Charlie Weis on the passing game: "We are who we are"

[travisduncan]

Gators offensive coordinator Charlie Weis after practice Tuesday

There has been quite a bit of discussion here on Gator Envy regarding the ability of John Brantley and the Gators offense to get "vertical".

Getting vertical we imagine is important if other SEC teams figure out that you actually have to keep an eye on players like on Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps or they figure out a way to stop them from reeling big gains and TDs

We imagine at that point, Brantley will be foreced to pass down the field.

Weis' was asked about that subject after practice Tuesday.

"You have to understand," Weis explained. " "Years ago I learned from [Bill] Parcells. 'You are who you are'".

"Everyone wants you to do something that is not within the personality of your team. We’ve established a personality of our team. There will be games that come up that way. But you know for now you just have to take them one game at a time. We're just trying to worry about how to attack Kentucky."

The Gator receiving corp of Quinton Dunbar, Andre Debose, Deonte Thompson and Frankie Hammond have yet to catch a touchdown. Weis admitted that there will be opportunities as the season goes on for those players as the opportunity presents itself.

Weis says "he doesn't think it would be a problem" if defenses start taking away the underneath game.

Here's how the receiving numbers breakdown:

Rainey 11 catches 214 yards two touchdowns.

Demps 8 catches 68 yards.

Thompson 7 catches 93 yards.

Dunbar 5 catches 83 yards.

Debose 5 catches 64 yards.

Trey Burton 5 catches 49 yards.

Jordan Reed 4 catches 47 yards. S

Solomon Patton 3 catches 35 yards.

Hammond 2 catches 27 yards.

Gerald Christian 2 catches 16 yards.

Weis also commented that he's really not that happy with what the Gators have done thus far offensively. Do you believe him?

"Actually I'm pretty disappointed. Am I content that we have been able to move the ball pretty consistently? Yes. But I think anyone who really is meticulous in their preparation at this stage of the seasons finds a lot of faults. I think we can get a lot better than where we are."

"3rd-down we're 31-percent. I had to throw a play-action on the goaline to get it in. Then we had to go for it on 4th down to get it in, so I am not too fired up about that. Fumbled the ball one time, turnoveres not very happy about that. Got the ball back with 4 and a half minutes to go with a chance to run it out, we didn't do that, not very happy about that. We get the ball at the end of the game we have to be smarter situationally, not running out of bounds, not very happy about that. Seven penalites? Sign me up for not being not very happy about that "

He finalized it with "Trust me I have plenty of things to be miserable about."

 

[DRU2012]

As I've commented elsewhere here, this is all to the good. I MUCH prefer a candid, realistic assessment of what everyone (coaches, players AND fans--though I understand that we miss a lot of the nuances--some more than others!) can see, to the kind of defensive, man-the-ramparts resistance and denial we sometimes got from the Meyer staff the last couple of seasons. "We won, didn't we?" doesn't address the failings that will catch up to you, sooner or later. In the end, it'll be results, how they react and perform in response to whatever moves, changes and extra work that is imposed on them this week that will make the difference, by which the team will be judged.
So, we "wait and see": as Weis implies, each game is its own test, has its own lessons to teach--and this next one will tell us a lot about where we're headed, and how much "fixing" can be accomplished along the way, before heading into the gauntlet of the October schedule.

 

[totenkopf13]

Yeah Dru, the gauntlet. The true mettle of this team will be tested one week from Saturday. I hope for the the best. I am interested to see if they show some new "wrinkles" with the offense this week in preparation for the month of October.

 

[travisduncan]

As I've commented elsewhere here, this is all to the good. I MUCH prefer a candid, realistic assessment of what everyone (coaches, players AND fans--though I understand that we miss a lot of the nuances--some more than others!) can see, to the kind of defensive, man-the-ramparts resistance and denial we sometimes got from the Meyer staff the last couple of seasons. "We won, didn't we?" doesn't address the failings that will catch up to you, sooner or later. In the end, it'll be results, how they react and perform in response to whatever moves, changes and extra work that is imposed on them this week that will make the difference, by which the team will be judged.
So, we "wait and see": as Weis implies, each game is its own test, has its own lessons to teach--and this next one will tell us a lot about where we're headed, and how much "fixing" can be accomplished along the way, before heading into the gauntlet of the October schedule.

I definitely prefer Charlies Weis' candor to most coaches in College Football...he was like that at Notre Dame even as a head coach. I've always said he's too much of regular guy to put up with the non-sense that a major FBS head coach has to deal with and Charlie doesn't want to, which is part of the reason he was booted out at ND.

 

[DRU2012]

I definitely prefer Charlies Weis' candor to most coaches in College Football...he was like that at Notre Dame even as a head coach. I've always said he's too much of regular guy to put up with the non-sense that a major FBS head coach has to deal with and Charlie doesn't want to, which is part of the reason he was booted out at ND.

...and why we have him here now--that and a slew of other reasons, both personal and situational, surround the good fortune that made this an attractive situation, and ultimately brought him here (it IS horse-country, it CAN be a quiet, rural oasis close-by, it HAS a family atmosphere, especially compared to the NFL, his last stop--and money alone wasn't his only consideration).
For all the talk about Weis "using this as a stepping stone" back to something else, I just don't think he NEEDED such a thing, and with all his external financial considerations nicely settled and his family happy and apparently REALLY content here now, I think he's being sincere when he says he LIKES his current arrangement, ISN'T casting a wandering eye about for another "Big Opportunity", and that we may very well have him here for a while. This may about to be a historically successful collaboration between he and Muschamp, and WE may be about to embark on an amazing period of over-the-top excitement and unprecedented (and yes, I know what I am suggesting when I use that word) success here at UF.

 

[CaliZona_Gator]

Yes, it is nice to hear Weis giving it to us straight. And I do hope he stays here. I think too many coaches jump from coordinator to head coach at another school. Sometimes the coordinator job is a lot better.

At Florida, Weis is still making plenty of money. Plus there is less pressure. You don't have to worry about a whole team, and your name usually isn't the one getting blasted in the media Here's to hoping the Muschamp/Weis team stay here for a while.... and are highly successful!

 

[DRU2012]

(In addition to everything else here at UF, where he's being paid more than any OC has EVER been paid, he continues to be paid by Notre Dame, I believe--who unless I'm mistaken still owe him $6 million payable over the next few years...yeah, all in all, life is GOOD...)

 

[travisduncan]

(In addition to everything else here at UF, where he's being paid more than any OC has EVER been paid, he continues to be paid by Notre Dame, I believe--who unless I'm mistaken still owe him $6 million payable over the next few years...yeah, all in all, life is GOOD...)

also Brian Kelly isn't doing much better than Weis did, hard to win with that schedule..but ND loss is UF gain.

 

[CaliZona_Gator]

Damn, ND can fire me any day.