Thad Matta & Charlie Weis contracts

[DFN2006]

I know this is VERY early, but it's worth discussion. Matta signs a super long-term contract and now his team doesn't look like a Top-25 contender. Charlie Weis signed a similar long deal then his team is terrible. I realize Matta is not near terrible, but could the situation here have similarities in a few months? A year from now? Could the Buckeyes be locked in with a medicore coach who caught a wave of success? Or is Matta a great find after all working to rebuild this season?

[Nate]

I am not ready to even consider a comparison between the two coaches right now.  Matta has actually won with his own players.  Weis' team on the other hand has totally bombed when the majority of the players on his team are his.  Another contrast is the Buckeyes have been competitive for the most part against some of the best teams in the country.

The Buckeyes look bad but they should improve.  Remember, Matta squeezed 20 wins out of O'Brien's leftovers 2 years ago.

The biggest issue right now is the Buckeyes are young.  However, Matta needs to figure out each players roll and put them in position to win.

This young Buckeye team has a had pretty brutal schedule.  You'll start to see some wins coming now and some confidence building.

Right now there is no comparison.  Now if the Buckeyes only win 10 games this year, then maybe we can start comparing.

[AutoModGod]

Nate,

Well put!  I agree 100%.

We went through some spells last year where we did not shoot well either.  We should work out way out of it.

[ctab5]

Are Thad Matta and Charlie Weis similar? In this case, not at all. You have to remember that anywhere from 3-4 of our starters are freshman. You also have to remember we've played to 21st ranked team in the country, the 15th ranked team in the country, the 1st ranked team in the country, and the 16th ranked team in the country. Since then the number one has stayed number one, the 15th ranked team moved to 16th, and the 16th ranked team moved up to thirteenth, the only one that isn't still in the top 25 is Syracuse... due to their loss to us. When the freshman get used to the system, they will be ranked top 25.

[MsScarlet32]

Don't even start to compare Matta to Charlie Weis. First off, their tenures in college athletics are different. Matta has established himself with winning seasons, solid recruiting, etc. Weis has done none of that, especially if you consider that Weis' first season was built on Willingham players. I think OSU probably did the right thing in signing Matta to a long term deal. ND was hosed into thinking that Weis was leaving for the NFL again (there were two jobs open at the time) and he threatened as much.

I do have to say that having a good football team is much harder than having a good basketball team just because of the sheer numbers of players involved. One (or two) guys can carry a basketball team (i.e. Powell and Oden) but having only two good footballl players will get you run over.

Just my two cents... 

[Nate]

Very good points MsScarlet32.  Welcome to Buckeyes 24/7!

Matta's success should speak for itself.  He has won 20 games every year since he's been a Buckeye.  His teams play hard and are very tough at the end of the year when it counts.   He has proven he can recruit and win with his own recruits. 

Weis won with Brady Quinn but now that Quinn and most of Willingham's players are gone ND was a bunch of chumps.  Now Weis is getting so great recruiting classes but he hasn't pieced his recruits together into a competitive team yet.  He may be a good x's and o's coach but we have yet to see him assemble a team and coach it to wins.  We'll see.

No comparison.  Matta is a proven success.  Weis is not. 

[MsScarlet32]

Thanks for the welcome, Nate. I just found the board a few days ago. I live down in North Carolina now, but grew up in Dayton, Ohio :cool: -- primetime Buckeye territory because the MAC is so week...haha! And a close family member went to ND.

I hope to God that ND and Ohio State never play each other in basketball or football because I'd have some serious cheering issues.

I'm a huge basketball fan, so hopefully I can contribute. 

[Nate]

We're glad you found us and looking forward to your contributions.