Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis, A Catholic  Leader Who Leads By Example    By David Hartline

If you have ever worked for Catholic institutions as I have, you sometimes hold your breath wondering how well someone new who emerges in a Catholic oriented leadership position will represent the faith.  We have many leaders that we can all be very proud of yet it often seems that the media loves to focus on their warts.  Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis is a leader who has immediately gained the respect of the mainstream media.  Underneath the gruff persona lies a man who has a great big heart.  Coach Weis came to Notre Dame under difficult circumstances.  The university was bombarded with negative publicity for firing the previous football coach, Tyrone Willingham.  During the subsequent interview process several top candidates took their names out of the running, fearing the negative publicity and the supposed diminishing talent pool would make the job too risky of a venture.  There was tension in the air as Coach Weis took the reins as Irish head football coach.  The university has had the great fortune to have many honorable men as leaders who were successful on or off the field such as Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine, Gerry Faust or Lou Holtz. What kind of leadership would Coach Weis bring?

Charlie Weis is a Notre Dame graduate who didn’t play football while he attended the university.  Weis graduated and went on to become a high school English teacher and football coach in New Jersey before being noticed by some in the New York Giants front office.  New York Giants head coach Bill Parcells hired him in 1990 and 15 years later, after also having a very successful stint as the New England Patriots offensive coordinator, he became the head coach for the Fighting Irish.

Coach Weis has had some challenges along the way.  He has dealt with health issues and received gastric bypass surgery in 2002 after which complications nearly cost him his life.  The effects of the surgery shook Weis to the core.  Many believe that is why Weis became interested in Notre Dame and South Bend, a town where he could raise his children in a less hectic environment.  The Weis’ have a nearly teenage son Charlie and a daughter Hannah, who is globally developmentally delayed, a condition similar to autism. According to the 2005 Irish Sports Report Football Annual, Weis said, “When I am not working I am doing something with the family.  I am not on the golf course or hanging out with the fellas.  Every second I can, I spend with the family.” Charlie Weis always meets problems head on, whether it is his or his daughter’s health or the challenge of each Saturday’s football opponent.  Weis and his wife Maura started Hannah’s Club, a foundation to aid globally developmentally delayed children.

The gruff side of Charlie Weis, which includes a vocabulary that may sometimes be confused for that of a sailor’s reunion, hides a caring man.  Weis unsuccessfully tried to hide the well publicized story of his surprise visit to Montana Mazurkiewicz, a dying 10 year old boy who asked Coach Weis if he could call the first play of the Washington Huskies game. The request Montana made was to pass right on the first play. The only problem was that Notre Dame started the game with the ball on its own one yard line, where a pass would go against all logic. Coach Weis told his quarterback Brady Quinn to honor the request.  In something right out of a plotline of one of the many movies made about the Notre Dame football program, the play worked as tight end Anthony Fasano jumped right over a smaller and more agile Husker defender resulting in the Irish gaining enough yardage for a first down.

Charlie Weis would shrug off the fuss being made over him. Many suggest he is an offensive genius; he has a few Superbowl rings to show for his efforts.  However, Weis would suggest that the players and coaches are simply working their hardest and that is why the Irish have been successful.  The coach would probably not be happy about any movie comparisons to him.  However, some might suggest that the former English teacher and high school football coach could parallel a “Rudy” type storyline.  Weis would probably bristle at him being the real “Rudy” since Rudy Ruettiger only made it on the field for one play and Weis certainly believes that, unlike Rudy, Weis has talent beyond his own perserverance.  However, perhaps the softer side of Charlie Weis was evidenced by his inviting Rudy to address the team before the start of this year’s football season.  Although Rudy has been a fixture at campus events and Notre Dame related activities, he has never been asked to associate himself with the football team since he left the football field in the fall of 1975.  

Charlie Weis continues to show his character, which in turn, reflects positively on the university and the Church itself.  After the heartbreaking loss in the final seconds to the nation’s number one team University of Southern California (USC) Trojans last Saturday, Weis walked into the USC Trojan locker room and congratulated the winning team.  This was made equally hard by the fact that the Irish thought that they had won after time rolled off the clock and the fans came onto the field, only to be told USC had one more play which they subsequently scored on in a somewhat controversial manner.  A different coach might have dwelled on what could have or should have been.  Coach Weis wasn’t dwelling on the negative; he was thinking about how to overcome the next challenge.  An example all of us in the Church should ponder.