Is Charlie Weis Coaching his bets Football Yet?

By The Gambler [J.Gamble]-contributing writer Football Reporters Online
 
Notre Dame’s come-from-behind 24-21 win over Purdue on Saturday was monumental for the Irish. Not that the opponent was of the ilk of a USC or Michigan. But Charlie Weiss finally showed up. He put his professional resume and arrogance aside and made a shrewd, game-changing move. The big guy earned that fat check this week.
 
The usually pass-happy coach used a combination of arms and legs, to complement the rare use of his heart and head, single-handedly saving ND’s season and possibly his job.  
 
Down 7-3 in the second quarter, Weis pulled the gunslinger Jimmy Clausen, who was suffering from turf toe and mixed in backup quarterback Dayne Crist in different formations, including the Wildcat.
 
Cristi served to be a poor man’s Tim Tebow for the Fighting Irish. He immediately injected a struggling ground game with some needed power, athleticism and energy, resulting in 136 second-quarter rushing yards. Weis deaded his overused passing attack and got back to Notre Dame Football, pounding the Irish to a 17-7 lead deep into the third quarter.
 
Weis brilliantly utilized the abilities of both quarterbacks, bringing Clausen in for some late heroics – a fourth-and-goal 2-yard bullet to Kyle Randolph with 25 seconds left -- to seal it.  
 
Weis finally humbled himself. He finally put bravado aside and did what he needed to do to win.
 
When he first came to South Bend as a highly touted ex-NFL coordinator, everyone kissed his tush because he was a disciple of the great Bill Belichick. Weis was the savior. He was going to return Notre Dame to prominence, after Tyron Willingham didn’t win enough.  And George O’Leary lied.
 
Weis went 19-6 his first two years. He architected the most prolific aerial attack in Irish history and rode a last second loss to USC and Matt Leinart to a new 10-year contract. It's well known that Weis is no social butterfly. He didn’t do the politically correct thing when he hit campus. He wasn’t handing out lollipops and name cards. He didn’t cozy up to ND alumni. He didn’t shake hands and attend the black suit fundraisers. It was tolerated, however, because Weis was winning.
 
But after an abysmal 3-9 season in 07’ followed by a subpar 7-6 in o8’, his act was wearing thin. Blaming the season on losing Brady Quinn to the NFL, didn’t sit well with some either. Bottom line was Weis was the leader of the first nine-loss season in Irish history. Like a bad nightmare. The Gerry Faust days reincarnated.
 
Naturally, as Weiss began to lose game after embarrassing game, his abrasive demeanor became a problem for some ND supporters, who quietly and publicly called for his dismissal. 
 
When Weiss was tabbed head honcho in 05’, the universal agreement was that at the very least he could coach players at the highest levels, was an offensive guru and had a championship pedigree. How he handled being the top dog was the unknown factor. The over-zealousness of his play calling and his inability or unwillingness [even worse] to make in-game adjustments has already tarnished what could be a perfect record for the 3-1 Irish. If Weiss even considered burning clock and running the ball down the stretch against Michigan -- instead of arrogantly thinking Clausen was Drew Brees in the dome – his team would be undefeated.
 
Weiss had visions of creating Air Notre Dame. But he doesn’t recruit speed like LSU and his defenses are not as athletic as Alabama. I was wondering when he was going to realize this and play to the strengths of his team. Mix it up a bit. On Saturday, Weiss finally made the adjustments great coaches make to put their teams in the best position to win.  
 
The significance of it probably flew under the radar of most. But it was the most important game of Weis’ head coaching career. It also convinced me that he does have what it takes to make Notre Dame a juggernaut again. Having talented players can be fixed through recruiting. Strategies and schemes can be tweaked from week to week. The one thing Notre Dame couldn’t fix was Weis’ ego. Seems he’s got that in check too. 


Kevin Gilbride: Magician or Genius? Maybe Both
By Dr. Bill Chachkes

When History begins to be written about this weekend's Super Bowl, no matter who wins, Kevin Gilbride will be a major contributor. While Giants Head coach Tom Coughlin and 1st Yr GM Jerry Reese will get most of the credit, Gilbride will be the offensive expert behind it all. Known as a coach with a knack for getting the most out of his Quarterback, Gilbride has had a long history in the business. He played and began his coaching career at the age of 28 for Southern Connecticut State in 1979 as offensive coordinator, becoming the head coach one year later. Compiling a 35-14-2 record could be no easy task at the small Northeast Conference School with a limited amount of financial resources for the athletics program. His rise in the NFL coaching ranks however could only be described as meteoric. It could also be established that his coaching Quarterbacks and their success is the key to his as well.

At his first stop in the NFL as a coordinator in 1990 in Houston, he would work with then defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan. Their relationship was never on the best of terms and would result in at least one altercation in public, where Ryan punched Gilbride in the stomach on the sidelines of a game in 1993, while Gilbride was suffering from cancer of the left Kidney. But Gilbride had worked with Oilers QB and former CFL stand out Warren Moon, and taught him well enough that he was able to step in as a short term replacement coach for Gilbride at the end of the 1993 season while Moon was rehabbing an injury.

At the next stop Gilbride worked with Mark Brunell and the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, keying their early success as a franchise. That led to Gilbride's one and only chance as an NFL head coach with the San Deigo Chargers in 1997. His 1998 selection of QB Ryan Leaf was his one and only mishap in all his years in the NFL, and the blame could still be laid equally at both the feet of Leaf himself for a poor work ethic and then GM Bobby Bethard for the poor research of his scouting staff.

After leaving the west coast and the Spanos family to deal with their own problems, Gilbride came back east to another reclamation project, the Pittsburg Steelers. They had a Receiver/Quarterback/Kick Returner named Kordell Stewart, who had loads of talent but no direction. Gilbride would give that direction, and Stewart would at least become a more solid player.

After a break in from coaching in 2001, He would return to the NFL in 2002 with the Buffalo Bills as their Offensive Coordinator. It wasn't quite the right fit though, and Gilbride came south to The Giants in 2004 to work with his friend Coughlin once again. Telling then Giants GM Ernie Accorsi and Player/Pro Personnel director Marv Sunderland "I need Kevin on this staff" Coughlin got the Mara and Tisch families to make Gilbride the 4th highest paid non-coordinator assistant coach in the NFL at that time.

Tom Coughlin knew what many in the coaching business also knew. Gilbride was brilliant at designing offenses that played into the strengths of a Quarterback, and would design a blocking scheme that would protect then veteran QB Kurt Warner while he helped tutor the Rookie Eli Manning. 2004 would be a rough year for New York, posting a 5-11 record, but it would be the last losing year for the Giants under this current staff. Manning would have fits and growing pains through the 2005 and 2006 seasons as a starter once Warner left for Arizona, but we saw the flashes of brilliance in Both Manning and Gilbride as far back as the December 2004 game against the Steelers (a 33-30 Giants loss late in the game). In Late 2006 Coughlin elevated Gilbride to double duty as both offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but would bring in Chris Palmer in early 2007 as quarterbacks coach to work with Manning on improving his mechanics. We believe this was the final piece of the coaching puzzle, the combination of Palmer, Gilbride, and Coughlin, that would spark the Giants 6 game win streak after 2007's 0-2 start, that got New York into Super Bowl XLII (42). As always, Gilbride made the most of his personnel. Plaxico Burris playing injured all season? No problem. Just put in routes for him where he doesn't need to cut on his bad ankle that much, and leave the "slashing" routes to inside receivers like Sinorice Moss and Steve Smith. Running back Brandon Jacobs hurt?? Bring in back up Derric Ward and rookie Ahmad Bradshaw for a triple back rotation. Star tight end Jeremey Shockey goes down? Just bring in that quiet kid from Western Oregon Kevin Boss (see our rookie impact piece on him). All he does is go out and catch the ball.

So when you watch today's game, look over to the sidelines and find Kevin Gilbride under his headset talking to the coaches upstairs. He is just as big a reason the Giants are there as Coughlin or the players.