CW Fiesta Press Conf 12/10/05

[BGIF]

CW Press Conf

The major portion consisted of analysis of OSU. It's long and worth reading. That portion closes with the comment:

I am not really totally up to speed yet on Ohio State but I think we have a good start. Hopefully, by the time the game rolls around I will be a little bit better prepared. Fire away.

some Q&A

Q: Overall evaluation of your defense...

Coach Weis: They have been opportunistic. Even in games when they have given up yardage, they always made plays in the red zone. There has been steady improvement on the defense from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. We always felt, right from the start that we would get them flying around out there. They are playing with more confidence. The last couple games, how they have handled third down. Basically in the last two games the first team has given up one third-down conversion total. That is pretty phenomenal. I think it was a shutout at Syracuse and I think the first defense gave up one at Stanford.

When you can get off the field on third down, you always have a chance of winning.

Q: Can you talk about what you accomplished this season and compare it to your accomplishments in your early run with the Patriots?

Coach Weis: I felt personally responsible for our two losses. When you ask that question, I am content with our season ending 9-2 and being in a BCS game. But I think both Ohio State and Notre Dame, as happy as we are being in a BCS game, you sit back at night and say `What if,' and I think as a head coach you have to be personally accountable for that `What if' scenario. I am happy in the situation we are with our team. We made significant progress in one year. But I am never going to be really happy until we win all of them.

Q: What attracts you to coaching?

Coach Weis: I am into the mental part of the game. I think everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I think my strength is as a teacher. You have to understand what you are talking about before you can teach something at a high level. I really like analyzing people and trying to win a game mentally. Obviously, I am not very good physically so that is all I have to work with. The mental part of the game is the thing I enjoy the most.

Q: How has Darius Walker improved from the beginning of the year to now?

Coach Weis: Through Coach (Mike) Haywood's tutelage, Darius has become a much more well-rounded running back. He has become better blitz pick-up, better pre-snap reads and reading fronts. Sometimes as a running back, as I have told both Coach Haywood and Darius, if you know what the play call is and are looking at the defensive front, you should be able, before the ball is even snapped, to know where the ball should go. Then, you just have to react if something happens differently as the play comes. That is something that has to be taught, it is not inherent. Too many time people just run on natural ability alone. He can catch, he can run and he has a better understanding of the game right now. His blitz pick up has improved dramatically from the beginning of the year.

 

[KMac151993]

I believe that has been Darius most improved area, his blitz pickup. I think at the start of the season he didn't quite fully have it down but he has improved each week and now can be left in there on 3rd and long situations to block, adding yet another weapon to ND's offensive arsenal.

 

[Aerosmith777]

his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield seems to have improved dramatically this year too. He's a great weapon in those screens Charlie loves to run.

 

[jiggafini19]

Walker is not a game breaking back with NFL ability.

So what.

The more I reflect on this past season, I cannot help but applaud his efforts. If not for him, ND is Gator Bowl bound. Walker's hard-hat, lunchbucket effort against Stanford was a great segway into the bowl and next season. He has good vision and excellent toughness. This is only a sophomore, so I expect him to be back in 2006 with an even greater presence.

In the end, he'll be right up there with some of ND's best once the books are closed.