Patriots assistant accepts Irish job

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Charlie Weis was hired Sunday night to coach football at Notre Dame, the school the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator graduated from and where this season's 6-5 record led to the firing of Tyrone Willingham.

Weis agreed to a six-year deal that will pay him a reported $2 million per year. His hiring ended an embarrassing two-week search by the Fighting Irish to find a coach for perhaps the most storied program in the nation.

The 48-year-old Weis arrived at the school Sunday night just hours after the Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Foxboro, Mass. Within an hour, he was off to meet with players.

"Here's what we have to do. I believe there is a proper protocol, and right now, the most important thing is that I go talk to the players," Weis said. "So, tomorrow is our time for the press conference ... Let's do it tomorrow."

The players met with Weis for about 30 minutes and seemed excited about their new coach.

"It's nice to have a little bit of closure and know we have a coach and know what kind of system we're going to have next year," offensive guard Bob Morton said. "It's a good night for Notre Dame."

Morton said Weis told the players he'll be around as much as possible, but would be staying with the Patriots through the playoffs.

"He's a great man. He's a no-nonsense kind of guy, like they say he is," senior offensive guard Dan Stevenson said. "It seems like he's going to be a lot of fun."

In Foxboro after the Super Bowl champions' 35-28 win, quarterback Tom Brady told CBS, "Even though he's leaving I think everyone's going to enjoy these last few games and hopefully we send him out the right way."

Weis will attempt to restore Notre Dame to the powerhouse program it was when he attended the university as an undergraduate while Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine coached the Fighting Irish. Weis never played for Notre Dame, and graduated in 1978.

The door for him to return to Notre Dame opened after Willingham was fired on Nov. 30 with a 21-15 record over three years. Utah coach Urban Meyer, considered by many a lock to replace Willingham, instead accepted the job at Florida.

Willingham, who coached at Stanford before going to South Bend, returned to the Pac-10 by accepting the job at Washington on Sunday night.

Weis has been the Patriots' offensive coordinator for the last five seasons, including two Super Bowl championships.

He has occasionally been considered for NFL head coaching jobs. But an NFL rule prohibits assistants from being hired while their teams are in the playoffs, and the Patriots' long playoff runs have hindered his attempt at a promotion.

The New York Giants and Buffalo Bills interviewed Weis, but with New England improving to 12-1 on Sunday they might have to wait until after the Feb. 6 Super Bowl to hire him.

Weis nearly died in the summer of 2002 from complications of gastric bypass surgery, commonly known as stomach stapling. The coach said one of the reasons he underwent the procedure was to make himself more marketable to teams looking for a head coach.

He was forced to get around on a motorized chair but has since returned to full duty. His stock has risen with the Patriots' success as they won two Super Bowls in the past three years.

Weis is the first Notre Dame alumni to coach the Irish since Hugh Devore was interim coach in 1963. Devore replaced Joe Kuharich, who was from South Bend and a Notre Dame grad. Parseghian, who became coach in 1964, was the first Irish coach in 45 years who had not played for Notre Dame.

He taught and coached high school in New Jersey from 1979-84 before taking an assistant's job at South Carolina for four seasons. He returned to coaching at the high school level for one year before joining the Giants pro personnel department in 1989.

Weis was hired by the Giants as defensive assistant and assistant special teams coach in 1990, earning his first Super Bowl ring. When Ray Handley was named coach of the Giants in 1991, he named Weis running backs coach.

Weis worked for the Patriots from 1993-96, coaching tight ends, running backs and wide receivers. In 1997, Weis was hired by New York Jets coach Bill Parcells, who asked former New York Giants offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt to groom Weis as the Jets' offensive coordinator. In 1998, he was named Jets offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach.

He is credited with helping to develop Brady, tight end Ben Coates, running back Curtis Martin, wide receiver Terry Glenn and former Notre Dame receiver David Givens.

Along with Weis, the Irish focused on Weis, Bills offensive coordinator and former Irish quarterback Tom Clements and Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache, a former Irish assistant.

ESPN reported that Weis has agreed to a deal worth about $2 million a year.