Coaching Seat Only Gets Hotter For Weis After 38-3 Loss To USC

December 1, 2008 1:20 p.m. EST

South Bend, IN (AHN) - After a 38-3 beat-down at the hands on No. 5 USC, Notre Dame is a college football powerhouse no more. The team is 6-6 this year and coach Charlie Weis might be looking for a job next year.

Other factors weight into Weis and his unstable job situation. One main factor is that the team barely survived Navy this year, almost losing to Navy for the second straight year.

It doesn't help the Weis' team also lost to a struggling Syracuse team 24-23.

Even Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson was fired this year after his team posted nine losses.

These are the things that Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick has to consider while making a decision on Weis.

Weis, currently on the recruiting trail until later this week, might be making the effort a little too late.

Some of Weis's big recruits have just not turned out the way it was planned. Quarterback Jimmy Clausen has thrown for 2,700 yards this year with 20 touchdowns but also had 17 interceptions.

This only adds to the critics who say Weis won early in his Notre Dame tenure with other coaches players.

Swarbrick will have to think long and hard about what to do with a coach that he has signed to a 10-year deal.

One thing that might save Weis is surprisingly academics. Notre Dame has tracked the football team's GPA since 1992. Before Weis arrived, the highest team GPA was 2.911. Since Weis arrived, the team's GPA has been 3.0 or above for six straight semesters.

Swarbrick said he would take this into account.

Weis is 28-21 through four seasons with the Irish, which may not be good enough to hold onto his job.