The Reason I Still Believe In Charlie Weis: The Bradys

With training camp opening in a couple of weeks, Irish fans know how big this season is not only for the future of the program but also for the future of Charlie Weis.

I very much believe in what Weis is doing with the program. His recruiting efforts are second to none. However, after two years that were below Notre Dame standards it is time for that recruiting to start paying dividends.

While many Notre Dame haters want to dismiss it, Notre Dame did make significant gains last year. Sure the Syracuse game was embarrassing, but that was a game that was all too familiar last year. Notre Dame had the game in hand but blew it late. Make no mistake of it, Syracuse did not beat Notre Dame. Notre Dame beat Notre Dame.

It all came together in Hawaii. That was the best Notre Dame has looked in two years. Hawaii was a lot better than fans give them credit for. They were certainly better than both Syracuse and San Diego State. That right there is signs of improvement.

If recruiting efforts and improvements last year aren't enough to believe in Weis, there are a couple of guys that are big reasons to believe in him. They are Tom Brady and Brady Quinn.

One Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL and a multiple time Super Bowl MVP. The other Brady holds over 30 school passing records at Notre Dame and is on the verge of ultimately taking over as the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns.

If you were to ask both Bradys for guys that were huge in the development of their careers, both will mention Charlie Weis.

Let's look at Tom Brady first. At Michigan, he was never really a great quarterback although he was an efficient game manager. He was what I like to call a Bridge quarterback.

A bridge quarterback is a guy in college who follows a great quarterback and precedes another great prospect. It is the guy who isn’t considered to go down in school history as an all time great, but is good enough to hold the program above water until the next great prospect is ready. He is the bridge between one great QB and another.

John David Booty was a perfect example of this at USC. He followed Matt Leinart and preceded Mark Sanchez. He himself was good but not great.

Tom Brady actually served this purpose at Michigan. He was the bridge between Brian Griese and Drew Henson. That is what is amazing at how the NFL careers turned out.

Brady wasn't expected to be more than a back up to Drew Bledsoe in New England. However, he was forced into action early into his second year. Weis took this kid who was a bridge quarterback at Michigan and helped make him into the premiere quarterback in the NFL today.

Brady Quinn was a similar story at Notre Dame. Everybody who reads my work knows how I feel about Quinn. I will always look up to him for what he did at Notre Dame. What he does or doesn't do in the NFL is only gravy. He was simply the best quarterback I have ever seen at Notre Dame.

The funny thing is that I didn't always feel that way. After his sophomore season I really wasn't that impressed with him. To me he was just okay. It was no coincidence that when Weis took over, Quinn took off.

To be fair, Quinn did get older and more experienced. But still I doubt we would have seen the same Brady Quinn had Tyrone Willingham still been there.

Based on all this I am glad that Weis is still the coach of Notre Dame. He is the guy who was huge in the development of both Bradys.

So for all the haters out there who have called for Weis's head over the last two years, remember that this is the guy who has been very successful in making players into stars. Because of that, Jack Swarbrick made the right choice to give him another year.