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Patriots Weis to Coach Notre Dame
Dec. 12, 2004

ESPN.com news services
Charlie Weis is to become the new Notre Dame football coach, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reports.

Sources close to the university confirmed Saturday that the New England Patriots offensive coordinator has agreed to a six-year contract that will pay him approximately $2 million per year.

Weis told friends he has accepted the Notre Dame coaching job, returning to the school he graduated from in 1978 but never played.

And Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said Sunday the team wants to send Weis out "the right way."

Mark Bavaro, a former Notre Dame player who was with the New York Giants while Weis was on the staff, said Weis told him Saturday that he was taking the job at Notre Dame.

"He was excited, but he was much more concerned about the Cincinnati game today," Bavaro said Sunday. "That's the way he is, very focused."

Dr. Jim Benenati, who roomed with Weis for four years at Notre Dame, said Weis had told him he has agreed to take the job and he was excited about becoming a head coach.

"It's the greatest thing that could ever happen to the school, and probably the best thing that could ever happen for Charlie," said Benenati, a radiologist in Miami.

Weis will fly to South Bend after Sunday's home game against the Cincinnati Bengals and meet with the Fighting Irish football team that night. A press conference to introduce Weis will be held Monday.

Asked as he left the field after New England's 35-28 win over Cincinnati for his thoughts on Weis, Brady told CBS, "Even though he's leaving I think everyone's going to enjoy these last few games and hopefully we send him out the right way."

The Fighting Irish have been searching for nearly two weeks for a replacement for Tyrone Willingham, who was fired Nov. 30 after posting a 21-15 record in three years.

Notre Dame, which interviewed Weis this week, also interviewed Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Tom Clements on Thursday night. Notre Dame officials called Clements, a former Fighting Irish quarterback, on Saturday morning and told him he was no longer in the running for the job and negotiations with Weis began.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft was asked after New England defeated Cincinnati on Sunday about Weis.

"Tomorrow, when they announce it," he said, declining further comment.

Weis was not available after the game.

Weis would be the first Notre Dame alum to coach the Irish since Hugh Devore was interim coach in 1963. Though he never played for the Fighting Irish, Weis graduated from the school in 1978 with a degree in communications and education.

Weis, 48, started as a high school coach and has long wanted to become a head coach. He went as far as undergoing gastric bypass surgery to help improve his chances of getting a job.

He said he primarily underwent the surgery for health reasons because his father died at age 56 from complications of being overweight, and because of the death in 2001 of fellow assistant coach Dick Rehbein at 45 from degenerative heart disease.

But he also knew that losing weight would help him become a head coach.

"I think there's a lot of validity in the thought that appearance comes into play," he said two years ago.

The surgery led to life-threatening internal bleeding that forced him to undergo surgery again two days later and kept him in intensive care for nearly two weeks.

Weis' success with the Patriots hurt his chances of getting an NFL head coaching job. He interviewed last year with the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills, but an NFL rule that prohibits assistants from being hired while their teams are still in the playoffs essentially prevented him from being seriously considered.

His weight problems and near-death experience also might have hurt his chances because of speculation his health wasn't good enough to handle a head coaching job.

"I think some people were totally misguided in terms of my physical abilities to put in a full day," Weis said last year.

When Weis is hired by Notre Dame, Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Weis will work out a plan that allows Weis to do both jobs.

Weis taught and coached high school for five years before taking an assistant's job at South Carolina for four seasons. He returned to coaching at high school for one year before joining the New York Giants' pro personnel department in 1989.

Weis was hired by the Giants as defensive assistant and assistant special teams coach in 1990, earning his first Super Bowl ring. When Ray Handley was named coach of the Giants in 1991, he named Weis running backs coach.

Weis worked for the Patriots from 1993-96, coaching tight ends, running backs and wide receivers. In 1997, Weis was hired by Jets coach Bill Parcells, who asked former New York Giants offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt to groom Weis as the Jets' offensive coordinator. In 1998, he was named Jets offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach.

He has been the Patriots offensive coordinator the past five seasons, earning two more Super Bowl rings.

He is credited with helping to develop quarterback Tom Brady, tight end Ben Coates, running back Curtis Martin, wide receiver Terry Glenn and former Notre Dame receiver David Givens.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.