November 10, 2007
Weis blistered by former Irish player
The Wizard of Odds highlights a take that you don't see too often in the mainstream media - a former Notre Dame player blistering Irish head coach Charlie Weis.
Pro Football Hall-of-Famer and former Irish standout Bob Kuechenberg - who played both OL and DL at UND in the 1960's before his 15 year career in the NFL - goes on the record with what he contends is a broadly-held opinion of Weis.
“I want to start the movement -- Charlie’s last name is four letters, and so is ogre, because that’s what he is,” Kuechenberg said. “Look it up, and you’ll find some other adjectives that fit him to a tee.“This man has not been a good ... human being might be a little bit broad ... but this man has not been good to anybody who came to Notre Dame. Within the Notre Dame family, when former All-American players say to a man that this guy’s an (expletive), and for no reason, to me it’s karma that he’s getting his ass handed to him.”
Kuechenberg contends that Weis essentially blackmailed the Irish into a bad contract extension just a few weeks into his first season by allowing himself to be discussed for NFL position. In the wake of public embarrassments recruiting George O'Leary (resume-gate) and Urban Meyer, Weis forced the Irish to bite hard and swallow.
“In the face of all of those embarrassments, to then have Charlie Weis back out on you a couple of weeks into his career would have been really embarrassing, which is probably why they succumbed to that type of blackmail,” Kuechenberg said. “It’s the mark of the man. I can see after a couple of years to say let’s talk about an extension. But right away? It’s karmic justice that Charlie Weis is getting what he deserves for his actions.”
What puts Kuechenberg over the top (despite the fact that he has never met Charlie Weis) is the manner in which he is reported to have treated returning Irish alums.
“I was up there two weeks ago for the Michigan State game,” Kuechenberg said. “He has insulted people. It doesn’t matter if you’re an ex-football player, a regular alumni, what have you. He’s been abusive and totally, unnecessarily arrogant to the Notre Dame family itself and it’s all coming back in his lap.“I’ve yet to meet the man, and frankly I hope I never do. There’s nothing about his image that I have any respect for. I don’t know Charlie personally, but his image is wide enough and consistent enough from sources I hold in high regard. These are good friends of mine and it’s the same broken record. This guy is an ogre.
“He’s been rude to them, curt and abrasive. The Notre Dame student-athlete is held to a higher standard, so what’s with the coach? Hello -- you’re the leader. Act like one.”
One gets the feeling that Kuechenberg won't be sending any holiday cards to Weis (and possibly vice-versa), but it does raise an interesting question.
Is Kuechenberg just a lonely, frustrated voice against Weis -- Jermone Bettis and other Irish alums love the guy, after all -- or is Kuechenberg's voice just the tip of the iceberg? Is this worm turning for Senor Weis?
While some may read frustration (or even bitterness) in Kuechenberg's comments, I see an implicit confirmation of my previous criticism of Charlie Weis... He is too transactional. By Kuechenberg's account, he treats alums as just another face in the crowd. He treats his players as interchangeable cogs - as evidenced by this year's fickle QB rotation.
I still contend that Weis is the wrong guy to be the head coach at Notre Dame. And I'll add to that - I'm not sure Weis should be a college head coach anywhere.
Charlie Weis is an outstanding offensive mind - without question - but he is failing as a head coach.There is nothing in his resume to suggest that Weis is capable of developing talent. He certainly didn't have to develop players in the NFL, just show them the plays, tweak here & there, and collect the trophies. But now - with his team needing it the most - Weis is not developing talent at Notre Dame.
Good recruits are coming into the Notre Dame system and - but for their own inner passion to excel - languishing under Weis. There is no such thing as marked improvement, it is simply a transaction with Weis. It almost as if the recruits are NFL free agents, signing with the team and then expected to use their talents to improve the team. There's nothing to suggest that Weis is actually taking a player from one level and ELEVATING his game to the next level. And this is Weis's Achilles' heel - he isn't developing players.
At the risk of repeating myself.... If the powers that be at Notre Dame don't recognize this fundamental weakness (or weakness in fundamentals, to be more exact), then Notre Dame will continue to languish.
Comments:
wrburgess
posted on November 10, 2007 10:16 AM — 69.211.6.63 — link — abuse?
said:
These are the same complaints you had against Bill Callahan taking over Nebraska, as well. The NFL system of treating players like disposable pieces of a machine doesn't work the same way in the college game.
The college game is made up of folks that don't get full pay (a degree is valuable, even if the players disregard it as pay) and part of the reward is being part of a "family" beyond your playing days. When these NFL guys storm in with big contracts and no sense of heritage or appreciation for the guys before them, you get problems like these.
Also, down the road, some of those former players make some bank...and not all of it comes from the NFL. Not all of these big salaries come from university coffers. Boosters and alums tend to get involved, too. So why bite the hand that feeds you?
Nick Saban probably understands the contrast between the NFL and College better than anyone (and Steve Spurrier, as well). But Weis and Callahan just wanted to be head coaches SOMEWHERE and the NFL teams were evidently smart enough not to hire them.
Diggs the Mountie said:
posted on November 11, 2007 1:06 AM — 76.114.231.180 — link — abuse?
OU-Ron and c-dogg,
The Marines actually do have a football team and their name is NAVY. Yep, students going to school to be Marine Corp Officers play on the team as well. It's not just future Navy Officers.....Just some FYIScrub said:
posted on November 11, 2007 5:43 AM — 68.239.171.176 — link — abuse?
People don't talk about the personality of Charlie Weis often, especially ND fans.
Comparing Ty to Weis football-wise, they have about the same amount of wins and losses, and blow out losses. Supposeably that was the main reason why Ty got fired, but Weis will get a free pass this year. The last regular reason blow out loss to USC was the final straw for Ty. Students protested on campus after that loss (3rd loss in a row to USC) and were unhappy with the 6-5 record (which was below ND standards but still bowl eligible). Ty got fired before the season's bowl game.
So what is the difference? One difference is their personality. Ty could be described as a stiff, a reserved no-nonsense type coach. Weis is a loudmouth, an arrogant coach who talks big. Boosters didn't like Ty, probably because they felt he didn't attend booster events as much, that he wasn't really part of the ND nation (I let you interpret that the way you want).
Weis on the other hand likes to talk it up and he says what boosters like to hear, however delusional that might be. He talks arrogantly about how they will never lose to Michigan St again (wrong), how he had a winning record against Pete Carroll in the NFL (not really, Bill Belichick/Bill Parcells does, Charlie was just a coordinator), how Florida doesn't deserve to go up in the rankings on a bye week but ND does (Florida won the national championship that year, ND got blown out in their bowl game), how this season is not a rebuilding season (uh huh).
ND fans says Ty was fired due to his poor recruiting (not due the wins/losses, now that its proven that Weis isn't any better in that area). Weis does bring a lot of hype with him and that is probably why he gets more recruits. ND fans are definitely more delusional with Weis now than they were with Ty. However, sooner or later, after the losses mount up, ND fans are not going to give any more free passes to Weis in the personality department.
TampaGator said:
posted on November 12, 2007 4:26 PM — 205.188.116.136 — link — abuse?
When Notre Dame first hired Weis, I thought it was boardering on brilliant, given what was out there (after their Urban Meyer fiasco, of course). That opinion was admittedly, largely grounded in ignorance.
With the passage of time and the exposure in the limelight of ND's HC position, CW's character has been exposed. Where before he was largely seen as the mild-mannered, behind-the-scenes guy, an offensive-genius OC, dutifully making his boss (Belichick) look good, while quietly going about his business (like say Tony Dungy in MN, or Monte Kiffin in Tampa)--he's been exposed as just the opposite at Notre Dame.
My personal experience with Notre Dame alumni, has been that they are generally cut from a different fabric than Charlie Weis appears to have been. They are generally humble, quiet and reserved; CW presents as arrogant, and "in your face". They tend to be genuine; CW appears to be insincere. They tend to be religious; CW openly and sometimes publicly, uses the Lord's name in vain (repeatedly, I should add); they tend towards the athletic; he is, well, let's just say, not very. In other words, though he is actually an almunus, he acts and presents as so many NY/NJ street-urchin "subway alumni" (not intended as an indictment against SA's in general, just the trash-talking street thugs that claim ND as their own). His arrogance, IMO, feeds into inaccurate stereotypes that have burdened Notre Dame for years, and which fuel the hatred towards ND.
As for Kuthenburg's comments: That's an interesting spin on how that extension came to be (blackmail). That point notwithstanding, I think his comments about the 10 year extension support what I've posted before on topic--that extension is preventing CW's termination, since not even mighty Notre Dame can swallow that pill, without gagging on it.
...then again, a simple call from Dick Ebersol might just make the gagging, rather tolerable.
My $.02.
GO GATORS!!
Sweet Home Alabama said:
posted on November 10, 2007 9:24 AM — 75.120.246.143 — link — abuse?He should get on a treadmill and ride a bicycle for a while. Then go somewhere as an offensive coach. He isn't head coach material.