SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Charlie Weis will return for a fifth year as Notre Dame’s football coach despite posting his second straight disappointing season.
A person familiar with the decision said the university will make the official announcement later Wednesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the information had not been authorized for release.
Weis has seven years left on a 10-year contract signed midway through his first season.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said following Notre Dame’s 38-3 loss to USC on Saturday that he would evaluate Weis’ performance. Both men were out of town Wednesday.
The decision to keep Weis was first reported by several media outlets Tuesday night.
two-year span.
The former New England Patriots offensive coordinator has a record of 28-21 in four years, a .571 winning percentage. That’s slightly worse than his two predecessors, Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie.
Weis, though, also led the Irish to BCS bowls in his initial two seasons at Notre Dame, first to the Fiesta Bowl then to the Sugar Bowl. The Irish are expected to go to a lower-level bowl this year.
Davie got the Irish to the Fiesta Bowl in 2000, Notre Dame’s only BCS appearance in his five years as coach. The only bowl the Irish went to during Willingham’s three years as coach was in 2002 to the Gator Bowl.
The decision to keep Weis is the first big decision in the tenure of Swarbrick, who took over the job in August.
Swarbrick said on Nov. 12 that he looked forward to Weis “being the head coach for a long time.” But after an embarrassing 24-23 loss to Syracuse, the first time in its storied history that Notre Dame had fallen to an eight-loss team, and getting trounced by rival USC for the sixth time in seven straight losses to the Trojans, Swarbrick said he wouldn’t comment on Weis’ status until he had time to review the season.
Last season’s triple-overtime loss to Navy ended an NCAA-record 43-game winning streak over the Midshipmen, and a pair of 38-0 losses to Michigan and USC were among the embarrassing defeats of the past two seasons.
ight of Notre Dame’s 28 victories came against teams that finished the season with a winning record. The Irish have recently gone 1-16 against teams that finished with a winning record.
The wins against quality teams have been scarce. Notre Dame beat No. 3 Michigan in Weis’ second game as coach, but the Wolverines finished 7-5 that season. His only victory against a team that finished a season ranked in the Top 25 was a 41-17 win over a Penn State squad that finished 2006 ranked No. 24.
His finest moment as Irish coach came midway through his first season, when the Irish were 12-point underdogs to top-ranked USC. He worked Notre Dame fans into a frenzy that week and held the weekly pep rally outside at Notre Dame Stadium and 45,000 people attended. The Trojans narrowly won when Reggie Bush pushed Matt Leinart into the end zone with 3 seconds left.
Weis, who originally signed a five-year contract, was rewarded the next week with a 10-year contract that went started with the 2006 season.
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