Charlie Weis is working this week with a Notre Dame cell phone in his left pocket, his personal cell in his right and the gaudy Super Bowl ring from last season on his right hand.
Notre Dame’s new coach is spending his final days living in two worlds and juggling two of the most high-profile jobs in football–coach at Notre Dame and offensive coordinator for the reigning Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
“This time of year you have to suck it up,” Weis said Tuesday. “Two of the most important days in football–collegesigning day is Wednesday and we’re preparing for the Super Bowl; you can find enough energy.”
Energy hasn’t been an issue for Weis, but holding down two jobs has complicated his first recruiting class.
It won’t include wide receiver David Nelson from Wichita Falls, Texas, who opted for Florida when the Patriots’ victory over Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game Jan. 23 prevented what he and his father wanted–a face-to-face meeting with Weis.
“I told them that’s not the type of kid we’re looking for,” Weis said. “I said if they want the Patriots to lose to come to Notre Dame, then you go somewhere else because I’m not into losing, and that’s what I told him very clearly, and he understood what my point of view was.”
Nelson said Tuesday it wasn’t that simple. He also liked Florida’s tradition, new coach Urban Meyer and its offense. But to Notre Dame, it did not come as a coincidence Nelson announced for the Gators the day after the Patriots won the AFC title.
“That’s not what I’m about,” said Nelson, who added he did not want New England to lose. “I just told him meeting the head coach is very important to me, at the same time, it’s not that important. For some reason, I worded something wrong and it got blown way out of proportion.”
Weis’ first recruiting class still could be good. Weis said he won’t use all his scholarships.
“I want a full year in recruiting and take those extra few we don’t use this year and take an extra few next year,” he said.
Weis was coming from behind in recruiting after replacing the fired Tyrone Willingham. He knows the Super Bowl exposure will come too late to help on signing day. But he’s convinced all the free advertising he will get Sunday night will help down the road.
“I think that for any sophomore and junior in high school who’s watching their head coach out here working the sidelines [in the Super Bowl] for the third time in four years, if that doesn’t make an impression, I don’t know what’s going to,” Weis said.
“It’ll be the type of class who fits the prototype of guys we’re looking for. I’m not looking for volume, I want to sign ones who’ll be the foundation for the program. Anyone can go in and fill out the bottom of the roster and take another four or five guys at the end; that’s not what we’re looking for. We don’t want to put a number and say, they got 19. We want the right 19.”
It has been said recruiting is the lifeblood of college football. Weis said he can’t wait to get pumping full time.
“I’m going to recruit like they haven’t been recruited before, and that’s not a slight on Ty or Bob [Davie] or anyone before me, but I have a passion for recruiting,” Weis said. “I really enjoy doing it.”
His recruiting was limited by his commitment to finish his job with the Patriots.
“Right now, when you’re down to a handful of guys, there’s a reason they’re down to you, and make sure you’ve given them the answers,” Weis said. “If they go somewhere else you can’t cry over it, you move on. You have a bunch of guys back at the ranch [in South Bend] to get this thing right. All you can do is control what you can.
“Beating the Eagles will help Notre Dame. So right now, what can I control? I can’t control too much with these guys who are on the fence on the last day, but I can do everything I can to help us beat the Eagles. There are going to be 100 million people watching. I’m representing the Patriots first, but I’m representing Notre Dame, too, because the next day, I’m there.”
In a sense, he’s already there. His wife Maura already has picked out their new home in South Bend, which Weis has not seen. He plans to start working in South Bend Feb. 10.
Weis was in South Bend last weekend after the Patriots finished installing their Super Bowl game plan. It was a whirlwind trip to meet some recruits.
He flew to South Bend, arriving at midnight last Thursday and surprised his players at a 6 a.m. workout session. Then there was a staff meeting, more meetings with recruits and a flight back to New England. By 6 the next morning, he had watched the tape of the practice he had missed in preparation for Saturday’s workout.
When he accepted the Notre Dame job with the understanding he would finish his work with the Patriots, Weis and coach Bill Belichick worked out a schedule. Weis would take some time in the evening to call some recruits, then go back to his Patriots work about 11 p.m.
“I told my wife, `Hon, we’re in training-camp mode,’ because that’s what camp is like–meetings at night and back up at 5:30 in the morning,” Weis said. “Time management is what gets you through.”
In addition, Belichick assigned aide Shane Waldron to screen calls on Notre Dame issues while Weis was doing his Patriots work.
“I’m not a martyr here,” Weis said. “It was a lot of hours, but for a short period of time. I’m not dropping dead.
“Right now, I’m looking forward to two things, our guys playing well Sunday and obviously a new influx of blood coming into Notre Dame [Wednesday].”
