If the truth hurts, Irish prefer silence
Williams' honest reply deserves better from Weis
Evidently, being honest and forthright while answering questions is not something Notre Dame captains should do. If they puppet whatever coach Charlie Weis says, even if it's less than the full truth, they are leaders. If they say what really happened, what the opposing coach admits happened, they're not leadership material.
Notre Dame may be one of the prestigious private universities in the country, but football players are not allowed to express original thoughts -- or at least that was the message sent after another loss that ranks among the most embarrassing in school history.
(AP)
More disturbing than Notre Dame falling 23-21 to Navy were comments that followed. More telling than the second loss to Navy in three years, a defeat that could end up costing Weis his job, was how the Notre Dame coach responded to mild criticism of the coaching staff by a player who dared tell the unvarnished truth.
This isn't a ''fire Charlie Weis'' column. I'm content to reserve judgment for a few more weeks. Personally, I think the Irish will upset No. 8 Pittsburgh on Saturday. Anybody who has followed Dave Wannstedt's career knows this is the type of game that his teams usually lose.
If nothing else, a win over Pittsburgh would mute the blue bloods who claim losing to Navy is ''unacceptable.'' What a joke. First of all, in case nobody has noticed, the Irish haven't contended for national titles lately. Secondly, if losing to the Midshipmen is ''beneath'' Notre Dame, why is Navy on the schedule?
But I digress.
What fries my egg more than any of Weis' on-field failures was what was said in the wake of the loss.
Let's start at the beginning.
Navy's triple-option offense racked up 257 rushing yards in a historic upset of Notre Dame two years ago. In last season's game, defensive coaches Jon Tenuta and Corwin Brown devised a scheme that limited the nation's then-second-ranked rushing offense to 157 yards.
The Midshipmen ran wild for 348 yards in Saturday's win, after which Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said: ''I really hope this doesn't come across wrong, but I think the thing that helped us this year was last year. We knew that they'd line up the same way. We didn't execute very well last year. They did a great job against us last year defensively. So we had a pretty good clue that they were going to come back and do the same things.''
In other words, Niumatalolo assumed the Irish would defend his offense the same way as last season and made adjustments that allowed fullback Vince Murray to gallop through the Notre Dame secondary for 158 yards.
Weis prides himself on his ability to manipulate Xs and Os better than opposing defensive coordinators. Well, guess what? In this case, his defensive coordinators got out-schemed. There's no other way to explain it. Hey, it happens. It was logical for Weis and his staff to stick with what worked well the previous year. If they hadn't, Weis would've been ripped for ''out-thinking'' himself, which has been a frequent criticism.
Here's my beef: After the game, defensive tackle Ian Williams told reporters that Navy ''out-schemed us, and I think they just played harder.''
Senior safety and captain Kyle McCarthy, on the other hand, said it was the players' fault. ''We have drilled all week that we have to take care of the fullback,'' McCarthy said. ''That was a big part of our game plan and I guess we just didn't execute it. We made any adjustments that we felt we needed, and Navy just beat us; there is really no excuse.''
This was what Weis said Sunday when he was asked about Williams' postgame comments: ''Well, I didn't read anything as you would imagine, but I did hear quite contrasting answers to the same question. I think that question was presented to Ian, it was also presented to Kyle McCarthy, and from what I understand, Kyle McCarthy's answer was quite different, where he said it had nothing to do with the scheme.
''So, there's a reason why one guy is a captain and one guy is not.''
Weis would go on to strongly insinuate that it was the players who were missing assignments and would be held accountable during a film session later that day. He didn't name any specific players, just like Williams didn't name any specific coach.
Evidently, at Notre Dame, it's OK for Weis to blame a breakdown on his players. If a less media-savvy player suggests the coaching staff may have been partially to blame, he can expect to get publicly flogged by the head coach, even if what he says rings true.
Weis always has been willing to take the heat. ''It starts with me,'' he has said again and again, for which he deserves credit. He talked after the loss about everyone needing to be accountable, starting with him, but his other comments make it appear as if accountability only flows one way in his program.
This is still college football regardless of the stakes. Passing the buck is not the kind of life lesson that coaches should be teaching.
Weis owes Ian Williams an apology.