Offense
Can you name a better available offensive guy than Weis? In a league of overhyped superstars, this guy takes unselfish team players and gets them to play like stars. But will Weis steer the ship and call the plays? Doubtful. Fanblogs.com reports that recently fired Ole Miss head coach David Cutcliffe will be named offensive coordinator. Cutcliffe was an assistant at Tennessee at the time of Peyton Manning, among others. Also reportedly joining the staff is offensive line coach John Latina. Latina was Cutcliffe's OC at Ole Miss, and had moved to South Carolina as the O-Line coach before jumping ship to the Irish.
Defense
Now, Weis is an offense guy. What do you do about defense when you're an offense guy? If you're smart, you hire a great defense guy. Rumor has it that Weis is after Virginia defensive coordinator Al Golden, who is also considered a recruiting guru.
Special Teams
I haven't heard any rumors yet. But, if you want to win at a place that values academics and good football, you can't cut corners.
Academics
In his press conference, Weis mentioned that he needs to look for high-character kids who can graduate and play football. He also brought to attention the great support system that is in place academically for student-athletes, and for all ND students.
Player Conduct
Weis went to ND. I'm sure he realizes that he needs high-character kids that are well-disciplined. Besides, how good can a coach be without discipline.
The Schedule
"I don't make the schedule. I just play it. That's what I do. If I answered that any other way, what I would be doing is letting the players have a reason for or have an excuse for failure.
So I can't complain about the schedule. I don't make the schedule. All I do is play the game. That's what we do. Doesn't make any difference, whatever night or day they schedule them, we play them and that includes being able to win on the road and it goes back to having that toughness and playing smart and playing disciplined and being nasty and going in there with an arrogant attitude. Doesn't make any difference where you go, you intend on beating them. "
Recruiting
Weis has little college experience; none as a head coach. So, recruiting will be new to him. But, he has the praise of his players and others. Plus, he has national TV coverage of his offense every week. Kids today want to play in a system that prepares them for the NFL, and who better to do that than the mastermind behind one of the best offenses in the NFL?
What stood out to me was his comment on the academic support system at Notre Dame. This is a guy who has gone to Notre Dame, and he seems prepared to calm any fears a potential recruit may have.
Weis will have offensive recruits flocking to him, but what about defensive players? Hopefully, that is where Golden comes in. Golden is not only a defensive coach, but also a recruiting specialist. Recruiting was a concern of many with the Weis hire, but ND should be in good hands.
"Getting" Notre Dame
Weis went to Notre Dame for four years. Other than the three Super Bowl rings (another nice recruiting tool) and the fact he actually knows what he's talking about when it comes to football, Charlie Weis is no different than any of the fired-up Irish faithful that read this or any Notre Dame football blog.
But, Weis not only "gets" Notre Dame as an alum, he gets it as a coach. To Weis, Notre Dame truly is a dream job (Lou Holtz reportedly said, "if you have to think about wanting this job, it's not for you), and he wants to retire here. Gerry Faust and George O'Leary wanted this job more than anything, but they couldn't put the wins together. Weis wants this job more than anything, and he should be able to put the wins together.
Winning
We shall see. He does have the right attitude, though.
"You are what you are, folks, and right now you're a 6-5 football team. And guess what, that's just not good enough. That's not good enough for you, and it's certainly not going to be good enough for me. So, if you think they hired me here to go .500, you've got the wrong guy."
The Book on Weis
Weis Bio
Weis's New England page
Finally, in blog news, please welcome a few new sites to the link list: Classic ND, The Blue-Gray Sky, Pieces of Flare, The National Debate, IrishLaw, Daily Confessions, and In Pectore. Be sure to pay each of them a visit.
