[LordJeffBuck]

Originally Posted by ElKabongNDN

You failed to list the class after that one, which was also recruited by Ty Willingham and was rated even lower than the top-30 class.

Sorry, that's Weis's class, as he was the man who signed the players. Jim Tressel had even less time to put together his 2001 recruiting class, and he won a national championship the very next year. Ditto for Urban Meyer in 2005. And Bob Stoops in 1999. And so on....

Remember, Weis lost some of Willingham's best 2005 recruits, including four-star defensive end Lawrence Wilson, who was starting at Ohio State prior to injuring his leg in the season opener; and four-star cornerback Brandon Harrison, who is in Michigan's two-deep.

If Weis really thought that the 2005 commitments that he inherited from Willingham were so bad, then he should have rescinded their scholarship offers and started from scratch. If the whole idea of hiring Weis was to let him rebuild the program in his own image over the long term, then I'm sure that the Notre Dame administration and alumni would have bought into that plan, however drastic it may have seemed at the time.

That's two consecutive classes out of the top 25.

Which means that Notre Dame still had better recruiting classes than 70+ other teams. Yet the Fighting Irish are easily one of the worst teams in the country right now? Sorry, can't blame the talent....

Over the past five recruiting classes, Notre Dame's average ranking was 20th in the nation; from 2003 to 2007, the Irish's classes were ranked (by Rivals) 12th, 32nd, 40th, 8th, and 8th, respectively. Notre Dame's current team is comprised solely of players from those five classes.

Here are the five-year averages for some of the teams that beat Notre Dame this season:

Penn State: 32nd (93rd, 14th, 25th, 6th, 24th)
Purdue: 38th (31st, 20th, 29th, 50th, 59th)
Michigan State: 38th (66th, 16th, 35th, 33rd, 42nd)
Georgia Tech: 49th (50th, 56th, 62nd, 58th, 18th)

So, how were those teams able to beat Notre Dame handily with such lousy recruiting classes? Of Notre Dame's first five opponents this season, only Michigan, whose classes ranked 11th on average (17th, 5th, 6th, 13th, and 12th), had clearly superior recruiting efforts. And lest we forget, Michigan lost to 1-AA Appalachian State, whose recruiting classes don't even show up on the radar, but pounded Notre Dame 38-0 (and the game wasn't even that close). Does little Appy State have more talent than mighty Notre Dame?

Here are a few more five-year averages for you to ponder:

Oregon: 25th (26th, 12th, 28th, 49th, 11th)
Virginia Tech: 29th (27th, 41st, 14th, 32nd, 29th)
Wisconsin: 37th (34th, 42nd, 33rd, 39th, 40th)
West Virginia: 40th (46th, 47th, 31st, 52nd, 23rd)
Louisville: 44th (35th, 64th, 45th, 34th, 41st)
Kentucky: 53rd (63rd, 45th, 67th, 36th, 54th)
South Florida: 64th (61st, 43rd, 50th, 59th, 58th)
Hawaii: 89th (83rd, 96th, 85th, 73rd, 108th)

As you can see, each of the above teams has had: (1) a worse five-year average than Notre Dame; (2) at least one recruiting class worse than Notre Dame's worst class (40th); and (3) no class as good as Notre Dame's best class (8th, which ND accomplished twice). Now, which of those eight teams would you like to play, exactly?

That doesn't translate to a lot of senior leadership.

Ohio State has exactly one fifth-year senior, and three other seniors, not counting walk-ons and former walk-ons. Now that's what you call lack of senior leadership. Would you care to play Ohio State right now?

By the way, Ohio State's five-year average was 18th, and its classes were ranked 41st, 9th, 12th, 12th, and 15th, from 2003 through 2007.

Weis is responsible for how the team performs, but I can't remember a team that skews so far towards true sophomores and freshmen in 30 years of watching college football.

Ohio State has 45 freshmen and sophomores on scholarship, 24 juniors, and the 4 aforementioned seniors. Thirteen of those freshmen and sophomores start. Ohio State has played eight true freshmen this season, out of a recruiting class of just fifteen. Is Notre Dame younger than that?

These days, teams have to re-load every year to stay on top, which means that freshmen and sophomores will receive lots of playing time. Ohio State, Southern Cal, and Florida are three excellent examples of teams that rely heavily on younger players, but all of the top teams do so. There is no reason why Charlie can't have his youngsters ready to play at this level.

Let's face it - in 2007, Charlie Weis has done less with more than any other head coach in the country. Maybe Weis doesn't have enough talent to compete for a national championship, but there is simply no way that his talent is so bad that it justifies the Irish being 0 and 5 on the season; having been out-scored 166 to 46; out-rushed 1,050 yards to 152 yards; and out-gained 1,779 yards to 974 yards.

Ask Tom Lemming what that's meant to the ND program.

If you want to believe Tom Lemming, then be my guest....