1. Zbikowski never redshirted at ND. Go and check their official website and nowhere in the entry on him does the word "redshirt" appear. A full breakdown on ND's policy on this can be found here for the uninformed.
http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/w0203/redshirt.html
Then please inform me on Zbikowski's 2003 season. What happened there? EDIT: I read your link. We do the same thing. We have a variety of players who redshirted as freshmen but were not invited back for a fifth year. Call it what you want. 5 to play 4 is the NCAA rule, and ND follows that.
2. Academics are in fact an obstacle to getting some players. I can't speak to how ND has changed their entrance requirements over the years (and neither can you) but it is in fact not only difficult to get into, it's hard to stay eligible once you're there. I never said that was an excuse for poor play this year. I said it was an obstacle Weis has to deal with that other college coaches don't. By the way, Lou Holtz got ND two years of probation by the NCAA for his "actions" while in South Bend. In other words, he cheated.
Actually, since I did recruiting in direct competition with ND, and was offered a position on staff at ND (albeit under Willingham) I can speak toward academics. They have great academics. The main obstacle at ND is the calculus requirement, but it doesn't impede their recruiting efforts. Charlie's last two classes go to show that. A lot of your more reputable schools will stay away from the riskier academic kids- Michigan, ND, etc. But ND is competing for the same kids as Michigan, USC, Florida, etc. That is a poor excuse, especially given ND's recruiting successes of late.
3. There are JUCOs starting at LSU right now. Are they a bad team trying to rebuild? Again, you're wrong. Virtually every SEC, Big 12 and PAC 10 school recruits JUCOs.
Michigan and Ohio State don't. K-State made a living off of JuCos, yes. I don't think USC has a great amount of JuCos on their roster. You don't need JuCos to be successful, much like you didn't need Prop 48s.
4. As I wrote before, this year's ND sched. is not as challenging as it has been, but typically ND has a tough schedule every year.
They do have a good schedule year in, year out. But it mirrors conference team schedules. One or two high quality opponents, a bunch of "Purdue-esque" teams that are good, but not great, and a couple of cupcakes.
5. Again, I said Weis could have done a better job this year. Where did I say that these were "excuses" for poor play? The point was to illustrate why it's harder to win at ND than some think.
Not you specifically, but it's an opinion of most ND fans here in the midwest that everything is Willingham's fault (despite him going to Washington and doing a good job rebuilding that mess.) It is not harder to win at ND than the other top schools. Each school has their unique challenges.
6. Obviously you haven't watched ND games. There is a glaring lack of talent on the field that everyone but you seems to notice. It's been written about, it's been talked about, it's been detailed ad naseum. Have you watched the games?
There is a lack of execution. The line is undersized, but that is in part due to the philosophy they had tried to implement of quicker, more agile linemen. It failed. Are they matching up with USC? Of course not. But it's not the USC or Michigan games we're talking about. It's Purdue, Michigan State, Air Force, Navy, etc. that have considerably less talent than ND, but pounded the Irish this year.
Finally, you're a Michigan fan so your objectivity toward all things ND easily comes into question. If I were you, I'd worry more about why your program is in disarray rather than why ND is struggling to beat traditionally solid teams like Air Force.
That's ridiculous. I'm perfectly capable of being objective, especially about ND. Hell, I give Ohio State tons of credit and I hate them. I like ND. Nice cheap shot about our program. Disarray? A 4 loss season is a travesty in Ann Arbor, and we're not making any excuses about it like a certain fan base in South Bend. For as horrible as this season has been, we were playing for an outright conference championship and BCS berth last Saturday. Regardless, Lloyd is out, Les Miles will be in, and things will be OK. We have continuity in talent, another great class coming in, and a coach willing run something other than outs and off-tackle left. The future is very bright in Ann Arbor.