Charlie Weis
Charlie Weis With their fifth season winding down under head coach Charlie Weis, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have not lived up to lofty expectations. So, given Notre Dame's recent history, the coach carousel could start spinning again.

Since Lou Holtz coached the Irish for 11 seasons from 1986 to 1996, including leading Notre Dame to their last national championship in 1988, the Fighting Irish has had four different head coaches try to equal Holt's success.

Bob Davie, Holt's successor, lasted five years, George O'Leary resigned without even coaching a game after it was discovered he had embellished his resume and Tyrone Willingham survived only three seasons. Now Weis's tenure can only be characterized as a disappointment.

At 6-4, the Irish have lost two straight games, to Navy and Pittsburgh. With two games left in his fifth season as coach,
Weis has the same 35-25 overall coaching record that got Davie fired eight years ago, and the same .583 winning percentage that got Willingham fired five years ago.

With rumors swirling that Weis is about to be fired, he says that he won't reflect on the season until after the final game and that he hasn't been told anything about his future from the University.

"Oh no, I don't think that any decision's been made because I would know, and I don't know," Weis said, adding that it's full-speed ahead on to Connecticut, this week's opponent, then Stanford and then recruiting."

Meanwhile, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops denied a report that he has told "confidants" he'd be interested in coaching Notre Dame if the job opened up.

"That's some guy making something up. I'm not answering stuff like that," Stoops said after practice Monday. "There's not even a job up there at Notre Dame. That's ridiculous."