The Ty Willingham era had started at Notre Dame with a lot of promise in 2002, but ended with disappointment in a season-ending loss and bowl defeat, both by convincing margins. The question facing the 2003 Notre Dame football team was which they would build off of—the promise or the disappointment. It proved to be the latter, in a long season at South Bend.
It was a new era for the Notre Dame football program in 2005. The school and the alumni base, feeling that the talent base was in decline, made a coaching change and brought in Charlie Weis, the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. Weis arrived with much fanfare, as the Patriots had just won their third Super Bowl in four years. The new coach said he had a “decided schematic advantage” over the competition. The 2005 Notre Dame football season made it look like the new coach might have a point.