Monday, July 15, 2013
Page 14
THE MORNING BREW Improvement critical to Weis' second year
Sometimes Charlie Weis is tough to take seriously. Sure he's an offensive guru and something to marvel at when he lineups up 3-WR sets with two tight ends ready to take off, but something about him doesn't exactly inspire confidence about developing players.
I'm not trying to tear into Charlie Weis' eccentric psyche here and say they he just doesn't have it in himself to cultivate the right system to develop college players but he surely hasn't done anything to disprove this notion. We love our second chances in this country and that certainly rings true in college football and Weis has just that.
Weis may not have any star-studded talent on this roster but there is talent. People have to be asking themselves if we can't judge Weis on wins and losses, then how the heck are we supposed to gauge this season.
First of all, does the system improve? Last year, elongated drives and time of possession was far from stellar on offense and the rhythm
was as more out of sync than a med school student's sleep schedule.
Jake Heaps, the starting QB is still learning a new system but he has been here for a little over a year and a half. The wide receiver corps, while may not be exactly formidable, has two highly regarded transfers coming in. Nick Harwell and Justin McCay will hopefully validate just how good Weis' system can be.
Defensive has the been the black hole of Weis' resume while he was in South Bend and it's not going to get any easier for a defense that lost its entire starting secondary. But, that's where the developing is going to have to spur and pick up
fast, especially in the state of the Big 12.
It's hard to pinpoint this and latch a value onto it, but college football coaching may be the most essential of any sport. Sure, the best coaches get the best players but those things tend to go hand in hand. While Nick Saban is has a snaky personality and recruits football players like Fox News recruits blondes, he is eminently unbelievable at developing players and milking every inch of talent out of them.
Once and maybe still a legend around these parts, former head coach Mark Mangino was unfathomably spectacular at this task. When three stars and no names such as Aqib Talib and Dezmon Briscoe are becoming linchpins of your program, you know the coach is working his wonders at getting maximum talent out of players. Weis needs to show that he can have a guy come out of nowhere and become a guy that can carry a team.
When you sift through all the teams, the great ones take the personalities of their coach and respect them. Many other little things that permeate a college football game can be the surefire difference of a 5-win team versus a 7-win team. While it's not tangible, it certainly shows down the stretch late in games as it did a little last year. You don't want to hear about the team quitting on Weis.
While play calling probably isn't going to be a problem, the tougher things to take head-on are going to be the true tests that Weis is going to have to convey this season. The second year is important for a college coach because it's either the stepping-stone or the breaking point into that next level. This year isn't going to decide it, but it certainly will play a factor.
Edited by Allison Kohn
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