SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen and receiver Golden Tate announced they will skip their final year at the university to enter the upcoming NFL draft.

The university made the announcement Monday on campus explaining the players made their decisions after speaking to fired head coach Charlie Weis this past weekend.

“Growing up as a kid, one of my lifelong dreams has been to play in the NFL and with that being said, with the support of my family and coaches I will be forgoing my senior year and entering the 2010 NFL draft,” Clausen said.

Throughout the season Clausen has been included in some of the Heisman talk and may be expected to be chosen in an earlier round of the draft.

The Irish certainly will have some rebuilding to do. They fired coach Charlie Weis last week and now are unexpectedly losing two of their key players to the NFL draft.

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax

SOUTH BEND – After producing a dismal 35-27 record over five seasons in South Bend, Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis was fired on Monday according to an AP source.

Weis had 6 years remaining on his contract but the university felt pressured to make the move regardless the price.

Weis left the NFL New England Patriots five years ago to take the job in South Bend and while he expected to turn the Irish around, he actually had a winning percentage lower than his predecessors getting worse as the years went on (16-21 over the final 37 games).

“We have great expectations for our football program, and we have not been able to meet those expectations,” said Notre Dame’s AD Jack Swarbrick. “As an alumnus, Charlie understands those goals and expectations better than most, and he’s as disappointed as anyone that we have not achieved the desired results.”

Copyright © 2009 – Sports Climax