Notre Dame: Weis Leaves on a Sympathetic Note

Paul Smith - View From the Midwest

Saturday, 05 December 2009 18:32

Michigan City, Ind. — Amid the mixed-reactions of "Don't let the door hit you on the way out," and "Hang in there, you didn't get a fair shake here," former Notre Dame Football Coach Charlie Weis finally spent a few minutes with a small media contingent at a South Bend-area facility for people with special needs largely funded by Weis.

Among those present was the South Bend Tribune's Eric Hansen, arguably the best Notre Dame beat reporter anywhere in more than a generation.

After telling the media he wanted to leave the football program in a better situation, not a worse one, Weis said, "I really want to root for them, not against them. And I want the next coach to be more successful than me."

The university's Office of Residence Life has often been brought up by both student-athlete and other students alike as a major issue with their Notre Dame existence. Weis cited it as the biggest problem on campus in relation to the football program.

"It's not close for second," he told Hansen. "I think if you took a poll of the students at Notre Dame on what's the biggest negative issues, I would bet at least 50 percent of them would say Residence Life...They don't understand the principles of (Notre Dame) du Lac. These are college kids. College kids do what college kids do. I just don't understand why they're ever issues."

Such as off-campus parties in which alcohol is served. They occur from sea to shining see, but Notre Dame's Residence Life office has failed to back its students vs. the local liquor revenuers, unlike corresponding universities elsewhere. It's a bone of contention that has planted deep seeds of discontent on campus.

One final note, Weis on Weis: "Probably the biggest mistake I made that caused this problem was doing '60 Minutes' ," he told Hansen. "The intent of what I felt '60 Minutes' was trying to do, certainly did not work out the way I intended it to work out."

Included were some expletives directed at game officials and other earthy coachly things heard on sidelines across America.

In the end, Weis comes across as a more sympathetic figure than the one who kept the media at arm's length through much of his five years in South Bend. Hansen's expert reporting gave the reading public a window into Weis's personality not easily obtainable.

About Paul Smith

Paul Smith covers the Big Ten, Notre Dame and the rest of the national college football scene with his View From the Midwest.

About Paul Smith

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