Weis Officially Calling Plays this Weekend
Charlie Weis just announced that he will be calling plays this weekend when the Irish travel to Baltimore to take on Navy. The reason Weis gave for the decision was a little surprising though. Weis said he’ll take over play calling this week because Mike Haywood experienced a loss in his family and will travel home to Houston for the funeral on Friday. He hinted that it could be a more permanent move though.
Weis said at his news conference Tuesday he is taking over the play calling for at least one game because offensive coordinator Mike Haywood will miss some practices this week to attend a funeral of a family member in Houston.
Weis said he might call plays for the rest of the season, since the loss of a family member can affect someone for a while.
I’ll get full quotes from Weis up when they become available later today.
For now though all I will say is I think this is the right move and could give this offense the shot in the arm it desperately needs.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Dont forget the predictable line bucks….very genius like in nature…Weis did have the aura going in his first year – it didn’t take long for all the opposing teams to figure the offensive genius out the following year. Sounds like the new AD is drinking from the same Kool Aid pitcher….too bad.
@ bleednd82
I dont think many will see ND winning games against inferior opponents as a call to sing a different tune. If they come out and hang 40+ pts on them, then some confidence would be restored.
All i know is that with Weis calling the plays, preppared to see poorly coached screen plays. Alot of them.
Jack – Exactly right. How can anyone be excited about Weis callng the same predictable offense again…? ND a frappin 3 point favorite? Navy plys fr the full 60 minutes boys – something ND still has yet to do. How the mighty have fallen….what a shame.
@JC
Like usual I agree. This is a critical game and Charlie is putting it on his shoulders. My prayers go out to the Haywood family.
People will be singing another tune if Charlie can win these next two games going into USC. Winning makes everyone feel better.
Well, since his name is the one on the line, he has to take over. Anyone with coaching experience knows that it’s the head coach’s name that’s always at risk. He’s not going to leave his assistant coach out to dry when things aren’t going well, and he’s certainly not going to let his job go to risk due to an assistant’s lackluster play calling.
Jack – I hope you’re not a Notre Dame fan.
It’s not like Charlie was a great play-caller his first two years then magically forgot what he was doing. Perhaps he is at fault for under-developed youth, but you have to remember there were a lot of other factors involved. Our team last year resembled the SMU team after its death penalty in terms of scholarship juniors and seniors. It was, and still is, a personnel problem, not schematic.
All I am saying is that our coach is grasping at straws. I do feel for Haywood and his family, but I still don’t like the “I am going to save the program” move by Weis. The fact is, the Navy game should never be in question and the past two years it has. This guy has lost me. The more time he spends as our coach, the less our players develop
Cryptic agenda or not, The Navy game is critical at this point. I am all in on this one, and certainly condolences go out to Coach Haywood and his family.
So….the “shot in the arm” will be from Weis, who called the plays last year. Now THAT was some genius offense. ROFL
A Fan… what???
I think Weis didn’t want to make it sound like it was a move due to ineptitude. He’s also not the type of guy to place blame strictly on one of his staff members, and with the high amount of scrutiny being passed around (by “fans” such as A Fan), this unfortunate incident served as a scapegoat to the reason of the change. No one would lie about that, especially not when you’re in the spotlight as much as ND is. Condolences to Coach Haywood and his family.
I call Bull**** on this one. Death in the family? Weis i riding to the rescue with the powerful Navy and ‘Cuse comming up. This guy needs to go!! NOW!