A lot has been made of Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. Is he a good coach? Is he a bad coach? Was he only able to win with Ty Willingham’s players? If he doesn’t succeed, what will happen to the program?
Weis’ detractors narrowly point to several factors: his three-year record is 22-15, only a tad better than Willingham’s three-year record of 21-15. Yet Weis’ commitment to the team, to recruiting, and to surrounding himself with a competent coaching staff distinguishes him from his predecessor.
Notre Dame is heading into the fourth year of the Weis Era, and this will be the key season for the head coach. If he can turn things around after a disastrous 2007, it bodes well for 2009 and beyond. If not, fans may be discussing Notre Dame’s newest head coach this time next year.
Coaching Staff
Weis has been smart enough to surround himself with a talented coaching staff, and savvy enough to allow for coaching turnover when necessary (he fired quarterbacks coach Peter Vaas and defensive coordinator Rick Minter after the 2006 season.)
However, he has made some inexplicable decisions, and two coaches whose heads were called for in 2007 have been retained: special teams coach Brian Polian and offensive line coach John Latina.
Elsewhere, however, the coaching staff has been quite good: tight ends coach Bernie Parmalee made All-Americans of Anthony Fasano and John Carlson, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello has done an excellent job bringing in three consecutive top classes, and defensive coordinator Corwin Brown showed potential last year calling plays.
The addition of former Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta was a coup for this staff, and his blitz-happy schemes, hands-on approach to coaching linebackers and ability to help mentor Brown can only improve the Irish defense.
The entire coaching staff needs to step it up in a big way in 2008, but Weis has been fortunate and smart enough to hire smart, talented and experienced coaches who will do their best to turn around the team after an underachieving 2007.
Management
A lot of mistakes were made in Weis’ management style, but the biggest gaffe, the QB fiasco from last year, is finally over. Weis wasted a lot of time and resources implementing the spread for Demetrius Jones, who jumped ship shortly thereafter.
With Jimmy Clausen firmly entrenched as starter, it appears that the situation has settled for the better, but Weis’ refusal to admit that 2007 was a rebuilding year hurt the team badly.
A portion of the mismanagement is attributable to the bare cupboard Weis was given in 2007, but his failure to allow full-speed practices and his admitted difficulty in macro-managing the team have been issues.
The biggest issue here is that Weis is a first-time head coach at anything other than the high school level. Up until last year, he was also used to dealing with professional athletes, and mature, battle-tested veterans like Brady Quinn.
Weis admitted that he had to “learn on the job” and figure out how to motivate younger players, which he admitted when he said that 18 year-olds respond differently than 22 year-olds.
While it appears that Weis is learning from his mistakes, there’s one major issue: Notre Dame is not the place to learn on the job. Former head coach Ara Parseghian claimed that he needed every year as head coach of Northwestern to prepare himself for Notre Dame.
Weis hasn’t had that luxury, and the transition from the NFL to the college level has been, at times, difficult. 2008 will be a key year for the head coach – if he can demonstrate that he’s learned from the mistakes of 2007 moving forward, then discernable progress (even at the expense of wins) may be enough. Otherwise, Weis may find himself learning the college game somewhere else.
Recruiting
Go take a look at Rivals or Scout and see how many top rated players have committed to Charlie Weis over the past few years. See also that Notre Dame has received verbal commitments from top players heading into 2008/2009, including 5-star runningback Cierre Woods (the second 5-star RB to commit to the Irish under Weis.)
Weis has completely debunked the myth that Notre Dame’s academic standards are too stringent to recruit well, an excuse shared by Bob Davie and Ty Willingham.
While you’re over there on Scout or Rivals, take a look at the recruiting classes under Willingham – note that in his last two years of recruiting, he recruited zero 5-star players, zero Top 100 players, and only 31 total players in two years.
Since Weis took over, he’s recruited 20 Top 100 players and six five-star players. Recruiting has been much improved, and the biggest question that then looms is whether or not Weis can develop that raw talent.
If so, then expect Notre Dame to be one of the top teams in the country in 2009 and onward. Otherwise, Weis, unlike Willingham, has left a talented and stocked cupboard of talented young players.
In-Game Decisions
Sometimes they pay off (a fourth-and-five swing pass that Jeff Samardzija took to the house against Michigan State in 2005.) Sometimes they don’t (the infamous fourth-and-eight sack against Navy in 2007.)
Weis, like Les Miles and Urban Meyer, is a ballsy playcaller whose penchant for going for it is at once both a strength and a weakness. When he had the experienced athletes for it, as in 2005 and 2006, it often paid off handsomely.
But when he had youthful inexperience, as in 2007, that same all-or-nothing mentality backfired in a big way.
Weis has since turned over offensive playcalling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Haywood, but it remains to be seen if the weaknesses of his in-game decisions, which didn’t always play to his team’s strengths, can be rectified.
Irish fans who see Sam Young, Chris Stewart and Robert Hughes lining up hope that Haywood (who is also the running backs coach) will commit to the run, but Weis has always favored a Patriots-esque passing attack.
He has the players now, and if he wants to remain head coach in 2009 and beyond, his teams must play to their strengths while mitigating their weaknesses. Weis’ decision to turn over playcalling duties will subsequently be a definite factor in his team’s success or failure this year.
comments (6) write a comment »
write a new comment
4 months ago
Nice assessment. In 2005 ND Oline was the MOST experienced in ND history. 2006 Oline was the second most experienced in ND history. 2007's OLine? Least experienced in ND history. In 2005, CW had enough 5th year seniors (Davie recruits) and 4th year seniors to be able to dictate the flow of the game (ala USC game). What they lacked were game breakers. Had SC not had Bush in the 2005 game, ND wins by two TDs. SC's staff was freaking out the second half. The Willingham hangover is still there in terms of bodies to conduct full tilt practices, ala USC. How many TEs on the team? QBs? CW made decisions in 2007 that did not pan out. He knew what he did not have.
Players develop players. No players, no development. Sam Young can't be developed by a blocking sled. He needs a stud DT to go against. SC has this luxury, ND does not.
CW needs to let the assistant coaches get this team UP for games. There are emotionally dead sometimes. Michigan game 2006 was awful. Looked like they were waiting for the hang man to come around.
Pump up the volume Corwin and Michael. Let's go!
from 4 months ago
It's the year 2121.
Notre Dame football has not had a winning season in over 100-years and their fans are still blaming Ty Willingham for not recruiting enough practice players.
4 months ago
Good job. You put a lot of time and effort into this article.
I think Weis had better show drastic improvement from last year, or he might be unemployed.
4 months ago
two years ago it was '' win the washington game for the dying kid with cancer''- how can anyone criticize charlie covered with the flag - saying the right things with W in the rose garden? the con continues '' wait to next year "" why -??? notre dame deserves a great - great coach in 2008 a national championship or his out little charlie kevin white and his staff ! how much has weis been paid - expense accounts - recruitment expense since ''the nasty speech?? 12 keep your mouth SHUT 2 go to holy mass every morning on your knees - humility and wisdom- 3 play uscs '' FIGHT ON at 700 am - for 1 hour not bon jovi - 4 run that o and d line for 3 hours every day 5 watch aras 2 alabaama games - dan devines 2 alabama games - 2 cotton bowl games especially nd texas - lous 2 usc games - and spend 5 hours a day preparing or when rich- butch davis - ty at seattle and pete in the colesium finish with you - you can leave in a grehound at 10pm from the colesium in los angeles on november 29th for boston to start as bill krafts gofer - produce fat man or leave
4 months ago
Outstanding article. Unfortunately, the ESPiN crowd still won't get it until they start to jump on the bandwagon, halfway through the season.
Charlie has not only recognized his mistakes, he's admitted them publicly and created a plan to correct them. Unlike his predecessor, he has a clue.
Charlie has already proved he can coach - witness 2005. That team was picked to go 0-6 by many, yet Charlie had them just two plays away from the BCS Championship game.
He's proven time and time again that he "gets" Notre Dame, but that shouldn't be too tough for him. He's one of us.
Davie & Ty were far cries from being Notre Dame guys. They still don't get the place.
I believe Charlie will succeed and not because he's a Notre Dame guy. It will be because he is a tireless worker and consistently outworks any other coach in the game.
4 months ago
GREAT ARTICLE. Too bad the media doesnt do as much research before they rip CW. Weis has done an outstanding job recruting. Everything he does, he has ND in his thoughts. He does so much for the community, charity, Hannah and Friends, his recent trip to the middle east. This program was going down fast with Ty, he made something out of Ty's players. Two BCS game in 3 years! Only two other current coaches can brag about the same. Im sick of people ripping him. Those who rip him for last year didnt have realistic expectations going into year.
Watch Michigan this year. They have a new Starting QB, RB, 2 WR, and only one returning starter on O-line. Will people say Rodriguez is bad coach or will they say he didnt have anything to work with his first year?? Same scenarios, just Weis gets more critisism.
write a new comment