Signing Day Winners and Losers

Some like to compare signing day to the NFL draft. I'm not one of those people. There are way too many intangibles when it comes to recruiting high school seniors to consider it even close to the NFL draft. For every 4 and 5 star recruit that pans out to be what he's supposed to be, there is another recruit of the same status that falls flat on their face. The same cannot be said for the NFL draft. Also, for every 4 and 5 star recruit to make it, there is a 3 or 2 star recruit that everyone passed on because they didn't go to the "right" school, or show the right flashes.

Hence it's hard to immediately judge a signing day, or even think about judging a signing day, but if you look at where certain teams finished the day, you can start to shine a light on certain programs and the direction they're moving in.

Winners

USC - Finishing #1 in the country after falling out of the top 10 at one point this season was a huge accomplishment for Lane Kiffin. I had actually foreseen Kiffin falling flat on his face; Obviously I was wrong and it looks like Kiffin will, on paper, have a team capable of winning a national championship in the next couple of years.

UCLA - For as impressed as I was with Kiffin and USC, I was probably more impressed with Rick Neuheisel who was able to get UCLA into the top 10, even after a relatively poor 2009. The fact that UCLA showed flashes of improvement in 2009 makes this 2010 recruiting class that much more dangerous for the rest of the NCAA, especially their PAC 10 rivals.

Tennessee - Losing their head coach actually may have helped this team in recruiting. With Kiffin still in town, the Vols were recruiting well, but not great. Kiffin's departure had little to no effect on the Volunteers recruiting efforts, raising the question if Kiffin ever had any swagger in the SEC to begin with?

Hawaii - Hawaii jolted to number 65 yesterday after swimming around the mid 80's most of the season. Though it sounds pretty bad, consider that Hawaii's recruiting class was the strongest of their rivals in 2010, including Boise State, Nevada, and that school in Texas coached by June Jones. This recruiting class is a great morale boost for this program.

Missouri - The team in the Big 12 no one really talks about but is actually pretty good. Mizzou picked up six four star recruits en route to catapulting the team to the #21 spot in this years recruiting class. Though Missouri have flirted around this area for the past couple of years, for Mizzou to still be doing this well after a year that saw the program come back down to earth is a sign that this program is for real.

Losers

Miami - What the heck is the U doing at #24? No five stars? Only six four stars? Ouch. Something needs to be done to revitalize this program and it starts at head coach. This is a program that should be winning championships, not struggling to outrecruit USF.

Notre Dame - A number 14 finish is great on a national scale, but for a program that notoriously finished top 10 in recruiting under Charlie Weiss, you have to wonder how good Weiss really was at that whole recruiting thing. Recruiting for Notre Dame is harder than it sounds, especially with bigger, more party friendly schools going after some of the same recruits. I've got a feeling the Irish will be back in the top 10 of recruiting next year.

Michigan - If this team wants to rebuild successfully recruiting classes finishing 20th aren't going to cut it. If this is the last year of what looks to be a faile Rodriguez expirement, whoever takes over the program will bare the burden of this mediocre class.

TCU - A BCS team in the state of Texas that finished 46th in recruiting? Ouch. I didn't expect the Horned Frogs to finish top 20, but top 40 was reasonable. Something has to be up if this team can't tap into that talent pool. There are enough quality players in Texas to get this team a top 40 recruiting class. Especially after their past two seasons. To give the program some credit, being top 50 in the country is a sign of progress for a program that at one point was considered lower tier in Texas.

Boise State - I know it's the system, not the players that wins on the Smurf Turf, but number 82? For a team that expects to be in the National Championship game next year, recruiting number 82nd doesn't exactly help the Broncos when it comes to being taken seriously by the media. Personally, I think the Broncos deserve a shot at the top, but I also think they should be recruiting better than Hawaii, Kent State, and Toledo.

Charlie Weis: Done

As if it weren't already inevitable, Charlie Weis' career as the head coach of Notre Dame likely ended today; and for good reason.

No hate towards UConn, but they were a 4-5 team entering the game, while the Irish were some people's preseason pick to go to the BCS, and maybe even the national championship. At this point, another Holiday Bowl bid seems like a good scenerio for the Irish. This time however, beating down on the Hawaii Warriors won't save Weis' job.

What's even worse is that Weis' career record is 35-26, with a .573 winning percentage; Lower than his predecessors Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie. What also shines a light in Weis' face is that his two best seasons were with a lot of Willingham's recruits.

Jimmy Clausen will probably go pro. If he doesn't he's a bonehead. Weis has done a mediocre to below average job as the head coach of Notre Dame, and you can't blame the school's high academic standards for that, I mean, what about Stanford? They're having a better season than Notre Dame, and they have equal academic standards.

You can argue that Notre Dame has lost it's place as a top recruiting college, being replaced by the SEC, Texas, Penn State, Oklahoma, Miami, Ohio State, USC, and other big name schools, but how do you explain the schools recruitment of Jimmy Clausen, arguably the decades most sought after recruit? Clausen was from Southern California and opted away from USC, Tennessee (where his brother Casey played), and other schools with better professional resumes (post 1993) than Notre Dame.

On top of that, Notre Dame are currently ranked #11 on the Rivals.com Recruitment rankings, sandwiched in between USC and Miami. For 2009 the team finished #21, for 2008 the team finished #2, for 2007 the team finished #8, for 2006 the team finished #8, and for 2005 the team finished #40 despite late recruitment because of coaching change. So to make a long story short, Weis has had a perennial top 10 team in terms of recruit value, and has underperformed with it.

Let's be a little more honest. Weis has done horribly with it.

By comparison, Coach Phil Fulmer, a national championship winning coach for Tennessee who snagged Peyton Manning away from Ole Miss was fired after the 2008 season because he failed to reach a bowl game. The season before Fulmer's team was in the SEC Championship game against eventual national champion LSU, but that wasn't enough. Fulmer had a perennial top 10 recruiting team, but lost his job because he couldn't win a national championship with it.

Weis is not Phil Fulmer. The media, ESPN, and programs around the league have sucked any respectability out of Weis' name as a coach. How could a serious recruit choose Weis over Pete Carroll, Mack Brown Nick Saban, Les Miles, Urban Meyer, or Bob Stoops? Those are just some of the names that Weis has to compete with, and some of those names Notre Dame turned down to hire Weis.

So what now for Notre Dame? I've heard Jon Gruden, Phil Fulmer, Bob Stoops, and even Tony Dungy's names thrown around. Not going to happen. Stoops, maybe, but why? Oklahoma is a better program than Notre Dame, why leave to go to that mess?

Enough with that though. This article is about Charlie Weis, who like every other coach who left Bill Belichick, has failed miserably on his own. To their defense, even Belichick initially failed as a head coach when he strayed away from Bill Parcells after Super Bowl XXV. And that's where Weis will find his next home if he wants one. He'll have enough money to retire I'm sure, he could even transition to a studio somewhere, but if he wants to coach again, he'll have to find a job with Bill or Bill.

On this day, when Weis' firing seems absolute, there should be no Weis apologists. He was given the players, given the recruiting tools, and given the environment to succeed. Truth be told, Weis was always scared, thus, he never succeeded. He was a passionate guy, seemed like a good one too. He loved Notre Dame and was happy to be there. But that doesn't mean he was head coaching material.

He'll always be a champion coordinator though.

Notre Dame vs USC Preview

This decade USC's dominance over Notre Dame has had a lot to do with who was under center. Since 2003 the Trojans have produced three current starters on NFL rosters, and two backups. Notre Dame have given the league Brady Quinn.

But for the first time in this era, there is no doubt which team has the better Quarterback. At this point in time Jimmy Clausen is light years ahead of Matt Barkley. Notre Dame's offense is also better than USC's for the first time this rivalry.

I guess that's what happen when you're able to recruit "the kid with the golden arm."

Although Notre Dame have the offensive edge, USC still have the size, the depth, and the defense to make Notre Dame struggle. And I don't want to jump on the Charlie Weis pile on, so let's just say USC have the head coaching advantage here, too.

Neither the Trojans (4-1) or the Irish (4-1) have looked like competition for Florida, Alabama, or even Texas, this year, but this is still the most exciting rivalry on a national level right now. It's also Notre Dame's best shot to get a win with Weiss, a win that may be essential to Weis keeping his job.

Unless Jimmy Clausen stays for senior season, Notre Dame will likely reenter a one to two year rebuilding phase, beginning next year. This is USC's rebuilding. After this season Barkley is a veteran at the college level and USC will once again be national title contenders.

A lot is on the line this week for the Irish. Clausen staying for Senior year is part of it. A win, and national title hopes for 2010, or even this year, begin to emerge. A loss, and Clausen may take the money and run; especially after what happened to Sam Bradford.

Charlie Weis' job is also on the line. Boosters are tired of his act. A loss this Saturday, and Weis may return to Belichick's side in 2010 the way Belichick returned to Parcell's in 1996, and Weis doesn't want that, he may not even be given that sort of opportunity. Weis' collapse in Notre Dame is a lot worse than Belichick's inability to turn Vinny Testaverde into a Pro Bowler (although Testaverde did in 1996, Belichick's first year gone, and 1998, as a Jet with Belichick as defensive coordinator; no need for a Belichick as the reason Testaverde didn't succeed debate though... after all Belichick turned Brady into a Hall of Famer, and Cassell into a millionaire).

Here's the bottom line. Notre Dame are home. Both teams are coming off a bye, both teams BCS hopes are on the line. A win will mean the world for both programs, a loss will go a long way in sending each program backwards. But in college football, nine times out of ten you gotta go with the team with more talent winning the game.

This time the team with more talent is USC.

I hate to say it but the Trojans are going to go into South Bend and win 34 - 21.

Maybe Weis can catch on with Mangini in Cleveland and help develop Brady Quinn. If not I'm sure Big Bill has something for him to do in Miami. If that fails little Bill probably has something in New England. If that fails he and Romeo can co-coach a UFL team.

If that fails there's always pie eating contests. (Damn I said I wouldn't join in the pile on).

If Notre Dame win, Clausen wins the Heisman.