Will Quinn and Weis be singing the Peaches & Herb classic "Reunited" next season? (Elsa/Getty Images)
The writing was on the wall for weeks but now it’s official: Notre Dame has fired Head Coach Charlie Weis after five seasons with the Irish. During the press conference, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick dropped hints that Weis would have success again in the NFL as an offensive coordinator and that he would be “adding more Super Bowl rings to the ones he already has.”
So it seems like a foregone conclusion he’ll be back in the NFL; could it be as the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns?
The obvious connection is Weis’ relationship with former Notre Dame Quarterback and current Cleveland heart-throb Brady Quinn. It was a fantastic combo in South Bend; Quinn led the Irish to their most successful two seasons during Weis’ tenure. Simple, dumb logic seems to say this is a perfect match for the Browns. Weis has a history of developing an offense around young, up-and-coming quarterbacks (Tom Brady, Brady Quinn, and now Jimmy Clausen). Right now under rookie coordinator Brain Daboll, the Browns offense has all the excitement of a Saturday night in Brunswick.
But before we go putting Weis’ name on the office door, there are some problems with the idea. First, beyond the chance to coach a former player again, why would he even want the job? It goes without saying that the Browns are an absolute mess right now. Luring top-tier football minds to Cleveland will not be an easy sell for owner Randy Lerner. Talk of hiring Mike Holmgren as the next General Manager has already cooled now that the GM job in Seattle appears to be opening up soon.
And do we really know if Brady Quinn is the quarterback of the future for the Browns? Without a commitment to Quinn, it seems foolish to hire his former coach to bring him along. Mangini appears to be satisfied with playing whichever QB will make the least mistakes and then go looking for his quarterback during this offseason.
Plus, should the Browns even be talking about adding a coordinator without the next GM in place? Lerner has a history of hiring coaches before GMs, and that hasn’t exactly worked out for the team. Continuing to make the same mistake over and over is a clear sign of insanity.
But the biggest obstacle to making this happen is Eric Mangini. Weis and Mangini coached together in New England from 2000 to 2004; Mangini was the defensive backs coach during this time before rising to defensive coordinator in 2005. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King writes that these two are not exactly on the best of terms, and with Mangini’s recent history of burning bridges with former coaches and friends, I tend to believe him. Calling out his former boss Bill Belichick for Spygate, turning his back on former Browns GM and friend George Kokinis, and accusing former associate turned Lions Head Coach Jim Schwartz of cheating, are all indications that Mangini is not an easy guy to get along with. After serving as a head coach for a major program like Notre Dame, I can’t see Weis being all that thrilled about a demotion to a bottom-feeder NFL team with a megalomaniac as a boss.
If Lerner can make some decisive decisions in the next few weeks, namely hiring a GM, this might actually have an outside shot of happening. The talking heads on ESPN named Cleveland as the obvious choice for a Weis landing. But if what Peter King has alluded to is true, this has ZERO chance of taking place while Mangini is in charge.
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