Claiming the coaching fraternity “wouldn’t mind at all if Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis gets knocked down a rung or two by Penn State on Saturday, even right out of the national-title race,”, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mike Jensen explores the antipathy the Fighting Irish’s coach has inspired amongst his peers.

In every profession there is jealousy. But think about all the guys out there working with zero chance at taking over a fully loaded team at a place like Notre Dame for their first head coaching job – and then getting a lucrative 10-year extension seven games into the first year, as Weis did.

They’re not exactly rooting for Weis to take it to the house in Year Two.

And it’s not like Weis has come into college football sounding humble. He doesn’t claim to have invented the game. It’s more like he’s on the phone all the time with the guys who did.

Local writer Michael Bradley, always on the college football beat, added this tidbit in his CBS SportsLine column recently: “Reports from the off-season clinic circuit painted Weis as aloof and arrogant. And those were the nice descriptions. He deigned to provide insights into his coaching philosophies but wasn’t too willing to mingle with the Little People.”

That’s the way he can come off. The former New England Patriots offensive coordinator knows that it doesn’t get much higher than calling plays in Super Bowls. Weis knows his stuff, has the NFL championship rings to prove it, and doesn’t mind if you know it.

The New York Post’s Tim Sullivan
picks the Buckeye trio of Troy Smith, Antonio Pittman and Ted “Jealous Again” Ginn to run riot against Texas Saturday night. Following Tarrell Brown’s suspension, the Fort-Worth Star Telegram’s Jimmy Burch reports the Longhorns have no shortage of available cornerbacks, all of whom are perfectly qualified to get burned by Ginn repeatedly.