Odds and Sods | by Teds

Introductions

As it pertains to Jay's piece immediately below, the first thing that jumped out at me was the difference in the breadth of Malloy's opening remarks for the two coaches. If nothing else, the considerably more brief introduction of Weis is consistent with Malloy's reduced (and quite possibly nonexistant) role in this latest search, not to mention his impact on the prospects of the University in general with his retirement rapidly approaching.

In retrospect, his effusive praise of Willingham last time around practically screams out to the world that the decision was his baby, an attempt to put his own personal stamp on the football program and its future course. Malloy briefly hits on the topic of "social change", instilling in every columnist from Anchorage to Zanesville whatever motivation they weren't already possessed with to prattle on about everything other than the wins and losses themselves. And as noted, there's all sorts of idealistic and subjective mumbo-jumbo about what amounts to little more than a vision of Notre Dame through Malloy-colored glasses. His appreciation for and stewardship of the Irish football program was sorely lacking from the outset of his reign, and this moment in history stands as the most damning evidence of Malloy's shortcomings in those terms.

His appearance in the Weis introduction press conference was little more than an opportunity to pay respects to an outgoing president, as well as offering televised proof of the passing of the torch to Father Jenkins. Suffice it to say that those who care deeply about the University and its football team are better for it.


Weis' Lays Down the Law

Weis opened his press conference last Friday with a monologue directed toward the media figures who had gathered to cover the event. The subsequent reaction to those comments has swung wildly from enthusiastically supportive to caustically dismissive and most everywhere in between. A couple things should be made clear on the subject.

First of all, it's Weis' team now. He's the one will ultimately be trumpeted as a legend or branded as an incapable washout based on Notre Dame's performance, so I don't find it unacceptable that he'd desire to establish some ground rules. And better that he communicates this in an upfront manner now than to take some reporter to task at a later date for a violation of Weis policy that wasn't clear from the outset. Weis' statements might have been unusual, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they will prove to be unfair, nor that the Irish team will be inappropriately inaccessable to those covering them.

Further, the Irish football program gets more media attention than any other on the college landscape and ranks among the most prominent in all of sports. Weis' comments mark him as someone who recognizes the saturation of coverage that Notre Dame attracts, specifically the potential pitfalls associated with that level of coverage. He's obviously not blind to the role that the media plays and the sort of impact it can have on a football team in performance as well as perception. That he considered the subject important enough to broach at the outset of his first regular press conference as Irish head coach is a undoubtedly positive sign. What sort of coach at this level would treat the relations between his team and the media as if he were doing nothing more than opening the gates to an amusement park?

I'm also getting a kick out of the notion that Weis has offered an example in this instance of just how unfit he is to be a big-time head coach. This is a man who has spent the last fifteen years of his life coaching exclusively in New York and Boston, home to quite possibly the two most aggressive and unfriendly media klatches on the face of the earth. Certainly, Weis hasn't had the sort of direct exposure to them that he'll have with reporters as Notre Dame's coach, nor will that target on his back now be much of a carryover. But Weis is undoubtedly an intelligent man, and I have no reason to think that he hasn't accumulated as much knowledge of the media, their tendencies and how to effectively deal with them as he has how to read and break down NFL defenses.

In summary, to conclude that Weis is in over his head based expressly on those remarks is more ludicrous than the remarks themselves.


Nuts and Bolts on the Q&A

There's already been a great deal of dissection of Weis' comments on Friday, and he's certainly hitting on many of the points that Irish fans have been thirsting to hear from their head coach for some time: finding a balance between coaching ability and recruiting skill in his staff, attracting coaches with past connections to ND, tailoring schemes to suit the strengths and weaknesses of his personnel, finding football players and not necessarily combine warriors and winning in the near future with no excuses or references to rebuilding.

One of the remarks I found interesting that hasn't been discussed is Weis' breakdown of prospective players into "linemen" and "skill guys". It seems that high school players are often inappropriately pigeonholed long before they're done developing, and it's not unusual to hear Tom Lemming or some other recruiting analyst speak authoritatively about what these kids are capable of achieving at the next level. But most of them are 17 years of age at the time of recruitment, and placing a ceiling on their potential as football players doesn't make sense given the important years of higher-quality instruction and physical growth still ahead.

Someone with Weis' track record for player development and who has worked at the high school, college and professional levels of football at various points in his career probably understands this better than the average coach. So when he speaks in general terms about "linemen" versus "skill guys", Weis impresses me as a coach who will likely be more open to change and different applications of potential than many others in his position might. If nothing else, it should be interesting to see the makeup of the Irish roster a year from now, specifically how many of the incumbent players will have switched positions between now and then. In the long run, I expect a significant number of conversions.

The other comment that struck me which hasn't received much coverage is his praise of line coaches John Latina and Jappy Oliver as "tough guys". Notre Dame's offensive lines have often been maligned over the past decade as underperforming, inconsistent and generally lifeless units. The defensive line seemed to perk up the past several seasons under the direction of Bob Davie holdover Greg Mattison, but this has also been a trouble spot for the team at certain points in recent years.

I won't go so far as to say that every football game is won and lost in the trenches, but a team most certainly can make up for clear deficiences in athleticism and performance on the fringes of the field by consistently beating its opponent up front off the snap. And although talent undoubtedly plays a role in who wins those types of battles, there's also a great deal to be said for the line that plays with more passion and a sense of urgency. So compared to the perceived attitude of Willingham and many of his assistants, it's refreshing to hear Weis talk frankly about "tough guys...who like to coach the guys tough." Perhaps it also ushers in a return to the program's fabled roots, when Irish football teams would rather bury their opponents three feet deep in the turf than engage them in an impromptu track meet.

In closing, it occurs to me that one of the specific passages of Malloy's introductory speech from January 1, 2002, which was most worthwhile and resonant ("(The Notre Dame job) takes a person who knows himself well, who is not acceptably sensitive, who can speak straightforwardly, who is not trying to impress the masses, but simply do a good job.") describes Weis much more appropriately than it did the coach Malloy happened to be hiring for the job that day.

Warm-up Acts | by Jay

Coach Weis had a brief press conference today, and it was a hoot. After admonishing the reporters about the new way of doing business ("If I start reading those anonymous quotes now, you're shut down...I will never say another word to you...So let's make sure we understand what the terms are walking in the door" -- BGI has the rest of the smackdown Charlie went on to answer a few questions on his assistant coaching staff, building a team, the state of recruiting, and various other matters of great import (like which Super Bowl ring he was wearing. Actually, he gave a great answer on that: "The most recent one").

Listening to Charlie speak, you get the distinct impression that at any given time, he's got a bunch of things going on in his mind. He repeats himself some, he cuts sentences short, he rambles a bit, but he's always talking, and always thinking. Nothing seems prefabricated or overly considered; it's a garrulous, ongoing riff, as expansive and ungainly as a herd of cattle moving quickly over the plains. Yet in all the dust that's being kicked up, in every half-phrase and rambling sentence, there's a point to be made, an idea to impart, a command to give, or a moment of self-deprecation. You're getting it straight, honest, and unfiltered, right off the cuff. It's refreshing.

Anyway, the occasion provoked me to go back and read the introductory press conferences of Weis, Willingham, O'Leary, and Davie. Now, by point of comparison, it's quite easy to make kneejerk judgments based on isolated soundbites between say, Weis and Willingham, who share about as much in speaking style and charm as Jackie Gleason and a grocery checkout clerk. Juxtaposing the two leads to a lot of cheap criticisms at Willingham's expense: in comparison, and with the benefit of hindsight, Willingham seems like a real dud. Perhaps we're clouded by his crummy brand of football -- I can remember a time when Willingham was praised for his succinctness and seriousness of purpose -- but now, it all seems like a whitewash, the hollow platitudes of a politician or a high school principal.

One of the other things that strikes you upon reading the transcripts is the vastly different language used when the coaches were introduced (whether it was by Monk, Kevin White, or Father Jenkins). The intro of Ty is couched in terms of academic and spiritual achievement, with Monk expounding at length about all the non-football aspects of the Notre Dame head coaching job: family, academic performance, "appropriateness", residentiality. Monk basically delivered his stump normally reserved for the Sports Business Council, the NCAA committee on gambling, or the Society of Christian Ethics. You'd think he was introducing a new team chaplain, not a football coach.

With Charlie's introduction, you got the broad strokes, and then it was down to business. It's brief, almost terse: Monk says about two things, Jenkins hits the main theme ("Acting with integrity, giving our students a superb education and excelling on the field"), and White goes over his coaching credentials. The new regime seems to be saying: enough speeches, forget the platitudes and save the political grandstanding. Let's get this party started right.

Ty Willingham Introduction, 1/1/02 FATHER MALLOY: Happy New Year to you all. What a great way to start. I am very excited about this day and I'd like to offer a few comments if I could before inviting our Athletic Director Kevin White to come up to introduce our new football coach. Yesterday I spent some quality time with Coach Tyrone Willingham, his wife Kim, and his three wonderful children and I can tell you this is a great family and we are just delighted to be able to welcome them into the Notre Dame family. Coach Willingham and I had a chance to talk about all those fundamental things that have been an integral part of the history of Notre Dame as an institution of its athletic programs and of its football program. We talked about what it takes to win consistently in this kind of academic environment. We talked about the things that we expect of our coaches and of our student athletes, whether it is with regard to academic performance or behavior, or the way in which they represent the University of Notre Dame. This is a kind of occasion which has the potential to be described entirely as a kind of social statement and surely there's an element of that to it. What I want to say very straightforwardly that the reason that Coach Willingham was chosen after a very exhaustive search was because he was the very best coach who was appropriate for Notre Dame and all it represents. We heard over and over again from very knowledgeable people, about college and professional football, that he was one of the most highly regarded coaches out there. That he had done an outstanding job in circumstances where very few had achieved the same level of success. That he ran a program that was exemplary in terms of the success rate of his student athletes moving on not simply to graduation, but to meaningful lives, including lives of leadership in every walk of life. That he held his student athletes to the same standards that he held himself. And if there's anything that you hear over and over again about this man, is that he is a person of integrity who lives by the highest standards and really tries to live an example to those he's instructing. He's not only a good family man, but he's tried to induce a sense of family among his players to be firm but understanding, to try to hold them to high standards without embarrassing them in the process. This is a very difficult job, maybe one of the most difficult jobs in the sporting area and yet there's a lot of rewards that go along with it as well. It's a high-profile position. It takes a person who knows himself well, who is not acceptably sensitive, who can speak straightforwardly, who is not trying to impress the masses, but simply do a good job. We talked about all of that. I felt a great rapport and a great sense of confidence. I really believe, despite all the speculation, much of which was idle and uninformed, this process has resulted in the selection of an outstanding coach for Notre Dame, who knows that we have a high bar of excellence here, that he recognizes what it means to work within an outstanding academic institution, for a meaningful education is our first priority, that he's comfortable and excited about working in a religiously affiliated school, where we use God language regularly and meaningfully and in which we expect that one of the things that will happen to the young people entrusted to our care, is that they will grow in the life of faith as well. So I can say once again, it's a great new year. I am happy to be able on this occasion to welcome into our midst, our new football coach, who I think will do an outstanding job and I pledge that we will do everything we can to support him and to give him the resources necessary to succeed. He knows what our standards are. He embraces them. He's excited about being at Notre Dame and we're so excited about him agreeing to be our new football coach.

Charlie Weis Introduction, 12/13/04 FATHER MALLOY: Welcome to you all. I am pleased to be able to welcome our new football coach. He has great pedigree, not only as a Notre Dame graduate, but in terms of his achievements in the professional ranks. I want to say to him, to Coach Weis, you have my whole-hearted support. We are really pleased to welcome you and your family back to our community and I encourage every member of the broader Notre Dame community to give you the support that you deserve. I'd like to now welcome to the podium my successor, father John Jenkins, who I am confident will do an outstanding job and who will be working with our new coach in the years ahead. John? FATHER JENKINS: Thank you. At the University of Notre Dame, the success in our football program consists of three things: Acting with integrity, giving our students a superb education and excelling on the field. Meeting all of these goals is a tremendous challenge. But I believe we have found a person in Charlie Weis who can lead us to such multifaceted success. Charlie is a Notre Dame graduate, an offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots and holder of three Super Bowl rings; a man of tremendous character and a man who understands and embraces the highest ideals of Notre Dame. Charlie was clearly the most impressive candidate we interviewed, and I could not be happier that he will be the new football coach at the University of Notre Dame.

In a Nutshell | by Jay

From Pepper Johnson's book Won For All, about the 2001-02 Patriots' Super Bowl run, here's an excerpt that puts a nice little wrapper around a lot of things we've been hearing about how Charlie calls a game:

(p. 86) What Charlie Weis does is try to keep you on your toes and spread the ball around as much as possible. He does it with a running attack that will run at you and around you with counter plays and draws. He will change personnel; in fact he's notorious for it. He'll go from three wide receivers to four, two halfbacks, one tailback, two or three tight ends. Week by week he tries to stay away from normal tendencies...He does a great job that way.

Does this mean we won't be seeing the bubble screen 5+ times per game? Say it ain't so.

Along these lines, I don't know how many of you have a subscription to Irish Eyes, but there was a post on the members board yesterday that was absolutely hilarious (you'll need a membership to read the whole thing). Apparently some fan picked up on Diedrick's simplistic scheme for audibles last year and began predicting play after play to the delight and amazement of the people around him in the stands. Every time Quinn would audible, this guy would know exactly what was coming. This went on for a couple of games, and seeing no change, the guy thought he better alert Bill that even the schmoes in row 30 were able to tell what was coming next. He emailed Diedrick after the Washington game, and to his surprise, Bill actually wrote back, claiming that the guy was wrong and the schemes were impossible to predict. Of course, for the next game, Diedrick switched everything up, and they never used that audible scheme for the rest of the year.

Check out the original post if you get a chance. It's a stitch.

Taking the red pill | by Dylan

Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.


What is there to say? For me, the events of the past month have taken on a sense of unreality. Pat, Michael, Sean, and Jay have summarized, analyzed, and eulogized below. This week, I think the operative word is crystallize. Two events have splashed cold water on my face and have brought the world into clearer focus. The haze is lifting. For the past 10 years we’ve felt it. We know it’s wrong, but it’s been so long, we’ve come to wonder if that isn’t the way the world really is. We’ve doubted. Well, the time for doubt has passed.

Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?

Watching USC, defunct (irrelevant, even) four short years ago, mercilessly dismantle the best college football program of the past five years should provide a glimpse of the possible (even probable) for Irish fans everywhere. Powerhouse programs left for dead come back. USC has just displaced the previous phoenix, Oklahoma. USC’s Orange Bowl performance was awe inspiring. Speed, strength, and execution. Big plays on offense, defense, and special teams. Three years ago, this team was closing the books on a three-year stretch during which they won seventeen and lost nineteen. Since then they have won thirty-six and lost three. They have won twenty-two in a row. My point is, USC’s resurgence is not a dream. It is the real world. Things can also change very quickly for Notre Dame. In fact, they already have. We have taken our first steps back into the real world.

Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

The staff assembled by Charlie Weis, and the work already being done by that staff, is so radically different from anything that’s happened in our program in such a long time, it’s bracing. Younger fans may not understand. Banished is the notion that our football coach needs to be an arm of the Notre Dame Brand Protection Team. Our football coach is a football coach. He has hired a staff of freakish experience. They are going to go out and find football players and they are going to teach them to play football and they are not going to apologize to anyone. Nor are they going to subtly promote the idea that success in the classroom mitigates failure on the field. That is the paradigm we had settled into; one in which academic excellence and winning percentage were inversely proportional and eternally irreconcilable. To mix the metaphor a little, we were encouraged to believe that resistance was futile, that the natural order had ceased to be. Trying to comprehend why this current, ongoing shock to the system didn’t happen years ago is a spoon that we can’t bend, so now, there is no spoon.

Notre Dame is unplugged from The Monktrix, and it’s time to kick some ass.

Irrelevant? | by Jay

You probably saw this earlier today, but in case you didn't...

Per UND.com, who seems to have a newfound (and very welcome) sense of self-promotion:

Irish Remain College Football's Top Draw On Television

Six Notre Dame games among 25 highest-rated network contests in 2004.

Jan. 5, 2005

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame football team in 2004 once again received more network television exposure and played in more highly-rated games than any other program in college football.

Notre Dame played in the highest-rated network game of the 2004 regular season (and the highest rated regular-season game overall in two seasons) in its '04 regular-season finale at USC. That game, televised by ABC Sports, received a 6.3 Nielsen rating and was seen in 6.898 million households, making it the most-watched nationally broadcast regular-season college football game on network television in '04, according to figures in the Dec.27, 2004-Jan. 2, 2005 issue of Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal.

Overall, Notre Dame played in six games that ranked among the top 25 highest-rated network telecasts - and no other school played in more than five (Tennessee and Georgia each played in five). Here are the other five games involving Notre Dame:

• Notre Dame's victory over Michigan on Sept. 11 on NBC Sports ranked ninth with a 4.0 Nielsen rating (4.384 million households).

• Notre Dame's victory at Tennessee on Nov. 6 on CBS Sports earned a 3.4 (3.75 million) and ranked 11th.

• The Oct. 2 Notre Dame-Purdue game on NBC received a 2.5 rating (2.719 million) and ranked 22nd.

• The Nov. 13 Notre Dame-Pittsburgh game on NBC received a 2.4 (2.578 million) and ranked 24th.

• Notre Dame's Sept. 25 victory over Washington on NBC earned a 2.3 (2.518 million) and ranked 25th.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame played twice during the '04 regular season on ESPN -- and both those telecasts rated among the top 14 most-watched regular-season college football games on cable television this past year.

The Sept. 18 Notre Dame victory at Michigan State in prime time on ESPN earned a 2.6 coverage area rating (2.326 million households) and ranked ninth among games on cable. The Irish season opener Sept. 4 at BYU received a 2.5 rating (2.197 million) and ranked 14th.

Once again in 2004, Notre Dame was the only school in the country to have all 11 of its regular-season games carried by either NBC (six), CBS (two), ABC (one) or ESPN (two).

Including the Insight Bowl carried on ESPN, Notre Dame now has a remarkable streak of 148 consecutive games (more than 12 full seasons) that have been carried by either NBC (80), ABC (42), CBS (14) or ESPN (12). You have to go all the way back to the 1992 season to find a Notre Dame football games that was not shown by either NBC, ABC, CBS or ESPN.

As my grandfather-in-law once said, "He who tooteth not his own horn, often finds his horn not tooted."

Experience, experience, experience | by Pat

When und.com announced the rest of Charlie Weis's coaching staff, the first thing that struck me was the incredible amount of experience in the group. Reading the first two paragraphs of the release, it's hard not to be impressed by the collective accomplishments of Notre Dame's new football coaches:

Twenty-five seasons of experience as a collegiate head coach. Twenty-nine seasons as an offensive or defensive coordinator (plus 21 more as a special teams or recruiting coordinator).

Twelve seasons as a National Football League assistant coach (including five playoff appearances).

Seventy-seven postseason bowl appearances. Forty-two bowl victories. Forty-five finishes in the final Associated Press top 25 rankings.

Digging a bit deeper, I thought it would be interesting to see just how much of that experience was at major (read: BCS) conferences. Obviously, being a coordinator or head coach at a school in the SEC or Big 10 is more impressive than a school in the MWC or some other smaller conference. Breaking it down by conference looks something like this:

• ACC - 3 years as head coach; 15 years total experience
  

• Big 10 - 10 years total experience
  

• Big 12 - 9 years total experience
  

• Big East - 13 years total experience
  

• Pac 10 - 9 years total experience
  

• SEC - 7 years as head coach; 19 years as coordinator; 58 years total experience
  

• Notre Dame - 2 years as coordinator; 2 years total experience

The depth of experience across all of the BCS conferences is impressive. Much was made of the Pac 10-oriented nature of Willingham's staff, and it appears that Weis's guys, while SEC-heavy, have had jobs at all of the major conferences across the college landscape. Not only will this help in recruiting nationally, it should also alleviate concerns about Weis's relative inexperience in coaching college football.

And when the NFL experience of Lewis and Parmalee (to say nothing of Weis himself) is thrown in...well, that's just downright unfair.

All Aboard | by Jay

Following up on our coaching rundown, it looks like the official assistant hires release from the ND SID will be out soon, and the AP already has a copy of it. The final list, with their official titles, looks like this:

• David Cutcliffe - Assistant Head Coach (offense) and Quarterbacks

• Mike Haywood - Offensive Coordinator, Runningbacks

• Rob Ianello - Recruiting Coordinator, Receivers

• John Latina - Offensive Line

• Bill Lewis - Assistant Head Coach (defense) and Defensive Backs

• Rick Minter - Defensive Coordinator, Linebackers

• Jappy Oliver - Defensive Line

• Bernie Parmalee - Special Teams, Tight Ends

• Brian Polian - Assistan Defensive Backs, Special Teams

Weis adds another coach | by Pat

A new name apparently added to Charlie Weis' staff is another former Dolphin assistant, Bernie Parmalee. It appears that Rich Bisaccia will stay in Tampa Bay with Jon Gruden and that Parmalee will take his place as the new special teams coach (and coach TEs as well). As the only assistant coach with no college coaching experience and only three years of coaching experience total, Parmalee appears as a bit of a mystery hire. So what can we expect from him?

Parmalee is well-known to Dolphin fans for his seven years as a running back, and also his unique story about how he made it to the NFL. After graduating from Ball State, Parmalee spent a year out of football working as a cashier in a bowling alley and on a UPS loading dock. In 1992, he made the Dolphins as a free agent and worked his way up from a special teams player to the team's leading rusher in 1994 and 1995. After he lost the starting running back job, he continued to contribute as the special teams captain in 1998 and 1999. In 2000, the New York Jets signed Parmalee to help out their special teams and this is the year his path crossed with Charlie Weis, who was the Jets offensive coordinator that year.

After retiring from football in 2001, Parmalee joined the Dolphins for the 2002 season as an assistant under special teams coach Keith Armstrong and as an offensive assistant. Some Irish fans might recall that Armstrong was the linebackers and special teams coach at Notre Dame in 1993. During the two years that Parmalee assisted Armstrong on special teams, the Dolphins did not allow a punt or kickoff to be returned for a touchdown. This past year he was promoted to running backs coach and later, when offensive coordinator Joel Collier stepped down due to illness, he shifted over to tight ends coach, which was fine for Miami Dolphins TE Randy McMichael:

"He keeps telling us how good a tight end he was," McMichael said. "I believe it
because he's a good coach and he's really helping us out a lot. He knows football. That's the thing about Bernie -- he's a good football coach, not just a tight ends coach."

What all this means for Irish fans isn't entirely clear. Parmalee has special teams experience both as a coach and as a veteran who at one point was signed specifically for his special teams experience and leadership. In fact, Parmalee received some high praise from Bill Parcells when he signed with the Jets.

"I've coached against him for nearly seven years," said Jets coach Bill Parcells. "I know Bernie better than I know some of the guys on my own team. He's what I'd consider a very good all-around football player. I'm pretty well aware of what he can do. He's an excellent special teams player and he knows what to do out there on the field."

Parmalee is a bit different from the other assistants on Charlie Weis' staff in that he is the only one with limited coaching experience and no recruiting experience. However, he does have the advantage of being a recent NFL player with multiple years of experience playing on special teams. Whether that translates to excellent special teams coaching isn't immediately obvious, but after playing in the NFL for nine years, Parmalee has had exposure to many successful coaches. He played under head coaches Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson, and Bill Parcells. Also, while in Miami as special teams captain, he played under special teams coach Mike Westoff, who in 2000 was named NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year. Parmalee's path from the UPS loading docks to starting running back in the NFL also has helped to shape his coaching style.

“I’ve worked for everything,” said Parmalee, 34. “Nothing ever came easy. I’m
going to let [the players] know the route I took and have them stay focused and
play hard.”

When it comes to recruiting it appears that Parmalee is a novice, but his youth and NFL experience should be great assests in recruiting. Like Weis, he is a Jersey native who could help out recruiting in the east coast, or he could use his connections in Miami to help recruit Florida.

Of course, the key to recruiting is persistence and out-hustling the competition, and everything written about Parmalee suggests that he's no stranger to hard work. Perhaps Weis is taking a bit of a flier on Parmalee, but after working with him on the Jets and coaching against him the past 3 years, Weis probably has a far greater grasp on Parmalee's talents and abilities than a few google searches will turn up. Parmalee looks like a fine addition to Charlie's staff.

Bernie Parmalee Bio

Two-Hat Charlie | by Jay

Our new coach had a Patriots press conference today, and understandably, a lot of Notre Dame questions were mixed in among the Patriots' playoff chatter. The thing bounced back and forth so much, it produced this moment of unintentional humor:

Q: In your offensive philosophy, how much was drafting talent that will fit into your system versus taking what you already have and making it work?

CW: Are you talking about the Patriots?

Seems to encapsulate what must be a very confusing time for Charlie...I can't imagine trying to juggle both duties at once.

Lots of interesting tidbits were divulged, and Weis gave us a little more insight into his hiring, how things are progressing under the Dome, and what the future holds in store for ND. A few excerpts:

---

Q: What is your life like right now? Are you conflicted at all with being here and at Notre Dame?

CW: No, as a matter of fact, I think the most important thing that happened to me as this situation with Notre Dame went down, was I thought that character and integrity could be a question when it came to a conflict or contradiction between the two jobs. I think it was important to me personally and professionally to try to do due diligence to both jobs. I think I have been able to do that with a fairly good amount of success so far. Hopefully by February it reaps the benefits on both ends.

Q: Since you were hired at Notre Dame, have you been able to manage your time the same way you would if it hadn't come along?

CW: I think it has been pretty close. It has just meant that my hours get pushed a little later at night. So, instead of going to bed at 10:30 or 11 [p.m.] it is [pushed back] to 2 [a.m.]. But, I think I have gone about talking about this, to my wife and my son in particular, in a training camp mentality. In training camp we go on about three hours of sleep a night, and it is because by the time we are done with the players and we meet, and then we have the scripts for the next day it is 1:30 [a.m.]. By the time you go lay down, you're getting back at 5:30 [a.m.]. So, we just felt that until February we would view it as a training camp mentality and this way you can do the right thing by the Patriots and at the same time not neglect Notre Dame.

***

Q: As far as hiring your assistant coaches, was there any kind of discussion between you and Bill [Belichick] where he has said, 'Please don't take anyone from here?'

CW: He didn't say that, but I am not taking any of the position coaches from here out of respect for Bill Belichick. Case closed. I will not take a position coach from here.

Q: How much of a benefit will it be for potential recruits to turn on the television and see you coaching the playoffs?

CW: There is good and bad there. So, let's talk about the positive first. Because I have gotten into this game late as far as Notre Dame goes, what you don't have are personal relationships [that other recruiters have] with these guys who have been schmoozing them for six months, a year or two years. You don't have those. So, when I talk to a recruit I don't try to proclaim that I am their best buddy. I just try to get right to the facts. I just try to sell Notre Dame and me because I can't talk about my relationships with them. So, where some people think of that as a glaring negative that you don't have personal relationships, every time we play it is an opportunity for guys to sit there and look at their prospective head coach. Obviously, 17- and 18-year old young men are very impressionable. I think that it could be a positive. I am certainly looking at it as a positive because I am not ready to stop playing.

Q: How much will you draw from your years both coaching at South Carolina and attending Notre Dame heading into this job?

CW: I think recruiting is always a question of personality. It is schmoozing, and that is something that I like to do. The fact that I went to Notre Dame makes it a little easier to talk to these guys about the experience of being at Notre Dame is, because I was there for four years. I think that being out of the recruiting mix doesn't necessarily mean that you won't be a front line recruiter because I enjoy it. I think the people who usually fail in recruiting are people that just don't like do it, and I am not in that case.

***

Q: How important is it to you that you finish off this season with a Super Bowl win?

CW: It is important enough that I told Notre Dame that if I couldn't do that I didn't want the job. That is how important it is. When I went through the interview process I said, 'I can't take that job if I can't finish the one I have now,' because I felt I owed it to the organization, the team, of course, but I think I also felt it [in regards] to New England in general. That is how strong my conviction was, that if it cost me the job I wasn't taking it.

Q: Was there some back and forth on that?

CW: No. It was one comment, one time. They asked me my opinion of it and I said, 'Here is my stance on that.' I just knew that if it ended up costing me the job, then so be it. But, I wasn't going to walk out on this place, not in the midst of a playoff run when hopefully something good will end up happening.

Q: Do you think a comment like that might have helped you get the job?

CW: I didn't really care to be honest with you. When I made it, it was because I meant it. I didn't say it with any intentions. I felt it was the right thing to say and do. I am not trying to endear myself with the people here. I just thought it was the right thing to do.

***

Q: One of the biggest criticisms of Notre Dame over the last decade was their inability to bring in blue chip recruits. What do you think needs to be done differently there and what do you plan on doing differently?

CW: Just give me until next recruiting season.

***

Q: Do you have time enough time to salvage this recruiting season, or is it a dead issue?

CW: I think we have made serious headway. There have been three things that have happened that have been a big plus for me personally. First of all, the last two weeks were a dead period. In a dead period you can't go out and see anyone and you only can talk to these kids one time a week for the last two weeks. So, I was the one who made every one of those phone calls to every one of those kids. So, for two weeks they heard from Notre Dame and they heard from me. Now, this week, which is the first week recruiting, I have all of my reinforcements in. So, now I have all of the coaches on the road recruiting. I will have a little time here at the end of the week, not at the beginning of the week, but I will have a little time at the end of the week to go out there and be able to meet them and their families before I come and shoot right back here. You know, shoot out, shoot back. But, at least they will be able to meet me face to face and be able to decide whether this ugly face is the guy they want to be playing for in the next four to five years.

Q: What have you done with the kids that were already there?

CW: That is the first thing that I had to do, was deal with the kids who were already there because they were in a state of flux. They were in a state of disarray. They had lost a very popular coach. I think for the two days that I was out there to start off with, I think we made head way. I am also making personal phone calls to each one of those guys now that they are home to say, 'It is 2005. Get over it. Let's move on.' So, I started in group sessions at first and I am now working to one-on-ones right now.

***

[in reference to player evaluations]

CW: Our job as coaches is, once we get them, to fit them in. Don't say, 'Well he can't do this.' Find out what he can do. That is what we do. So, I think that we as assistants all understand to take the lead of the head coach, and of course Scott in this case, because he is finding the personnel for us and then just coach them up as best we can. That is how we look at it. We never look at a player as somebody we can't use. What we try to do is maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses by hiding them as best we can.

***

Q: Has [your wife] been in charge of buying the house and selling the house? Those types of things?

CW: She has always been in charge. That has never changed. Unlike most other guys who think they are in charge, I understand where I fit.

Introducing the Assistants | by Michael

Over the past couple of weeks there's been a lot of rampant speculation about who Coach Weis would tab as his assistant staff. According to various recent reports (here and here), Charlie's got his guys all lined up, and although the official announcements might not come until the bowls are over, we figured if the major media is reporting it, we might as well jump in, too. Here's a brief rundown on the (reported) new hires.

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As soon as Charlie Weis was hired, a question that immediately sprang to mind was, "Who's going to coach the defense?" Weis's offensive prowess is well-known, so his most important hire is certainly going to be on the defensive side of the ball. In Rick Minter, Weis has not only found a very solid, if not spectacular defensive tactician, but a coach with some previous ND lineage.

As many Irish fans will recall, Minter served as the defensive coordinator for Holtz from 1992-93, and under him, the Irish defense was nothing short of fantastic. (Holtz hired him after watching Minter turn Ball State into a nationally-ranked, top 10 defense for two years running. Yes, Ball State). That ND '93 defensive squad might be the best Irish defense in recent memory, and I'm including the '88 squad in the mental rundown. From 92-93, the Irish had a top-10 defense and were especially stingy against the run, to the tune of allowing only 91 yards per game. Minter sent 18 players from those two teams to the pros, including memorable Irish stars such as Jeff Burris, Bobby Taylor, Bryant Young, Tom Carter, Greg Lane, and Demetrius DuBose.

Minter then became the head coach at Cincinnati, and in his 9 years there he went 53-63-1. Cincinnati was a football wasteland before Minter arrived, and while he didn't propel them into the national spotlight, he did instill some level of respectability: he took the Bearcats to four bowl games, their only postseason appearances in the past 50 years. He left Cincinnati as the school's all-time leader in wins.

Strategically speaking, Minter usually employs a 4-3 defense. Irish fans will remember such schemes from the early 90's, when guys like Young and Flanagan clogged the middle while DuBose, Bercich, and Peterson prowled from sideline to sideline.

"My base philosophy is a four-man line," Minter said. "There are all kind of shades and overs and unders you can play, but it's going to be four down linemen and three linebackers as a base."

Minter picked up a lot of his defensive expertise from Tampa Bay Buccaneers DC Monte Kiffin, whom he served under while on Holtz's '78 Arkansas staff. He still uses a version of Kiffin's 4-3 to this day, but with heavy modifications of his own design:

“I’ve become a little bit more of a multiple front, movement, disguising, attacking — a little bit different flavor than what Monte and Pete Carroll (another Kiffin disciple) have done as they entered the NFL world,” Minter said.

Minter said his scheme allows him to be flexible. In the base four-man look, Minter can shade the line to the tight-end side or he can bring a linebacker near the line of scrimmage opposite the tight end, a variation that Kiffin and Carroll often use.

Minter also might occasionally try a three-man line — the scheme favored by Charlie Strong, Lou Holtz’s first defensive coordinator at USC.

In other situations, Minter could rush as many as seven.

“There’s not a lot of secrets out there,” Minter said. “We’ve got to mix in our zones, try to confuse the quarterbacks.”

After being fired by Cincinnati, Minter was quickly scooped up by Holtz again, and installed as the defensive coordinator at South Carolina. (Interestingly, Holtz and Minter go back even farther than the Notre Dame years. In 1978, Holtz picked Minter to be a graduate assistant at Arkansas, Minter's first big break in football). Lou clearly holds Minter in very high esteem ("Rick Minter is a winner; he'll be a great role model for our players and he'll provide outstanding leadership", said Lou upon hiring him at USC), and what better endorsement for Charlie's staff than from the last man to win a National Championship for the Irish.

Required Reading:

Minter profile

Holtz on Minter

Minter on Defense

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Another hire with some Irish in his blood is new offensive coordinator Mike Haywood, a former wide receiver and defensive back for Notre Dame from 1983-86.

Haywood's been steadily moving up the coaching ranks, starting at Minnesota in 1988, with stops at Army, Ohio, Ball State, LSU, and now Texas. As befits a young coach on the rise, he's rotated among positions as he's climbed; along the way he's coached DBs, linebackers, special teams, receivers, and runningbacks. In 8 seasons at LSU he shone as the runningbacks coach, and was instrumental in developing ball carriers like Kevin Faulk (now with the Patriots), LaBrandon Toefield, and Domanick Davis. And as special teams coordinator, Haywood had LSU among the best in the SEC in nearly every statistical category.

But perhaps most important to Irish fans is Haywood's reputation as an outstanding recruiter; he's been a superstar on the recruiting trail for UT for a couple of years now, and in 2004 Haywood was tabbed by Mack Brown to be Texas's official Recruiting Coordinator. Over the past few seasons, Texas's recruiting classes have consistently ranked among the best in the country, and Haywood has a lot to do with that. That recruiting magic should translate seamlessly to ND; as a former Irish player, Haywood will be able to sell South Bend with a true passion and enthusiasm that was sorely lacking from Willingham's staff.

As Haywood himself put it:

"Really, the best reason why I'm taking the Notre Dame job is because of the opportunity to become an offensive coordinator at my alma mater, not to mention the opportunity to work with Charlie Weis and learn a new offense under him," said Texas RB coach/recruiting coordinator Michael Haywood regarding his decision to leave The University of Texas. "It's just a great opportunity for me and my family."

"Offensive Coordinator at Notre Dame" is yet another step up for Mike Haywood, and while I don't expect him to be calling the plays (I can't imagine Charlie Weis giving up those duties -- at least, not yet), the move back to his alma mater makes a lot of sense. While coaching runningbacks and designing gameplans for the Irish, Haywood will be able to learn at the feet of one of the best offensive coordinators in the game in Weis for a few years. And while Notre Dame is perhaps a stepping stone for Haywood, the Irish should greatly benefit from his recruiting and coaching acumen.

Mike Haywood bio

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Most of David Cutcliffe's resume has been rehashed over the last few weeks, as his name was among the first to leak as one of Charlie's assistants.

Although he was just fired out of Ole Miss for going 4-7, don't let that worry you: Ole Miss enjoyed great success under Cutcliffe. He was the only coach in the school's history to win at least 7 games in his first five seasons, he went 44-29 in his Ole Miss career, and was fired just a year after going 10-3 and winning the Cotton Bowl.

But more important than his record at Mississippi, Cutcliffe is widely known as one of the best offensive minds in college football, and a tremendous developer of quarterbacks. He served 17 years as an assistant at Tennessee (much of that as the offensive coordinator), during which time Tennessee had one of the best offenses in the SEC (the Vols led the SEC in total offense three times, rushing offense three times, and scoring offense once). At Ole Miss he broke many school scoring records, including the most points scored in a season (391 in 2001), most touchdowns, most total offense, most rushing yards, most passing yards, and most first downs.

Cutcliffe has described his offensive philosophy thusly: examine his personnel and fit the scheme to their strengths (sound familiar?). Here's Cut on offense:

When I talk about balance - and this is where not everybody understands what that means - I'm not referring to 50/50 run and pass," Cutcliffe said. "What balance is is maintaining the ability to run and throw on any down that you choose to do so."

Coach Cut reportedly comes to us as the quarterbacks coach and an assistant head coach, and there's no doubt guys like Quinn, Wolke and Sharpley are eagerly awaiting his tutelage: he's developed the likes of Peyton and Eli Manning, Heath Schuler, Tee Martin, and Todd Helton during his career. According to Peyton:

"I was sure when he was my quarterback coach and offensive coordinator that he was sure to be a head coach one day," Peyton said. "I am glad it did not come until I had finished my college career. I am pleased that my brother Eli has had the same direction coach Cutcliffe awarded me. I know Eli and Ole Miss are benefitting from his leadership and knowledge."

The only potential downside (for us) is it looks like Notre Dame's a stepping-stone move for Cutcliffe. I'm guessing he'll bide his time for three or four years under Charlie and find another college head coaching position in relatively short order.

Required reading:

Cutcliffe bio

Cutcliffe shines in fifth year

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Those who follow recruiting are overjoyed to see Mike Haywood's name among the ranks of newly hired Irish assistants. But there's another name less known but equally if not more important - Rob Ianello.

Who is Rob Ianello? Wisconsin's TE coach and recruiting coordinator. Big deal, right?

Actually, Ianello is one of the top recruiters in the country. Not only does he have experience in the SEC (Alabama), the Big-10 (two tours of duty at Wisconsin) and the Pac-10 (Arizona), but he has a reputation for recruiting success at each stop. In one article, Tom Lemming named him one of the best recruiters in the country (circa 1999). Be sure to check it out; there's also a nice little press clipping for Greg Mattison being on the wish list of ADs looking for a new head coach...okay, so some things don't always pan out.

Ianello's base is Houston. He brought kids to Arizona when he worked for Dick Tomey and John Mackovic, and now he does the same for Barry Alvarez. Thus, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see that Ianello is even recruiting Notre Dame's current verbal Kevin Washington.

Ianello is smart; "I'm not going to go into Texas against the University of Texas," Ianello said in a 1999 CNN/SI article. He knows that teams like Arizona and Wisconsin won't be able to beat out Texas for the state's best prospects, so he has been able to make a living on scouting - and landing - the talented kids whom Texas doesn't offer. And to a large extent, it has worked. But now that he's at Notre Dame, and now that he can team up with ex-Longhorn assistant Mike Haywood to recruit the best prospects in Texas, it's open season on Mack Brown.

With quality experience in the SEC, Pac-10 and Big-10, Ianello has the perfect resume for being the recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame. It won't take long until the verbals start pouring in...let's just hope there are some cornerbacks among them.

Required Reading:

The Daily Cardinal, 11/9/2004, "Badgers' Ianello Plans for Future"

CNN/SI, 8/11/1999, 1999 College Football Preview - Top 25 - Arizona

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He's no Joe Moore, but Irish fans will love John Latina, the new OL coach.

Latina's bio looks great. Stops at Kansas State, Clemson and Ole Miss, and even before that, he developed a good rushing game and OL talent at Temple. It's worth reading twice. Especially that part about Temple. When Latina was there, they had two winning seasons. They've had only one since (in 1990).

Additionally, it's not as though Ole Miss is bringing in lots of OL talent every year, but somehow they have managed to put together some dynamite offensive lines. Injuries and youth have not slowed them down, as evidenced in their game against Florida in '03. Wouldn't it be nice to hear this from one of our OL?

"I looked at Tre (left tackle) and said 'The ball is going over us,' " said Buckles, who plays left guard. "I told him this is where the men are made. No disrespect to Florida, but we mauled their guys."

Now, I can't withhold some evidence...namely, that Latina has been able to bring in JUCOs at Ole Miss and Kansas State (at least). But if there is one position where Notre Dame has little trouble attracting top talent, it's OL. And while Latina is not known for being a great recruiter, he doesn't need to be. From what I have read, players and families see him as a father figure, not a salesman. Given the other assistants on this staff, Latina won't be asked to be a big-time recruiter. There are other guys who can do that. In the years to come, all he needs to do is evaluate OL talent and land 3 or 4 OL in each class.

Latina will end up coaching nearly half of the offense - 5 out of 11 starters. It's a heavy burden, and Notre Dame is in very good hands with Latina. The OL on the team should be excited about playing for a coach who has experienced success wherever he's gone and possesses a track record of sending so many kids to the NFL.

Final tidbit...if you noticed, Latina coached the TEs at Pitt in 1982. Guess who was the OL coach for the Panthers that year?

Required Reading:

Gamecockcentral.com, 12/6/2004, Inside the Huddle: New Coach John Latina

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Rich Bisaccia looks like the pick for special teams coach. Quick, what are the three pillars of football? Offense, defense and special teams, right?

Not according to Tyrone Willingham, who never placed an emphasis on special teams -- despite whatever lip service he'd spout in press conferences.

Willingham's special teams at Stanford were average at best. Some years they'd block a few kicks, some years they'd return a few kicks for scores. But they were never consistently good, and when Willingham took the ND job, his special teams coach Phil Zacharias left for a position with the Baltimore Ravens. A golden opportunity existed to land a premier special teams assistant, and how did Willingham respond?

He hired Buzz Preston. For the last three years, Buzz Preston has coached special teams for the Irish. At least, that's what I thought. I haven't really seen results on the field to believe the players are actually being coached in the phases of special teams, and when I journeyed over to the ND athletic site, I didn't even see special teams listed as one of Preston's duties in his bio.

All that will change with Charlie Weis. All that will change with Rich Bisaccia, the new special teams assistant coach who is coming from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Although Bisaccia and his charges won a Super Bowl ring in 2002, Tampa Bay's special teams sucked last year and many fans were calling for Bisaccia's head. And yet, Jon Gruden still offered Bisaccia a contract extension. In fact, Gruden had this to say in May 2003:

"Rich Bisaccia is an excellent football coach, who I really enjoy working with. He is a hard worker, extremely detail oriented and has a vast knowledge of the game. He has played a tremendous role in this organization's success."

In another article, Gruden blames personnel and attitude, not Bisaccia's schemes. In the 2003 off-season, Tampa Bay spent some money on free agents specifically to help shore up special teams, and it has apparently helped.

Last year they were 29th in punt return coverage (12.5) and 28th in kick-off return coverage (23.6). This year they are 17th in punt return coverage (8.4) and 23rd in kick-off return coverage (22.8). On the flip side, last year they were dead last in kick-off returns (18.9) and 26th in punt returns (6.9). This year, they are 6th in kick-off returns (23.6) and 24th in punt returns (7.3). While it may not be the earth-shattering numbers that Irish fans would want or expect from an incoming special teams coach, I'd strongly urge reading his bio on his special teams accomplishments from Ole Miss and Clemson. There's a reason that Jon Gruden hired him in the first place.

On top of that, do you ever think you'd hear this coming out of Buzz Preston's mouth?

"There is so much scheming (game planning) going on where other teams are looking at your punt team, your kickoff team, your extra point team..."

My favorite part of that passage from this article includes this tag regarding Bisaccia: "known for his innovative kick return blocking formations."

We're allowed to be innovative on kick returns? We're allowed to gameplan? That's shocking, since rumors on some ND message boards earlier in the year said that the players thought the special teams meetings were "a joke."

Bisaccia is an excellent hire. He has ties to Cutcliffe (Ole Miss), Latina (Ole Miss & Clemson) and Weis (South Carolina). His Ole Miss bio speaks for itself.

As far as recruiting, not much is known. He was the recruiting coordinator at Clemson, which was certainly great experience, but with recruiters like Haywood and Ianello on the staff, Bisaccia is gravy.

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Our new DL coach, Jerome "Jappy" Oliver (see bio), may not be the most recognizable name in the list of new Irish assistant coaches, but he's got some impressive pedigree.

Some very good coaches have hired him throughout his career. Fisher DeBerry had him on his staff for eight seasons at Air Force. Then Lou Holtz hired him at South Carolina. Finally, after two years in Columbia he found himself without a job, and Rick Minter, who coached with him for only one year, was impressed enough to bring him to Notre Dame this year. Minter didn't have to do that, and Weis didn't have to agree to it. So Oliver must be a prety good coach. Minter went through more than a few assistant coaches (40+) during his tenure at Cincinnati so he knows a good one when he sees one...the Bearcats were a temporary stay for many an assistant on his way up the coaching ladder.

Oliver didn't have much talent to work with at Air Force, but he made the most of it. Here's a few quotes from one of his pupils, Bryce Fisher, an NFL DE who has some nice things to say about Oliver as his DL coach. In this article, Holtz echoes Fisher's sentiments when it comes to Oliver's coaching:

"I've watched Jappy coach and I want to tell you he is one of the most fundamentally sound coaches I have seen in a long long time. It is a joy to watch him with the players."

Outside of that, there really isn't much out on there on Oliver. Eight years at Air Force and four more at Vanderbilt tend to cloud your career in one of relative obscurity. Even the defensive rushing stats at South Carolina and Air Force before/during/after Oliver's time at those schools are relatively inconclusive.

As far as recruiting, Oliver's potential impact is unclear. He wasn't known as one of South Carolina's strongest recruiters, and his experience recruiting at Vanderbilt and Air Force wouldn't prepare him very well for what he'll face at Notre Dame - going up against the Miamis, Oklahomas and Michigans of college football for DL prospects. This article/bio on Oliver briefly mentions him as a "dynamic recruiter", but how much of that is South Carolina spin? His players do seem to really like him a lot, and we may not need much from a DL coach than a guy whose players love him and, more importantly, show good fundamentals.

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One hire I don't get is Bill Lewis, the new DB coach. Here's his bio.

Lewis' name has been in the news of late because of the Saban hire. Apparently one of Saban's assistants called Lewis to inquire about the Dolphins' talent; the assistant was the son of Vince Dooley, who hired Lewis as defensive coordinator/DB coach in the early 80s. Lewis was not pleased to receive that phone call.

Without question, Lewis has some positives. He has nine years' worth of coaching experience in the NFL. The Dolphins have one of the better secondaries in the NFL, due at least in part to Lewis's expertise. He likely has recruiting ties in Georgia since he was the head coach of Georgia Tech for three years and was the defensive coordinator at Georgia for eight or nine years under Dooley. It would appear as though he could be a valuable resource as a game-planner.

But there are also negatives. He's not even the secondary coach for the Dolphins; he's the nickel DB coach. And he has either held that title for nine years, since Jimmy Johnson hired him, or he was demoted at some point during his stay in Miami. All this time, no college teams have tried to lure him out of the NFL with defensive coordinator positions. I did read that he is supposedly one of the candidates for the Arkansas DC job, but how much of that is a result of not having a job next year because Dave Wannstedt was fired?

As far as recruiting, he's 65 years old and Georgia kids may not remember him, and if they do, they probably remember his embarrassing three year stint with the Yellow Jackets that ultimately resulted in his resignation (1-8) before George O'Leary took over.

The more I read about Bill Lewis, the less I think he'd be a great fit for Notre Dame. We need a young, hungry assistant for the secondary on the upside of his career, and Bill Lewis seems to be a guy who has stuck around because of the good 'ol boys network.

Get to know Bill Lewis:

Q&A from his GaTech days

Article on GaTech hiring

ECU Memories: Bill Lewis

(Finally, how about this modern innovation known as the Internet? I can't believe I was able to find those articles on Lewis. I was actually able to find a web page that contained Lewis' first ECU recruiting class in 1989. Could it be because a certain southerner invented the internet?)

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Can someone please tell me why Brian Polian as LB coach is a good hire? Quickly peruse his bio (short on accomplishments, it won't take very long).

Because of his recruiting ties in Florida? Not so sure. He's only been there for one year and he's such a young coach that he doesn't have much of a reputation (of his own) yet.

Because of his coaching experience? Eh, not entirely impressed. He coached outside LBs at Baylor and coached RBs at Buffalo for three years before moving to Central Florida to join George O'Leary's staff. How many kids has Polian sent to the NFL? Can Polian really coach LBs better than someone like Bob Simmons, who had a lot more experience?

Because of genetics? Because his father and brother are fantastic player personnel guys in the NFL? How exactly are we certain that this skill got passed down to Brian? There's absolutely no way to know one way or the other, and if Polian were hired by Tyrone Willingham, many would seriously question the hire.

Now, all that said, I like Polian as a member of this staff. There are certainly some question marks that I have about him, but I actually like him a lot. Here's why.

Brian's an up-and-comer: he's young, hungry and aggressive. Taking a wild guess, he could have easily settled for a cushy scouting position in his father's organization, but instead, he decided to establish his own name out there and do something else. With Rick Minter and Bill Lewis, the defensive staff could definitely use someone with his youthful intensity and hunger, not just for recruiting's sake but also in gameplanning. On a staff full of established professionals, my guess is that Polian is going to tirelessly work his ass off to impress his peers and hopefully move up the coaching ladder, and there's no better shortcut to promotion than plain 'ol hard work.

I'm a little concerned about his lack of experience as a LB coach, but that's where Rick Minter can really help Polian out. Not only can Minter help him coach the LBs, but Polian can also serve as an apprentice to Minter and improve his LB coaching under him. It's a win-win situation.

As briefly mentioned above, where Polian will really help out is with recruiting. The offensive staff is littered with great recruiters, but Lewis, Minter and even Oliver aren't known nor expected to be great salesmen. One has to imagine the burden of recruiting will fall heavily on Polian, who has extensive experience at Central Florida and Buffalo as the recruiting coordinator.

Polian could be a risky hire, but if this staff were a jigsaw puzzle, I see Polian as a potential missing piece. He can complement the rest of the staff - especially the defensive staff - quite nicely. He works hard and from what I've read, his attitude will jibe with the rest of the incoming staff.

Here's my favorite Polian quote, from an article linked below.

"Coaches don't decide whether or not players redshirt. Players decide whether or not they're going to redshirt. If a guy is good enough to play, most often he'll play."

There's not much out there on the internet as far as Polian goes, but here are two question & answer articles with Polian about UCF recruiting from Rivals:

February 10, 2004

August 9, 2004

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In sizing everything up, I'd say Charlie's assembled a top-notch group, and what really strikes me is the breadth and diversity of their collective experience. I mean, we've got former head coaches (Cutcliffe, Minter, Lewis), young up-and-comers (Haywood, Polian), Irish legacies (Minter, Haywood), NFL warriors (Biasiccia, Lewis), recruiting wizards (Ianello, Haywood), unsung yeoman technicians (Latina, Oliver), offensive swamis (Cutcliffe, Haywood), defensive chessmasters (Minter, Lewis) and years and years of aggregate football success at all levels of the game. On any of the program prerequisites you'd like to offer up -- recruiting expertise, X's and O's, youthful energy, elderly wisdom -- it's an incredibly balanced group. All this built-in synchronicity is wonderful, and augurs well for the future.

Charlie's done well to get some coaches with long histories in the college game, and he'll be able to lean on guys like Cutcliffe and Minter as he sorts out the new challenges of moving from the NFL to the NCAA, from offensive coordinator to head coach. It looks like all facets of the football program -- offense, defense, special teams, recruiting -- are about to get a much-needed blast of fresh air.

Quite a Year | by Pat

Without a doubt the big story of 2004 was the firing of Ty Willingham, and the subsequent hiring of Charlie Weis in December. Yet even after the ugly 5-7 season of 2003, no one would have predicted that by the end of 2004, Willingham would be wearing Husky purple and that Notre Dame would hire a guy with no head coaching experience above the high school level. So, how did we end up here? Let's take a look back on the topsy-turvy Year That Was for Irish football...

January

The year started in muted silence, as the 5-7 Irish stayed home for the holiday bowl season. The only Irish players making an appearance in a football game were Darrell Campbell, Julius Jones and Courtney Watson, who all played in the Senior Bowl. After such a disappointing season, many Irish fans turned to recruiting in the hopes that Coach Willingham could find some of those elusive "studs" (that many in the media assumed the Irish lacked) and breathe some new life into the program. By January Notre Dame had eight commitments and were still looking for a QB to back up Brady Quinn, another running back to compliment Justin Hoskins, and, stop me if you've heard this one before, a solid cornerback or two. Two recruits stood out as targets 1 and 1a for Willingham: QB Brian Brohm and RB Darius Walker. On the 20th, Brohm chose to attend Louisville, but Walker made Irish fans happy by putting on an ND hat on the 22nd. Six other recruits chose Notre Dame, but the Irish missed on some key recruits that had been targeted for a long time.

February

The big event in college football every February is National Signing Day. It's a day full of optimism and potential...and recently, heartburn and disappointment for the most devoted of Irish recruitniks who still flinch at the name Lorenzo Booker. Luckily, this year the Irish won a last-minute battle with Florida State for Booker's cousin, cornerback Terrail Lambert. Unfortunately, the overall grade for the class was notably average, and the Irish fell short at shoring up depth at key positions. For the second straight year, Notre Dame signed only two offensive lineman, and the class as a whole was one of the lowest ranked in recent history. It appeared that Willingham's strategy of doling out scholarship offers like golden tickets would leave the Irish empty-handed, with no backup plans once the A-list recruits turned down the Irish. And once again, Irish fans were left hoping that the class contained a few diamonds in the rough.

March

March started off an a sour note as defensive backs coach Trent Walters was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as their new secondary coach. Walters was considered one of the best coaches on the staff, and many hoped that Willingham would take this opportunity to hire a top notch coach to assuage ND's perennial Achilles heel. As the month drew to a close, Willingham surprised the Irish faithful by tabbing Steven Wilks from Bowling Green. Wilks's inexperience raised more than a few eyebrows, but the players quickly warmed to Wilks during spring practice and some fans hoped that the young Wilks would be a shot in the arm for a staff that lacked many aggressive recruiters.

April

The entire offensive line would return in 2004 to protect rising sophomore Brady Quinn, and spring practices provided hope that the offense was starting to mature. As always, there were numerous positive practice reports, and the offense did not disappoint in the 75th Annual Blue and Gold Spring Game as the 1st-team offense won 35-7 in an impressive showing. More optimism appeared in the form of sophomore Tom Zbikowski, who had an interception and won the defensive MVP award. Three days later, the good news continued for the Irish program as six Notre Dame players were taken in the NFL Draft. Fan favorite Julius Jones just missed the first round (Bill Parcells selected him for the Dallas Cowboys early in the 2nd). Unfortunately Darrell Campbell, who suffered a knee injury while training for the draft, found himself undrafted by the time Mr. Irrelevant heard his name called.

May

After the draft, three more Irish players signed free agent contracts, giving Notre Dame nine players from the 5-7 team who made it to the NFL. Also in May was the groundbreaking for the new Don F. and Flora Guglielmino Family Athletics Center. When completed in mid 2005, the 95,840 square-foot, state-of-the-art Center will house all of the football offices and feature an expanded weight room, a larger film room, and a new locker room for practices.

June

In a fairly unprecedented move, AD Kevin White announced that the away game against BYU had been rescheduled to just before the Michigan game. This would give Willingham's team a much-needed opportunity to work out the kinks at game-speed before facing the Wolverines in South Bend. While Notre Dame historically has never backed down from tough opponents, some Irish fans felt that a slight "softening" of the schedule would be beneficial to Notre Dame's national championship hopes. Although not everyone bought this line of reasoning, most were happy that the wait until the kickoff of the 2004 season was reduced by one week.

July

A slow month in college football, fans on internet message boards wondered if this was the year that the Irish offense would finally click and become a force that didn't rely on the defense to win games. Announcements that Brady Quinn was named to the Davey O'Brien watch list and Anthony Fasano was selected to the Mackey Award watch list bolstered fan confidence and showed that even the media expected good things out of the Fighting Irish offense in 2004.

August

As fall practice started, early practice reports constantly trumpeted the good news that a crisp, efficient offense was really revving up. Eyewitness accounts of Travis Thomas, Ryan Grant, Darius Walker, and Justin Hoskins gave hope that the loss of Julius Jones would be minimized. Outside of the normal nicks and bruises, the Irish managed to avoid the injury bug, and as in every preseason, confidence was riding high. A rumored last-minute transfer by Tom Zbikowski that was quickly proven false was the only hiccup in a relatively smooth fall practice session. All eyes were on Willingham and the 2004 Irish in the all-important 3rd year of Willingham's tenure.

September

Ready and rarin' to go, and hoping to start the season off with a bang, the Irish instead shot themselves in the foot. ND stumbled to a 20-17 loss against BYU, and the optimism quickly turned to doubt. The program-low 11 yards rushing seemed impossible for a team returning an offensive line chock full of high school all-americans. With Ryan Grant out with a hamstring injury, Travis Thomas was summoned to carry the ball, and promptly coughed up three fumbles. Meanwhile, Darius Walker sat patiently on the bench. Depression hit Irish fans hard, many admitted they might be wrong about Willingham's chances for success, and most ND fans expected a second straight blowout loss to the Wolverines.

Next week however, in what became a hallmark of Willingham's tenure, a completely different Notre Dame team showed up and pushed around the Top 10 Michigan Wolverines, beating them 28-20. Notable in this game was the debut of freshman running back Darius Walker, who provided the offensive spark missing in the BYU game. Walker rang up an impressive 115 yards and two touchdowns in 31 attempts in his first collegiate game. Emotions and expectations rose up again as the Irish played a great game, and the vaunted #3 jersey appeared to have found another worthy owner. Little did Irish fans know that the Michigan game would be the high water mark for Darius the rest of the season.

Under the lights in East Lansing, the Irish put away the Michigan State Spartans 31-24 in a game that ended up a lot closer than it should have been. Zbikowski had perhaps the play of the year on a stripped fumble returned for a touchdown, but after Willingham emerged from the bowels of MSU Stadium in the third quarter (was it a bathroom break, coach? "None of your business", replied Ty), the Spartans mounted a comeback that made more than a few Irish fans uncomfortable. The Irish hung on to win.

Closing out September, Willingham and the Irish impressed ND fans and members of the Husky athletic department with a very convincing win over hapless Washington 38-3.

October

Purdue came into Notre Dame Stadium looking for their first win since 1974 and unfortunately, they had no trouble getting it. ND continued its recent trend of enhancing the Heisman hopes of opposing QB's as Kyle Orton looked unstoppable in the 41-16 romp. The game also added another disconcerting blowout loss to Willingham's ledger -- another 25-point home loss and shaky secondary play brought out a few more calls for Willingham's job as the Irish failed to show much improvement from the first game of the year.

Facing Willingham's former employer the next week, the Fighting Irish became the second D-1 football team to reach 800 victories, but still needed to bat down a pass in the end zone to secure the 23-15 win over the Cardinal.

The Irish then cracked the Top 25 with a 27-9 victory over Navy. But another speed bump came in the form of the Boston College, where for the second straight year Notre Dame scored the same number of touchdowns and field goals as the Eagles, but lousy second-half defense and frustrating miscues on PAT attempts left the Irish short on the scoreboard 24-23.

November

Consistent only in their inconsistency, the Irish followed up the loss to the Eagles with an upset of #9 Tenneessee 17-13 in Knoxville, and the questions continued: how could the Irish could defeat top-10 teams like the Volunteers and Wolverines yet stumble to the likes of BYU?

Again the roller coaster 2004 season continued when Notre Dame fell in the closing seconds to Pittsburgh 41-38 and Pitt QB Tyler Palko set a Notre Dame stadium record by throwing for five touchdowns against the Irish in a game.

Not to be outdone, Matt Leinart threw for five touchdowns of his own as the Irish lost to USC by 31 points for the third straight year 41-10 and cemented Leinart's shot at the Heisman Trophy. And while most Fighting Irish fans didn't expect a victory over the high flying Trojans, many could do nothing but shake their heads in disgust. As they had done the previous two meetings with USC, the Irish had early success on offense, but were unable to counter any of the defensive adjustments by the Trojans, and were ultimately overwhelmed.

The regular season was now over and Willingham's Irish stood at a decidedly average 6-5. Hoping to end the season on a good note, the Irish accepted a bid to play in the Insight.com bowl against the Oregon State Beavers. Not thrilled that Notre Dame accepted the bowl bid, Irish fans resigned themselves to playing in a subpar bowl and turned to recruiting for any good news. But on the last day in November, something happened that hardly anyone had expected: Tyrone Willingham was fired.

December

The final month of 2004 started in disarray as the Fighting Irish found themselves without a head coach and the Football Banquet and accompanying recruiting trip weekend were abruptly cancelled. Notre Dame message boards were flooded with rumors, half-truths, and wild accusations about how the firing transpired and who the next coach would be. The immediate choice seemed to be Utah coach Urban Meyer. Notre Dame officials flew out to Utah to close the deal with the former ND assistant only to find that he was further along in negotiations with Florida than anyone under the Dome realized, and Meyer rebuffed the Irish. The search quickly went underground while the media attacked the decision to fire Willingham and stoked the rumor mill with new coaching names released on almost an hourly basis. Finally, after 13 long days, Notre Dame officially introduced Charlie Weis as the 28th Head Coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

While perhaps unknown to many Irish fans at the beginning of the search, Weis's NFL accomplishments and Notre Dame diploma gave cause for new hope. After a stirring press conference brimming with confidence, Weis immediately set out hiring a coaching staff and picking up the recruiting baton where Willingham's staff had left off. Weis shored up Irish-committed players' confidence and aggressively pursued assorted longshots, and inspired Irish fans who had been used to the low-key Willingham approach to recruiting.

Meanwhile, Willingham's assistants stayed at Notre Dame to coach the Irish players for the upcoming Insight.com bowl while Willingham returned to the Pac-10 as the new coach of the Washington Huskies.

As the month and year came to an end, no new assistant coaches had been officially announced and the Irish traveled to Phoenix to play the OSU Beavers in an indoor baseball stadium. Staying true to their Willingham-inspired form, the Irish appeared unfocused and inconsistent, and dropped yet another game 38-21 to finish the 2004 season a lackluster 6-6.

Wrap-up

It's been quite a year. Yet despite the disappointing season, Irish fans everywhere seem optimisic on the future. 2004 left us breathless and exasperated (and ultimately shocked and surprised) but as 2005 begins, Notre Dame faces a fresh start, and Charlie Weis offers much hope for Irish football.

Here's to the new coach, the new attitude, and the New Year. Cheers.