Bunker Mentality

This week, Coach Weis made the decision to limit the availability of players and assistant coaches (except coordinators) to the media. My reaction??? GREAT MOVE. There is simply nothing left to say.

What is to be gained by continuing to expose yourself, your players, and your coaches to the endless barrage of repetitively negative questions from the media?

Do we really need to hear the media ask John Carlson and Trevor Laws AGAIN if they feel they made the right decision in coming back?

Coach Weis is doing exactly the right thing with this move. He is closing up ranks and focusing on what really matters at this point - his coaches and his players. There is enough negativity within a program when you are 1-8. You do not need to add to that mindset by subjecting your coaches and players to the same negative questions over and over again. There is also something to be said for closing up ranks and sending the message to your team that the only folks that matter are the guys in that locker room.

Weis has given the media more access to himself and the team than they probably deserved at this point. Case in point: After the USC game, Coach Weis thoughtfully answered a question by stating that teams should have their fun at the Irish's expense now. Personally, I thought this was a phenomenal answer. At once, it sent a message to the team, to recruits, and to the fan base that their leader had not lost his confidence and was willing to take a stand for them. Nevertheless, Weis was again criticized for his supposed "arrogance" and not having the "proper amount of humity." How can you possibly expect players not to quit and not to lose their confidence if he had answered any other way? What reaction would it have caused among the players if Weis had bowed his head, showed "humility," and said, "Yeah we are awful right now, this season has been awful, and I just hope that next year will be better than this year???"

The time for talking is long past. There is nothing that Coach Weis, or an assistant coach, or a player could say right now that will change the way this season has gone or will help earn a victory over Air Force. It is time to continue to work hard, to continue to stand together as a football program, and to go defend your home turf against a tough Air Force opponent. I agree that Coach Weis has made mistakes this year. He has acknowledged that. However, he is still the same guy that took ND to 2 consecutive BCS games. He did not forget how to coach overnight.

The question I get asked over and over is whether Coach Weis has lost this team, whether the team has quit. The most honest answer I can give is this: When you are 1-8, there are certainly guys who have become so disillusioned that they give in. However, the majority of this team is still in the bunker with Coach Weis, still hungry for a victory, still with enough pride and desire to go out and give 110% every weekend. How do I know? I will give you a clue -- it has nothing to do with what anyone says to the media in response to questions. It has everything to do with what I see with my own 2 eyes:

I see every single member of the team rush to congratulate a grief-stricken Robert Hughes.

I see an unselfish guy like Travis Thomas never once show with his body language that he is anything less than a great teammate.

I see Trevor Laws laying it all on the line every single game, every single play.

I see Pat Kuntz after suffering an injury against Navy begging to go back in the game, getting popped on the side of the head by an assistant coach because he is so fired up on the sideline.

I see 2 QBs in Evan and Jimmy who could easily have become divided by the so-called QB controversy and constant media obsession who talk after every series, learning together and growing together.

Because of what I see, I know that better days are ahead. And those better days just might start this week, the week the Irish stopped talking about what it takes to win and starting doing it. I am just as fired up for this Air Force game as I was for Georgia Tech. It is time to go win a football game. GO IRISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!