The most enlightening part of Charlie Weis's Sunday news conference -- where he mostly sidestepped a barrage of questions about his overall job performance -- came when the Notre Dame coach was reminded of a quote from his very first media gathering five years ago.

At the time, Weis relayed he told the team that 6-5 wasn't good enough. And of course, the Irish are 6-5 right now with Weis's career dangling off a cliff. Weis said Sunday that he'd have "a tough time" arguing that he shouldn't be fired if and when Notre Dame decided to make a change.

"Because 6-5 isn't good enough," he said.

And yet, more often than not, mediocrity has been the standard in South Bend since the end of the Lou Holtz era in 1996. This will be the eighth time in the last 13 seasons that the Irish finish with seven wins or fewer. Add up the records under Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis, and the average finish in those 13 years is almost exactly 7-5. Notre Dame did make three BCS bowls in that time period, but it was blown out in all three.

Those facts have led some to wonder whether this is less about the coach and more about the institution. Critics will say Notre Dame is just destined to be a pedestrian program that every now then rises up to have a nine- or 10-win season and that it is living on ancient history.

Hogwash. If that were true, explain the success of TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State, currently ranked No.s 4-5-6 in the country. Notre Dame has vastly more resources, exposure, access to recruits and fans than probably all three of those programs put together.

In college football, it always comes down to leadership and the right coach. And the Fighting Irish have not hired the right coach the last three times they've tried.

Think about it: Davie was an excellent defensive coordinator who deserved a shot to succeed Holtz, but he had no prior head coaching experience. Willingham was brought in after the George O'Leary résumé fiasco, and though he had done nice things at Stanford, his record there was 44-36-1. Weis, who'd never been a head coach and owned very little college coaching experience, was a reach after Notre Dame got turned down by Urban Meyer.

It's up to athletic director Jack Swarbrick, who arrived in his current position last year, not to strike out this time around. He needs to find a proven winner at the college level, whether he can somehow convince Meyer or Bob Stoops to leave their cushy situations or lure an up-and-comer like Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, Stanford's Jim Harbaugh or TCU's Gary Patterson. Unless something unexpected develops on the coaching carousel, Swarbrick shouldn't have much competition. Notre Dame will be the most attractive college job available.

Attracting talent and getting players into school is not a major issue in South Bend, as Weis proved. His last four recruiting classes were ranked 14th, ninth, eighth and fifth nationally, according to ESPN's Scouts Inc. Sure, some of those players were probably overrated, as the shine of the Golden Dome tends to blind recruiting analysts. But Weis beat out USC for the nation's top-rated defensive player, Manti Te'o, this winter, among many other victorious recruiting battles against top schools.

Guys like Kelly and Patterson have been winning big with far less heralded players than that.

The schedule isn't as difficult as it used to be, either. Though the Irish aren't watering down their slates with FCS schools, only one of this year's opponents -- No. 20 USC -- is currently ranked. Next year's schedule includes games against Western Michigan, Tulsa and two service academies.

Weis honorably took the blame for his program's failures on Sunday.

"I'm the head football coach," he said. "Who else is responsible? Now, I could sit there and try to blame everybody else, but ultimately, it falls on my shoulders. That's the way it is."

Mediocrity doesn't have to be the way it is at Notre Dame. The Irish just need to find the right coach.