Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis provided a candid and interesting 10-minute interview this morning on ESPN radio. Following are his answers to the Notre Dame specific questions asked by radio host Colin Cowherd:
Q: Why take the Notre Dame job?
A: "First of all, when you make a major move like this, there are more people involved than just yourself. I'm a family guy and I think raising my kids in a college town really enticed my wife and I. And having been a Domer myself, having an opportunity to go back to your alma mater and be the representative, a key representative of your university, I think is intriguing."
Q: What has surprised you at Notre Dame so far?
A: "First of all, I really enjoy recruiting. It was kind of interesting coming in because you're a pro guy and everyone figures, 'How are they going to be able to recruit?' Recruiting actually has been kind of enjoyable. You know, working under (Bill) Belichick and (Bill) Parcells all those years, we're used to working long days and long nights. Just as long as you are willing to put in time, you can close ground on a lot of people who don't work as hard."
Q: Why do you like recruiting?
A: "First of all, you like to compete against the big boys. I think that too many times it can be easy. You just go get kids that read and write that are good kids that aren't good enough players. I think what you have to do, because Notre Dame has a national exposure, is you got to play to that and go find those kids that can read and write that are good kids, that are great football players, and be willing to go toe to toe with all the best programs and win on enough of them where you have a great influx of talent."
Q: What are realistic expectations for Notre Dame?
A: "I think the first thing you have to do, you have to get the foundation of what you are all about. You can't be premature in making any bold predictions. Obviously Colin, like everyone, everyone in the country that goes in, every school wants to win them all. That's no different anywhere. I think the first thing you better do is you better get your system in and the attitude of the head coach permeated through the whole program because until you get that done, you really don't have a chance."
Q: How much of the New England playbook can you implement at Notre Dame?
A: "A whole bunch. We've put in the whole base package. I think the most important, once you get the base package in – and we will reinstall it during training camp because you just can't presume that everyone is going to have retention from April until August and just remember everything you did. But what you have to do is have this foundation in so that when you're game planning week to week, you can draw from that foundation as you try to exploit the weaknesses of each opponent you are going against."
Q: Given your intelligence level, how possible is it that Notre Dame is the perfect fit for you as a coach?
A: "That's what I have been trying to say. When people came in, one of the big knocks on Notre Dame was always the admission standards. And I said the way we coach football, you need to have intelligent football players. It is no coincidence Colin that the New England Patriots had the highest graduation rate of any team in the NFL. It's no coincidence that's why you win. When you coach the way we coach, where intelligence is a very, very important quality, I think being at Notre Dame makes that a pro not a con."
Q: How much of an emphasis are you putting in the Pitt game?
A: "Two things. First of all, not to get into coaching analogies, but I think that because we are a game-plan team, you have to look at your season as 11 one-week entities. And because Pitt is the first one, it obviously is the most critical game on our schedule because it's the next one. But, with that having been said, the one thing you have to do…winning that game would obviously do great to build the confidence of your team. At the same time, you have to make sure that you don't put all your eggs in one basket so that if something negative came away, you can't say, 'OK, it's time to throw in the towel.' Obviously I have a lot of respect for (Pitt coach Dave) Wannstedt and his whole coaching staff, but I think the most critical thing for Notre Dame is to start playing football, playing smart intelligent football and playing it for 60 minutes."
Weis stuck it to Cow"Shit". He is so baised it is ridiculous. I don't understand why Weis would willingly go onto a dumbass' show like that, but atleast he held his own against a real asshole!
