The Charlie Weis to Rich Rodriguez comparisons must stop right now. I’ll start off by saying yes, they do have certain things in common. They are both head coaches at extremely prestigious football universities. They both came into their coaching jobs highly confident and even slightly arrogant. They both get paid a sh*tload of money per win (this past year anyway). However, there are a few critical elements that need to be looked at, other than the fact Weis could eat Rita Rodriguez as an appetizer.

Charlie Weis had never coached in college football before coming to Notre Dame. He had a successful start with Brady Quinn and got a TEN year contract midway through the first season, when they were 5-2. Notre Dame went 19-6 in his first two seasons, when the team was being led by Ty Willingham’s players. Despite having great recruiting classes and the number one quarterback in his class, Jimmy Clausen, the Irish have compiled an all-time franchise worst 15 losses over the last two years, failing to beat any team in the top 25. Charlie Weis has achieved absolutely nothing in college football.

Rich Rodriguez, on the other hand, has been coaching college football for 16 years. He won 4 straight conference titles after 3 seasons at Glenville State and won 3 straight conference titles at West Virginia after 2 seasons (and won a Sugar Bowl). His one season at Michigan was characterized by adjustment, transfers, injuries, and an offense with little to no game experience. He hasn’t even had a full recruiting class of his own come to Ann Arbor. Charlie Weis deserved to be fired (though he is getting one more year) because he won with another man’s talent and failed, miserably, with his own. Give Rich Rodriguez a recruiting class or two of his own before you even think about making a comparison.

A coach is expected to struggle when he’s coaching another man’s team and to succeed with his own. Rodriguez has a proven track record of bringing schools to the top of their conference and keeping them there. To all the whiners (yes, JQ is included), please shut up and realize that this was a necessary evil. Would you rather go to 4-5 straight Outback/Capital One bowls and embrace mediocrity or would you rather miss one bowl game and be in the running for BCS games for the next several years? We went to Rodriguez to become a national title contender and this is part of the process. Suck it up. Go Blue!