Charlie Weis = hypocrite?

[Hate-Miser2]

Didn't see this in another thread, so I'll take a chance I didn't miss it ...

Looks like Charlie Weis had an interesting LOI day. Notre Dame lost 2 players that had committed to them, and he spent much of an appearance on ESPN Radio and his signing day presser lecturing people about "commitments."

From the Chicago Tribune ...

For his part, Weis said the word “commitment” needs to be redefined in recruiting.
“If you’re married,” he said, “you shouldn’t be looking at other women.”
Weis said he would push for the creation of an early-signing period, so players who commit early would not be hounded by rival coaches. Weis would like that period to culminate with an Aug. 1 early signing date.
Even if the American Football Coaches Association cannot gain approval on that from the NCAA, Weis said he would change the way he solicits commitments in the future.
“No soft verbals, no silent verbals, no quiet verbals, OK?” he said. “Either you’re committed or you’re not committed. ... I think we have to define exactly what the rules are.”
But Notre Dame took a shot from (Arrelious) Benn (a WR who signed with Illinois) in that regard. He told the Washington Post in a story published Wednesday that Irish assistant Peter Vaas, whom the school let go after the season, peppered him with text messages and phone calls after he had committed to Illinois.
Benn provided one such text message to the Post dated Dec. 17. It read: “FYI, ILL is telling Robert Hughes that they will build their offense around him. Didn’t they tell you that? Coach Vaas.”
Weis’ reply?
“You ask me if coach Vaas sent him texts. Sure he sent him texts,” he said. “You probably could go ask the kid if he committed to us beforehand too—see what he says to that one. It comes down to those silent verbals, all that other type of stuff.
“I don’t think coach Vaas was trying to do anything unethical. ... I think (Benn) should wish him well and not point a finger.”

END OF STORY

One of Notre Dame's signees is Brian Smith, who was committed to Iowa until the Irish lost a player to Florida about 2 weeks ago and came calling. There are also reports of ND continuing to actively recruit players who had committed to other schools, even after they were told their commits were solid, and there was a report of a ND assistant telling one of these players that "the word commitment means nothing."

Is this a case of poaching players is fine, as long as you don't poach them from the Irish?

 

[ondeadline]

Exactly. It's not like he hasn't swiped away a player who committed to another school.

 

[Freelance Hack]

And Charlie Weis will stay at this dream job until he realizes he can't win a championship at South Bend and take the next available NFL job.

This will happen by 2009.

 

[Beef03]

I wonder what Saban has to say about this – he of course knowing more than anyone how solid a commitment should be.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

There should be no question mark in this title. That fat ass is a piece of **** as a human being and if a number of top flight recruits keep noticing the same stuff other people do, then good for them. Weis lecturing anyone on any sort of moral code is akin to him lecturing me on what constitutes a good diet.

Benn ripped his ass in the Post, not with what he said, but what what he showed that program was about. It wasn't the first time that Benn has said bad things about Notre Dame either. They're so fraudulant, you could find higher quality in Times Square for about 10% of the cost.

 

[BYH]

He's a hypocrite all right. Among other things.

 

[spnited]

I know about the kid Weis "lost" to Florida two weeks ago-- our defensive player of the year.
Made early announcement (not a "commitment" until the LOI is signed, sorry Charlie) in August. After ND changed defensive coordinator in Dec., decided to look elsewhere because he didn't think he was as good a fit as a DE in 3-4, which ND supposedly will be playing next year, as 4-3.
Visited Fla. then got home visit from Meyer two weeks ago and changed his mind. Committed to Fla. that night, called our reporter 5 minutes after Meyer left his house ... before he called fat Charlie!
Signed today with Fla.
Why should these kids commit in August when coaches aren't committed to anything except the next big job offer?

 

[Cadet]

Consider the institution that employs him. Enough said.

 

[Oz]

Nothing new here. Weis being the same man he's always been.

 

[slappy4428]

Of course, none of this could be solved if, ya know, the coaches stopped after a kid makes a verbal commitment...

 

[EStreetJoe]

The wise-ass in me is going to emerge with this comment....

A letter of intent is a verbal commitment because technically, verbal, means consisting of words and a letter of intent has words in it. What kids give prior to that should be called a spoken or oral commitment.

 

[heyabbott]

And Charlie Weis will stay at this dream job until he realizes he can't win a championship at South Bend and take the next available NFL job.

This will happen by 2009.

And what seperates Weis from 97% of the other coaches in America? Didn't St. K play the Lakers?

 

[Pringle]

I'm sure I'll get accused of being a Notre Dame apologist here, but I think Weis is on relatively sound ethical ground here. Do you have to go through some philosophical gymnastics to get there? Sure. But it's really not too inconsistent to accept, ultimately.

If he'd have blasted Urban Meyer or Butch Davis, it would be different. But if you read all of his quotes, he exonerates the coaches from any wrongdoing. Coaches can call his kids. He just doesn't want his kids listening and, if they do, bye-bye.

That's what Ferentz did with the Brian Smith kid at linebacker that Weis stole. As soon as Smith wanted to talk to Notre Dame, Ferentz pulled the scholarship offer.

It will be interesting to see if Weis sticks by his guns the first time a top 10 linebacker that he's desperate to hold onto says, "Coach, I want to commit to Notre Dame, but I still want to take my other four visits. Is that OK with you?" That'll be the test. He has to stick by it, or he loses his credibility on the issue. THEN he'll be a hypocrite.

 

[leo1]

this is why the whole cottage industry of recruiting coverage is utter nonsense. i mean, i get why fans eat this stuff up - we had another thread on it a few days ago - but NO ONE IS COMMITTED UNTIL HE SIGNS A LETTER OF INTENT. ever. an oral committment is meaningless.

coaches are not complete ****heads. they realize this. if they don't want to deal with the whims of 17-year-old boys, they need to work in the pro game.

 

[Totally Krossed Out]

Where is that Wash Post story where Benn rips him? Today's story is just on Benn choosing UNC.

 

[hondo]

The beautiful thing about the Super Bowl, other aspects of the NFL season and Notre Dame going down in flames in the Sugar Bowl is that this might be the beginning of the end for the Parcells-Belichik-Weis era of paranoid, control-freak, mind-game playing asshole coaches who, in no small aside, are human pieces of filth.

Consider:

Parcells: resigns after spinning his wheels in Dallas.
Belichik: blows AFC championship with several amateur screw-ups (12 guys in huddle, etc.), and now embroiled in messy affair with another man's wife.
Weis: under-achieves at Notre Dame, presides over the last two of a nine-bowl losing streak for Irish.
Coughlin: should have gotten canned at New York; must have naked pictures of various members of the Mara family.

In the meantime, Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy prove you can be a good coach and a good human being and win, all at the same time.

RIP: Parcells and the fruit of his poisonous tree

 

[spnited]

Two words, hondo:

Eric Mangini

 

[micropolitan guy]

"I think we have to define exactly what the rules are.”

The rules are, you're a free agent until you sign a letter of intent. Notre Dame poaches as many recruits as anyone.

Fat POS.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

Where is that Wash Post story where Benn rips him? Today's story is just on Benn choosing UNC.

You're thinking of Melvin Austin. Benn is already enrolled at Illinois, and Eli Saslow already has done a pretty good feature on his start to classes. I've read about it once before, but the most recent writing about it can be found here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/06/AR2007020601649.html

 

[AnotherThingComing]

I have 2 issues with Weis' "crusade"

1) Everything was fine until the Domers started losing recruits. If they hadn't gotten "burned," Weis wouldn't give half a crap about this problem. But because of what happened yesterday, it's all of a sudden a national epidemic that must be addressed.

2) He's putting all of the onus on 18-year-old kids to do the right thing, while it's fine for coaches who should know better to do whatever they have to do to get them to sign. That's crap. I thought Notre Dame was better than that ... at least that's what they say as they play in the cesspool with every other D-I school.

This whole Illinois-Notre Dame thing could get real fun to watch here in the next couple of years. I think Charlie Weis is about the only coach in America who could have people rallying behind Ron Zook.