Why Charlie Weis should not be our next head coach | by Michael

"With the second selection of the 1993 NFL draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Rick Mirer, quarterback, University of Notre Dame."

We all know what has happened since. Mirer simply never developed. Even under current Pats wunderkind assistant Charlie Weis, who is a contender for the head coaching position at Notre Dame.

In 1998, my beloved Jets were on fire, and Weis had them racking up yards and points left and right. We lost in the AFC Championship game to Denver (the name of their head coach escapes me at the present). And so going into 1999, there was a lot of excitement that Bill Parcells would bring us to the Super Bowl a mere three years after replacing the coaching embarrassment that was Richie Kotite (curiously, I haven't heard any ESPN reports that Kotite has turned down the ND job).

But alas, during the first game of the 1999 NFL season, the New York Jets lost Vinny Testaverde to a season-ending injury.

Enter Rick Mirer.

As good as Charlie Weis is, and damn, he is good, even he couldn't develop Mirer into a serviceable NFL quarterback. Mirer's numbers on the season were very pedestrian. Mirer started six games that year and played in eight.

54% completion percentage (career 53.3)
6.03 yards per attempt (career 5.86)
5 TDs, 9 INTs
60.4 QB rating (career 63.5)

Eventually, Weis, like just about every other coach in the NFL, gave up on Rick Mirer and moved on to 3rd string QB Ray Lucas.

And somehow the Jets, who started the season 1-6 after Testaverde's injury and Mirer's struggles, finished the season 8-8.

And so, in all my searches for why Charlie Weis should not be the next head coach of Notre Dame, I have found some damning evidence. He couldn't fix Rick Mirer.

Or does that just make him mortal?