Weis isn't above an option play
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http://www.suntimes.com/sports/couch/113563,CST-SPT-greg27.article)
October 27, 2006
BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
Life as Notre Dame's football coach is a week-to-week existence. You are a hero, you are a god. And then you are pounded by Michigan, and you are doubted.
Maybe it's a minute-by-minute thing. You are losing to UCLA at home, and some guy in the stands angrily yells, ''Come on, Charlie!'' so loud that it comes in perfectly on national TV. And then you come back to win, and you are magic.
That much I know. And then there are things I suspect: Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis has said recently that NFL teams have called to see if he'd consider leaving South Bend and that the Irish aren't being treated fairly in the polls. Maybe those are simple statements, disconnected. But they are suspicious.
Is Weis playing a power game with Notre Dame? Maybe he's feeling pressure from all the outside forces that seem to run America's college football program, and he's trying to send reminders about who's king. About whose team this is. Maybe Weis, who mixes thin skin and thick ego, agreed with all the savior talk but doesn't want to put up with the other stuff Irish coaches face.
Just last year, in his first season at Notre Dame, he was given a new 10-year contract, supposedly to fend off NFL owners. Then, after national championship predictions this year, the Irish looked disorganized and uncoached against Michigan. And Weis suddenly looked human.
Last week, NFL.com reported that ''at least two owners'' had contacted Weis during Notre Dame's off week to see if he could be pulled away. Weis confirmed it but said, ''I'm not going anywhere.''
Hmm. Two owners? How did the reporter find that out? Did two owners just happen to leak that in the same week? Possibly. Incredible coincidences happen.
Planted item?
But it would seem more likely that Weis, whose autobiography was ghost-written by another NFL.com writer, planted that story. Maybe he did it himself; maybe his agent did it.
Planted it, confirmed it, then reconfirmed his love of Notre Dame.
''Everyone knows I'm staying here until they fire me or I die,'' he said last week at his regular news conference. ''I'm here for life. That's what I said I was going to do. So why would I not be a man of my word?''
He also said this about buying out his 10-year contract: ''It would cost me too much money to leave ... millions of dollars. And the last time I checked, I don't have it.''
Last I checked, NFL teams have it. And serious, contending NFL teams rarely are scared off by money. If Bill Parcells leaves Dallas, do you think a little thing like money would keep Jerry Jones from calling Weis?
Some people have wondered why Weis would confirm the story at all. Does it show his desire for the NFL? Is he angling for a raise? Maybe, but I think it's simpler than that. He would plant it -- and it's probably true, no matter who leaked it -- to tell Notre Dame people to get off his back. It's not to say that he wants to leave, but only that he could.
It's to say, ''You signed me to a long-term deal, but I still have options.''
His pledge of allegiance to Notre Dame was the same as a guy telling his wife that women at work keep asking him out, but ''Don't worry, honey, I married you for life, and I'm not going anywhere.'' Would a wife feel comforted by that? And why would the guy say it in the first place?
They still love Weis at Notre Dame, now that time has passed since the Michigan game. But it turns out the love isn't based solely on his magnetic personality. Also, other coaches can match his genius. UCLA has less talent than Notre Dame but almost won anyway. It took a miraculous comeback for the Irish to beat Michigan State, a terrible team with a terrible coach.
Polls bring out the politician
This week, the Irish dropped in the polls after the UCLA comeback -- passed by Clemson in one poll, Tennessee and Florida in another and Texas in the all-important Bowl Championship Series standings.
''One of the teams [Tennessee] that jumped us had the same game we had,'' Weis said. ''They win by a field goal. Another team that jumped us [Florida] wasn't even playing. They're sitting at home eating cheeseburgers. That befuddles me.''
It would help the Irish's cause if they would beat an actual elite team. Last year, they didn't beat one team in the final rankings. In this week's rankings, Notre Dame has beaten only No. 21 Georgia Tech.
Weis is pumping poll voters to help ensure the Irish a BCS bid. Notre Dame is No. 9 in the BCS standings, has four easy games and a tough one, at USC, left. And it needs to stay in the top 14 for a probable BCS game.
That's what Weis needs.
But maybe this season isn't as smooth as it appears. If the Irish beat USC, then Weis will be king. But if they lose the way they did to Michigan?
As Weis said, no matter how many times he tells NFL teams he's staying, darned if they don't keep calling.
''Sometimes they just don't get it,'' he said. ''But I keep on giving the same answer.''
Hmm.
Leinart was fine like any other QB when he has plenty of time and tons of weapons to use. Hes playin' tough teams every week now at the Pro level though. Cardinals are 1-6 and Warner was doing a better job, well, not much better anyway. He was completing more passes at least.