Rockne's Roundtable

No, Newman, it lingers with any former coach, regardless of what the current one does, but in this instance, both Weis and Kelly fed into it. They both should have kept quiet, but the difference is that Kelly pays the price for what he and Weis say, while Weis can just sit by idly, and smile.

He did what no former coach should do -- kept communication with ex-players still on his former team. Do you think he was advising them on course selection or girl friend issues? You don't do this. No, this is assuredly not the reason why ND went 8-5 two years in a row. It's not an excuse. But, it sure as hell didn't help, and I'm saying that from the perspective of a former coach (not football) who had to deal with that.

No, he doesn't ignore him, but if they reached out to him, as you suggest might have happened, he simply says "I'm not going to comment on ND football." And, who knows, maybe that's what he did. Personally, I wouldn't book that bet, but, yes, it is possible.

It's interesting as noted above how Weis "got the band back together" at KU. He brought the assistants back and Crist. I don't think it's smart to expect the turnaround he had at ND since KU is a trainwreck right now in terms of talent and effectiveness. I will follow KU no closer now than before except seeing their highlights on Gameday. I hope Crist can play well enough to give himself a shot at the pros. Other than that I could care less. If KU goes 0-12 I don't care. If they go 6-6, I don't care. If they go 12-0 I don't care. All I care about is ND's record. If KU wins 7-11 games next year, it doesn't show that we should have stuck with Crist anymore than it shows we should have stuck with Weis. Anyone that says otherwise should be sure they tether those 2 together. If KU has success, the Kelly and Rees opponents will say Crist got a raw deal. Well then what about Weis? Kansas is another team in the nation that just happens to have ND legacies in their fold.

i'm all for cw to succeed. he's a nd guy, always will be. things soured for sure, and do you think anyone else suffered more from that than charlie himself? i hope he can help crist have one good year. how can u not love powlus and grunny on the coaching staff? i think weiss learned alot from his mistakes at nd as a head coach. and as much as he made me cry at times while here, i wish him the best......