One day after signing a new contract designed to keep him as Notre Dame’s head football coach through 2015, Charlie Weis said the new deal was about stability, not money.
By tying himself to Notre Dame long term, Weis said Sunday he hoped to nip in the bud any rumors that he might be looking to use his early success as a springboard to a more lucrative NFL head-coaching job.
And Notre Dame’s open date this past weekend, he added, was the perfect time to get the deal done.
“When I was offered this job and we made the family decision to take [it], we were doing it on a permanent basis,” Weis said. “Not [as] a quick fix or to buy some time to go somewhere else.”
The fix, though, has been relatively quick. In his first season, Weis has guided the Irish to a 5-2 record. Each of Notre Dame’s losses has come by three points, including one to top-ranked Southern California.
With the team’s performance, Weis’ stock has soared.
And while the Irish have had a good recruiting season, Weis said rumors about the possibility of his leaving could have had a negative impact.
“It allowed that uncertainty to be there,” he said. “`What is he really going to do?’ Now you know who you are going to play for your entire college career. It erases that uncertainty and actually it flips that uncertainty to a strong plus as far as Notre Dame and Charlie Weis are concerned.”
Weis said he and athletic director Kevin White first began discussing a new contract during the weekend of Notre Dame’s first open date of the season, Oct. 8.
“I said there would be a possibility that people would start talking about things like [the NFL]. I wanted to confirm to him that he never had to worry about there being any interest on my part,” Weis said.
“I am goal-oriented, but I am more loyal than anything else. This isn’t just any job for me. This is my alma mater. It is very important for me to be loyal to this university. They stepped up and hired me and I thought I should reciprocate.”
Plus, Weis said, the new contract guaranteed that he would be able to fulfill one of his family goals–staying in one place until son Charlie, now in 7th grade, finishes college, preferably at Notre Dame.
“Money was never an issue,” Weis said. “You can always make more money in the NFL than you can in college. If you are going for money, the thing to do is go to the NFL. I am now in that boat where I know I will be able to work and they will not run me out of here until Charlie graduates. If they want to run me out of here then, they can.”
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apatel@tribune.com
