Tag: Charlie Weis

Charlie Weis says Mac Jones has the two most important qualities in a QB

“I don’t want to be one of those people telling them how they are dumbasses if they don’t.”

Former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis sees a quarterback that checks the two most vital boxes for a prospect, at least by his own estimation.

“What are the two most important components of a star quarterback? They have the ‘it’ factor. And they’re accurate. That’s who he was,” Weis told ESPN.

Of course, Weis’ former team needs a quarterback. The Patriots’ 2020 starter, Cam Newton, is on an expiring one-year contract. He struggled while attempting to replace Tom Brady, the 20-year starter in New England. But Weis isn’t going to tell the Patriots what to do — he’s certainly not going to insist they draft Jones.

“I don’t want to be one of those people telling them how they are dumbasses if they don’t do that,” Weiss said.

The knock on Jones, who currently sits in the top 15 picks in most mock drafts but is ranked as the 34th-best prospect on NFL.com, is that he isn’t athletic enough to excel in today’s NFL. Jones can move in the pocket, but he’s not quick or fast enough to scramble or gain yards with his legs. The other problem? He had the best supporting cast at running back, receiver and offensive line.

“You talk about being around good players. Yeah, he was around good players. But playing on a team with a bunch of stars, who is the leader of the offense?” Weis said. “He also had to make all those throws. I think the kid is an excellent quarterback. He has less holes than just about anybody.”

“If you’re looking for a guy that’s going to be running for 30 yards on a regular basis, that’s not your guy. But he can move in the pocket, and from the pocket, and run the ball when he absolutely needs to.”

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Fab Four: Selecting Notre Dame football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

On the eve of early signing day, Fighting Irish Wire recalls the most hyped commits in school history.

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Notre Dame football has attracted some of the biggest names over the years but many of those big names even pale in comparison to others.

With the help of 247Sports, Rivals, ESPN and the thoughts of others, we’ve compiled Notre Dame football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits.

The selections weren’t based on who actually went on to have the greatest careers at Notre Dame, but those who came in with the absolute most hype.

Some met that hype. Some exceeded it. Others came up well short.

Who made it and who were some of the close calls that were left off?

Let’s share and discuss each.

More Mount Rushmores from the College Wire Network:

Bama / Aub / Fla / LSU / Tenn. / UGA // Mich. / Mich St. / Ohio St. / Wisc. // Okla. / Texas // ND // USC

First up, the four honorable mentions…

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Notre Dame football: Brian Kelly wins 100th, ties Holtz

Brian Kelly joined rare air for Notre Dame head coaches on Saturday. More on his accomplishment right here.

With Notre Dame’s 45-31 win over Boston College on Saturday, Brian Kelly joined a club that only only two other Fighting Irish head coaches have membership to.

The win was Kelly’s 100th at Notre Dame, tying him for the second most all-time in program history with Lou Holtz who went 100-30-2 between 1986 and 1996.

Kelly now sits at 100-39 since taking over the Notre Dame job in 2010 and is just five away from tying Knute Rockne for the most ever in program history.

Ara Parseghian sits fourth all-time with 95 career wins while Frank Leahy finished his illustrious career with 87 wins heading the Irish for fifth most.

In case you were wondering, Charlie Weis, Tyrone Willingham, George O’Leary and Bob Davie combined to win 92 games during their runs of head coach from 1997-2009.

Notre Dame Reunion for Charlie Weis, Jr. This Weekend

The Notre Dame sideline will provide a bit of a homecoming for Charlie Weis, Jr. who returns to ND an assistant on South Florida’s staff this weekend.

It’ll be a homecoming of sorts this weekend when South Florida’s offensive coordinator steps into Notre Dame Stadium to take on the Fighting Irish.

That’s because that offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach used to roam the Notre Dame sideline for a number of years in what was his introduction to coaching.

That offensive coordinator is Charlie Weis, Jr., a young adult that Brian Kelly called a “rising star” in the coaching industry earlier this week.

Charlie Weis, Jr. to Andrea Adelson of ESPN:

Weis said that when he heard USF was working on a last-minute deal to play Notre Dame, his first thought was, “We’ve got a lot of work to do because they’re really good.”

“It’s definitely something I thought about and dreamt about: It would be really cool to go back to South Bend, a place that I love, a place that I still call home, and get to be in Notre Dame Stadium one more time,” Weis Jr. said. “I was really excited about the opportunity to go there. It’s a very special place to us.”

The piece on ESPN also goes on to tell a story of how Weis, Jr. drove from South Florida to South Bend this summer to be able to see his sister Hannah only through a screen door.  Hannah still lives in the group home and neighborhood that was established by Charlie Sr. and his wife through Hannah & Friends.

The rise of Weis, Jr. may come as a surprise but after leaving Notre Dame he’s seen a lot in the football world as he’s had stops at Kansas, Florida, Alabama and Florida Atlantic as well as spending time with the Falcons and Patriots in the NFL.

College Football Jobs Ranked, Notre Dame highly coveted

The Irish head coaching job has been and will continue to be one of the best jobs in all of college football.

Coaching the fabled Notre Dame program has always been a high-profile job, expectations for every coach that lead the football program will always be sky high. Although the Irish have not won a title since 1988, the job is still held in high regards as 247Sport named the position as the 9th most coveted head coaching job in the country.

Brad Crawford, who ranked the jobs for 247Sports, sees that “there might not be a brand stronger than Notre Dame in college football. Touchdown Jesus, South Bend, the gold helmets … you get it.” It very hard to argue against that, there are not many schools with the same tradition that Notre Dame sports.

The explanation of the ranking is something that we all know, but Crawford points out two reasons why the Notre Dame job gets the 9th spot. The “drawbacks here that other programs don’t have in the Top 10 is location and academics. The standards at Notre Dame are higher than most and Indiana isn’t exactly pumping out elite athletes annually. That’s why Brian Kelly has taken a nationwide approach to recruiting during his tenure.”

The national approach has worked, but not quite as well as Kelly would like. In the last 5 recruiting cycles, including the current one, the Irish will have signed just 2 instate players. Kelly has said the recruiting needs to go to another level to compete with the teams they need to beat to be among the best in the nation.

The Notre Dame head coaching job will always be one that comes with gigantic expectations and lots of scrutiny. It is not cut out for every coach, some of them just can’t handle what it means to be the Irish’s lead man. Kelly’s been at the helm for 10 years now and he’s helped bring back some respectability after the Bob Davie, Ty Willingham and Charlie Weis eras.

The Toughest Opposing Crowd Notre Dame Ever Faced

Before Penn State became the center of the college football universe for all of the wrong reasons, it was highly respected.

Before Penn State became the center of the college football universe for all of the wrong reasons, it was highly respected. That’s why Notre Dame was happy to have a road game lined up with the Nittany Lions for its second 2007 contest. But the game’s timing turned out to be terrible. It followed the worst season-opening defeat in program history, a 33-3 disaster against Georgia Tech in South Bend, and a frenzied crowd to rival all others awaited them.

On Sept. 8, 2007, the Irish went into Happy Valley looking for stability. Ahead of the contest, Charlie Weis tabbed freshman Jimmy Clausen to make his first career start. They and the rest of the team realized quickly they would have to do it during Penn State’s annual White Out. Unlike previous years, all fans were asked to wear white instead of only the students, and it hard to find any Nittany Lion supporter among the 110,078 who packed Beaver Stadium who didn’t comply.

The Irish got on the board first with Darrin Walls’ 73-yard interception return for a touchdown. All momentum from that was lost for good when, in the final minute of the first quarter, Derrick Williams returned a punt to the end zone from 78 yards out. From there, the crowd continued to make noise, and everything that could go wrong for the Irish did in a 31-10 loss. Just watch these videos from the game and say you’d be able to focus on your job:

With a completely unforgiving backdrop, the Notre Dame offense was shut down. Clausen was sacked six times, and the run game accumulated no yardage on 26 carries. It’s miraculous that Clausen only threw one interception and that none of the Irish’s three fumbles were lost. Had it gone any worse, Clausen surely would have been pulled.

Loud crowd noise make communication difficult, and that’s exactly what happened. The Irish were penalized 14 times for 97 yards. To say it simply was due to no discipline would be selling the Penn State fans short. They forced the Irish to listen to each other carefully and closely, and it still wasn’t enough to keep the flags off the field.

Though it was a bad night to be a Notre Dame supporter and it came during a 3-9 season, you had to give the Penn State fans credit. They went all out in supporting their team, and it paid off for them. Of course, Penn State’s reputation was shattered a few years later, and it’s perfectly reasonable if you continue to look at that program, university and community through that lens. Regardless, this is a fan base that knows how to cheer, and for one night, Irish fans got to experience it firsthand.

68 days until Notre Dame football returns!

Notre Dame football returns in 68 days! Don’t miss today’s countdown as we look back on a rivalry that has been played, well, 68 times.

Another day down and just 68 more to go until we get Notre Dame football officially back in our lives.  We’ll be breaking down plenty of position battles, starting spots and everything regarding the 2020 Fighting Irish football team.

Day 69 looked back at a recent Notre Dame All-American who made a game changing defensive play in a win over a then top-fifteen team.  Now we move to 68 and an opponent who has come up here fairly often in recent weeks.

68: Total meetings all-time between Notre Dame and Pitt in football

I never think of Pitt as one of Notre Dame’s biggest rivals, probably because in my lifetime I can count on one hand how many times the Panthers have finished a season ranked in the top 25.

However, Notre Dame and Pitt have been playing nearly forever and the series has included some incredible moments even if the Panthers haven’t been a national championship contender like they were in the Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett days.

Notre Dame has dominated those 68 games, winning 47 of them and never losing more than three straight meetings in any point of the series that dates back all the way to 1930.

The series has had plenty of memorable moments, like when Allen Pinkett helped Notre Dame get a win at No. 1 Pitt in 1982, the 2012 comeback win that somehow kept Notre Dame’s unbeaten season alive or the 2018 thriller that again, somehow kept Notre Dame’s unbeaten season alive.

The most iconic moment in the history of this rivalry however may have happened when a pair of teams who finished the year a combined 16-10, battled to a three overtime game on the first day of November in 2008.

After blowing a 17-3 and being forced to overtime, Notre Dame played host to one of the more embarrassing moments for a grounds crew in sports history.

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The only thing worse was eventually losing that game and stumbling to a 7-6 final record after a promising 4-1 start.

They may not be on the schedule even close to annually anymore and they may not be in the national championship picture often, but the Notre Dame/Pitt rivalry continues to provide memorable moments all these years later and is the game that scares me the most in terms of an upset entering the 2020 season.

Related – Way too early game-by-game predictions for Notre Dame football in 2020

Could LeBron James Have Played Football at Notre Dame?

Those who have followed LeBron James closely know he was as equally talented at football in high school as he was at basketball.

Those who have followed LeBron James closely know he was as equally talented at football in high school as he was at basketball. People often ask what would have happened had he gone further on the gridiron than St. Vincent-St. Mary’s receiver. Alas, he chose the hardwood, and the sports world is better for it. The closest we ever got to see him play football on a national stage came in a State Farm commercial:

Way before fully committing to basketball, James was recruited as a football player. Patrick Schmidt of FanSided resurrected a 2016 ESPN story of how Urban Meyer pursued James while he was Notre Dame’s receivers coach. What Meyer didn’t realize while making his pitch was that his recruit was turning far more heads in his other sport. That James was in attendance the night Meyers and Ohio State won the 2014 national championship had to be a small consolation.

Many believe James would have been a prolific NFL tight end had things gone differently. In an alternate universe, imagine him suiting up for the Irish along his journey. Could he have helped save Tyrone Willingham’s job or prolong Charlie Weis’ time in South Bend? We’ll never know, but that’s how it should be.

Notre Dame’s 2006 Home Games Now Available Online

2006 was supposed to trump that.  They entered the season ranked second in the nation behind only Ohio State it was supposed to be the year that returned Notre Dame to glory.

Instead it was the final run for some memorable Notre Dame players but never did it ever sniff the levels we were all hoping.  Notre Dame escaped Atlanta with a win in Week One before blowing out Penn State a week later.  Michigan would put an end to title dreams in Week Three before Notre Dame would win eight straight to make it to 10-1, only to get blown out by both USC and LSU to close the year.

2006 was the first year I entered my Notre Dame fandom since I probably nine (1995) that I had legit hopes for the Fighting Irish to make a run at a national championship.  2005 was a surprise season that saw the likes of Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, Tom Zbikowski and plenty of others burst onto the scene en-route to a BCS berth in the Fiesta Bowl.

2006 was supposed to trump that.  They entered the season ranked second in the nation behind only Ohio State it was supposed to be the year that returned Notre Dame to glory.

Instead it was the final run for some memorable Notre Dame players but never did it ever sniff the levels we were all hoping.  Notre Dame escaped Atlanta with a win in Week One before blowing out Penn State a week later.  Michigan would put an end to title dreams in Week Three before Notre Dame would win eight straight to make it to 10-1, only to get blown out by both USC and LSU to close the year.

It was a memorable season even if it was disappointing compared to pre-season expectations.  Notre Dame re-aired the comeback win over UCLA this past Saturday and posted all of the other home games from that season to YouTube.

Here they are for future reference:

Week Two – No. 4 Notre Dame 41, No. 19 Penn State 17
In a five minute span (game time) Notre Dame went from up 6-0 to up 27-0 in what wound up being a rout of the defending Orange Bowl Champions.

Week Three – No. 11 Michigan 47, No. 2 Notre Dame 21
I’ve never left a sporting event as mad as I was when I left this one.  No further comment besides fire this thing into the sun.

Week Five – No. 12 Notre Dame 35, Purdue 21
A huge afternoon from Darius Walker finished with 209 total yards and rushing touchdown accompanied by a pair of Rhema McKnight touchdown receptions lifted the Irish on a pretty ho-hum afternoon.

Week Six – No. 12 Notre Dame 31, Stanford 10
Darius Walker had another huge day with nearly 200 yards of total offense and another score while Brady Quinn threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns in a rout of the then-winless Stanford Cardinal.

Week Eight – No. 10 Notre Dame 20, UCLA 17
It wasn’t pretty but it was a win that kept BCS dreams alive as Notre Dame made it four straight with a last second, Quinn to Samardzija touchdown hookup that helped the Irish avoid an upset.

Week 10 – No. 11 Notre Dame 45, North Carolina 26
Brady Quinn threw the ball all over the yard for 346 yards and four touchdowns as Jeff Samardzija pulled down 177 yards and a score.  Tom Zbikowski returned a punt for a touchdown for good measure in a game that was really never close against Carolina.

Week 12 – No. 6 Notre Dame 41, Army 9
Notre Dame donned the green jerseys for the final home game of 2006 which happened to take place the same afternoon as the One-versus-Two, Ohio State/Michigan game in Columbus.  Quinn, Walker and Samardzija all shined in what wound up being the final home game of real relevance for a handful of years.

2006 didn’t end the way any Notre Dame fans really wanted.  USC would wipe the floor with the Irish a week later before a BCS berth that was generous ended with a 41-14 massacre in the Super Dome against a far-superior LSU squad.  It was a disappointing year but it was also the closest to relevant football Notre Dame fans would have until really 2012 when the stars aligned for a 12-0 regular season.

Your Notre Dame Guide to Sporcle

For instance, can you name every Notre Dame football opponent since 2000?  I somehow did.  Don’t know whether to be proud of that or embarrassed.

If you’re a Notre Dame fan working from home and having trouble passing time then I can’t really relate as I’m finding working from home to be more difficult than going into the office, but hopefully you’re in a different boat.  If you are bored though than our old friend Sporcle is there for us and offers a few Notre Dame quizzes for you to try and master.

For instance, can you name every Notre Dame football opponent since 2000?  I somehow did.  Don’t know whether to be proud of that or embarrassed.

What teams has Notre Dame played in football the most and how many of the 37 they’ve met five or more times can you name?  I got 32.  Tulane?  Really?

How about every Notre Dame football player to get drafted between 2000 and 2009?  27/42 for yours truly.  Woof.

Every Notre Dame head football coach ever, 19/31.

Every team Notre Dame beat from 1918-2009ish, 67/86

Every Notre Dame bowl opponent (through 2013), 32/33 – stinking 1976 Gator Bowl

Every Notre Dame starting quarterback (1989-2007), 14/15 (backup in 1994 was missed)

Every Notre Dame starting quarterback (1970-2012), 26/38 (missed Theismann because I didn’t spell it correctly, though)

There you go, next time you’re bored go test your Notre Dame football knowledge like I did at my first jobs right out of college in 2008.