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Irish eyes are smiling again
http://www.sportingnews.com/exclusives/20060817/767712-p.html
Posted: August 17, 2006
When last we saw Notre Dame in 2004, the images were downright disturbing. A fired coach and a drowning program amid unthinkable losses and uncharted direction.
When last we saw Notre Dame in June, a mere 18 months after rock bottom for the most storied program in college football, it was glam and glory all over again.
There was star safety Tommy Zbikowski at the world's most famous arena, strolling to center ring at Madison Square Garden for his pro boxing debut to fight some tomato can. His teammates, dressed in Irish jerseys, paved the way in a blue-and-gold entourage as the Notre Dame fight song blared over loudspeakers.
It took 49 seconds for Zbikowski to add another chapter to this rebirth, this transformation of a team and its time.
After nearly a decade of watching the college game pass by, it's hip again to be the Irish, and -- get this -- it's cool to flaunt it.
"We're ready to be a contender," Zbikowski says.
When last we saw Notre Dame in 2004, never had there been a more negative undertone on and off the field. Television ratings were down, and fan and booster apathy was at an all-time high after 13 losses in two seasons.
Wasn't so long ago that ND fans were falling over themselves to give up tickets to home games, including a rather embarrassing sight in 2000, when Nebraska fans commandeered Notre Dame Stadium and turned it into a Big Red cocktail.
When last we saw Notre Dame earlier this summer, $11.7 million was being refunded to alumni who did not get tickets in the annual lottery. Meanwhile, the South Bend Regional Airport was completing an expansion project that added space for more private aircraft at the facility. They're expecting 300 private planes per home game this season.
"Never underestimate the Notre Dame spirit," says Charlie Weis, the man behind the transformation.
Weis looks more like a chef than a head football coach. He didn't play college football; instead, while he sat in the stands at Notre Dame Stadium as a student in the late 1970s, he provided play-by-play for his friends, whether they liked it or not. Now there's no hotter coach in the game and no team with more positive karma heading into the final turn of this transformation: one that brings a national title.
And to think, Weis wasn't even Notre Dame's first choice for the job. Not long after he was hired, Weis was asked about being Plan B, how the Irish initially wanted current Florida coach Urban Meyer.
"I was part of staffs that won four Super Bowls," Weis said. "I don't think I have to earn my stripes."
Want to know why Weis has made it look so easy, why the Irish went from a useless dot.com bowl to a BCS bowl in one season? It's that attitude, the refreshing, reverberating personality -- and players feed off of it. That and a beautiful football mind that changed everything from the way the Irish practiced and played to the way they walked off the bus on game day.
"It's the little things," says Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who took over a moribund former national power in 1999 and in two years had brought another national title to the Sooners. "Players have to believe in what they're being told, have to believe they can be pushed beyond their ability."
When last we saw quarterback Brady Quinn in 2004, he was floundering in former coach Ty Willingham's dink-and-dunk West Coast offense. His mechanics were horrible, and he was short-hopping or sailing throws, depending on how his motion and footwork changed week to week. Now, he's the clear favorite in the Heisman Trophy race, and many NFL scouts say he'll be the first pick in the 2007 draft.
This time last year, he was just another guy on campus. This spring, he woke up one morning and had trouble leaving his apartment. The door was jammed with footballs, helmets, pennants and other memorabilia students had left to be signed.
"So much has changed over the last year," Quinn says.
When last we saw wide receiver Jeff Samardzija in 2004, he was playing an important role: He held the placement on kicks. Considering the anemic state of the Irish offense, every field-goal attempt was critical. Now look at Samardzija: Buried on the depth chart by the former staff, he has developed into an All-American under Weis and likely will be a first-day pick in the NFL draft.
Those are just two examples on a team that has been completely transformed by the right coach at the right time. It's more than X's and O's; it's feeding and developing young minds through a balance of motivation, praise and fear.
Weis is the first person to accept blame for a loss or the team's problems, going so far this summer as to interrupt an interview with Quinn to stress that he, not Quinn, made mistakes in the Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State.
That's the public side of Weis. Privately, he demands perfection. He once placed an empty gas can in front of a player's locker. His point was made without a single word.
"Most players respond when pushed, when motivated," says Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who took over an underachieving program in 2001 and won a national title in his second season. "They have to understand that they aren't just playing for themselves. They play for their teammates, their university and their community. That's where the transformation begins."
It ends -- if everything goes as planned -- with a championship season. For nine months now, Weis has waded through an offseason of hosannas and high expectations that will soon turn into a boatload of criticism if the sky isn't blue and gold on the night of the national championship game.
When last we saw Notre Dame in 2004, the Irish had lost to BYU at the start of the season and to Oregon State in a useless bowl game at the end of it. Maybe expectations aren't such a bad thing after all.
"Who wants people to think you aren't worth a damn?" Weis says.
It's hip again to be the Irish, all right.
Even better to flaunt it.
Irish eyes are smiling again
http://www.sportingnews.com/exclusives/20060817/767712-p.html
Posted: August 17, 2006
When last we saw Notre Dame in 2004, the images were downright disturbing. A fired coach and a drowning program amid unthinkable losses and uncharted direction.
When last we saw Notre Dame in June, a mere 18 months after rock bottom for the most storied program in college football, it was glam and glory all over again.
There was star safety Tommy Zbikowski at the world's most famous arena, strolling to center ring at Madison Square Garden for his pro boxing debut to fight some tomato can. His teammates, dressed in Irish jerseys, paved the way in a blue-and-gold entourage as the Notre Dame fight song blared over loudspeakers.
It took 49 seconds for Zbikowski to add another chapter to this rebirth, this transformation of a team and its time.
After nearly a decade of watching the college game pass by, it's hip again to be the Irish, and -- get this -- it's cool to flaunt it.
"We're ready to be a contender," Zbikowski says.
When last we saw Notre Dame in 2004, never had there been a more negative undertone on and off the field. Television ratings were down, and fan and booster apathy was at an all-time high after 13 losses in two seasons.
Wasn't so long ago that ND fans were falling over themselves to give up tickets to home games, including a rather embarrassing sight in 2000, when Nebraska fans commandeered Notre Dame Stadium and turned it into a Big Red cocktail.
When last we saw Notre Dame earlier this summer, $11.7 million was being refunded to alumni who did not get tickets in the annual lottery. Meanwhile, the South Bend Regional Airport was completing an expansion project that added space for more private aircraft at the facility. They're expecting 300 private planes per home game this season.
"Never underestimate the Notre Dame spirit," says Charlie Weis, the man behind the transformation.
Weis looks more like a chef than a head football coach. He didn't play college football; instead, while he sat in the stands at Notre Dame Stadium as a student in the late 1970s, he provided play-by-play for his friends, whether they liked it or not. Now there's no hotter coach in the game and no team with more positive karma heading into the final turn of this transformation: one that brings a national title.
And to think, Weis wasn't even Notre Dame's first choice for the job. Not long after he was hired, Weis was asked about being Plan B, how the Irish initially wanted current Florida coach Urban Meyer.
"I was part of staffs that won four Super Bowls," Weis said. "I don't think I have to earn my stripes."
Want to know why Weis has made it look so easy, why the Irish went from a useless dot.com bowl to a BCS bowl in one season? It's that attitude, the refreshing, reverberating personality -- and players feed off of it. That and a beautiful football mind that changed everything from the way the Irish practiced and played to the way they walked off the bus on game day.
"It's the little things," says Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who took over a moribund former national power in 1999 and in two years had brought another national title to the Sooners. "Players have to believe in what they're being told, have to believe they can be pushed beyond their ability."
When last we saw quarterback Brady Quinn in 2004, he was floundering in former coach Ty Willingham's dink-and-dunk West Coast offense. His mechanics were horrible, and he was short-hopping or sailing throws, depending on how his motion and footwork changed week to week. Now, he's the clear favorite in the Heisman Trophy race, and many NFL scouts say he'll be the first pick in the 2007 draft.
This time last year, he was just another guy on campus. This spring, he woke up one morning and had trouble leaving his apartment. The door was jammed with footballs, helmets, pennants and other memorabilia students had left to be signed.
"So much has changed over the last year," Quinn says.
When last we saw wide receiver Jeff Samardzija in 2004, he was playing an important role: He held the placement on kicks. Considering the anemic state of the Irish offense, every field-goal attempt was critical. Now look at Samardzija: Buried on the depth chart by the former staff, he has developed into an All-American under Weis and likely will be a first-day pick in the NFL draft.
Those are just two examples on a team that has been completely transformed by the right coach at the right time. It's more than X's and O's; it's feeding and developing young minds through a balance of motivation, praise and fear.
Weis is the first person to accept blame for a loss or the team's problems, going so far this summer as to interrupt an interview with Quinn to stress that he, not Quinn, made mistakes in the Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State.
That's the public side of Weis. Privately, he demands perfection. He once placed an empty gas can in front of a player's locker. His point was made without a single word.
"Most players respond when pushed, when motivated," says Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who took over an underachieving program in 2001 and won a national title in his second season. "They have to understand that they aren't just playing for themselves. They play for their teammates, their university and their community. That's where the transformation begins."
It ends -- if everything goes as planned -- with a championship season. For nine months now, Weis has waded through an offseason of hosannas and high expectations that will soon turn into a boatload of criticism if the sky isn't blue and gold on the night of the national championship game.
When last we saw Notre Dame in 2004, the Irish had lost to BYU at the start of the season and to Oregon State in a useless bowl game at the end of it. Maybe expectations aren't such a bad thing after all.
"Who wants people to think you aren't worth a damn?" Weis says.
It's hip again to be the Irish, all right.
Even better to flaunt it.
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Funny read, grad.... Mr. Positive sounds like every ND fan and Mr. Negative sounds like everyone else.
