We have all been there, trying to do two jobs at once. That is exactly Charlie Weis Jr’s life after he was hired this month as offensive coordinator at LSU, but he is also preparing Ole Miss for its quarterfinal matchup on Thursday night in New Orleans against Georgia.
Weis says he is excited about his future at LSU, but also feels blessed having the opportunity to help Ole Miss win a national championship.
“I think I’ve been able to fully pore in and make sure we’ve got the right game plan, and we’ve got the right things to do offensively and still meet with the players on the same sort of schedule,” Weis said.
But once he puts down the Ole Miss playbook for the day, he hits the phone and does his LSU duties.
“At nighttime, just got to be able to flip the job. Do some recruiting stuff on the other side with LSU. So, it has been strange, but no, I don’t feel like it’s been a distraction at all.”
Weis Jr is 32 years old, and he’s the son of Charlie Weis Sr, who won three Super Bowls as the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots. Weis Sr. was also the head coach at Notre Dame and Kansas.
Weis Sr. was a vital component to the start of the Patriots' dynasty. He mentored a young Tom Brady and was the offensive play caller.
Weis Jr. looks up to his dad, but he’s been following Kiffin from school-to-school since Kiffin’s days as offensive coordinator at Alabama, and calls Lane the best offensive mind he’s ever been around.
“I owe a lot to Coach Kiffin and the things he’s given to me in my career, giving me opportunities to come here to Ole Miss and Alabama, and so we just have a really good relationship, and we work really well with each other, and we have a system that works.”
There are many people who believe Kiffin is the play-caller. That’s not the case; Weis Jr has been calling plays for several seasons under Kiffin since their time together at Florida Atlantic.
“Kiffin is extremely involved in the process, a lot of that is before the series; he just has such an unbelievable feel for the game too, he sees something or recognizes something, hey Charlie, get to this, so it’s certainly a collaborative effort for sure,” Weis Jr said.
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Win or lose on Thursday night against Georgia, Weis Jr will be involved in finding the next starting quarterback, as it will most likely be a player who enters the transfer portal on January 2nd.
At Sugar Bowl Media Day on Tuesday, Weis talked about the qualities they look for in a quarterback.
It starts with leadership skills.
“In the SEC, you are going to be in some battles, so having a guy that the players want to play for and want to play with is extremely important to me,” Weis Jr said.
He said the last two significant starting quarterbacks for Ole Miss possessed the leadership quality: Trinidad Chambliss and Jaxson Dart.
Weis Jr said intelligence is another important quality.
“Having a good football mind, being able to pick up all of the pieces of the system, be able to think of us, to be on the same wavelength,” Weis Jr.
But Weis Jr. also pointed out that the offensive system can also adjust to the skills of the quarterback.
“One of the cool things about coach Kiffin throughout his career is we’ve always molded the system to the quarterback, and not the other way around,” Weis Jr said.
It will be fascinating to see the Kiffin-Weis offense go to work in Tiger Stadium. It has been a system that has worked at FAU and Ole Miss, and it should also do special things at LSU.