Charlie Weis & Machiavelli

You wonder if Coach Weis has been reading "The Prince" in his spare time. The classic arguer of 'the ends justify the means' position also had this little nugget of wisdom concealed in those pages:

No plan is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

With that in mind, Weis today made the thoroughly predictable announcement that no, he will not be revealing who's who under center before the Georgia Tech game. The media can stop asking (yeah, like that's gonna happen), but this was a safe and understandable move by Weis in order to hold onto little things like strategic advantage and play down the circus that will surely surround whoever becomes "The Next Brady Quinn".

Quick Takes

Saturday's "open practice" revealed one thing for sure - the class of 2011 needs to learn how to carry a tune. Weis wrapped the session inside Notre Dame Stadium with a serenade of the 19 frosh to the several thousand fans who'd gathered to watch, and many winced in agony as they tried to force themselves into listening.

Weis on Quarterbacks...

"I think we'll be good enough to win -- that's what I've learned. That's the biggest question mark the guy who's directly responsible for the position has to worry about. What I've learned is we'll be good enough to compete to win."

A week of practice has gone by, the "installation period" for the offense has come and gone, and Weis knows this - any one of the three could handle be the starting quarterback at Notre Dame. The big riddle: which one gives the 2007 Notre Dame Fighting Irish the best chance to win? Obviously Weis is encouraged by the fact that all three of them are still in the race - it's enjoyable as a coach, to say nothing of the fans, when the Irish reach a point where the marquee position inside the program isn't awarded to the guy who achieves the distinction of simply being the last clown standing.

Weis on Running Backs...

"You can win with any five of them."

Deja vu all over again at this position. Last August, a rather innocuous comment by Weis on freshman Munir Prince had visions of another Reggie Bush dancing in the heads of Irish fans. Probably because Weis put Prince's speed on the same pedestal as the reigning Hesiman winner. Munir saw limited action throughout the year, never truly getting a chance to display his hyped-up burst and then switched over to cornerback in the '07 Spring Practices. But here we are, another fall camp and another first-year running back being anointed as 'The Chosen One', in this case Florida standout Armando Allen. Message boards were abuzz Saturday night after seeing him pull some nice jukes and cuts during Saturday's 11-on-11 drills, and others were just as high on classmate Robert Hughes, who comes in as another James Aldridge bruiser-type of back. Despite the urge to exercise caution after last season's 0-to-60 expectations on Prince, Weis never immediately counted Munir among the group of backs who would be able to help the Irish win in the very near future. Yet that group now stands five-deep: Senior Travis Thomas, converted senior Junior Jabbie, Aldridge, Allen, & Hughes.

Weis on overall team depth...

"We got a lot more players that can play...in a game. You ask me how well, I don't that yet. But I do know I'm not going to blink an eye about taking someone out and putting someone else in, because there was a time here when that wasn't the case...the guy had to stay in because there was no one else to go. I feel a lot more confident now that there are a lot more players we can put on the field."

A less-than-subtle slap at the depth chart left behind by Tyrone Willingham that the Notre Dame diehards simply ate up. And why wouldn't they? If you don't know by now that Charlie Weis is a man with absolute commitment to the truth, welcome back from your five-year mission into sub-Saharan Africa.

Weis on why Jimmy Clausen and his fully healthy throwing elbow didn't attempt a pass over 15 yards...

"We've had different quarterbacks doing different things on different days."

Information about Jimmy Clausen has the same effect on the Notre Dame corps of beat reporters that crack cocaine has on an addict. They know it's misleading, abusive, self-destructive, and yet they just...can't...help themselves. Weis cooly slid off suggestions that anything seen in Saturday's public workout was a tip of the hand, merely pointing out the obvious that on any given day (just like in any given game), whoever is chosen as QB-1 will be asked to do a wide variety of different things. So why not have all three of them practice the same way? It was a novel concept that seemed lost on some in the Irish press corps, most of whom worked in some sort of personal tea-leaf reading on what Clausen's short-game workout really meant when they filed stories for the next day. A similar attempt to cook up theories based on Weis' one-day jaunt to West Virginia this spring (gee, which Notre Dame QB most resembles WVU's Pat White?) was tut-tutted at today's press meeting.

 

Weis on the very unsettled Irish kicking situation...

"We're not ready...as far as making a decision on who the guy is, but it was good that the fans and the media were there for these guys today, because it isn't the same as when you're in practice. When you're in practice sometimes you can nail 8 in a row, because there's not really the same pressure as when eyes are on you...I wanted everyone tired, and I wanted them to feel a little bit of pressure."

Irish kickers respond to the pressure: Soph. Ryan Burkhart: 0-4 on FG attempts; Soph. Nate Whitaker and Freshman Brandon Walker: 3-for-5 each. None of them stood out on the new kickoff unit either (kicks now go from the 30 instead of the 35, and none of the three reached the endzone). But at least Geoff Price looked like his reliable self. Still, 6-for-14 and not a touchback among the three vying for the PK role. Color us all concerned.

And to close on an extra high note (no pun intended)...

Weis on the the freshman (singing talents aside):

"There will be freshmen on the field in the first game, and it won't be in mop-up time, and it won't be just one."

The Name's Brown...Corwin Brown

Last December, when seemingly everybody had an opinion regarding what to do with Notre Dame's defense and why it had run in place/retreated for two seasons under Rick Minter, one intriguing blog post caught my eye. The post in question claimed, citing "insider" sources that, far from being a simplistic, bare-bones, easy to outsmart style, Minter's coaching directives were actually far too complex. The defensive schemes relied too much on checks and counterchecks at the line, forcing all 11 ND players into a mad scramble on almost every down to get on the same page. The results weren't pretty - a wide-open Mario Manningham, Dwayne Jarrett, Hakim Nicks, & Selwyn Lymon among them. 

Minter was out, again according to the "insiders", as early as the day after ND's season-ending 44-24 loss to USC. True or not, the writing was on the wall by the time JaMarcus Russell finished wiping the SuperDome confetti with ND's secondary after the Sugar Bowl. News soon leaked that Minter's contract would not be renewed. All across the internet, the Irish fan's wish list was long and cluttered with sexy names - UCLA's DeWayne Walker, a Pete Carroll crony who turned one of the worst defensive units into an elite squad that bumfuzzled ND and USC (and would've had victories in both games if not for Karl Dorrell being Karl Dorrell)? He was contacted, but passed on the idea of moving on to a fifth job in seven years. USC's linebackers coach Ken Norton, Jr.? However his name started popping up, it wasn't on account of anything serious. Romeo Crennel, riding the hot seat in Cleveland and Weis' old buddy from New England? Dream on. The new defensive coordinator turned out to be...

A 37-year old NFL position coach named Corwin Brown.

Most of ND Nation had the same generic reaction: who's Corwin Brown? The bio began to trickle out shortly after. Brown was:

• A former Michigan defensive back ('89-'92; shortly after he was hired, intrepid fans began to notice that he was the guy who missed the first tackle on Reggie Brooks' spectacular, coma-inducing touchdown run during the 1992 ND-UM contest)
  
• A prototypical journeyman across 8 seasons in the NFL, used mainly as a special teams contributor (and a very good one, according to Weis, who coached him during his first stint with the Patriots under Parcells) and a backup in various secondaries. His biggest moment as an NFL safety came in his final season when, as a member of the Lions, he absolutely LIT UP Keyshawn Johnson (see above photo)
  
• A disciple of the Belichick/Parcells coaching tree, with stops as Al Groh's special teams coach for the UVA and three years as defensive backs coach for the New York Jets before accepting Weis' offer to come to Notre Dame
  

It was this last point that first got Notre Dame fans excited (that, and the prospect of Tom Zbikowski being taught how to hit SC players the way Brown did in that October 2000 Sunday Night Football game). Brown's presence as a pupil of the Patriots and Weis' comments that he'd tried to hire Brown once before in 2005 surely meant that the 3-4 defense was coming to South Bend. After two years of futile exhaustion under Rick Minter, two years where Weis admittedly pulled back from getting too involved with the defense due to the fact that he simply didn't understand it (and, apparently, neither did the players), Weis was finally installing one of his own.

Weis: I won't have to concern myself with knowing what we're doing, because I know what we'll be doing. Because it's a system that I was grown up in as I started on the defensive side of the ball my first year. And all I know is if I can get recommendations, ringing recommendations with one name from Parcells and Belichick and Crennel and Groh and they all give you the same person, then I must be on the right track.

Guess that settles that. Weis went on to clarify throughout the spring that he and Brown were crafting a defense based more around 3-4 "personnel" than an actual 3-4. Another collective "Huh?" rose from the crowd of message board pundits. Take it away, Coach:

Weis: 34 personnel means you're playing with three defensive linemen and you're playing with four linebackers. A 34 defense means you're playing with a nose tackle on the center, you're playing with two defensive ends on the tackles, you're playing with two inside linebackers on the guards, and you're playing with two outside linebackers either on tight end or in space. That's what a 34 defense is. You can count on one hand the number of teams that play that as the main part of their defense. What they do is they play 34 personnel. Why do you do that? To get more athleticism on the field.

Brown, a man of few words, echoed the sentiment over and over again in his public comments. The defense would be about fundamentals, about discipline, about tenacity. Less thinking, more 'getting after it'. Less concern about mapping out strategy and more concern with the fundamentals of how to hit, how to tackle, how to play ball "my way".

The results won't even begin to show until we can look at a box score for September 1st opener against Georgia Tech. There's simply no way to gauge what this defense is going to do until you see it on the field - however, one gets a strange conviction that for the first time in 3 seasons as Fighting Irish head coach, Weis and his defensive coordinator are on precisely the same page.

Yet Brown didn't bother to wait until tangible results were in the bag to make impressions. His biggest up to now is without question happening on the recruiting trail. Notre Dame has roped in many of the top defensive names on the national board  - LBs Darius Fleming and Steve Filer (both from Chicago), S Dan McCarthy, DT Omar Hunter, LB Anthony McDonald (son of USC alum Mike), DT Brandon Newman, ILB David Posluszny, and CBs Robert Blanton, &  Jamoris Slaughter are poised to form what will be hands down Notre Dame's best defensive recruiting class in a decade, and they could yet be joined by other highly touted players like CB Jeremy Brown and DE Kapron Lewis-Moore. Even more important is Brown's immediate flag-planting in Notre Dame's backyard of Chicago - Filer, Fleming, and DT recruit Sean Cwynar are the consensus 1-2-3 prospects out of the area, and ND had them all locked up before the end of summer - with all of them citing their relationship with Brown and his tireless sales pitch on behalf of ND as the major factor in their decision.

And, in another stunning first (thank you Tyrone Willingham), Weis and Brown will be working with actual, legitimate depth this year as talented players battle their way onto the field throughout the duration of camp. Linebacker offers the most intriguing combinations of personnel, as Maurice Crum figures to be the only one with one of the four spots nailed down. Seniors Joe Brockington & Anthony Vernaglia lead the pack fighting for the remaining three, along with juniors Steve Quinn, Scott Smith, and Kevin Washington, plus sophomores Toryan Smith, John Ryan, & Morrice Richardson. Freshman Kerry Neal, Brian Smith, Aaron Nagel, and maybe even Steve Paskorz will all be in there fighting as well, but their likely destination is special teams if not redshirts.

Though he isn't a quote gold-mine for the media, Brown could very well be the Crennel clone that Weis was looking for - a hard-nosed drill sergeant that's going to coach the kids up and then turn 'em loose on the field. Prepare for a new look Notre Dame defense in the fall, and not just because of the re-aligned positional chart; there's a new sheriff in town, and he walks tall and delivers bone-rattling hits on Keyshawn "Gimme the Damn Ball" Johnson.

Weis went deep into his rolodex for advice from Parcells, Crennel, and Belichick. 

They all came back with one name: Corwin Brown.

Still Talkin' 'Bout Practice...

QB Derby - AND They're Off....

"I've seen several teams go on to win championships playing a quarterback that just manages the team. But when you're playing with a lot of inexperience (at a lot of positions) like we are this year, you can't just count on a guy to manage the team. Because then, the only games you're going to win are the ones you're supposed to win." -- Charlie Weis

Three days of practice are in the books for Notre Dame, and no, we're not any closer to finding out who the starting quarterback is going to be.

Still, as judged by the above quote, there's a very specific criteria Weis and his coaches will be using to determine who among Sharpley, Clausen, and Jones emerges as the winner - and there will also be great expectations. The starter won't simply be the guy Weis figures will screw up the least because he'll be asked to do the least; or, in other words, inexperience won't be an excuse come September 1st. Whoever lines up under center then is there because he's been judged to be the guy who can best trot the unit onto the field and run things as well as Brady Quinn did for the past two years.

Even more telling was Weis during Monday's season-opening press conference:

"I'm not looking for a jack of all trades, master of none," Weis said in a rare and passing moment of loosening up. "I'm actually looking for somebody who can do enough stuff where we can actually win."

For all the hype that surrounds Jimmy Clausen, there remains something very tantalizing about watching what Demetrius Jones could do with the Irish offense. Evan Sharpley as well. The nice thing is that all three of them have a very keen grasp on what's in front of them and the fact that nobody will be crying foul when it's all over.

Men on a Mission

Travis Thomas and Tom Zbikowski know you're out there, Mark May. And they really don't give a s%^t what you have to say.

That much was clear from Thomas (back at his true position of running back after a noteworthy but ultimately ambivalent year as a linebacker) and Zbikowski's Monday media chat, where the two captains stated in plain bold talk the only reason they returned for a fifth year: to win, and win now.

"[When I came to Notre Dame] there was no reason why I should have thought that we couldn't win a national championship," Thomas said. "That's the mentality I'm coming in with right now. With the tools we have, we can get everyone on the same page and we can still accomplish that goal, regardless of what everyone else thinks."

Zbikowski was even more to the point: "I didn't have the season that I wanted to have last year. Plus a lot of people, as usual, are saying that we are going to win one game out of our first eight. But that's old news and they've said that the past three years."

Personally, I wouldn't be shocked if Zibby's off-campus home had May-Day's face taped to a dart board (or, perhaps more appropriately, a punching bag). So if you're looking for a sense of purpose that can whip the young faces in the huddle to attention, Thomas and Zbikowski are your guys. It's already obvious within 3 days of camp that the other 10 guys on each side of the ball are looking to them to set the tone, and it's nice to see the tone is relatively simple: we're here to win. End of discussion. This is no rebuilding year, this is no mail-in prep the youngsters for 2008 run. Once again, the attitude of the Irish football starts at the top and filters its way down, and the Irish definitely have the right guys in place to install the 'win now' attitude this program has been fighting to regain for the better part of a decade.

Tomorrow: The Corwin Brown Experience

Practice? We Talkin' 'Bout Practice?!?

And so it begins for Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish. Year 3 kicked off today with the start of fall camp, and with plenty of competition spread out over the field (including the all-important position of QB-1), Weis was in high spirits as he dished on the impending quarterback battle, better overall depth then he's seen in either of his previous two seasons, the neverending expectations game that a school like Notre Dame is subjected to, the NCAA ban on text messaging, and the usual assortment of "what's it going to take to win this year" inquiries that are the hallmark of every coaches' press conference.

For scores of college football pundits, to say nothing of every Notre Dame fan in the known universe, the answer to their most pressing question - who's running the huddle now that Brady Quinn has moved on to an illustrious career as a holdout from Cleveland Browns training camp? - probably won't be answered with any sort of finality until after Weis' offense trots onto the field for its first play against Georgia Tech on September 1st.

 

The candidates, in order of likelihood to start:

Evan Sharpley - Jr., Marshall, MI / 6-2, 212 lbs.

A year ago, Sharpley's status as Quinn's backup was perceived to mean very little; he was simply holding a clipboard and being run out for the occasional mop-up series at the end of a blowout while the highly-touted Zach Frazer and Demetrius Jones learned the ropes as freshman. When the commitment of Jimmy Clausen was made official during the 2006 Blue-Gold Game, along with Clausen's intention to be an early-enrollee so he could compete in 2007's spring practices, Sharpley was easily the 4th-most talked about man on the QB depth chart.

And yet there is something about him that could make him a very appealing choice to start. First and foremost, he impressed enough to remain as one of the 3 competitors heading into this fall camp, which begat the chain reaction of events that ended with Frazer, the first man knocked out, transferring to UConn. Secondly, do not underestimate the value of him having two full seasons to digest and understand Weis' offense. And while he does not have the rocket arm of Clausen or the freakish atheltic skills of Jones, he's been described by many as a serviceable blend of the two. Above all, "Evan ran the operation the best", Weis concluded in his post-spring breakdown of the three candidates. If things unfold as planned and Weis sees a power running game that can take a lot of pressure off the quarterback, Sharpley (Michigan's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2004) just might be the heir apparent.

Jimmy Clausen - Fr., Westlake Village, CA / 6-3, 207 lbs.

It's tough to claim you follow college football, period, if you don't know everything there is to know about Jimmy Clausen. He was a Sports Illustrated profile piece by the time he was a junior in high school. His visits to campus throughout the 2005 season and off-season, culminating with his late-April commitment on the weekend of the intra-squad scrimmage, got the attention normally reserved for a head of state. (And, of course, there was the stretch Hummer.)

Then, after a solid spring in which he did nothing to stand out from the pack but certainly did enough to hold his own ("Jimmy threw the ball best" was Weis' conclusion), it was practically breaking news on ESPN when Clausen had a 'procedure' on his elbow over the summer. The exact cause for it as well as what it remedied remain shrouded in mystery, but Weis was adamant at today's press conference that, if the situation required it, Clausen would be available to "sling it 30 or 40 times" against Georgia Tech.

Clausen's drive is well-documented and so are his exploits in SoCal high school football, which include tossing a ridiculous 97 touchdowns (versus 14 interceptions) in his first 3 high school seasons before committing full-throttle to Notre Dame. He spent his senior season split between picking apart Oaks Christian HS opponents and breaking down Notre Dame film with older brothers Casey and Rick. He passed on a relaxing spring in L.A., enjoying his final months of high school, to move to South Bend in the dead of winter and work like crazy to become Charlie Weis' next prize pupil. Will the work result in a starting gig before the end of 2007? You might think you know all there is to know about Clausen, but that's one question Weis alone knows the answer to - and he's not telling.

Demetrius Jones - So., Chicago, IL / 6-4, 210 lbs.

The best athlete of the three, Jones turned heads in spring ball with an uncanny amount of playmaking ability, compensating for the fact that he isn't running the operation the best or throwing the ball best like his two fellow entrants. If he were to become a successful quarterback at Notre Dame, his standing as a product of the Chicago Public League would be a valuable chip for the Irish coaches and could produce a detectable windfall on the recruiting trail in that talent-rich area, much like the presence of new defensive coordinator Corwin Brown has on the other side of the ball. Of course, Jones needs to get on the field first.

There's no questioning Jones, nicknamed 'Double D' since childhood for his tendency as a double disaster, has the skills to be a top-flight quarterback. But will he have the ability to soak in and break down every last detail of Weis' offense? The answer to that will determine his fate in relation to the quarterback position. Ever since he committed to Notre Dame fans have theorized he could be moved to another position, the most popular choice being wide receiver - many fans with the positive memories of Arnaz Battle's recent position switch still lingering on, no doubt. Others speculate his speed could prove valuable on defense at either corner or safety. But Notre Dame's depth is solid at those positions, even if they lack a proven threat for the moment at wide receiver. If Jones doesn't succeed in winning the starting job, he might soon follow Frazer out the door. But if Weis elects to put the best athlete at the most important position, then 'Double D' could be wreakin' havoc on ND opponents for quite awhile.

Ultimately, the QB battle is going to be won by somebody before September 1st rolls around - possibly well before that, as Weis hinted today, though he has no intention of letting Georiga Tech defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta in on his secret any sooner than he has to. What remains to be seen is what Weis wants from the position - a caretaker or a playmaker? If the running game clicks as hoped for, thanks to the return of fifth-year slasher Travis Thomas and a stable of youngsters such as James Aldridge & Robert Hughes (the bruisers) next to lighting-quick freshman Armando Allen, then Weis may want a QB who'll make just enough smart decisions to let others win the game - Sharpley. But what if Weis wants the quickest athlete or the strongest arm in the game to compensate for a young o-line and a defense with plenty to prove? That could leave it as a coin flip between Jones and Clausen for all we fans know. My advice? Tune in four Saturdays from now and watch what happens.