What’s the Matter with Kansas?
By Charlie Weis? Srsly?
To refresh recollections, Weis, who had zero college coaching experience and no head coaching experience of any kind, got hired by Notre Dame on the basis of his ability to put together mediocre NFL offenses while burdened with Tom Brady as his quarterback. At ND he had a couple of good seasons with Ty Willingham’s players then proceeded to do a spectacular face plant on the field over the next three, while off it alienating everyone connected with the program with his tactlessness and arrogance — a combination which inspired ND to spend 2/3rds of the money in the world to get rid of him, after they had imprudently signed him to a ten-year extension seven games into his head coaching career.
After a one-year stint back in the NFL as KC’s offensive coordinator, he took the same position with Florida and proceeded to put together the 102nd best offense in Division I college football (out of 119 teams). This earned him a three million dollar per year contract with the hapless Jayhawks.
In short it would be difficult to come up with a worse hire if you were trying. Of course this is a school that fired a guy one year after he took a perennially hopeless program to the Orange Bowl, then turned around and fired his successor two years later while owing him six million dollars in buyout money.
Best Twitter line so far.
UPDATE [SL]: The analysis of Paul’s fellow UM alum Jon Chait remains definitive. Also, I’m pretty sure the Internet Constitution requires us to post this book cover:
UPDATE 2 [EL]: Bobby Bowden on the hiring of Weis: “You got to be kidding me. He’s going to be the head coach?”