When I first heard about Weis turning over the play-calling to offensive coordinator Mike Haywood, I thought he was just giving up calling plays for Lent. But it seems like it is for good, which is a shocking change if you know Weis. Charlie also made some smaller coaching changes, such as moving Brian Polian to coach special teams exclusively, as well as assign Tenuta to coach the linebackers and moving Corwin Brown to the secondary. From today's presser:
Now, on the offensive staff, one of the things that I've done, and you guys know that I've spent a lot of time here since the season's end to change some things around here. Well, I'm going to try to cut the proverbial -- the figurative -- umbilical cord and try to move myself a little bit away from being the sole primary guy on the offensive staff. So in the springtime we'll start off with the offensive staff running the offense. That means (offensive coordinator) Mike (Haywood) will write the scripts and set it up on offense, and that means that all the offensive coaches now won't have to worry about the ever presence of the head coach breathing down their neck all the time.
I have to admit that I'm pretty happy with these moves. Weis obviously has enough faith in Haywood's play-calling ability or he wouldn't do it at all. I think he missed a good opportunity at the end of last season to see how it would work out. I also have to wonder if Kevin White made him do it, considering he's been adamant about keeping those duties for the past three years. The Polian move kind of disturbs me, but we're just going to have to trust Weis on this one. How hard is it to coach special teams, anyways ("Kick the ball farther, Whitaker!")? On the other end of the spectrum, the Tenuta and Brown moves are going to improve this defense even more. Maurice Crum, Brian Smith, Toryan Smith, Kerry Neal, and all the other linebackers should be jumping out of their seats at the thought of playing for someone like Tenuta, who I think will fit in very well with the Irish coaching staff - he might even be brasher than Weis himself.
As a sidenote, Corwin Brown was seen in Rolfs today playing basketball with some members of the Irish football team. It's clear why he's a terrific recruiter and why kids want to play for him. His enthusiasm and personality is contagious and the guys on the team love him. He still has a long way to go, but I'm very impressed with him.
Enjoy the first Friday night of Lent and go Irish tomorrow! Those fish sticks at the dining hall today were truly delicious.
by Rob
on Feb 8, 2008 9:13 PM EST
in Football
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