Thoughts on Charlie Weis

Two different friends of mine, who don’t know each other, reacted to KU hiring Charlie Weis as the new Jayhawk football coach with the same exact word – underwhelming.  I was astonished at their reaction.  I mean, just who did they think Kansas was going to get for the job?  Let’s face this simple fact – the job of the football coach at the University of Kansas is not a plum job.  It isn’t even a stepping stone for later success at other schools with better programs.  Who was the last KU football coach who went on to another, better program, let alone had success?  I can’t think of a single one.  Not one. 

So, just who were my friends expecting KU to hire?  Why would any hot commodity young coach from a smaller school in a non-BCS conference come here?  Just how did the careers of Terry Allen and Turner Gill turn out?  Why would any coach want to come to a basketball school in a football conference?  Why would any big time coach come to Kansas to take over a team coming off a 2-10 season (and it wasn’t even THAT good, really)?  Just how enticing would it be to take over a team that is the reigning bottom dweller in a powerhouse conference, a school with exactly six seasons with more than eight victories (1899, 1905, 1908, 1968, 1995, and 2007)? 

The hiring of Charlie Weis is a home run hire for the Jayhawks.  Period.  Charlie Weiss is the biggest name KU fans could ever hope for.  He may be the biggest name hire for KU in their history, certainly in my lifetime.  Only two coaches since 1953 have had winning records at KU (Jack Mitchell and Mark Mangino, each just 2 games over .500) so I can’t imagine there were hordes of big time coaches trampling each other to take over the reins to this team.  Whether or not Weis is successful really isn’t an issue at this point and time.  This hire of Charlie Weis at this time was a terrific coup for Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger.

Charlie Weis has done a good job filling out his staff as well.  He kept the one guy he should have from the previous regime in Reggie Mitchell.  I love the hire of Tim Grunhard as the offensive line coach.  Grunhard had a successful pro career with the Chiefs and has been a successful high school coach.  This was a natural progression in his career and he knows what it takes to be successful as a player.  There are several coaches I just don’t know much about and there doesn’t seem to be much, if any, negative reactions to them.  I am going to assume they will do a better job than the previous coaches.

I do know about Dave Campo.  Again, I think this is a fantastic hire.  I don’t care he hasn’t coached at the college level for twenty-some years.  He was successful at the college level before having terrific success on the professional level.  He knows defense and he knows how to coach players.  That is all I want.  Many times last season, the defense simply looked uncoached and that is not acceptable.  I was also thrilled Weis brought back local boy, Clint Bowen, as the special teams coach.  KU special teams have been awful over the last two years and Bowen had great success with these units in the past.  Not only was it a good PR move, it was an astute football hire.

Now that this staff is in place, it will be a matter of time before we see if they can actually coach the players on campus.  Their job will be to bring players to fit their system and to coach them up.  Weis has already garnered three transfers with good reputations, if not some mixed on the field results.  I trust Weis knows what he is doing when it comes to recruiting and can get this program back on the right track.  Weis’ record at Notre Dame was 35-27.  He was fired by the Irish; if he puts up that record here in his first five years, he will be a god.  I know it is all relative but I would be thrilled with 35 wins in five seasons.

Don’t expect a huge improvement on the record next season.  I just am not sure how much talent he was to work with for 2012.  I just want see an improvement in play.  I want to see a team that looks like they have been coached.  It is a tough row to hoe to make big strides in the Big XII.  If KU wins four games and is competitive in their losses, this will be a huge step forward.  It will be going forward, not backward.  I will have faith Weis will get this program on the right track.

One more thing – now that Weis is going to return the names to the back of the jerseys, he now needs to return the Jayhawk to the helmets.

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