Charlotte Sometimes | by Pat

Good news for those Irish fans who can't stop worrying about the ND defense. On the heels of a whirlwind May visiting recruits across the country, Weis and the assistants coaches headed to North Carolina to talk shop with Weis friend and Carolina Panther Head Coach John Fox and his staff.

It's nice to see the staff getting together with a respected defensive mind like Fox, as well as Panther defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac, who was the defensive line coach at ND during Minter's first stint as DC. Who knows what exactly they talked about, but one can hope some of it involved how to get a better pass rush.

The minicamp pow-wow also highlights Weis' policy towards spending his time with pro coaches rather than other college coaches. It's not a common policy to refuse to swap ideas with other college coaches, but is hardly unique as Pete Carroll does the same thing. I guess former NFL guys are just that much more cautious than college guys.

"When you're coaching in college, you don't share with a college coach; and when you coach in the pros, you don't share with a pro coach," Weis said.

"This is an ideal situation. A lot of things we do and a lot of things they do are the same. ... It's a good marriage where we can try to solve some problems and share some information without passing it on to (another) NFL team or college team."

Hopefully some good ideas came out of the meeting, but I'm sure this won't be the last time Weis and Fox talk before the fall as the two coaches bring their families together for a vacation every off-season. I can just see them sitting out on a deck somewhere at night, beers in hand... "So John, this Drew Stanton kid is pretty good....what would you do to slow him down?"