Eric Hansen

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Perhaps the most absurd aspect of watching Charlie Weis’ future as Notre Dame head football coach melt into indistinguishable sentence fragments and other shades of gray is the almost daily speculation from “a source” about the size of the buyout.

You almost feel like a contestant on the Price is Right.

How about $21 million? Lower

$4.5 million? Higher.

$12 million? Hmmm.

Irrelevant? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick tell her what she’s won.

Well, it’s definitely not a braaanddd neeeewwww caaaarrrrr. In fact, it might not be a straight answer or coherent one. When asked about the buyout late Saturday night following USC’s 38-3 disassembling of Notre Dame, a reporter trying to nail down Swarbrick on the issue posed the question, “Do you ever let money get in the way of something you want to do?”

Swarbrick answered: “Oh, God, yes. My wife wants to buy something, and money gets in the way.”

The only real news that came from the exchange was that Swarbrick said he planned to next sit down with Weis and evaluate the season/career/future on Monday, Dec. 8.

That’s not to say time, or anything else, will stand still in the interim. In fact, the direction Swarbrick wants to go in that meeting has likely already been determined.

Here are the three most likely scenarios involving Weis and an educated guess on the likelihood of each one playing out.

Notre Dame fires Weis outright with no workable plan in place to name a successor.
Twenty percent chance.

Given the Keystone Kops flavor of the last two ND head football coaching changes, you might guess a higher percentage on this one. But the assumption here is that Swarbrick hasn’t been around long enough (four months) to be brainwashed into the train-wreck mentality.

Notre Dame keeps Weis outright but strongly suggests changes on the coaching staff.
Twenty-one percent chance.

Weis would love this one, because you wouldn’t have to sell him on the assistant coaching changes. If it does happen, expect at least three new assistants and also expect a better ratio of experienced coaches over those who are young, enthusiastic and willing to learn.

Weis needs someone who can help him fix the problems, most of which emanate from the offensive line and the running game. He also needs someone who’s not afraid to stand up in a meeting and say, “Charlie, you’re wrong.”

Weigh what else is out there in terms of available and interested head coaching candidates and measure that against what ND has in Weis.
Fifty-nine percent chance.

That means the pool of possible replacements will very much weigh into the final decision.

And if ND does move down this road, expect there to be some clandestine feelers sent out this week from third party to third party -- not too unlike how junior high kids choose boyfriends and girlfriends.

For instance, "I’m not saying Notre Dame likes you, but if it did, might you consider going to the dance with the Irish on the off chance that they might invite you, but not that they are?"

The one thing Notre Dame can’t afford if it does decide to move in another direction is a long and/or awkward coaching search, which, ironically, is exactly how the past two have gone.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Flying on the hardwood, racing on the rink, getting physical on the gridiron, and much more. more photos

Weis will spend most of this week recruiting -- or more likely trying to keep his current top 10-ranked class from hemorrhaging. He does plan a short jaunt to Hawaii to visit the nation’s premier linebacker prospect -- Manti Te’o, who visited Notre Dame the weekend of Nov. 22. Te’o not only got to see snow, but he got to see some ND students throw it at his potential future teammates during a 24-23 collapse to Syracuse.

As for Weis a week after the visit by Te’o, he's answering even tougher, more-pointed questions.

“I’m the head football coach at Notre Dame,” Weis said late Saturday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. “And I will be until the time comes somewhere in my career, either by my choice or their choice, they’re going to tell me I’m not the head coach of Notre Dame “

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