To rumor, or not to rumor: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous and delusional fans,
Or to take arms against a sea of message board troublemakers,

Suffering with the thought of being just another cog, dangling credibility by a thin thread like the Sword of Damocles, in the rumor machine that is the Notre Dame job, I decided to play this out in a purely fun and hypothetical way. Every media outlet has been burnt by a source before. Even the mighty ESPN and the whole "Les Miles to Michigan deal". So when given some pretty convincing information, there were too many wholes in this story that made too much sense. I'll elaborate.

Your next coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish is...Pat Fitzgerald.

First problem I had with this proclamation, Fitzgerald's comments on November 9th to SI.com, and the fact that another article came out just today about Fitzgerald (in the Chicago Tribune). Up until the latter, this "source" had me believing.

The first bit of information comes flowing in...

"Notre Dame let Charlie know he was done right after the Navy loss. They aren't making anything public until the end of the season. He will more than likely NOT coach them in their bowl game."

Why wouldn't Charlie be coaching them in the bowl game? Unless....you already have a coach in mind? Or maybe have even struck up an alleged conversation with someone's agent?

Then I get:

"Notre Dame is eating $18 million dollars just to get rid of Weis. Their next coach isn't going to be a big name. Notre Dame wants to offer a 3 year 16-18 million dollar contract. They don't want to get stuck and panic like they did with Weis. Plus they want 3 years to try to recoup that $18 million.

You are not going to get Meyer nor Kelly, and not even Bob Stoops for that. Bob Stoops wants too much control, but is interested in the job. Brian Kelly wants the job, but can he handle recruiting with the academic restrictions?...heck....that even applies to Stoops.

"Fitzgerald is all but in. They feel Pat can turn the program around as he did at Northwestern, and be even more successful at Notre Dame."

Does that sound like a fan talking, or a PR firm preparing for whiplash from Northwestern fans when Fitzgerald goes all Saban/Rodriguez on the Wildcats?

It makes sense. Fitzgerald has been getting the most out of his players with the similar academic requirements as Notre Dame. And he's a winner.

Why wouldn't he jump ship? Better facilities. Better recruits. Exposure, whether the rest of the country enjoys it or not...every Saturday on NBC. And the potential to become a legend.

Oh....and money. And if you didn't think that Northwestern fans aren't concerned...

Here's a little snippet from a college football message board:

"I don't think any of us can even fathom a situation where he gets fired for performance. As for where he would go for the truckloads of cash - well, I frankly don't know. He has one last hurdle/frustration to conquer and that is attendance. I know it frustrates him as it does all of us. The concept of another academic school stealing him away for big cash can't be enticing to him and the concept of coaching at a Florida, Texas, Alabama or any other BCS major power just seems like a misfit. There were loud whispers of That Team From South Bend making overtures and many speculate this was a primary reason behind the contract extension/renewal. We never say never, but most of us believe he is here for the long haul."

Still making sense...and he wouldn't be the first coach to say one thing and do another. So you can take the 7 year $7 million extension he signed and realize it isn't worth the paper it's printed on when it comes to the Notre Dame job. If his last "hurdle is attendance"...well...he won't have that problem at Notre Dame.

And the 3 year plan is brilliant for Notre Dame. This is a low risk/high reward hire with Fitzgerald. If he can't do any better than Weis...you can let him go at not nearly the cost. Then you can go after Meyer again. He may have 2 more titles by the time the Notre Dame job comes up again. Maybe this time Urban leaves, and Notre Dame can offer him money that UF just cannot match. (Hence clearing that $18 million).

But if Fitzgerald is a winner...well...they got him cheap, and they can extend him. Once he begins winning at Notre Dame, he will forget all about Northwestern while almost tripling his money in half the time.

So it all makes sense....so why don't I go with it as fact?

Comments like these:

"Even though we're similar academically, we're in a little different boat as Stanford and Notre Dame. We've been consistently winning since 1995. They're still saying they can do it, but we're doing it."

"We're just getting started here. Two things we need to do: Continue to win ... and the next step is to fill Ryan Field up consistently."

"You only have one home. This is always where I will want to be."

So forgive me if I don't jump all over this....even though it makes all the sense in the world, that the numbers are all there...we have coaches using coach speak...all the earmarks of it being too good to be true. I could have a story that could take this site to some lofty heights.

But, reflecting....it is too good to be true.