Sept. 16, 2005
By John Heisler
He knows.
Charlie Weis knows Notre Dame because he sat in row 59 of the old version of Notre Dame Stadium as a student in the `70s and eye-balled mostly from afar what Irish football was all about.
He knows because one of his suite-mates in Flanner Hall was Irish running back Terry Eurick – so Weis saw first-hand what being a Irish student-athlete was all about.
He knows because he did his football homework the hard way, burning the midnight oil to earn his degree in Xs and Os – studying in front of the chalkboard of his two mentors named Bill (Parcells and Belichick).
He knows the lessons he has learned over the years as a coach with the Patriots, the Jets, the Giants and the Gamecocks of South Carolina give him a fighting chance in his first year as a collegiate head coach. He knows it’s an opportunity he and his staff and his team will have a chance to cash in on Saturday after Saturday.
He knows opening results at his alma mater are prone to extreme responses.
He knows if your team beats Pittsburgh and Michigan the fans will giddily be making national championship reservations. And he knows if your team loses to Pitt and Michigan, they’ll be jumping off buildings. He knows neither response is realistic.
Weis knows today’s game against unbeaten Michigan State in its own way will be more challenging than the first two.
He knows that his players go from the us-against-the-world road mentality to a home environment where everybody’s worried about whether or not there are enough tickets to go around, did Uncle Larry make his flight, and did Aunt Gladys get her pep rally ticket.
He knows the perceived advantages of playing at home mean nothing if your team does not maintain its focus, execute and make plays.
He also knows Michigan State comes in averaging 592 yards and 45.5 points per game on offense.
He knows any suggestion the Irish might sneak up on anyone has gone up in smoke after two Saturdays.
He knows the normal motivation for opponents to beat the Irish has only been stoked by those results.
He knows his own and his team’s Sunday-morning popularity with the masses is determined by the scoreboard Saturday after Saturday.
He knows his relatively businesslike approach to the long season has at least some chance of making players and fans appreciate the marathon aspect of the fall-long journey.
He knows his team’s best chance for success is for all involved to focus on the team concept, not worry about who gets the glory, and get as many players involved as possible. He knows because that’s what Belichick and Parcells embraced.
Weis knows, year in and year out, Michigan State has been as tough a matchup for the Irish as anybody else on the schedule.
He knows Michigan State has won more games in Notre Dame Stadium (11, including four in a row) than any other opponent in Irish history. He knows the last time Notre Dame defeated Michigan State in South Bend came in 1993.
He knows the Spartans have been victorious in each of their last four visits to Notre Dame Stadium. He knows the Spartans have won six of the last eight overall in the series.
He knows Irish fans will be looking for him to be thrilled to be bringing a Notre Dame team out of the Stadium tunnel this afternoon. He knows that has nothing to do with creating or preventing first downs.
He knows number-12 (USA Today) and number-10 (Associated Press) national rankings only enlarge the bull’s-eyes on the backs of his players.
He knows Michigan State on 14 occasions has knocked off nationally-ranked Notre Dame teams, six of those coming in Notre Dame Stadium and seven of them when the Irish ranked eighth or better.
Weis knows the unique and delicate challenge of dealing with the day-to-day psyches of 100 players – a numerical upgrade compared to a year ago when the Patriots had a roster half that size and Weis realistically only worried about the offensive half of that group and even then simply followed the lead of Belichick.
He knows his football team has shown enough potential and production on the offensive, defensive and special teams levels for him to raise his expectations.
He knows the honeymoon ended a few minutes after eight o’clock two Saturdays ago – and that his program now will be judged based on a bottom line. He knows because he’s heard from Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz, among others, that what’s important is putting up Ws.
He knows no matter what happens today, his job tomorrow will be to get up and prepare to prepare his football team all over again.