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State. His second season ended with ten wins, three losses and a Sugar Bowl loss to LSU.
The bowl game outcomes weren’t the prettiest but I don’t think anybody could have predicted the cliff the program would take a leap over in Weis’ third season. You’d gotten through the 8s and 9s of the times tables not without some damage but wanted to check back to the 2s just to mix things ups. Bad idea.
Weis’ 2007 team finished with three wins and nine losses for an overall 0.25 record. Some context. The only other seasons in which Irish football teams had only three wins were 1918 and 1933. The 1956, 1960 and 1963 seasons ended with two wins. Through a strictly quant lens it submerged us back into a dark age. Your pupil just regressed back to 2X2 = 15.
Two games were tied for biggest loss. The team dropped -38 point games to Michigan and USC. Even if the big picture wasn’t as gloomy, those two blemishes alone could qualify for rock bottom. Compound that with two service academy losses and *welp*. The Irish’s only wins in 2007 were against UCLA (+14), Duke (+21) and Stanford (+7).
It was a low point on an extended slide for ND football but it preceded a big turnaround for the program.
Tyrone Willingham Progress Report: 6-6; No Postseason
Gerry Faust Progress Report: 5-7; No Postseason
Dan Devine Progress Report: 11-1; National Championship
Gerry Faust Progress Report: 7-5; Liberty Bowl Win
Lou Holtz – Progress Report: 12-0; National Championship
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