University of Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick. Looks like Charlie Weis is out at Notre Dame today.

The new coaches first big selling job will be to try to convince Clausen and Tate to stay.

Here are some gentlemen that should leave their phones on today, and except the charnges.

1. Brian Kelly-University of Cincinnati
2. Brian Billick-Out of the game for now
3. John Gruden-ESPN
4. Will Muschap-Univeristy of Texas
5. Urban Meyer-University of Florida

Don’t get it twisted, all these guys have a price, and trust me when I say this, ND has the Brinks truck waiting.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. 

I ate to much and it is sure to be painful later.  Oh well, I guess I can get some new pants out of it!

Enjoy.

The 74th annual Iron Bowl was full of great plays.

The boys from Auburn and Alabama were making the pads click today. Auburn played out of their minds and Gene Chizek doesn’t have that football football team far away from winning the SEC again. Be patient Auburn fans, next year is going to be a lot different.

For Alabama fans, the showdown with Florida is set. Some causal fans have said that the SEC championship will be the actual National Championship. I’m not to sure about that. It’s just a shame that those two teams can’t play in a true championship game.

The Nick Saban and Urban Meyer chess match is certain to start in the headlines early.

SIDE NOTES: Brian Kelly’s Bearcats won again in fine style. I watched them pretty closely and his spread offense certainly uses all the weapons available. Tony Pike dropped 6 TD’s and a battle is set for the game against The fighting Wandstashes.

If anyone was listening Spencer Tillman from CBS said that Brian Billick was a strong viable candidate for the ND coaching job.  That means where there is smoke there is fire.  It might even be a done deal

I’m not sure what to say about today’s game against UConn. Its really tough to win games with only 3 decent guys on defense. I feel bad for the seniors on the team that didn’t go out with a win.

Now my question is, if Weis leaves, do Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate go with him?

Oregon vs. Arizona
The Ducks aren’t wearing anything flashy like they usually do. Man are they fast.

I Love, Love, Love Arizona’s all Red uni’s. I’m not sure why. The “Red out” in Tucson looks friggin’ sweet. Wildcats playing a lot better then I thought they would

So many of the conversations that I’ve had recently around the water cooler stem from the question, “What do you think of the Browns?”  Usually, do to the pain and agony that it gives me to actually talk about it, I say”it’s a poorly managed organization, what do you expect?”  Dodge another bullet and yet another night of crying myself to sleep at night over the potential of never seeing a Cleveland Championship in my lifetime.  My cousin Dave came up with a great idea, mostly because we are losers, to be the Browns President for a day and make all of the decisions. Now, I’ve taken it one step further and decided to build a dream team of coaches that could perhaps bring my beloved Cleveland Browns to the promise land.  I’ve also decided to post Dave’s thoughts, since he tends to be my NFL expert.  We’ll see how hard it is to really be Randy Lerner.

Front Office-You gotta have good leadership at the top to set the tone.

President-Ernie Accorsi-He’s a Cleveland Browns guy that knows how important this team is to the town.  Its a little bit of a retread since he was around in the mid-80’s for the Kosar years(I think).  Accorsi has been in contact with Lerner as the turmoil has been building.  Lerner has been itching to get him involved.  So I guess, I am to.

GM-Mike Holgrem-Holgrem has made no bones about talking about wanting to get back into football.  He’s never really said in what capacity though.  In Seattle he wanted absolute power and wanted to call the plays.  Well, I won’t let him be my coach, but I’ll let him shop for the groceries.  I’ve always liked his scheme and our current personnel fits the west coast offense better. Plus he really likes Brady Quinn and that makes me happy.

Head Coach-Mike Shanahan-(This is my pipe dream remember)-Now you might think that Shanahan and Holgrem might conflict since they both were guys that wanted to have GM type powers as head coaches.  What I think it might do is force some synergies in the front office and allow for two coaches to get together and decide on the needs of the team.  Can you picture Shanie and Holgrem in the Browns war room talking about players and fitting them into our line ups.  Brings a smile to my face, and makes my man parts feel funny.

OC-Charlie Weis-Something tells me that his services are going to be available next year.  Weis coached Quinn into the ND record books with his offense.  Its a great Yin and Yang combo with Shanahan who has a great running game scheme.  Something that Weis’ offense lacks.  Plus it would reunite Weis and Quinn and allow Quinn to finally have solid ground underneath his feet and put him in a position to win football games. Finally, I think Charlie’s ability to scheme against teams week to week is a better fit in the NFL as its easier to do with the talent level at the pro level.

DC-Bud Foster-(DC at Va. Tech)-Another guy plucked from the college ranks.  Foster’s aggressive defense has always put Va.Tech in the top ranks in the country.  His “lunch box” mentality is something that fits the town and the team.  Browns fans want to see gritty players that play with heart.  Foster has been the guy at Va. Tech responsible for making the Hokies extremely tough and able to go anywhere and play anyone. His tough aggressive style is similar to Rob Ryan’s, but has a much better emphasis on fundamentals.

College Scout Consultant-Bernie Kosar-Bernie really wants to be a part of this organization again.  So why not let him use his skills to evaluate players and personnel that can get plugged into the system. Sure, he’d probably be wrong sometimes, but he understands the types of players needed in Weis and Shanahan’s system. He also gets the type of players that Clevelanders want to root for.

Free Agent Pick ups:NT Gabe Watson, RB Leon Washington, CB Keiwan Ratliff, OG Max Jean-Giles, WR Maurice Stovall, LB Pierre Woods

Cuts: Jamal Lewis, Derek Anderson,Rex Hadnot,Colin Cowerty, Cefric Peerman

Resign: Jerome Harrison, D’Qwell Jackson, Lawrence Vickers, Brodney Pool

Draft:  This is going to be really fun…

#3 Taylor Mays FS, USC-He looks like a stud in his uniform and USC guys are game ready from day one.  Plus, I’ve seen enough of him during the several ass beatings USC gave Notre Dame while he was there.

#34 Sergio Kindle LB, Texas- Kindle is a nice hybrid athlete that will instantly add speed to the defense.  He’ll fit great in a 34 defense or playing the WILL.

$68 Mike Pouncey OG, Florida-This underclassmen started for 3 years with Urban Meyer’s Gators.  He can grind em up and pass block.  Plus he’s played at a high level in the SEC.

#99 Sam Young OT, Notre Dame-Spent a of time protecting Brady Quinn while they were both at ND.  This would be a pick influenced by Weis as the OC.  Young is big and would fit nicely at RT. That would give us two tackles that are taller then 6′4″ and over 300 lbs. They’d look great grinding people up in Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme.

#131 Tony Pike QB, Cincinnati-He’s one of my favorite college football players this year.  He’s tall and can sling it.  Probably in the Joe Flacco mold, but a little more raw

#133 DeMarco Murray RB, Oklahoma-This would probably be a steal this low, but Murry is physical and has a ton of speed. I’d love the pedigree that he would add to our backfield. Plus he’s used to taking handoffs out of the shotgun spread-type formations.

#145 Jeff Cottam TE, Tennessee-He’s really, really tall…

#165 Freddie Barnes WR, BGSU-He’s probably going to finish the all-time leader in catches for a single season.  He’s durable, versitale and can make a big play.  His sure hands would be nice thing to see since most of our WR’s now have the drop syndrome.

We also have to othe picks, but at that point, I’m not sure they even matter.  Shanahan would probably use one of them as a “project guy” that he is always known for.  Lastly, I’d still be looking to help Foster add depth to the defense in anyway I could.

With these kind of moves and my dream team coaching staff, I like the Brownies chance to at least win the AFC North.  The Bud Foster transition from the college game to the NFL game would be the big key.

First off let me start by saying I folded and washed a crap load of laundry that night. As I did so, I fancied myself watching the Va.Tech vs. East Carolina game.
Of course, I have a few thoughts…So here goes…

Tyrod Taylor has come a long way. He looks eriely like a more refined Mike Vick. Taylor has really developed a smooth looking deep ball, but his magic happens with his Houdini acts in the pocket.

Ryan Williams WILL BE the Freshmen of the year.

Va.Tech still isn’t THAT explosive.

Rock Carmichaels INT in the 4th period with about 2 minutes to go was filthy. By far the sickest INT by a guy named Rock Carmichael EVER.

ECU has done a good job recruiting RAW athletes. Skip Holtz might have a tough go next year without 6 yr Senior Patrick Pickney.

I wonder how Pickney will be evaluated by pro scouts. He’s got TONS of tape to go off of to build a case. At the end of the day, he’s s system guy.

Ryan Williams is really good, did I mention that?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/ncaa/11/01/college.football.poll/index.html

Heisman Trophy-

No big time front runners right now, which makes it even more intriguing. Will someone win this award on a big stage with one game? Does Tebow win it by default if the Gators run the table and win a title? I’ll take a stab at a short list, not in any particular order:

Tim Tebow (1323 passing 18 total TD’s 4 INT’s). Superman has a chance to put up some huge numbers this week against Vandy
Jimmy Clausen (2300 passing 18TD’s 2 INT’s). Clausen is missing his marquee win, but’s keeping ND in the national picture; he also has big number potential this week against Navy (Sorry Gerald).
Mark Ingram (1000 yds rushing 11 Total TD’s) Ingram is catching up to Tebow as the front runner I think, he can be in the driver seat with a nice performance against LSU this weekend and a Bama W
Golden Tate (1000 rec 11 total TD’s) Tate has been explosive the past three weeks, and darn near impossible to cover. He’d take votes away from Clausen, but is the real deal.
CJ Spiller (10 total TD’s, DOING EVERYTHING) Spiller is the only reason to watch Clemson. He’s lighting in a bottle and can go 60+ in a New York minute

Cleveland Browns-

The city is burning. Lerner fired George Konkis yesterday, and is probably sizing up Mangini to be next. Heads are rolling in this organization, even interns and assistants are getting canned. A lot of arrows are pointing toward Bernie Kosar and a front office job.

NFL-

The Saints seem to have some things figured out in this league. What has happened to all the QB’s, I feel like all of a sudden there is a huge group that has just lost it?

So, the Redskins are REALLY, REALLY Bad…Maybe all of the Redskin alums are right and Jim Zorn is a putz?

Love Donovan McNabb, I hate the offense that he’s in…Stats right now 6-9 47 yards…Damn it, chuck the ball, my fantasy team needs you.

DeSean Jackson is blazing fast! I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure he’d amount to anything in this league, but he’s slowly proving me wrong. Not that my opinion means anything.

Is Clinton Portis done?

Did anyone see what kind of numbers Freddie Barnes put up against Kent State on Saturday?

22 catches for 278 yards and 3 TD’s

Through 6 games Barnes leads the nation with 75 catches for 755. He’s on pace to break the NCAA single season record that was set back in 1989.

Yeah, he’s legit and get goes to BG!