Weis Has "No Excuses"

Charlie Weis once thought he knew all the answers. Imagine that. Now, of course, he knows better, although an image of know-it-all arrogance remains.

Still, it the late 1970s, Weis seemed the embodiment of all that was wrong with youth. His passion was Notre Dame football and as a student he felt it was his duty to inform the knuckleheads in the administration what was wrong with Irish football.

So one Sunday after a Notre Dame loss, Weis called the office of university president Rev. Theodore Hesburgh. The idea was to leave an anonymous message about the football team’s ills. Hesburgh surprised Weis by answering the phone, then inviting him to his office to chat about it.

Weis, not realizing what he was in for, accepted the invitation. Hesburgh set him straight as only a powerful, intimidating man could when matched against what was, in essence, some punk kid.

“I got called out,” Weis said. “It was the most humiliating experience of my life. Father Hesburgh had an aura about him. He could look at you and make you crumble.”

Weis crumbled then, writes about it now in his autobiography, “No Excuses.” A portion of the proceeds will support Hannah and Friends, the Weis family organization which supports children affected by developmental disorders.

Reading it won’t give you all you might want to know about Weis, his life and Notre Dame, but then that was never the point. For more, check out this South Bend Tribune column.