Charlie Weis is not perfect.  He does not know everything there is to know about coaching.  He does not claim to know everything there is to know about coaching.  But…

In the years that he has coached Notre Dame, Weis has always given it his all to win.  He will go down swinging.  He will throw it 60 times a game in a comeback attempt.  He will not throw in the towel or make excuses.  Most of all, when something is not working he attempts to adapt to the situation (though not always successfully).

In 2005, after Ohio State showed the Irish that you need some defensive speed, he tried to make the D faster, by switching Maurice Crum to inside linebacker and shifting Travis Thomas over from running back.  He also recruited Darrin Walls and Raeshon Mcneil (who are true cover corners-Walls had already flashed his ability)  The defense was faster in 2006, it just didn’t have enough playmakers.  Weis didn’t like how the defense was progressing, so he hired Corwin Brown (a rising star as a defensive coach).

In 2007, he attempted to install the spread for Demetrius Jones (it just ended up being the wrong decision, can’t look at things in hindsight though).  After that disaster of a year, he hired Jon Tenuta (he can run my defense any day), and spoke to Frank Beamer about special teams (which ND has not gotten right in 3 years).

2 weeks before the start of the 2008 season, he is going to try at least two more things to make the team better.

1.)  He is finding a way to put Harrison Smith on the field.  Smith is a talented (sophomore) safety who would normally be sitting on the bench because of senior experience in front of him.  He has a nose for the ball as evidenced by his spring game MVP honors.  He ran a 4.38 at a football camp (second only to Tennessee stud Eric Berry).  Hmm, let me think said Weis, should I let a good player waste away on the bench, or should I find a way to get him on the field?  This season Harrison Smith will be taking snaps at a linebacker position (at least against teams that spread the field).

2.)  Weis is changing his philosophy from finesse to a power running game.  I know this has the boys over at ND Nation happy.  Weis may have been a little too pass happy with the Brady Quinn led teams (who knows what he wanted to do last year they were always down 100-0, and had no choice but to throw), but the talent was built for the passing game.  Now he has 3 backs he can trust, a young quarterback to protect, and a big offensive line (that also needs protecting from the pass rush), so he is going to run the ball more.  Hopefully, this will lead them to be able to pass the ball later in the year, this is a fun offense when the ball is thrown all over the field as well.

So why should you like Charlie Weis?  Because he embodies something that we were all told as kids:  If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again (or was it Aaliyah that told us that)!