Don’t expect to see Charlie Weis back on the sideline any time soon. In fact, Weis – the former Notre Dame head coach who was fired at Kansas in September – says his coaching career may be over.
“I think it’s highly doubtful that I will ever coach again,” Weis told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune.
Weis went 6-22 at Kansas in a tenure that lasted less than three seasons. Before that, he was fired in 2009 after going 35-27 in five up-and-down seasons at Notre Dame.
Though he had several NFL assistant offers on the table, Weis says those opportunities weren’t a good fit for him. Plus, Weis now has the chance to devote his attention to his Hannah & Friends charity, which is based in South Bend and raises funds for children with special needs. The charity is named after Weis’ 19-year-old daughter, Hannah, who was diagnosed with global developmental delays when she was young. He’ll also help raise funds for other special needs organizations.
“One of the things people thought, when I left Notre Dame, ‘Well that’s it for Hannah and Friends,' that we were just going to bail out of here,” Weis said. “We’re completely the opposite of what those thoughts are. We’re totally committed. My daughter is already taken care of. She’s all set. We just think we can do a lot more.”
Though his coaching career ended on a sour note at Kansas, Weis isn’t concerned with the way his career will be perceived over time.
“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?’ Again if the right fit was there, I would have coached a little longer. But it wasn’t, so why not go do some good. What good are you doing if you stay on coaching at this point? The only one you’re doing any good for is yourself.”
One aspect of coaching Weis won’t miss is the attention it brings.
“Some of the way I was portrayed was my own fault,” Weis said. “Before you start blaming other people, some of it’s your own fault. But I think that my perception of arrogance and obnoxiousness and all those other things that people have said, when they actually meet you, nine times out of 10, they tell you, ‘You’re not that guy.’”
Though he admitted he wishes he “could have lasted longer” at his coaching stops, Weis carries no ill will toward Notre Dame or Kansas.
“I’m not mad at Notre Dame and I’m not mad at Kansas,” he said. “I don’t have one regret about leaving the NFL to take the Notre Dame job. I just wish I could have lasted longer.”
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