Crewcut's Turn on the Coaches Hot Seat

Coaches Hot Seat continues to crank out its offseason reviews. As we scanned the list of coaches on the hottest of hot seats, one name jumped out — Crewcut Charlie Weis, sitting at No. 16. Imagine the excitement as we clicked the link to see what the gang at Hot Seat had to say about ol' Crew.

Nobody gets compensated like Crew. His $4.2 million annual salary is tops in the land. And coming off a 3-9 season, it's clear this seat is warming up. Hot Seat:

"A botched interviewing process where it became apparent that Notre Dame did not even meet the hiring process of the local 7-Eleven when it comes to checking credentials, the hiring and firing of Tyrone Willingham, and the reach of hiring an NFL assistant coach that had never coached a down of football in the college game.

"That's a recipe for disaster, and Notre Dame now enters the 2008 season in full rebuilding mode, with the alumni and fans clamoring for a return to the national stage."

Hot Seat says the hiring of Jon Tenuta as defensive coordinator was a step in the right direction. But the key to Notre Dame's season will be how it fares in road games.

"We believe that Notre Dame will do pretty well at home, 5-1, but they will go 1-5 on the road, with only a win over Navy in Baltimore."

That results in a 6-6 regular season for the Fighting Irish, good enough for a bowl and good enough — the site predicts — to keep Weis around for another season. This one appears headed for resolution in 2009:

"Charlie Weis needs a big season in '08 to quiet the calls for his head, but we don't see a big season in the cards, and no doubt Weis will enter the 2009 season coaching for his job in South Bend."