NOTRE DAME FANS OF NEW ENGLAND
God, Country, Notre Dame
THANK YOU COACH WEIS
GOOD BYE AND GOOD LUCK COACH WEIS
When Lou Orazio, editor of The Notre Dame Fans of New England asked me to write this article about Coach Charlie Weis, I was pleased and honored. He know that, like himself, I had been an enthusiastic supporter of Coach Weis’ selection as the Head Football Coach at Notre Dame and rooted hard for him to be successful. I had seen, first-hand, the work of this “offensive guru” as the OC of the New England Patriots and knew that he had graduated from Notre Dame – something he never missed an opportunity to proclaim proudly during his time in Foxborough. I felt he offered the best qualifications to achieve success at Notre Dame.
After eight years of Bob Davie and Ty Willingham, most Notre Dame fans loved the confidence Coach Weis brought when he arrived in 2004. We cheered when he announced, “6-5 isn’t good enough for you and it certainly isn’t good enough for me.” “You are going to have a hard-working, intelligent, nasty football team.” “We are going to have a decided schematic advantage on the field.” “If I don’t win a national championship by my fifth year, I should be fired.” He didn’t just wake up the echoes, he rocked them. It was a refreshing approach. Unfortunately, this bravado came back to haunt him and many of those who supported him initially turned against him. After this year’s home loss to Navy, the second in three years, most Fighting Irish fans jumped off the Weis bandwagon – with both feet. When the Irish finished the 2009 season with a 6-6 record that included four straight losses, the outcome seemed inevitable. Coach Weis was dismissed on November 30th. He left with an overall record of 35-27. As Christian McCollum of Irish Sports wrote, “I really, really like Coach Weis, but I love Notre Dame more.”
In retrospect, his biggest mistake may have been underestimating the difference between coaching at the professional level and coaching on the college level. The gap between coaching 24-25-year-old professional players who are motivated by fame, fortune and prestige and 17-18-year-old college players who are less mature, more impressionable and in need of constant motivation to play with passion is greater than he realized. Furthermore, professional players are fundamentally and technically sound, while college rosters are comprised of raw, talented athletes whose development depends upon good coaching. The five years of on-the-job training are over. Time ran out on Coach Weis before he could completely correct his background deficiencies and produce the desired results on the scoreboard.
But this is NOT meant to be Coach Weis’ eulogy, he will soon be in great demand as an offensive coordinator in the NFL (I, for one, would welcome his return to the Patriots with open arms). Rather, it’s an attempt to recognize and appreciate the positive aspects of his coaching career at Notre Dame.
Even the worst Weis-hater has to admit that he worked harder than any other college football coach . He left the program in better shape than he found it. As a result, the job is much more attractive than it was five years ago. Lou Somogyi editor of Blue & Gold Illustrated said, “A long-time bachelor was once asked why he hadn’t settled down. His reply, ‘I don’t know. All I want is someone who looks like Gisele Bundchen, has the purity and heart of Mother Teresa, the culinary skills of Paula Deen, the maternal instincts of June Cleaver (‘Leave It To Beaver’), a sense of humor like Lucille Ball and the financial security of Mrs. Bill Gates.’ That sums up what many Notre Dame fans seek in their head coaches.” Coach Weis embraced these expectations with open arms. As an alumnus, he understood the school’s culture and developed a strong reputation for presenting its positive assets. Finally someone was willing to proclaim that Notre Dame WILL win.
The success of Notre Dame football approaches a religious intensity rivaled only by state schools with rabid fan bases such as Alabama, Oklahoma and Nebraska. However, no buffer zone of conference championships exists at Notre Dame. Irish fans expect their team to appear in a BCS game frequently and win a National Championship almost as often. Despite these high expectations, constant scrutiny and criticism, Coach Weis embraced his situation. “Welcome to my world.”
Today’s recruits are primarily drawn to the four C’s – climate, culture, comely coeds and championships. Notre Dame currently offers none of these. Yet his powerful personality and passion approach convinced them to consider this ‘uniquely special place.’ Coach Weis would say, “You deal with the negative, and you live off the positive.” He re-established recruiting links and reminded kids across the country that Notre Dame was a viable option for top athletes, especially if they cared about academics. He was responsible for returning Notre Dame to the front lines of the recruiting battles, when many felt Notre Dame could not compete for the top high school talent in the nation, and brought in top-ranked recruiting classes. He was able to pry five-star athletes out of talent-rich Florida and California. Convincing Mante Te’o to leave Hawai’i for South Bend represented the summit of his recruiting success.
As Eric Hansen South Bend Tribune staff writer stated, “Coach Weis did everything at Notre Dame that his past suggested he could do proficiently. He developed elite quarterbacks. He concocted offenses that piled up yards. He called offensive plays adeptly.”
He established a partnership with admissions. Coach Weis was able to negotiate policies, like early enrollment, that his predecessors could not. Clausen, Allen, Gray, Stewart and Robinson were all 2009 starters who might have ended up elsewhere if there had been no policy change.
He fueled continual upgrades of facilities. The new practice fields are the latest example.
He never made excuses. He never played into the academic-bar-is-too-high or the schedule-is-too-tough agenda and he always accepted the blame for a loss and deferred credit for a win to his players and coaching staff. On the other hand, previous coaches always had one. Who can forget Ty Willingham saying, after a loss, “We had a good game plan. The players just did not execute.”
He was a man of compassion and high character. Who will forget his promise to 10-year-old Montana Mazurkiewicz and “Pass Right” or his trip to the Middle East or reaching out to BC linebacker Mark Herzlich after he was diagnosed with cancer .
He kept the program clean and scandal-free, while graduating 96% of his players, tops in all of CFB.
Lastly, he cared about his players. Remember the seniors who came out of the tunnel arm-and-arm with Coach Weis in their final game at Notre Dame Stadium. The tears he shed showed just how much this team and program means to him.
He was tough. When he sat down one-on-one and gave an exclusive interview with John Walters FanHouse writer who met him at 4:28A on the Sunday morning after the UConn game at the Gug. ”’Sunday is the most excruciating day,’ Weis says, referring to the pain that he feels in both legs, ‘because I’ve been standing up at least four hours the day before. I’ll start feeling better by Monday night.’ The ravaged knees are the result of an accidental blindside hit he took during last season’s Michigan game. The blow was catastrophic, causing a tear of the ACL, MCL and PCL in Weis’ left knee. ‘And that isn’t the knee I had to have replaced.’”
I still think about the “Bush-push” in 2005 and can’t help wonder that if Coach Weis had caught a few breaks in his five years in South Bend that things might have turned out differently. I really wish things had turned out better for Coach Weis.
Notre Dame AD Jack Swabrick in his November 30th press conference addressed the media by stating, “The decision [to fire Coach Weis] was harder than you might have thought, principally because of the man it involved. Those of us who had the opportunity to work closely with Coach Weis or play for him couldn’t help but develop a great affinity for him.”
“I’ve said often in recent days that I’ve never meet anyone for whom there was a bigger gulf between perception and reality, and I think that is true of our departing coach. I hope we can find somebody who loves this University as much or cares as much about his student-athletes as he does.”
“He made many contributions to the University, important things which serve us in good stead going forward. He demonstrated that he can bring the very best student-athletes to this campus and attract them to come here to play football for Notre Dame, and he demonstrated that once they’re here they can have the full success we expect from student-athletes.”
“You know, Charlie did win a National Championship. He won a National Championship when his football program finished first in graduation success rate, and that is an important contribution, one which we value very highly.”
Coach Weis showed a great deal of character when he chose to attend the football banquet on December 4th. A private affair with only the players, coaches and their families invited, he told the team, “A Notre Dame education set me up for success (Weis ND Class of ’78). [During] my life, every time I went to interview for a job, it was, oh you went to Notre Dame . . . That was my message. It wasn’t about being 6-6, it’s about a Notre Dame education.”
Coach Weis finally spoke publically two days before Thanksgiving, when he talked with a select group of five, local media members at the Hannah & Friends Farm, a 30-acre + residential community near South Bend that was started by Coach Weis and his wife, Maura, in honor of their 14-year-old daughter who has global developmental delay, a rare disorder similar to autism. In his parting message he called for support of Notre Dame and more kindness toward the football program. “I wish they would be totally supportive of [the players] and that message can be for the community, the alumni and the student body. All of them.” Coach Weis said he would continue to root for Notre Dame and hopes the next coach can be more successful than he was during his five years at the university. Nothing would please me more than for me to be sacrificed . . . so the sun could shine through and we could actually move this in the right direction.”
“Notre Dame will hire a top-notch coach . . . I want to make sure I’m leaving Jack [Swarbrick] with all the information he needs to pass [on too] the next guy. So when he walks in the door he knows where the landmines are, about academics and where we are in recruiting. Not that he can’t have his own ideas.”
“I’m not rooting against Notre Dame . . . I’m not hoping that Notre Dame will lose . . . That’s the problem in the coaching profession . . . I don’t want the next guy to come in and feel like I’m hangin’ over his shoulder, wishing negativity. Trust me, nothing would please me more than me being sacrificed to have this ominous black cloud lifted off this program.”
“Now with all the positives, I could say, there are some bad people. That’s just the way life is . . . There’s a lot of people who say a lot of things that are just nasty and totally untrue . . . I just don’t understand. Every one of you guys (the five media members invited) has heard stories about me that absolutely have no truth to them. You have stories that do have truth to them. I’m not saying that I’m a saint; that I’m perfect, but why do people just arbitrarily say stuff? I just don’t get it. Don’t they care about their families? Everyone says, ‘Weis is making enough money, his family deserves the criticism. What does money have to do with your family? I don’t understand it. I can’t comprehend it. They didn’t beat me down. They beat my wife down. They beat my son down. Hannah doesn’t know. But the pain that Maura went though and Charlie went through, I’ll never forget it. You can take all the shots you want at me. You have to understand when you get personal, they go directly to your wife and kids, and that’s really inexcusable . . . I’ll make sure that next time I’m at The Grotto, I light one [candle] for all those people, [so] maybe they could see the light and stop feeling so vindictive.”
“Let me just wrap up with this. I ask this one thing of all five of you. As I answered this Q & A as honestly as I possibly could, I want to thank you guys for being fair. But I ask this because it’s really important to me. I’m not looking for you to make me into something I’m not. But this is very important to me because I am a man of high integrity. However you present this, I want to be remembered as somebody who cares about the community, cares about Hannah & Friends and understand the fact that I’m gone because of my record. I want something negative that happened here to turn into something positive.”
“Maybe the positive thing and the big thing will be the unilateral support of the [new] coach and the players. That would be a wonderful thing. . . I don’t know if that could happen. But (I would like) to see people take a backseat to vindictiveness and let’s back off a little bit and remember that these kids are 18-to-23 year-old kids. They’re not NFL players and they live this life and it wears on them. I wish they would be totally supportive of them and that message can be for the community, the alumni and the student body. All of them. They’re still kids. They don’t get paid for a living. People say, ‘They’re on scholarship.’ Hey, they earn those scholarships. The days these guys have, the time commitments they have, it’s brutal. And I really want to leave here with a positive message, not a negative one.”
Later, Coach Weis assessed his speech at the football banquet. “If you had heard me last night, I talked about everything that you would have expected me to talk about with those players, but none of it was about me. I used my life to try to show them what a Notre Dame education can get you. I mocked myself, made fun of myself and I actually had people laughing because I felt they needed somebody to break the ice because so many people are in the tank. At the end of the day, my message was don’t look back, look forward. Do things right academically, stay out of trouble, get a new head coach in here, support him and get going. Ten, 15 years from now, you’ll know why.”
Three days after he was fired, Coach Weis called up Irish WR commit Daniel Smith of Clay High in South Bend, the Northern Indiana Conference Player of the Year. “’You get to the point where you don’t want to answer the phone,’ Smith said. ‘But when I saw who it was, it was just great to hear from him. I tried to thank him for putting me in the position I am in today.’ He told me, ‘You earned this. Don’t let my situation change your decision to go to the university. You made the right decision then, and it’s still the right decision. Give it everything you have and work hard for the new coach. You’re going to make an impact as soon as you hit campus.’”Despite the circumstances, he was still working hard for Notre Dame. If only it had been possible to outwork the problems!
When the Charlie Weis Era ended at Notre Dame, the final testament to his legacy may have been the reaction of some of his players to the news. It showed that they truly love Coach Weis, and that says more about the man than anything in the national press or on a internet blog. Golden Tate said, “It is hard to lose a family member and that’s how I see Coach Weis. These last few weeks have been tough for us. I think if any person in this world sat down and had one conversation with him and looked at the way he sees thing, you would see a great person. It’s tough to look from the outside in, but if you get a chance to sit down and talk with him, you’ll see the things that he’s brought to Notre Dame and his family. Every time I’ve talked to Coach he’s talked to me like Charlie Jr., and that’s certainly a good thing. He’s always told me the truth, whether I’ve wanted to hear it or not.”
Eric Olsen added, “He really was a Notre Dame man and he loved this university with all his heart. He wasn’t a hypocrite with regards to academics or any of the little things outside of football that are important to this place. The University of Notre Dame is something special and anyone who has ever played here in the past would say the same thing. Coach Weis has done a tremendous job of keeping that a tradition, so the next guy who comes in here will have to do the same thing and do it with integrity. For me, it’s tough because of my personal relationship with Coach Weis. I have a great affinity towards him. I know he’s going to move on and get a job somewhere else and be successful. I’m going to stay in touch with him the best I can. I’m very grateful for everything that has gone on, he’s really taken it with dignity. He’s such a stand-up guy and for him to take it week after week, taking all the blame on himself for the media and for him to stand up in front of the press says a lot about his character. As a person, Coach Weis is a family man, he cares about his players.”
Finally, Kyle McCarthy stated, “Ultimately, it falls on the players, and we did not produce like we should have. This is Notre Dame, a place where people expect us to win. When we don’t, someone has to take the hit. Unfortunately, Coach Weis was let go. As a player, you feel bad about that because he is the type of guy you want to play for, that we followed, and it is tough to see him let go. Coming from a guy who has been around him a whole lot in the last five years, you really form a connection with him and saw the type of person he was. There is a big gap between the perception of Coach Weis and what kind of person he actually is. When you get to know him on a personal level, he is very caring. He is a guy who cares about his players and his team. He cares about you as a person, most importantly. I am just thankful and appreciative of what he has done for me.”
Coach Weis isn’t perfect. Who is? He can be gruff and annoying. Sometimes he talks too much. He’s not the smoothest guy in the world either and he’s horrible at personal PR and image management. Yet he did a lot of good for the program and certainly left it in better shape than he found it. If he didn’t deserve your thanks and respect, he was at least entitled to your silence with regard to personal attacks on his appearance and his family.
Thank you Coach Weis and good luck! Vita, Ducedo, Spec.
ALL TIME NOTRE DAME OFFENSE
ALL-TIME, LIFETIME NOTRE DAME OFFENSIVE TEAM
Les Taylor
As Lou Somogyi of Blue & Gold stated in a Sports Illustrated article in 2006, “How do you pick out the brightest stars from a galaxy?” In difference to great players like George Gipp, Leon Hart, Jim Martin, George Connor, Bill Shakespeare and Angelo Bertelli, the players listed on the ballot below represent five outstanding players at each position that have played for the ‘Fightin’ Irish’ since 1950, the year I began following Notre Dame football. Keep in mind that several players eclipsed their collegiate accomplishments in professional football, such as Mark Bavaro, Justin Tuck, Myron Pottios, Dick Lynch, Joe Corollo and Daryl Lamonica – a case could even be made for Joe Montana. Remember, this is not a popularity contest, but a poll to select the best players based upon performance, statistics, and accomplishments during their college careers. In the event you feel someone has been left out or omitted, there is a written-in line for “Other,” with a list of candidates who did not make the final list. Should you chose one, please print their full name on the line provided. Selecting the names to be included on this ballots was not an easy task in view of the storied history of Notre Dame football:
Tight End (Please Vote for one):
_____ Dave Casper (1988-91)
_____ John Carlson (2004-07)
_____ Anthony Fasano (2003-05)
_ ____ Ken MacAfee (1974-77)
_____ Robin Weber (1972-74)
______________________________ Other - Derek Brown (1988-91), Pete Chryplewicz (1992-96), Jim Winegardner (1966-68), Irv Smith (1989-91), Mike Creaney (1970-72)
Wide Receiver/Split End/Flanker (Vote for two):
_____ Tim Brown (1984-87)
_____ Lake Dawson (1969-71)
_____ Tom Gatewood (1990-93)
_____ Kris Haines (1975-78)
_____ Raghib Ismail (1988-90)
_____ Derrick Mayes (1992-95)
_____ Jim Seymour (1966-68)
_____ Jeff Smardzija (2003-06)
_____ Jack Snow (1962-64)
_____ Monte Stickles (1962-64)
_________________________ Other – Pete Demmerle (1972-74), Pete Holohan (1977-80), Omar Jenkins (2000-03), Jim Kelly (1961-63), Jim Mutscheller (1949-51), Don Penza (1951-53), Dick Prendergast (1955-57), Dan Shannon (1951-54), Phil Sheridan (1963-65), Willie Townsend (1971-73)
Tackle (Vote for two):
_____ Tim Foley (1976-79)
_____ Andy Heck (1985-88)
_____ Ryan Harris (2003-06)
_____ Art Hunter (1951-53)
_____ George Kunz (1966-68)
_____ Mike Rosenthal (1995-98)
_____ Paul Seiler (1964-66)
_____ Aaron Taylor (1990-93)
_____ Bob Toneff (1949-51)
_____ Frank Varrichione (1952-54)
_____________________________ Other – Ed Bauer (1972-75), Jordan Black (1999-02), Lindsay Knapp (1989-92), Jim Molinaro (1999-2003), Sam Palumbo (1951-54), Luke Pettitgout (1995-98), Phil Pozderac (1978-81), Tom Rehder (1984-87), Jim Reilly (1967-69), Steve Sylvester (1972-74)
Guard (Vote for two):
_____ Dick Arrington (1963-65)
_____ Nick Buonoconti (1959-61)
_____ Jim Carroll (1962-64)
_____ John Dampeer (1970-72)
_____ Larry DiNardo (1968-70)
_____ Al Ecuyer (1956-58)
_____ Ernie Hughes (1974-77)
_____ Bob Lehmann (1961-63)
_____ Tom Regner (1965-67)
_____ Tim Ryan (1987-90)
______________________________ Other – Gerry DiNardo (1972-74), Mike Gandy (1997-00), Tim Grunhard (1986-89), Mirko Jurkovic (1988-91), Gary Kos (1968-70), Ray Lemek (1953-55), Sean Mahan (1999-02), Frank Pomarico (1971-75), Dick Swatland (1965-67), Tom Thayer (1979-82)
Center (Vote for one):
_____ Jeff Faine (2000-02)
_____ George Goeddeke (1964-66)
_____ Dave Huffman (1975-78)
_____ Jim Schrader (1951-53)
_____ John Scully (1977-80)
______________________________ Other – Mike Heldt (1987-90), Chuck Lanza (1984-87), Tim Ruddy (1990-93), Dick Symanski (1951-54), Bob Scholtz (1957-59)
Quarterback (Vote for one):
_____ Paul Hornung (1954-57)
_____ Joe Montana (1975, 1977-78)
_____ Brady Quinn (2003-06)
_____ Tony Rice (1987-89)
_____ Joe Theismann (1968-70)
______________________________ Other – Tom Clements (1972-74), Ralph Guglielmi (1951-54), Terry Hanratty (1966-68), John Huarte (1962-64), Bob Williams (1948-50)
Running Back/Halfback/Tailback (Vote for two):
_____ Reggie Brooks (1989-92)
_____ Tony Brooks (1987-88, 1990-91)
_____ Phil Carter (1979-82)
_____ Autry Denson (1995-98)
_____ Nick Eddy (1964-66)
_____ Vagas Ferguson (1976-79)
_____ Jerome Heavens (1975-78)
_____ Johnny Lattner (1951-53)
_____ Jimmy Morse (1954-56)
_____ Allan Pinkett (1982-85)
_____ Ricky Watters (1987-90)
______________________________ Other – Lee Becton (1991-94), Rocky Bleier (1965-67), Nick Eddy (1964-66), Tony Fisher (1998-01), Bob Gladieux (1966-68), Mark Green (1985-88), Joe Heap (1951-54), Al Hunter (1973, 1975-76), Randy Kinder (1993-96), Eric Penick (1972-74)
Fullback (Vote for one):
_____ Jerome Bettis (1990-92)
_____ Wayne Bullock (1972-74)
_____ Anthony Johnson (1986-89)
_____ Nick Pietrosante (1956-58)
_____ Neil Worden (1951-53)
______________________________ Other – Larry Conjar (1965-66), Mark Edwards (1993-96), Tom Lopienski (1999-2002), Larry Moriarty (1980-82), Ray Zellars (1991-94)
The selection of the All-Time Notre Dame defensive team will follow next month. Please be advised that you may still vote for players not mentioned on a list. Copy and paste your ballot into an e mail and send your ballot to Les Taylor at lesandjill18@verizon.com.
Any questions, comments or suggestions can be sent to Les Taylor at lesandjill18@verizon.com.
Welcome To ND Fans of New England Website!
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GO IRISH