December 3, 2005
Weis: We'll be on top to stay
Pete Sampson IrishIllustrated.com Editor
Matt Cashore
Notre Dame wanted Charlie Weis to bring a little NFL to South Bend.
Friday night at the 85th Notre Dame Football Awards banquet at the Joyce Center, while honoring a team that set nearly every offensive record in the Irish annals with the help of Weis' NFL expertise, the coach delivered even more professional flavor to his college program. Early in the banquet Notre Dame aired a 30-minute highlight video of the season narrated by Hall of Fame announcer and NFL Films staple Harry Kalas.
The booming, baritone voice and historic instrumental soundtrack made for a professional sendoff for the Irish, whose 9-2 season will almost certainly be validated by the Bowl Championship Series on Sunday. As for Weis' stamp of approval, he willingly offered it to a team that endured a coaching change one year ago then thrived in spite of it.
"I consider this team a success because of the strides they made this year," Weis said. "I promised only one thing when I came in this door: we would have a hard-working football team that was intelligent and tough and nasty. Fellas, you achieved all those goals and I appreciate it."
Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija shared the team's MVP honor, with the quarterback leading the country in touchdown passes (32) and the receiver pacing the nation in scoring receptions (15). The Guardian of the Year Award, given to the team's top offensive lineman, went to Dan Stevenson. Victor Abiamiri took home the Lineman of the Year Award.
The Nick Pietrosante Award, given to players that display courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and pride in the spirit of the late Irish fullback, went to Corey Mays, Maurice Stovall, Anthony Fasano and Tom Zbikowski. Brandon Hoyte, Trevor Laws and Dan Santucci were all honored for their work in the classroom as student-athletes.
But while the night had some NFL flavor, former coach Lou Holtz delivered a purely Notre Dame oration as the banquet's keynote speaker. As big a standing ovation as Weis received, the applause directed at Holtz perhaps overpowered it.
"It was a pleasure to watch you play," Holtz said.
"I believe it is important for Notre Dame football to be on top for several reasons. No. 1, it creates more interest. This has been one of the great years in college football, with the interest and the stories, and Notre Dame is certainly one of the biggest stories. And then the example that Notre Dame exhibits on a continuous basis, many people would like to emulate Notre Dame's program."
Especially this season, although few expected the Irish to achieve such success under Weis this soon. More than one speech Friday night noted the "so-called experts" that picked Notre Dame to struggle in learning Weis' system, including Holtz's colleague at ESPN, Mark May.
"I want to pause to tell you that Mark May is a beautiful individual and I love him dearly," Holtz said. "The fact that he did not get a good education at Pittsburgh is not his fault."
Holtz spoke for 15 minutes then headed back to Bristol, Conn., to prepare for his ESPN duties for Saturday's games and Sunday's BCS selection show, confident that Notre Dame will play in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2. While that outcome will prompt many to classify this season as an unadulterated success, Weis won't count himself in that group. As much as he said he appreciated the work of his players in buying into his system, Weis knows Notre Dame was just two plays away from a national title berth.
"We're not going to be one-year wonders around here, just roll in here, be satisfied and content because to be perfectly honest with you I don't think anyone in here is too fired up about the two games we lost," Weis said. "We're going to set our goals even higher next year and continue that as long as I'm here.
"We're going to make some major strides and this program is going to be on top to stay."
Sounds like Harry Kalas may have some consistent part-time work lined up with Notre Dame
Weis: We'll be on top to stay
Pete Sampson IrishIllustrated.com Editor
Matt Cashore
Notre Dame wanted Charlie Weis to bring a little NFL to South Bend.
Friday night at the 85th Notre Dame Football Awards banquet at the Joyce Center, while honoring a team that set nearly every offensive record in the Irish annals with the help of Weis' NFL expertise, the coach delivered even more professional flavor to his college program. Early in the banquet Notre Dame aired a 30-minute highlight video of the season narrated by Hall of Fame announcer and NFL Films staple Harry Kalas.
The booming, baritone voice and historic instrumental soundtrack made for a professional sendoff for the Irish, whose 9-2 season will almost certainly be validated by the Bowl Championship Series on Sunday. As for Weis' stamp of approval, he willingly offered it to a team that endured a coaching change one year ago then thrived in spite of it.
"I consider this team a success because of the strides they made this year," Weis said. "I promised only one thing when I came in this door: we would have a hard-working football team that was intelligent and tough and nasty. Fellas, you achieved all those goals and I appreciate it."
Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija shared the team's MVP honor, with the quarterback leading the country in touchdown passes (32) and the receiver pacing the nation in scoring receptions (15). The Guardian of the Year Award, given to the team's top offensive lineman, went to Dan Stevenson. Victor Abiamiri took home the Lineman of the Year Award.
The Nick Pietrosante Award, given to players that display courage, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and pride in the spirit of the late Irish fullback, went to Corey Mays, Maurice Stovall, Anthony Fasano and Tom Zbikowski. Brandon Hoyte, Trevor Laws and Dan Santucci were all honored for their work in the classroom as student-athletes.
But while the night had some NFL flavor, former coach Lou Holtz delivered a purely Notre Dame oration as the banquet's keynote speaker. As big a standing ovation as Weis received, the applause directed at Holtz perhaps overpowered it.
"It was a pleasure to watch you play," Holtz said.
"I believe it is important for Notre Dame football to be on top for several reasons. No. 1, it creates more interest. This has been one of the great years in college football, with the interest and the stories, and Notre Dame is certainly one of the biggest stories. And then the example that Notre Dame exhibits on a continuous basis, many people would like to emulate Notre Dame's program."
Especially this season, although few expected the Irish to achieve such success under Weis this soon. More than one speech Friday night noted the "so-called experts" that picked Notre Dame to struggle in learning Weis' system, including Holtz's colleague at ESPN, Mark May.
"I want to pause to tell you that Mark May is a beautiful individual and I love him dearly," Holtz said. "The fact that he did not get a good education at Pittsburgh is not his fault."
Holtz spoke for 15 minutes then headed back to Bristol, Conn., to prepare for his ESPN duties for Saturday's games and Sunday's BCS selection show, confident that Notre Dame will play in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2. While that outcome will prompt many to classify this season as an unadulterated success, Weis won't count himself in that group. As much as he said he appreciated the work of his players in buying into his system, Weis knows Notre Dame was just two plays away from a national title berth.
"We're not going to be one-year wonders around here, just roll in here, be satisfied and content because to be perfectly honest with you I don't think anyone in here is too fired up about the two games we lost," Weis said. "We're going to set our goals even higher next year and continue that as long as I'm here.
"We're going to make some major strides and this program is going to be on top to stay."
Sounds like Harry Kalas may have some consistent part-time work lined up with Notre Dame
