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Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
coach. He was the head coach for the
Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...
from 2005 to 2009 and the
Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools List of college athletic programs in Kansas, in the state of Kansas that participate in ...
from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an offensive coordinator in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) for the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
,
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
, and
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
. Weis most recently hosted "Airing It Out," along with Bob Papa, on
Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...
NFL Radio.


Coaching career

After graduating from Notre Dame in 1978, Weis began his coaching career at Boonton High School in New Jersey. He spent the next five seasons at perennial powerhouse Morristown High School in New Jersey as a football assistant developing players such as Michael Landsberg. In 1985, he was hired by head coach
Joe Morrison Joseph R. Morrison (August 21, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a running back and wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants from 1959 to 1972. M ...
at the
University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...
, where he received his master's degree in education while working as a graduate assistant position coach and assistant recruiting coordinator.Heather VanHoegarden
CHARLIE WEIS: Family and football
, ''Irish Insider'', April 22, 2005, Accessed November 29, 2012.
He served four seasons on the Gamecock staff until Morrison died in 1989. He then returned to New Jersey as the head coach at Franklin High School and directed Franklin Township to the New Jersey state championship while also assisting in the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
' pro personnel department.


Early years

Weis launched his professional coaching career in 1990 when he was named offensive assistant and assistant special teams coach under Giants head coach
Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells ( ; born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He came to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 19 ...
. The Giants went on to win
Super Bowl XXV Super Bowl XXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...
at the end of that season, beating the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
by a score of 20–19. After Ray Handley took over as head coach in 1991, Weis stayed on as the
running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
coach for two seasons. In 1991, he helped guide 2nd year running back Rodney Hampton to 1,059 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. The Giants finished 6th in rushing yards and 7th in rushing touchdowns in the NFL. The next year, Weis utilized both Hampton (1,141 yards and 14 touchdowns) and Jarrod Bunch (501 yards and 3 touchdowns) to form a potent running back combination. The Giants finished 6th in rushing yards and 2nd in rushing touchdowns in the NFL. After that he began a four-year stint with the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...
. For the first two years (1993–1994), Weis served as the
tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...
coach. In 1995, he would switch to
running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...
coach and finished 1996 as
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
coach. In 1993, he helped Ben Coates break out with 659 yards and 8 touchdowns. Marv Cook proved a reliable blocker as well. In 1994, Coates had one of the best seasons by a tight end ever with 96 catches, 1174 yards, and 7 touchdowns. In 1995, Weis helped turn rookie Curtis Martin's year into a Pro Bowl season with 1,487 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground. Dave Meggett and Sam Gash proved to be reliable receivers out of the backfield as well with a combined 78 catches. Terry Glenn broke out with 90 catches for 1,132 yards and 6 touchdowns. Weis also helped
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
Shawn Jefferson put up 771 yards and 4 touchdowns along with developing Troy Brown into a solid role player with 21 catches for 222 yards. In 1997, Weis became the
offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...
of the Jets, in addition to duties as the team's primary receivers coach. In his second year as offensive coordinator, the Jets finished fourth in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
in offense. Weis served as the team's offensive coordinator from 1997 to 1999.


New England Patriots

Weis returned to New England Patriots following Parcells' announced retirement after the 1999 season. He served as offensive coordinator under head coach Bill Belichick from 2000 through 2004, installing the Erhardt-Perkins offensive system, and assisting the Patriots in three Super Bowl victories ( XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX).


Notre Dame

On November 30, 2004, after finishing its football season with a 6–5 record, Notre Dame released head coach
Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005–2 ...
. After first choice
Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and former college football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green F ...
accepted the head coaching position at the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
, Notre Dame hired Weis on December 12, 2004, as the 28th football coach in the school's history with a six-year contract worth a reported US$2 million per year. He was the first Notre Dame graduate to hold the position since
Hugh Devore Hugh John Devore (November 25, 1910 – December 8, 1992) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Providence College (1938–1941), the University of Notre Dame (1945 and 1963), St. Bonaventure Universi ...
(a 1934 graduate) served as interim coach in 1945 and 1963, and the first alumnus to serve as the Irish football coach on a full-fledged basis since
Joe Kuharich Joseph Lawrence Kuharich (April 14, 1917 – January 25, 1981) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of San Francisco from 1948 to 1951, and at Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, Notr ...
(a 1938 Notre Dame graduate), who coached in South Bend from 1959 to 1962. ;2005 In his first season as head coach of the Fighting Irish, Weis was widely quoted as telling his team that they would have a "decided schematic advantage" against their opponents, apparently in the belief that his schemes and strategies developed in the NFL were superior to the schemes being run by other college coaches. Indeed, the team's play, particularly that of junior quarterback Brady Quinn and junior wide receiver Jeff Samardzija, improved greatly. Samardzija, previously a little-used wide receiver, became Quinn's favorite target and a frequent game-breaker, and set school records for most touchdown receptions in a season (15), most receiving yardage in a season (1,249), and most consecutive games with a touchdown reception (8), after having no touchdown receptions in his previous two years at Notre Dame. Notre Dame lost to Michigan State in a dramatic overtime loss. Weis was quoted as saying they would never again lose to Michigan State on his watch. He went 2–3 against the Spartans over his career. With a record of 9–2, his team finished the regular season ranked sixth in the
Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a college football post-season selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of America ...
(BCS) standings, granting them a berth in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl in
Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...
, on January 2, 2006, which they lost to the
Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...
by a score of 34–20. The Irish finished ninth in the final AP Poll and eleventh in the Coaches Poll. His team's success on the field helped make Weis winner of the 2005 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, selected by the
Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...
. On October 29, 2005, barely halfway through the first year of a six-year contract, and with a 5–2 record, Weis signed a contract extension with Notre Dame. The new 10-year deal, which began with the 2006 season, and which was to be worth a reported $30–40 million, would keep Weis at Notre Dame through 2015. ;2006 During the 2006 season, Weis led the Fighting Irish to a 10–2 regular season record, and a second straight BCS berth, this time losing 41–14 in the
Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...
to the LSU Tigers. This loss was the second straight bowl loss under Weis and the ninth straight bowl loss for the Irish. The Irish finished No. 17 in the final AP poll, and No. 19 in the final Coaches' Poll. While this season could be considered a disappointment based on Notre Dame's No. 2 pre-season ranking, Weis led the Irish to its second straight season of nine wins or more, something not achieved since the 1992 and 1993 seasons under Lou Holtz. Also for the second straight year Weis put together a top 10 recruiting class, including national player of the year Jimmy Clausen. ;2007 In the
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
season, Notre Dame went 3–9, with their only wins coming against
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
,
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and
Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...
. Their loss to
Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
on November 3 snapped an NCAA-record 43-game winning streak over the Midshipmen, dating back to the Heisman Trophy-winning tenure of Roger Staubach at the Naval Academy. The team ranked near the bottom of Division I FBS in both rushing yards per game and total yards per game. Along with being third from last in scoring per game, the team was shut out twice en route to its first nine-loss season ever. Weis attributed the team's downfall to his own mistakes, including his failure to use full-speed practices and to develop his players properly, his installation of two separate offensive systems, one for each potential starting quarterback, as well as to the graduation of star quarterback Brady Quinn. Despite the poor season, which was Notre Dame's worst ever (by losses), Weis nonetheless managed to recruit one of the top recruiting classes in the country. ;2008 In 2008, The Irish started 4–1, but completed the regular season with a 6–6 record, including a 24–23 loss to Syracuse, the first time that Notre Dame had fallen to an eight-loss team. The combined 15 losses from 2007 to 2008 marks the most losses for any two-year span. Despite speculation the university might fire Weis, Notre Dame retained Weis for the 2009 season. Weis's Notre Dame squad ended the season on a positive note, finally breaking the Irish's NCAA record nine-game bowl losing streak by beating
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
49–21. In the process, Notre Dame scored its highest point total of the season, its highest point total ever in a bowl game, and broke 8 other bowl records. The bowl win also helped Notre Dame to a 7–6 final record, its 102nd winning season in 120 years of football and Weis' third in four years. Notre Dame ended the year with a top 15 recruiting class, including signing the top defensive player in the nation. ;2009 The Fighting Irish finished the 2009 regular season with a 6–6 record. A poor record for the season in addition to high preseason expectations for the team, including a preseason top 25 ranking, caused widespread speculation that Notre Dame would fire Weis. Weis was fired on November 30, 2009. He was succeeded by Brian Kelly.


Kansas City Chiefs

Weis was named offensive coordinator of the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...
for 2010. In Weis's first year, the Chiefs improved from a record of 4–12 to 10–6 and returned to the playoffs after winning the
AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, ...
Division. With Weis as offensive coordinator, the Chiefs had the NFL's best rushing attack, averaging an impressive 165 yards per game on the ground. Offensively the Chiefs ranked 9th in total offense, 11th in points per game, and 1st in rushing, but 28th in passing. However, the Chiefs also sent four players on offense (WR Dwayne Bowe, RB Jamaal Charles, QB Matt Cassel and OG Brian Waters) to the Pro Bowl. Cassel, Bowe and Charles made their first ever trip to the Pro Bowl. Weis has also been credited with the improvement of Cassel who had a career year throwing for 27 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions in 14 games.


Florida

On December 31, 2010,
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
reported that Weis was targeted by the Florida Gators to become the next offensive coordinator under new head coach Will Muschamp. On January 2, 2011, Chiefs coach Todd Haley announced Weis would indeed be leaving for the Florida offensive coordinator position effective at the end of the season. Weis' tenure was broadly criticized after the team finished ranked 102nd nationally with just 334.17 yards per game.


Kansas

On December 8, 2011, Weis was named the head football coach for the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
replacing
Turner Gill Turner Hillery Gill (born August 13, 1962) is an American college athletic administrator and former football player and coach. He is the Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development at the University of Arkansas, a position he as ...
. He initially stated that he would not stay longer than the duration of his five-year contract, which would have run out in 2016, but school officials persuaded him to consider a longer stay. His 2012 team struggled to a 1–11 record in what was dubbed as a rebuilding year. Weis' 2013 team showed signs of improvement. Although they only compiled a 3–9 record, Weis' Jayhawks ended a 27-game Big 12 Conference losing streak with a 31–19 home victory over
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
in November 2013. Weis was fired on September 28, 2014, four games into the season. School officials did not believe the Jayhawks had made enough strides on the field during Weis' tenure. According to ESPN, they were also concerned about declining attendance. Despite pleas from Weis, only 36,900 people came to what would be his final game in Lawrence, against Texas.


Personal life

Weis and his wife, Maura, have two children, Charles Joseph "Charlie" and Hannah Margaret. Charlie Jr. is the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...
(Ole Miss). In 2003, Weis and his wife established the Hannah & Friends Foundation, dedicated to children affected by developmental disorders and named after his daughter, who is
autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...
. In the spring of 2004, the inaugural Hannah & Friends Celebrity Golf Classic was held to benefit the foundation. Weis told
YES Network The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Main Street Sports Group (which owns 20%), Amazon (which owns 15% ...
commentators at the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...
and
Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
game on Friday, July 17, 2009, that his favorite baseball team is the Yankees. He was there to celebrate the announcement of the Notre Dame and Army football game to be played at the new
Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...
in November 2010. Weis was born in
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...
, and grew up in Middlesex, New Jersey, where he graduated from Middlesex High School. Weis was inducted to Middlesex High School Athletics Hall of Fame- Class of 2024 on May 4, 2024. Weis played High School Football as the center for the class of 1976. He has one older sister and three younger brothers, one of whom attended
West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
. Charlie had another brother named Pete.


Health issues

In 2002, Weis underwent
gastric bypass Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch, where the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several differen ...
surgery, after which he lost from his top weight of . When asked why he underwent surgery, Weis stated he was afraid he would "drop dead" from
obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...
. Because of complications from the surgery, Weis spent two weeks in a coma and nearly died. Weis was so close to death that he reportedly received the Catholic last rites. Weis later sued the doctors who performed the surgery for malpractice and lost. A major reason cited for the jury's decision is that Weis ignored doctors' advice and pushed to have the operation done quickly, rather than going through a recommended six-week preoperative program. During a game against
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
on September 13, 2008, Notre Dame defensive end John Ryan accidentally collided with Weis on the sideline. Weis sustained tears to his
anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...
and
medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), also called the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint and occurs in ...
, for which he underwent surgery.


Head coaching record


Works

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Notes


References


External links


Hannah and Friends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weis, Charlie 1956 births Florida Gators football coaches High school football coaches in New Jersey Kansas City Chiefs coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Living people NFL offensive coordinators New England Patriots coaches New York Giants coaches New York Jets coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches People from Middlesex, New Jersey South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Sportspeople from Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Trenton, New Jersey University of Notre Dame alumni University of South Carolina alumni Coaches of American football from New Jersey