The deconstruction of Charlie Weis has been both sudden and methodical.
Nine years ago he signed a 10-year contract with Notre Dame that he’s still being paid on. His record at the time, 5-2. On Sunday he was fired at Kansas after winning one Big 12 game (6-22 overall) in less than 2 ½ seasons.
Weis once proudly flashed Super Bowl rings to recruits. On Saturday, his team was shut out by a shadow of a Texas team that had lost its starting quarterback, center and nine other players kicked off the team.
All that flash, all that sass. All that promise plummeted to the ground a decade after it emerged from the Patriots’ dynasty. In the end, the thing Weis did best was coach pro quarterbacks.
We all know what he did with Tom Brady. Brady Quinn had a nice career at Notre Dame. Not great, not spectacular, nice -- setting numerous school records and becoming a third-team All-American.
Florida finished 105th in total offense in Weis’ only year as offensive coordinator under Will Muschamp. The previous season he directed Matt Cassel to arguably his best season as a pro. The Kansas City Chiefs won the division. Cassel hasn’t been the same since.
The Kansas hire of Weis was almost as strange as the man himself taking the job. AD Sheahon Zenger wanted to make a splash. He did that, gambling that Weis still had some magic left in the playbook. There wasn’t.
We’ll probably never see Weis again in a similar head coaching position.
Sure, it’s only Kansas. But it’s the Kansas that was ranked in late November 2007. It’s possible to win there. Possible. Not guaranteed. When he left in 2009, Mark Mangino was the first coach to finish with a winning record there in 60 years.
He was 50-48 in nine seasons.
Some of the names you’ve read attached to the SMU job would have to think long and hard about KU. Better league, bigger budget but it’s a different job than it was even in 2007. That season the Jayhawks missed Oklahoma and Texas on the schedule in a 12-1 Orange Bowl season. In the current Big 12, it’s a true round-robin – nine conference games with only three non-conference opportunities.
Zenger himself – the man making the hire – will be highly scrutinized. It was he who went out of the box on the Weis hire. This one better work.
If he needs some help, here are worthy candidates:
Ed Orgeron, former USC coach: Reinvented himself as interim coach after Lane Kiffin was fired, going 6-2. Orgeron is the inspirational, rah-rah type who knows how to coach defense and run a program. The Ole Miss coach has championship experience as well as a Pete Carroll assistant at USC.
Ed Warinner, co-offensive coordinator/offensive line, Ohio State: Mangino's OC during the magic 2007, Warriner knows how to recruit Texas. He has led four offenses that have led the nation in rushing.
Josh Heupel, Oklahoma offensive coordinator: Criticized by fickle OU fans at times, the 36-old Heupel has the Sooners' offense purring again. In his ninth year in Norman, the former Sooners great has been linked to the SMU opening as well.
David Beaty, Texas A&M receivers coach and recruiting coordinator: Mangino's receivers coach in 2008-09. Also Turner Gill's co-offensive coordinator in 2011.
Tom Herman, Ohio State co-offensive coordinator: The Big Ten 2013 recruiter of the year has Big 12 ties to Texas (where he got his master's) and Iowa State. He was Paul Rhoads' offensive coordinator from 2009-11. The Cyclones were 18-20 in those years. They're 10-19 since.
Tim Beck, offensive coordinator, Nebraska: Kansas' assistant from 2005-07. The last year he was receivers' coach and pass game coordinator for star quarterback Todd Reesing. His stock is trending up with Nebraska undefeated and Ameer Abdullah chasing a Heisman.
Butch Davis, former North Carolina/Miami coach: Like Mack Brown he wants to coach again. Davis' name was never attached to NCAA infractions report at North Carolina. Kansas could do a lot worse.
Pat Narduzzi, Michigan State defensive coordinator: Nards fits in the same category as Alabama DC Kirby Smart. Smart could get a lot of jobs right now. He's waiting for the right job, perhaps even taking over for Nick Saban. Same for Narduzzi. Kansas is probably below him at the moment but if he wanted it/showed interest it would be hard for KU not to hire him.
Scott Frost, Oregon offensive coordinator: Think of the Blur offense in Lawrence (without the Blur players, at least for a while). One problem with KU is that it could be a career wrecker just as likely as a career enhancer. Like Narduzzi, Frost would have to think long and hard. Zenger has to call him, though, right?
