Football’s “silly time” as Brian Kelly put it (the time between the regular season and bowl season where universities fielding disappointing teams look to make changes for the future, and solidify or improve the year’s current recruiting class–as they can’t afford to fall far behind) just gets sillier every year. This year is the silliest yet. Guys from mid-level schools like Kevin Sumlin will get their first chance to make big boy money (like Bob Stoops money) and coach big boy schools. Urban Meyer and Mike Leach came back. Brian Kelly will deal with his first staff rearrangement (Charley Molnar is leaving to coach UMass).

Deep breath.

But today dropped the most surprising news of all. Charlie Weis is a head coach again–this time the lead man of the Kansas Jayhawks. WTF? Didn’t he prove without a doubt that he was not head coaching material during his run at Notre Dame? Great coordinator, a great offensive mind, a great #2. NOT a #1. At least that’s what the numbers would indicate. (Notre Dame’s worst three-year stretch ever.) Then again, coaching is funny that way, the profession has perfected the art of recycling in a manner that would make any environmentalist jealous. Guys like Dave Wannstedt and Norv Turner keep popping up again and again, even if they don’t know how to win. (He’s still good! He’s still good! Pull him from the list!) The best thing a coach can say on his resume is “I’ve done this before”. The decison makers don’t bother to notice if they did it well or not.

But that’s neither here nor there. Weis is a good man, he ate his humble pie in getting canned by his alma mater, and he’s getting another shot. His most recent boss, Florida’s Will Muschamp, is happy for him, so the Blarney will be too.

What’s more, this time around, he actually does have a chance to be (relatively) more successful.

There are a few reasons why:

-Weis has had enough success in two NFL stints that he can recruit offensive skill players

-He may even get Dayne Crist, and just out of sheer odds, something has to go right for Dayne Crist

-Quarterback is the most important position in football–Weis can develop a quarterback (don’t hold Brantley against him, nobody could have developed Brantley)

-Kansas is not the pressure cooker ND is, he can concentrate more on pure coaching

-ND is not made for first time coaches, Weis never had a chance (though he didn’t know it)

-Two greatest words in the English language–”low expectations”, 7-8 wins a year at Kansas will keep you coaching

-They don’t play defense in the Big 12, Weis should be grinning from ear to ear

-Coaches that are fond of the Big Mac seem to have success at Kansas, i.e. Mark Mangino (I kid)

Cheers to you, Charlie Weis. You have a good shot to have a decent run at Kansas. For the love of all that’s holy, don’t say anything about “decided schematic advantage”.

Paul Hornung, ND’ original “golden boy”, is the namesake for college football’s newest honor: “most versatile player” (a player that can help their team the most in a large variety of ways).

Hornung is one of college football’s all-time greats (think the original Rocket Ismail, plus he could throw, and play defense), the only player special enough to win the Heisman on a losing team, so his name belongs right up there with the Biletnikoffs and Nagurskis.

However, he might have even more fame for the statement “ND must lower admissions to get the black athlete and win”. Technically, he may be right on lowering admissions, he just made the mistake of using the qualifying term “black”. (That’s what we call racial profiling.)

So, occasionally in his honor, the Blarney will bring you Hornung’s Words of Wisdom, or technically true statements that are worded wrong, or perhaps show some type of prejudice/political incorrectness.

Paul Hornung’s Words of Wisdom For 9-30-11:

“I typically don’t root for any SEC team, but, this Saturday I will be rooting for the Gators against Alabama. First, Florida is currently the lesser of two evils. Also, I will be rooting for former ND coach Charlie Weis (whom I like, and think is a great coordinator) to make a Nick Saban (whom I really don’t like, and think is a great head coach) defense look bad. So bad that former Alabama and New York Jet star Joe Namath might even drunkenly hit on it.”

The season is four days away. Three-and-a-half months of bliss as the most interesting and exciting regular season in sports does what it does best. Bring us to the edge of our seats–and, for some–to the edge of sanity (ask an Alabama fan). The Blarney is ready! But first, here are 10 predictions for the season upon us.

10 predictions for college football in 2011:

1.) Oregon puts the SEC on notice by beating LSU on Labor Day weekend. It won’t be because of LSU qb Jordan Jefferson’s (and a few ‘mates) absence due to celebrating the end of fall practice by treating a fellow bar hopper like Rodney King (true Americans find no better way than violence to celebrate-must be all that damn television), or because Les Miles wasted a timeout to tell his boys to play back, and not give a chance for the opposition to convert a four-point play, just before realizing he is not coaching the Miami Heat. The Ducks have more playmakers, and will be better prepared for the physicality a top SEC defensive line after being spanked and put to bed by Nick Fairley last January. The Ducks take it, 22-21 on a two-point conversion with no time remaining.

2.) Florida State will not live up to expectations, losing to Oklahoma, Florida, and in the ACC championship, to Virgina Tech. Besides buying things that they can’t afford, another habit of people is to annoint Florida teams before they should be annointed. They always have “Florida speed”, which apparently kills more often than cancer. I’m not buying E.J. Manuel, or the words that FSU is close to mid-90’s form quite yet, and a three-loss season should prove that point.

3.) UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, in an attempt to save some of his coaching reputation, decides to get proactive, and picks up a tranvestite hooker on Santa Monica Blvd the night of October 18th, forcing the administration to fire him for that instead. Whew! Reputation saved!

4.) Andrew Luck getting mentioned as “the best college quarterback since Elway” becomes the highest trending topic on Twitter by the end of September, narrowly edging a new Harry Potter rock-opera being written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

5.) Landry Jones edges Andrew Luck for the Heisman, not because of numbers (both fantastic), number of victories (both a lot), or spectacular moments (slight edge to Luck, as he has the ability to throw down a defensive end by simply giving a slight tap on the shoulder, and fire a 40 yard post for a touchdown-blindfolded). It is because they both bring back their best facial hair decisions, and Jones’ 70’s porn mustache edges Luck’s lumberjack-beard look.

6.) Michigan’s Denard Robinson runs for a 112 yard touchdown against Illinois on November 12th. Robinson is so explosive, and Zook’s defense so shitty, the score keepers decide to add on 13 yards to the run, just to emphasize those points. Think of it in the manner of a Paul Bunyan tall tale.

7.) Texas rebounds with a 10-win season and BCS bowl birth. Mack Brown has the fire back, plus new, elite coordinators to lead the way. Texas is just here to kick some ass, and sell some Longhorn Network subscriptions. And, they’re all out of subscriptions.

8.) Michael Floyd makes it through an entire season injury-free. Haha, just kidding. But, he only misses a game against Air Force, and Brian Kelly puts him on a strictly milk diet (it does a body good) the rest of the way.

9.) Oregon wins the Pac-12, Oklahoma wins the Big 12, West Virginia wins the Big East, Virginia Tech wins the ACC, Wisconsin wins the B1G, and Alabama wins the SEC.

10.) The SEC pays attention to the notice sent by Oregon in week 1, and ‘Bama curbstomps Oregon in the BCS campionship, just as the NCAA sends investigators to Tuscaloosa to check out some assistant coaches, prompting Saban to exit for a postition on Wall Street, where he promises to run a “clean” investment firm.