Notre Dame, IN (UHND) — Charlie Weis addressed the media Monday morning and spoke on several topics including personal changes, the format for practice this week, and the new facilities before answering questions. This article will be more of a news and notes article covering the major issues Coach Weis touched on.
The Guglielmino Athletics Complex
The first topic Weis talked about was the new Guglielmino complex and the benefits this structure gives the football team as well as the university. Weis said the Gug, “is a really big plus for the University of Notre Dame. It’s a big plus for the whole athletic department. I think it will be a big plus for the school. I think going from facilities that I believe were antiquated to now right at the top with everybody with the way Notre Dame should be and what they stand for, I think our players are very, very happy.”
Weis further stated that the new complex gives Notre Dame an edge in recruiting that they previously haven’t had. He said the Gug has been a, “critical factor in some of our so called early success.”
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On Personal Changes
The first change that Weis mentioned was the transfer of Freddie Parish. Weis did not give any details as to why or where Parish will be transferring, but did say that, “this is not an anti Notre Dame or anti Freddie Parish deal.”
Next Weis alerted the media that Travis Leitko won’t be with the team this fall. He did not rule out a return by Leitko at some point but he said that at this time he isn’t with the team and that’s all he can say at this time. The loss of Leitko leaves Notre Dame with only 2 defensive ends who have seen any playing experience.
On Play Calling
Weis was being as a question about who will be doing to which he gave a classic answer. “I’m calling the plays. That’s the end of that question,” was Weis’ response before the question was even completed. He let everyone know that he will be calling the plays as he has previously said he will do until he feels comfortable enough with Mike Haywood calling them.
On the format of practice this week
Weis told reporters that there was a conditioning test at 6:15 AM to which the players were awoke by the sound of an air horn. The players had a ˝ hour conditioning test which everyone past — some more gracefully than others. “You probably would have thought they won the triathlon or Boston Marathon by how they fell to the ground at the end,” Weis stated after saying everyone had passed.
The Irish then had a 2˝ hour practice at 3:45. With the exception of today — all practices are limited to 1 three hour session. The rest of the week the team will practice from 2:15-5:15. The three hour limitation does not include off field team meetings. There were no pads Monday and will not be seen again Tuesday as per NCAA rules. Wednesday and Thursday the team will be in shoulder pads before having a full practice Friday.
Two a days will start Saturday and will alternate with two a days followed by one a day. Weis added that “because my practices on two days are in the morning or in the evening with no practice in the afternoon we’ve found statistically after doing a bunch of research that it’s always, always important in training camp to follow every practice with a meeting.” By this formula, the team will have 2 meetings on days with 1 practice — one meeting in the morning recapping the previous nights practice and then one after practice recapping that days lone practice. On days with two a days, the team will have 1 meeting in between sessions.
On conditioning
After Weis talked about the 6:15 conditioning test, he talked about the conditioning of the team. Weis gave strength and conditioning coach Ruben Mendoza credit stating, “the bottom line is obviously Ruben and his staff have done a great job in the off season because the conditioning from when we left spring ball to now, okay, was greatly, greatly, greatly increased.”
On Access to the Players
The question was about how the limited access to players for interviews and questions. “Well, what do you need to talk to them about? I’m coming up here and basically answering most of the questions that you’re asking. I think I know more than they do. So if you’re asking a football question, I think that you should be asking it of me.”
Weis also said that part of the reasoning behind giving limited access to the players was to prevent the players from any unintentional bulletin board material. This is not limited to bulletin board material for other teams but also within the Notre Dame team as well. Weis explained, “For example, you get a young guy who comes in, you ask him, well, what are your expectations? Well, I intend to be a starter, ta da, ta da, ta da. Well, what do you say to the guys that are already ahead of him? Now all of a sudden that’s causing some friction between him and the older guys who are playing for a whole bunch of years.”
On Brady Quinn
Weis credited Quinn for being a tough, battle-tested quarterback. Quinn ran through Quinn’s qualities, “is he intelligent? Yes. Does he have arm strength? Yes. Does he have touch? Yes. What he probably lacks is experience as far as reading coverages and really understanding schematically in my offense how plays are going to be run…” Weis said that the main thing they will be working on with Quinn is learning on where the ball is supposed to be on every play.
On Getting the Team Prepared for a Tough Schedule
“The way I look at it, what’s the biggest game of the year for me? September 3,” Weis said before running though the rest of the early season schedule asking if they thought he would have trouble getting the team ready for each team. Some of the highlight of that exchange include this quote, “How about going on the road to play Purdue, who whipped you pretty good last year? And then coming home to play USC? Give me a break. If you can’t get the team up to play those teams, then you’ve got a problem.”
On the Offensive Line
“I talked at length with the offensive line, particularly about this today; it was about playing with a defensive mentality. That means be aggressive, not the one who is taking the blows, the one who is delivering the blows,” Weis told the media about the offensive line.
Weis’ comments on the offensive line are a good sign since the offensive line play has failed to live up the expectations. The offensive line is full of high school All Americans and with 5 returning starters this year’s line should be the strength of the offense.
On Dave Wannstedt and Pitt in the Season Opener
“I think that Dave knows me and I know him. So I think Dave has a pretty good idea of the things that I like to do. And I have a pretty good idea of the things he likes to do.” Weis basically said that the two staffs are fairly familiar with each other.
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