Te’o fiasco reveals KU football coach Charlie Weis’ true character

By Matt Tait     Jan 29, 2013

Did you hear what Kansas University football coach Charlie Weis had to say about the whole Manti Te’o mess?

Well, in case you missed it, here are Weis’ comments:

“———-“

During the past couple of weeks, as the story about the Notre Dame linebacker and his relationship with a girlfriend who not only did not exist but also never actually died, spiraled into more strange territory by the minute, Weis has kept his name out of the circus.

It would’ve been real easy for the second-year KU coach to get involved. He knew Te’o well, recruited him to Notre Dame and developed a strong bond with his immediate family. With the Te’o story landing in places such as Good Morning America, CNN, and, of course, every sports blog and web site on the planet, Weis’ name and perhaps even his current employer would have been plastered all over the place for days, perhaps even weeks, as the story grew into one of the most unreal, unbelievable and, frankly, uncomfortable stories in recent memory.

But rather than capitalize on the chance to jump back into the limelight for a while, Weis passed. At least publicly.

I’ve talked to more than one person with knowledge of the fact that Te’o has reached out to Weis for advice multiple times during the past couple of weeks.

To Weis’ credit, he has taken and returned Te’o’s calls and done everything he can to help the young man navigate his way through a tough situation. Even more to his credit, Weis hasn’t called a press conference to tell the whole world about it.

Weis handled things the same way during the 2012 season when Notre Dame, and a roster that included several players Weis recruited, raced to an undefeated season and a berth in the national championship game. Weis did release a statement saying how happy he was for those players and the school, but did not take it further than that, despite the fact that he received dozens of requests for interviews on a weekly basis throughout various parts of the season.

I can only imagine who has asked and how many times they’ve called to get Weis’ take on the Te’o fiasco.

After the initial flurry, I asked KU officials if Weis would be making any comments on the situation and was told that he would not because he wanted to be respectful of the fact that this is about Te’o and not about him.

It’s refreshing to see a coach who is willing to lie low in today’s world where coaches so often — too often? — jump at the chance to put a microphone in front of their face to gain visibility for their program and feed their own egos.

It would’ve been easy for Weis to do that, especially right now during this crucial time in recruiting. But he didn’t. And I don’t expect he ever will.

PREV POST

How former Jayhawks fared in Jan. 28 NBA games

NEXT POST

41894Te’o fiasco reveals KU football coach Charlie Weis’ true character

Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.