And his team got skunked 38-0 and his starting quarterback had just quit. IIRC, he started off by saying how they were going back to basics and "going back to training camp, starting tomorrow."

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I was referring more to trying to glean deep meaning, indictments of ignorance, or proof of competence. To me, if you're using press-conference remarks as an argument for or against the legitimacy of a coach, (in most cases) I'd say you'd be better serve to use other arguments.

Willingham may be an exception.

And ARRrrhhhghghh, Pirate coaches be ye exemption too.

I remember UND.com did not carry the full version, and we had to go to the Michigan site to see it all. I'll take a look.

I don't remember it, so I went to the UND.com site but it's nowhere to be found in the archives. I'm looking through the old video now, though I doubt they would have it.

Any chance you saved it somewhere?

probably every Charlie Weis press conference since he's been here (and I don't know that that's something to be proud of), I agree that most of it is fluff and not worthy of a second look. However, he does drop some good stuff from time to time related to scheme and intent (whether it comes true or not). When he gets an Xs and Os question, it can often yield a pretty interesting discussion. Obviously the results on the field speak for themselves, but I like listening to his POV, whether or not I agree with it.

I also find the postgame pressers fairly interesting, if only to gauge his reaction and/or mental state. The post-2007 Michigan presser was unbelievable.

I guess I'm also curious what he has to say as part of the human drama of it all (regardless of any insight gleaned). At this point, it's a pretty interesting story. Whether it will end as comedy or tragedy is yet to be seen.

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parse coaches words, in whatever context. Analysis and paralysis of transcripts and pressers and events is not my thing. I tend to dismiss it all.

I'm much more comforted (and comfortable) looking at the product on the field and trying to figure out what the team is trying to accomplish, offensively or defensively.

I feel that Weis will forever be a chameleon type of offensive coach, feeling that his base offense can move the ball and can accommodate any number of various "types" of players. In other words, I don't think he recruits to a particular style offense. I think he tries to get the best-available players. He's missed on some recruiting targets and hit on others, but about the only clear things I can confidently say about his offense are:
- it's qb-centric
- he's going to devise a gameplan based on how he thinks he can attack an opponent
- he won't stick to a running attack if the opposing defense is able to stuff it early
- it's most effective when he has multiple versatile TEs and RBs who have good cut-back ability/vision.

From a purely offensive standpoint and if executed reasonably well, I'm positive his offense works just fine at any level of ball.

When Jay first posted that quote, I immediately thought of the feeling I had when watching Weis's spring game presser. How for the first time he really seemed earnest in his desire to run the ball. That's not to say that he didn't mean it previously, but I just sensed a sincerity this time. Last year when the run wasn't working, we moved to the spread (Purdue, Stanford, UNC). After that presser, I felt like he needed to fix the run rather than abandon it.

And I think ThreeD is right. The more I think about those three quotes, I do begin to believe that they're all related, that they can all co-exist within the same philosophy.

Here's another one from November 2004, one of the rare opportunities Belichick gave an assistant to speak to the media.

Q: Have you had to change your philosophy in play calling with Corey [Dillon]?

CW: I think what we have done is we have been able to provide a more balanced offense, even though, statistically, our numbers have been fairly close as far as the run-pass ratio. I think production-wise we have been more balanced. Instead of having to throw for 300 and try to run 100, if you are shooting for 400 yards, which we don't get every week obviously, but now if you are running for 150 and throwing for 250, those numbers get closer and it makes it a little easier to plan on how you want to try to move the football.

Q: Well, you are known as someone who loves the forward pass.

CW: No, I love to move the football. I am known like that because that is what we have done to move the football. So, what you do is, a lot of times, not stereotypically but philosophically offensively, people say, 'Well, they want to throw it'. Well, I want to throw it because it works. If it is not working I don't want to be throwing it. So, I think a lot of it has to do with what players you have and what you can do against who you are playing against.

when the coach quotes a statistic I put on a message board.

(kidding)

Mostly, I think any or all of those statements could have been uttered at any time during his Patriots or ND tenure. In other words, he says things either carefully constructed (which are easy to identify) or to the other extreme, much too loose. There are plenty of examples of both and I could see any of those responses occurring after a game in which he was "forced" to call plays one way but not ideal, in the sense as he would have wanted it to be called.

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--
Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.

Then:

"I could care less," Weis responded, when asked whether he wanted a 50-50 run-pass mix. But then he referred to the Patriots' final stats from 2004: 530 called pass plays, 524 called runs.

"We don't go into a game and say we're going to be 50-50," Weis said. "We may run it 50 times and throw it 20 times. We're going to do what works. Pretty simple philosophy."

October 2008:

"I'd prefer not to do that. I'd prefer not to throw it 50 times and run it 25 times. I'd prefer not to do that. You know, that being said, I've always been a guy who believed in balance. I always believe that it makes things a heck of a lot easier on the quarterback if you can run the ball. It makes it a lot easier.

April 2009:

"It has been a major focus. We looked back at all the teams that played in the BCS, took the highs and lows, and said here is what the teams in the BCS is doing, and those teams were averaging over 4.6 yards per carry and we were averaging 3.3. It all starts with the run game. If you can run the ball, everything is easier. Protection is easier, throwing the ball is easier, everything is easier. It all starts with being able to control the line of scrimmage."

I was organizing some old BGS bookmarks and came across this one. Kind of a fun read knowing what was in store.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/preview05/news/story?id=2139526

Quinn, Irish look for magic touch on offense
By Pat Forde
ESPN.com

Notre Dame has had a conga line of fancy-pants quarterbacks in the last 35 years.

Guys who were certified big-name recruits, certified Fighting Irish heroes and/or certified NFL players: Tom Clements. Joe Montana. Blair Kiel. Steve Beuerlein. Tony Rice. Rick Mirer. Ron Powlus. Jarious Jackson.

And yet Notre Dame has been largely lousy at throwing the football in that time.

The school single-season passing record of 252.7 yards per game was set in the Dark Ages of 1970, when Joe Theismann was doing the chucking. Notre Dame was eighth in the national passing yardage statistics that year. Its average since then is 66th. Only once in the last 18 years have the Fighting Irish ranked higher than 49th nationally in passing yards per game, and they haven't finished in the top 25 in that category since 1979.

Which tells you how far behind the times Notre Dame has been offensively. A 35-year-old season passing record is the damning proof.

While the rest of the nation was learning to fly via dramatic advancements in the passing game, the Irish were sitting tight with their rotary phone/dial-up connection/vinyl album offense. There's nothing wrong with running the ball -- the Irish did win three national titles between 1973-88 -- but one of the biggest reasons for Notre Dame's slide from superpower status in the last 11 years has been stodgy offensive thinking.

Lou Holtz's smashmouth strategy had creaked into obsolescence by his tenure's end in 1996. Successors Bob Davie and Ty Willingham were fired in no small part for failing to successfully modernize the attack over their combined eight years. (Davie's last two teams were 109th and 114th in passing yardage, and Willingham's first two were 91st and 92nd. Might as well run the wishbone at that rate.)

Now, at last, knuckle-dragging Notre Dame appears ready to crawl out of its cave, lay down its club, blink into the light of a new day and join the 21st century offensively.

In Charlie Weis, the Irish have a cutting-edge offensive mind. The former New England Patriots offensive coordinator can be unorthodox from game to game -- Weis said he once called 25 consecutive pass plays against the Pittsburgh Steelers, simply going empty backfield and letting it fly -- yet still strive for bottom-line balance.

"I could care less," Weis responded, when asked whether he wanted a 50-50 run-pass mix. But then he referred to the Patriots' final stats from 2004: 530 called pass plays, 524 called runs.

"We don't go into a game and say we're going to be 50-50," Weis said. "We may run it 50 times and throw it 20 times. We're going to do what works. Pretty simple philosophy."

Pretty simple philosophy, with a pretty simple underpinning: How good is your quarterback? If he's very good, a lot more things are going to work.

Thus we arrive at junior Brady Quinn, a handsome, poised, well-mannered young man who has spent much of his college career running uphill to do a big job in difficult situations.

Quinn wound up starting nine games as a true freshman on a 5-7 team, a thankless task. Last year he had the position to himself, with senior Carlyle Holiday moved to receiver and kick returner and had a productive season (2,586 yards, 17 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 54.1 percent completion percentage). But his record as a starter is 10-11, which means he's spent more time trying to explain why the offense hasn't worked than accepting congratulations for when it has.

Now, as a third-year starter, the kid from Dublin, Ohio, is experiencing a higher level of hype in '05. It's partly the coach, and partly what surrounds Quinn. All six receivers who had double-digit receptions in 2004 are back. Leading rusher Darius Walker is back. The offensive line is back in full.

"I like the guys we've got on offense," Weis said. "I can't take credit for 'em; they were here when I got here. But I'm glad they're here."

Because they're here, and because Brady Quinn and Tom Brady share good looks, half a name and a virtuoso coach ... suddenly No. 10 is expected by many to throw (and win) like the leading man in the National Football League.

Clearly, that's excessive expectations. Tom Brady was little more than an enigma at the same point in his college career at Michigan.

But if the Weis experience goes as planned, Notre Dame should pass better, score more and eventually win more than in recent years -- which means Quinn has a chance to become Notre Dame's first legit Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback since Rice finished fourth in the voting in 1988.

Weis likes Quinn's size (6-4, 228). Likes his arm strength. Likes his touch. Likes his intelligence. Likes the fact that his teammates voted him the offensive captain.

"The only thing he lacks at this time is experience in this offense," Weis said.

The jury is out on one other thing with Quinn: The magical, intangible charisma component that separates the good quarterback from the championship quarterback. Are you Ron Powlus or are you Joe Montana? Are you Jake Plummer or are you Tom Brady?

"We always define it as 'It,'" Weis said. "That special something that the great ones have. It just permeates the guy and spreads like wildfire through everyone in the huddle.

"It's when you look in your teammates' eyes late in a game and say, 'OK, fellas, let's go down and win this thing.' And they believe in you."

So, is 'It' a product of nature or nurture? Can it be coached into a quarterback?

"No, 'It' has to be inherent," Weis said. "The great ones have it already. I don't know where 'It' comes from, but it doesn't come from outside. You can push a guy as far as you can, but you can't put 'It' into him."

Thus the inevitable question in the mind of every Domer: Since Weis has seen perhaps the ultimate 'It' in Tom Brady, does he recognize any of the same traits in Brady Quinn?

"If what I've seen in practice translates to the games, he has that potential to have that something special," Weis said. "Brady has shown a lot of that type of ability in practice. You think he has a chance."

For a quarterback, the switch from Willingham to Weis should be like a surfer moving from Iowa City to Huntington Beach. Suffice to say, Quinn is excited -- but busy. He's in the final stages of assimilating a playbook he says "is definitely a few inches thick."

From Weis on down, most everyone at Notre Dame is purposefully vague about what the new offense will look like and do most of the time. Exploiting the other team's weaknesses and tapping into your own strengths -- that's about as detail-oriented as it gets. But Quinn said the basic premise of the offense is similar to New England's basic premise.

"The onus is put on the quarterback," he said. "You've got to get us in and out of plays and make plays."

Which is OK with Quinn.

"I think every quarterback loves it and thrives off it," he said.

Few players have the opportunity to thrive in a spotlight bigger and brighter than the Notre Dame quarterback. But the surprisingly modest passing standards of that position over the last 35 years show that Brady Quinn has a chance to wake up some serious echoes -- and perhaps to take down an embarrassingly old school record in the process.