Archive for the ‘Charlie Weis’ Category

In 2005 Charlie Weis surprised his team with green jerseys for USC’s trip to South Bend and fans were treated with one of the most memorable games of all time. This year when USC travels to town, the green jerseys will be out again and this time Weis has announced it four months in advance.

The Fighting Irish will don their green jerseys when they face USC this fall.

Coach Charlie Weis says the team will wear green jerseys to honor the 1977 team.

Weis was a senior at Notre Dame when the 11th-ranked Irish wore their normal blue jerseys for warmups, then donned green for the game and defeated fifth-ranked USC 49-19 en route to the national championship.

Weis has said that was the game he remembered best from his college days.

I don’t know how I feel about this year. I love the green jerseys, but when they are announced this far in advance the slight motivational factor that the players get from them goes away and it just gives USC just a bit more motivation. I do, however, love that Weis is honoring the 1977 team this way. Its just another in a long line of examples of that Weis truly “gets it” and has a deep devotion to the University.

On a recent visit to Trinity High School in Washington, PA to visit recent OSU commit Andrew Sweat, Weis and an assistant coach found themselves waiting in a hallway right in front of a fight that broke out. As the story goes…

The hallway outside Dalton’s office, where Weis and his assistant were standing, would have been barren except that a fight between two students had broken out. That type of activity tends to draw a crowd.

Weis and his assistant moved toward the two combatants but were stopped in the hallway by a Trinity staffer, who demanded to know why they were not wearing visitor badges.

After identifying themselves, Weis and his partner were allowed through and immediately walked up to the two battling students.

“(Weiss) said, ‘You want a piece of me?’” Dalton recalled.

The two fighters stopped to size up Weis, a hulk of a man whose arms are large enough to rip a phone book in half. The fight was called because of common sense.

Then Weis turned to Dalton and asked, “What do I get for that?”

Dalton replied, “If you stay until 11 a.m., you can do lunch duty.”

Weis politely declined and moved along to the next high school.

I know some opposing fans who feel the need to lurk around here will have a field day with this article referring to Weis as a “hulk of a man”, but this story is great and is a hilarious cap off to a great day for the Fighting Irish.

Credit to Blue-Gray Sky for finding this one.

While I’m catching up with some of the All Access videos I’ve missed over the past couple of days, I figured I’d post something about the wide receivers in a similar fashion to Saturday’s post on the running backs.

David Grimes - Grimes will be “the man” for the Irish at wide receiver this year unless someone knocks him off the top spot - and right now it doesn’t look like thats likely. Being in the system for three years, Grimes is completely acclimated to the offense and is ahead of the other receivers in terms of fully grasping the offense. Honestly, I am not sure how I feel about Grimes as the #1 receiver right now. He showed signs of being a pretty good receiver at times, but he will have a lot of work to do to be able to fill in for either of the departed starters. I like his quickness and his moves in the open field, but his lack of size will result in a lot of jams at the line.

George West - West has emerged as the second receiver right now. Having a full spring already under his belt, West has had more time in the offense than his fellow freshman counterparts. West is even smaller than Grimes which would make a starting duo of Grimes and West result in some lost sleep for Weis this summer. Like Grimes, I like West’s quickness and ability to make people miss, but I also about West being able to get off the line of scrimmage against physical corners.

DJ Hord - Hord is coming off the leg injury and is still looking to get over the mental hurdles according to comments Weis has made. Coming back from an Achilles injury for a receiver is almost as much mental as it is physical. I still think Hord has the ability to be a starting caliber receiver in this offense in 2007, but according to a Michael Rothstein report yesterday, Hord was running with the third group of receivers which is not a good sign.

Robby Parris - So far it looks like Parris would be the third receiver right now. Today’s SBT mentioned that Parris was having some trouble with his blocking which is not overly surprising for a freshman wide receiver. Parris has been labeled as a poor man’s Jeff Samardzija from the time he committed to Notre Dame and the label might not be too far off, but the jury is still out. Parris has looked good enough to run with the second group of receivers. If the season started today, Parris would be the third receiver.

“The Pack” – Not much has been said about the rest of the Notre Dame receivers this spring. Weis made mention of the pack the past few days and how West has emerged from the pack, but other than West and Grimes, there hasn’t been much mention of any of the receivers by Weis. There was some encouraging news regarding Richard Jackson coming into the spring based on off-season seven on seven drills, but so far Jackson has not done much of mention this spring. Barry Gallup’s name has also not come up too much this spring. Of all of this year’s freshman receivers, I was the most excited about Jackson and I still think he will end up to be the most successful receiver in the group when all is said and done.

• Weis’ main concern with the quarterback situation right now is finding the guy who can run the offense efficiently in terms of getting the play from the sidelines and getting the offense lined up properly. His second concern is with getting his quarterbacks familiar with progression reads vs. coverage reads. Third is the accuracy with which each quarterback is delivering the ball.
• The difference between James Aldridge this spring vs. last spring is like “night and day.” Weis mentioned he is a different back this spring because he is healthy.
• Weis described Aldridge’s speed as “sneaky” and said he’s got a second gear that a lot of running backs don’t have.
• Blocking by the wide receivers was stressed by Weis with him stating he won’t play receivers who can’t block. He also mentioned that the size of the receiver doesn’t determine if they can block or not.
• There is “very little thats set” along the offensive line. Weis mentioned John Sullivan and Sam Young as “set”, but other than them, nothing else is set in stone.
• The goal along the offensive line is to create position flexibility so that they have some interchangable parts along the line.
• There’s several guys along the defensive line that have shown “encouraging signs” to Weis. He also mentioned that they need to find some more linemen that they have confidence in.
• Chris Stewart spent most of practice on the bike again and Weis said he is going through the progression of converting to defensive line but did say that he is one of the few guys with the body type to play in the middle of the defensive line in the 3-4.
• Will Yeatman is keeping up with the rest of the tight ends despite the time he’s missed playing lacrosse this spring. Weis seemed encouraged with Yeatman in his remarks.
• Of George West, Weis said he’s been getting off the line well, catching the ball, and being a “willing blocker.”
• Weis expects Kallen Wade to get a lot bigger than he is right now which is around 245 after reporting to Notre Dame at 208. He said he expects John Ryan to max out around where he is at right now, but expects Wade to get bigger and that is why Wade is listed as a defensive end and Ryan is at outside linebacker.
• The 11th player on offense will be interchangeable between being a full back, second tight end, or third wide receiver.
• Asaph Schwapp has shaken off a lot of the rust from being hurt last year and was described as a tough and physical lead blocker.
• If someone else emerges at kick returner, Weis won’t put a starter on offense back there such as Grimes or West. He said they are trying a bunch of different guys at returner including Armando Allen.
• Weis has been “very encouraged” by Armando Allen and he has not “looked like a freshman.”
• Junior Jabbie has also encouraged Weis at the tailback spot so far.
• Weis is content with where his team is in regards to the installation of the new defense and the offense with all of the new faces on that side of the ball.
• Overall there has been very good competition this spring.
• Weis “wants the best guy” under center regardless of who may be the fastest or who has the strongest arm. He said he will mold the offense around what his starter does the best.
• Weis said he will always tell his players the truth, regardless of the consequences. He let everyone know that he will be completely honest with his quarterbacks regardless of what happens - implying he will do so even it were to result in a transfer at some point.

While doing unrelated research today, I came across this stat regarding NFL MVPs. It’s a stat I have never heard mentioned on any ND message board, any ND publication or broadcast. Since the Associated Press started to announce the NFL’s most valuable players back in 1957, one school has stood atop the NCAA as having delivered the most number of players to be selected as the NFL’s MVP. You guessed it, Notre Dame.

The Irish have sent four players on to become NFL MVPs (Paul Hournung, Alan Page, Joe Theismann, Joe Montana). LSU and Alabama come in second with three, though it has been reported that Alabama claims seven.

This at the very least adds to a little of the intrigue to the Brady Quinn vs. Jamarcus Russell NFL career battle. Charlie Weis has said that in three years, Quinn will be one of the top three QBs in the league, while pundits like Todd McShay seemingly salivate daily over Russell, who rose as the media favorite after his most impressive day as a collegiate quarterback came against a lowly Notre Dame defense.

Here is the Cliff Notes version of Charlie Weis’s press conference on Wednesday.

• Travis Thomas was moved back to running back and Chris Stewart was moved to defensive tackle
• Everyone is healthy and “full speed” according to Weis, and that includes Jimmy Clausen despite the report yesterday in the Sun Times about an arm injury
• Weis doesn’t like other people talking about player injuries apparently
• Travis Thomas is a leader on the field no matter where he plays
• 5th Year applicants participating in Spring ball -  Tom Zbikowski, John Thomas, Carlson, John Sullivan, Trevor Laws, Dwight Stephenson, Joe Brockington, Ambrose Wooden and Geoff Price.
• Chase Anastacio decided not to come back
• Guys playing a spring sport - Evan Sharpley (baseball), Eric Maust (baseball), and Will Yeatmen (lacrosse)
• Sharpley won’t miss any practices, Yeatman will be at about 8 of the 15 practices, and Maust (a backup punter) will be there when he can
• Theme for the spring is “Tradition Never Graduates”
• All coaches will have a hand in special teams this year - THANK YOU CHARLIE!
• Weis would like to make the 4 horse quarterback race a 2 horse race by the end of Spring
• Coaches are excited about Stewart’s athletic ability to play along the defensive line
• Dan Wenger will work at center and guard, Michael Turkovich will work at guard and tackle
• Thomas Bemenderfer, a walkon offensive lineman, will be in the mix for playing time amongst the interior offensive linemen.
• Work on the offensive side of the ball will be personnel oriented with an offensive identity already established; defensively the work will be schematic and trying to establish an identity
• DJ Hord is healthy and at full speed, but will need to get over the mental road block coming off the knee injury just like McKnight last year
• Weis talked a lot about the flexibility the 3-4 defense will give Notre Dame as well as giving them the ability to confuse opposing offenses
• John Ryan is playing outside linebacker and is a prototypical 3-4 outside linebacker according to Weis
• David Grimes is also full speed and Weis talked to him a lot this off-season about wide receivers like Troy Brown, Deon Branch, and Wayne Chrebet - small guys that produced big numbers in the NFL under Weis
• Weis is encouraged about the play of the interrior offensive linemen from last year’s freshman linemen
• Trevor Laws will a defensive end in the 3-4 defense.

Earlier tonight I linked to the latest blog entry for Brady Quinn on his XBOX Community Blog. If read it carefully, you will find the following passage…

“Having Coach Weiss here at Notre Dame helps me out with the interview process. For those of you who aren’t familiar with him, he used to coach with the New England Patriots and has been able to prep me for my time with the NFL teams.”

Someone should tell Quinn’s PR person writing these Brady that there is only one “s” at the end of Weis. Now, I’m the last person in the world to offer out spelling and grammar tips (God knows I have enough of them in my own writing), but I find it just a tad funny that Charlie’s name is spelled wrong here.

Other than that, it’s a pretty good post with some information and pictures of his training out in Arizona.

Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel both won three Super Bowls as coordinators for the Patriots and now Weis is telling his friend Crennel, who is the head coach of the Browns, to trade up from the 3rd position to draft Brady Quinn.

“I’ve met Brady, and he’s a fine young man,” Crennel said Friday at the NFL scouting combine. “I know the guy who coaches Brady, and Brady has had a lot of success since he’s been in their system. I know that Brady is a good quarterback. Charlie told me that he’s really good, and we should trade up to get him.”

You have to love the job Weis does in promoting his kids to NFL teams. Some people like to try and downplay Weis’s NFL connections (like Ron Zook), but his connections to the NFL definitely shouldn’t be overlooked and if the Browns do end up taking Quinn 4th overall I can’t help but think it would be a major help in recruiting.

“Hey five star wide receiver, did you notice that Brady just got drafted by my close friend Romeo Crennel with the 3rd pick in the draft? Or that Corey Mays and Dan Stevenson ended up in the Patriots camp last year after being undrafted?”

Today’s links are a little late.  I don’t really have a good excuse either as I sat this Friday night at home.  I was messing around with some really cool new features I’m hoping to roll out for UHND this off-season though.  Anyway - here’s today’s links.

• Quinn isn’t conceding the top spot in the draft according to this MSNBC article.
• Darius Walker is still confident after leaving Notre Dame early.  It’s good to see Walker remain confident, but with most draft experts projecting him as a late first day/early second day draft pick, he might not stay that way.
• This guy thinks Russell should be the #1 pick, but someone should tell him that Russell and LSU beat Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, not the Orange Bowl as he references at one point.
• Here’s a preview of the Notre Dame-Marquette basketball game tomorrow.  The game is a national telecast on ABC at 3:30.  Should be a great game.
• A good, fairly balanced look at Russell and Quinn.  The Leaf-Manning comparisons which we’ve mentioned here for a while seem to be picking up steam.
• The Vikings will interview Brady Quinn.  I’ve been saying for a while I will be surprised if Quinn makes it past Minnesota.  Brad Childress was groomed under Andy Reid whom he watched build the Eagles around a franchise quarterback.  Minnesota would be one of the best destinations for Quinn amongst the top 10.
• Great recap of Quinn’s media day at the combine.  For those interested, he measured in at 6′ 3 3/4″ and 232 lbs.
• Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia actually had some nice things to say about Quinn as well.  He concedes that he’d pick Russell over Quinn, but he gives a pretty fair assessment of both.
• Nice quote from Walker regarding Weis and how he doesn’t like when you are late.
• A good look at all of the position battles on the offensive side of the ball this spring from Domer Law Blog

A couple days ago I made a post about 5 things I’d like to see in 2007. Well, today I’m going to switch gears and talk about some things I don’t want to see in 2007. This list includes things that we saw plenty of in 2006 that I’m hoping we don’t see much of in 2007.

5. Dropped Passes
Against USC, Notre Dame was plagued by dropped passes and it really had an impact on the outcome of the game. Notre Dame wide receivers had a number of opportunities to make plays but couldn’t come down with the ball. Had Notre Dame did a better job holding onto the ball int he first quarter, chances are they wouldn’t have fallen behind as badly as they did. Rhema McKnight in particular had a couple drops against USC and again against LSU. With a new starting quarterback though, Notre Dame will need to have the receivers hold onto to every catchable ball they get their hands. Having an almost entirely new cast of receivers, however, makes this a question mark heading into the season. David Grimes, who figures to be the #1 receiver next year, did show some sure hands in 2006 as the #3 receiver behind McKnight and Samardzija. Let’s hope Grimes running mates can show the same kind of sure hands that he has.

4. Linebackers Getting Run Over
Maurice Crum and Travis Thomas were both playing out of position last year. Crum was too small to be the middle linebacker in a 4-3 defense and Thomas was pretty much too small for any linebacker position. Both played admirably though and played tough. Still, Notre Dame’s linebackers were run over last year far too often. Adding some size in the middle in the form of Toryan Smith would be a nice start here. Crum will probably still be in the middle as an inside linebacker in the 3-4, but if he has someone with Smith’s size next to him, it should help free him up a bit. The Irish should add even more size to the linebacker spots on the outside with guys like Morrice Richardson, Kerry Neal, and Kallen Wade all being guys who were too big to be linebackers in a traditional 4-3, but are perfect fits as outside linebackers in a 3-4. Notre Dame’s linebackers were a major liability in 2006 - hopefully we see some vast improvement here this year.

3. Ineffective Safety/Corner Blitzes
Rick Minter liked using corner and safety blitzes and were usually saw a couple a game. The problem in 2006 was they were almost never effective and almost always ended up giving up big plays. Minter’s safety and corner blitzes didn’t fool anyone and the blitzing defensive back was usually picked up rather easily. With a new defensive scheme we should see an entirely new blitz package from Brown. The 3-4 defense is all about giving offensive different looks and bringing pressure from different angles which in theory should help improve the Notre Dame pass rush. Thankfully Mike Richardson and Nedu have graduated, because, no offense to them, but if I had to see either of them sent in after the quarterback in one of Minter’s blitzes I might go insane.

2. As Many 4th Down Attempts
Let me start off here by saying I love Weis’s aggressiveness and the trust he has in his offense to convert fourth downs. What I don’t love is how Weis’s lack of trust in his defense and special teams forced Notre Dame to go for it on fourth down far too many times. Because Notre Dame didn’t have a kicker they felt comfortable with outside of 40 yards (the Irish converted just 1 of 4 field goals from 40 yards or more), Weis was forced to go for it on fourth down more often than even he probably would have liked. The problem here for 2007 is that the Irish still may not have that kicker. Notre Dame’s defensive woes against teams like USC may have forced Weis to go for it on fourth down too much in the first half as well because he knew he would need to put up a lot of point to win. I hope Weis stays aggressive on fourth downs and goes for it often, but I’d also much rather see Notre Dame find a kicker and a defense that doesn’t force the offense into more fourth downs than they need to face.

1. Tom Zbikowski being moved to Linebacker
There has been a ton of talk of moving Zibby to linebacker across all of the different Notre Dame websites for the past two years, but I for one hope he doesn’t even get a look at linebacker. Maybe in 4-3 defense he could have added enough weight this off-season to play an outside linebacker position, but even that was a stretch. Zibby will be a 5th year senior and rarely do position moves for 5th year seniors pay dividends. Corwin Brown just got done turning Kerry Rhodes into a pro-bowl caliber safety for the Jets and with the help of defensive backs coach Bill Lewis, I think we’ll see a much improved Zbikowski this year. Remember, Zibby was not the safety usually seen trailing a wide open wide receiver down field throughout the year. Forget about Zibby adding weight and moving to linebacker. Let’s see him slim down a bit to his 2005 size and become the dominating safety many felt he would become a few years back.

As always, leave your comments below with some things you hope we don’t see much of in 2007.