FanHouse MattCarufel

It seems that every week is the same for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They lose on Saturday, and then somebody transfers on Sunday. It's as if there's some sort of Notre Dame Survivor going on where somebody gets voted off the island every week.

First it was Demetrius Jones taking off after being benched in the season opener against Georgia Tech, then it was seldom used Konrad Ruelen who decided to look for greener pastures. Last week lineman Matt Carufel lost his starting job to Eric Olsen so he decided he wanted out. He'll be signing with either Iowa or Minnesota any day now.

So all these transfers have to have Charlie Weis worried right? I mean, at this rate the Irish are going to have to play 10-man football before the season's over.

"Usually the guys that transfer got beaten out. That's why they leave," Weis said. "It would be one thing if John Carlson was transferring tomorrow. I'm going to start worrying, OK? But I really can't worry too much about guys that leave that aren't starting. I've got to worry about the guys that are playing."

I know that sounds a little cold, and some people will probably get rubbed the wrong way, but Charlie's probably right here. The man has enough to worry about with the current state of his program, it would be a waste of his time to worry about players who are no longer there.

At the same time though, I hope Charlie is trying to figure out why all these players are leaving. It can't just be the fact that they lost their starting jobs, or that they aren't getting any playing time. It has to have something to do with their relationships with Weis (e.g. They hate him). Hopefully all these transfers might help Weis realize these aren't NFL players he's dealing with. They're just kids, and I get the feeling Weis forgets that at times.

We haven't had one of these stories in like a week, so it must be time for someone else to transfer from Notre Dame or think about transferring or leave the team and then come back. This time it's a doozy:

Irish guard Matt Carufel, who started the last three games, has returned home to Minnesota and is expected to decide on his future at Notre Dame by Sunday, the Tribune has learned.

Carufel has been excused from practices this week due to "personal reasons." On Friday, Carufel was at his former high school in St. Paul, Cretin-Derham Hall, spoke extensively with assistant coach Andy Bishoff, and indicated that he may not return to the Irish.

"He's struggling with if he's going to stick around there or not," Bishoff told the Tribune. "He just doesn't know if he fit at Notre Dame like he thought he would."

The blog post goes on to suggest that if Carufel decides he's done likely transfer destinations are Iowa and Minnesota. (Carufel is from Minnesota.)

This would be the third transfer of the season for Notre Dame; previously the Irish lost quarterbacks Zach Frazer and Demetrius Jones and tight end Konrad Reuland; OL/DL/harp-playin'-guy Chris Stewart went home for a week or two, contemplating a transfer, before returning to the team.

This might be the least explicable transfer of them all: whereas both QBs saw the Clausen train coming (woo 27 attempts for 84 yards!) and leap and Reuland found himself third-string, Carufel, a highly-touted recruit, was listed as a starter on this week's depth chart against BC and had found extensive playing time as a true sophomore. This is the second year in a row an Irish starter has left the team for no apparent reason; last year defensive end Ronald Talley transferred to I-AA Delaware. Is Weis' "Jersey Guy" personality that intolerable?

(Probably.)