Former Kansas University football coach Charlie Weis, who was hired by KU in 2011 and fired four games into his third season with the Jayhawks in 2014, may be hanging up his whistle for good.
“I think it’s highly doubtful that I will ever coach again,” the 58-year-old Weis said in a recent interview with Eric Hansen of the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune.
Whether Weis’ hunch comes true remains to be seen. But Weis always has said that he could see himself coaching again if the fit were right. However, after he left Lawrence last fall, many people, including Weis himself, believed at least part of the requirement for the right fit would be a job in professional football. His name was linked to several offensive coordinator openings in the NFL this winter, but nothing materialized.
During his eight seasons as a college head coach — five at Notre Dame from 2005-09 and parts of three at Kansas from 2012-14 — Weis racked up an overall record of 41-49. That included nine-win and 10-win seasons at Notre Dame in 2005 and 2006 and two BCS bowl appearances. However, after his initial success, Weis never again won more than seven games in a single season and went just 6-22 in his two-plus seasons at KU.
The former New England Patriots offensive coordinator and owner of four Super Bowl rings who will open the year out of coaching for the first time since 1978, told Hansen he wished his head coaching career had gone as well as his time as an assistant.
“Would you like the last thing people remember you by in coaching as being great and walking out on top? Of course, you’d like that.” Weis said. “But, realistically, if you’re not a hypocrite about the things that are really important to you, why just go take a job in the NFL just so people will say, ‘Well, you went out with a better taste?'”
Weis, who is still being paid by both Notre Dame and Kansas, told Hansen he planned to dive head-first into more philanthropic work, some of which will aid the Hannah & Friends foundation he started with his wife Maura, and some that will benefit new organizations.
Regardless of the way things have played out, if Weis has reached the end of the road on his coaching career, the New Jersey native harbors no ill will or regrets.
“I’m not mad at Notre Dame and I’m not mad at Kansas,” he told Hansen. “I just wish I could have lasted longer.”
While Charlie Weis Sr., may have run his last practice, Charlie Weis Jr., who served as a team manager at KU, may be just getting started with his coaching career. According to the article, Weis Jr., finished up his online classes for graduation just this week and may be close to landing a job as a college graduate assistant or in an entry-level role with an NFL team.