Charlie Weis

He was the first Notre Dame graduate to hold the position since Hugh Devore (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 (a 1938 Notre Dame graduate), who coached in South Bend from 1959 to 1962.

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.

Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former American football coach.

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 at the University of South Carolina, where he received his master's degree in education while working as a graduate assistant position coach and assistant recruiting coordinator.

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' pro personnel department.

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.

The Giants went on to win Super Bowl XXV at the end of that season, beating the Buffalo Bills by a score of 20–19.

After Ray Handley took over as head coach in 1991, Weis stayed on as the running back 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.

For the first two years (1993–1994), Weis served as the tight end 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, he would switch to running back coach and finished 1996 as wide receiver coach.

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 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 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 in offense.

Weis served as the team's offensive coordinator from 1997 to 1999.

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).

On November 30, 2004, after finishing its football season with a 6–5 record, Notre Dame released head coach Tyrone Willingham.

After first choice Urban Meyer accepted the head coaching position at the University of Florida, 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 head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009 and the Kansas Jayhawks from 2012 to 2014.

He also served as an offensive coordinator in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets, New England Patriots, and Kansas City Chiefs.

Weis currently hosts "Airing It Out," along with Bob Papa, on Sirius XM NFL Radio.