Charlie Weis Brings On Dave Campo To Solve Kansas' Defense

New Kansas Jayhawks coach Charlie Weis has already shown a knack for drawing in offensive talent from elsewhere, picking up Jake Heaps and Dayne Crist, along with former Oklahoma receiver Justin McCay. He's going to need plenty of help on the defensive side of the ball, where the Jayhawks ranked dead last in the country in 2011 (as opposed to ranking only No. 106, as they did on offense).

That duty falls to Dave Campo, newly announced defensive coordinator. You may remember him as the Dallas Cowboys head coach from 2000 until 2002, or perhaps his preceding stint as Cowboys defensive coordinator, or the two terms he filled as Dallas' secondary coach surrounding that period, with a Jaguars secondary coach spell in the midst.

He does have collegiate experience, though other than a two-year run as the Miami Hurricanes secondary coach, it's not all that easy to know what to make of it:

Does a three-year stand at Syracuse in the '80s prepare one to scheme against Oklahoma State and West Virginia? We'll just have to see about that.

For more on the Jayhawks, visit Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk.

Charlie Weis has big plans for the Kansas Jayhawks football program. He intends to make them a perennial winner who is capable of competing for a BCS bid year after year, even after he leaves. He just doesn't plan on sticking around particularly long in order to make sure that happens. During an interview with Kansas City's KCSP, the new Kansas coach made it clear that he plans to leave after five years.

"It’s going to be a quick stop. It’s going to be five years. That’s the quick stop. I’m going to be here for five years, because my wife and I had planned for me to be working at Florida for the next five years and then try to be put in a situation where we can walk away. … What we’re going to do here is we’re going to go try to turn this program into a perennial winning program and then try to have it where one of the guys on this coaching staff takes over."

In the world of college football, five years is actually a reasonably long time. Many coaches are fired or leave on their own well before their initial contract is up. But rarely do you hear coaches essentially put their own expiration date on their tenure.

Just in case you thought Weis' plan was going to be made possible by a fast start, he also made sure to point out that he'll need a "full recruiting cycle" before he can get the program up and running to his specifications. In other words, he would prefer not to be judged until he's been in Kansas for four years. It's a nice thought, to be sure, but keep in mind that Weis went 19-6 and made two BCS bowl games his first two years at Notre Dame before finishing off his five-year stay there by going 16-21 and playing in just one bowl game his final three seasons.

For the full interview, be sure to check out Sports Radio Interviews. For more insight and analysis of the Jayhawks, be sure to check out Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk. 

If* former Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Dayne Crist and former Florida Gators offensive coordinator Charlie Weis have been planning a reunion in Lawrence now that Weis is the Kansas Jayhawks head coach, they did a decent job of saving the surprise.

After rumors that Crist could follow Russell Wilson to the Wisconsin Badgers, along with reports that the Texas Longhorns were an option, this came out:

@PeteThamelNYT Sources: Dayne Crist will visit Kansas for a potential transfer and reunion with Charlie Weis. He leaves tomorrow morning.    

Weis recruited the five-star Crist to Notre Dame in 2008. At the time, he looked to be the next in line behind Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen. Hard to say what he could achieve behind Kansas' offensive line.

* There's no reason to believe they did. I'm just saying.

For more on the hiring and Kansas football, visit Rock Chalk Talk. For the Florida reaction, head over to Alligator Army. And keep an eye on the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker. 

When rumors started spurting forth about Florida Gators offensive coordinator Charlie Weis accepting the Kansas Jayhawks head coaching job, SB Nation's college football team was breaking from its Atlanta meetings. Bud Elliott and I showed Spencer Hall, a devout Florida fan, the rumors at the same time. His reaction was recreated for this photograph -- the original was even more gleeful:

To say this hire is being mocked would be an understatement. Kansas newspapers are calling it desperate, the most sober and considered college football bloggers are about as taken aback as they get, and Florida fans are thrilled. Like, really pretty happy. When the news broke, Twitter exploded in jokes and Notre Dame writers put us all in danger:

@ChiTribHamilton Nearly drove off the road... RT@KUAthletics: KU to introduce Charlie Weis as football coach at press conference Friday; time TBA. 

It takes a lot to be the strangest coaching hire in a season that includes Bob Davie landing a job, but here we are. Oh, and Missouri Tigers fans are pretty happy too. The rest of the Big 12 is pretty amused as well.

But what about KU fans? 

Cautious, mixed reactions, you could say. You'll note both "GODDAMNIT" and a plea for Weis to be judged by more than just his Notre Dame tenure received recommendations from others.

And, yeah, Bobby Bowden can't believe it any more than you can.

For more on the hiring and Kansas football, visit Rock Chalk Talk. For the Florida reaction, head over to Alligator Army. And keep an eye on the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker. 

Charlie Weis' timing was really quite poor for the Florida Gators. After a poor offensive showing in his only year with Florida, Weis abruptly quit and took the Kansas head coaching job. And he did so less than 36 hours before Florida was set to host one of, if not the biggest recruiting weekends it will have in the 2011-2012 recruiting cycle. 

Questions immediately arose regarding how Florida would handle the recruiting weekend without its offensive coordinator, perhaps without its offensive line coach, and with the rest of the offensive staff in limbo:

It could be a hugely detrimental move on Weis' part given that Florida has a big list of offensive recruits visiting campus this weekend. Specifically, No. 1-rated athlete Nelson Agholor (Tampa, FL) is scheduled to visit UF, where he is believed to be leaning. Agholor wants to play receiver at the next level. Without an offensive coordinator, it will be difficult for UF to showcase how it plans to use Agholor. And none of the offensive assistants can be sure that they will be at UF next year, either.

As for Agholor, he appears to be conflicted:

And Derek Tyson, of ESPN, has the scoop on the visit:

It's not known what the other major recruits plan to do. 

I imagine Florida will try to persuade most of the offensive recruits to reschedule. This shouldn't affect the defensive recruits.

For more on Florida Gators recruiting, head to Alligator Army

Recruits are beginning to react to Charlie Weis' abrupt departure from Gainesville. Weis apparently gave no indication to UF or prospective recruits. 

Brian Holt, a Gators recruiting analyst, spoke with Jessamen Dunker, who conveyed his thoughts as well as the thoughts of two other recruits, as well:

Dunker, Pittman and Humphries are three major recruits. It's a good sign for the Gators that they are still firm in this time of uncertainty.

Other recruits have not taken the news quite so well. Schyler Miles, a linebacker out of Tampa's Berkley Prep had this to say:

Now, to be sure, Miles is not a heralded recruit. In fact, he's barely a three-star recruit by most services. Given his other offers (Cincinnati and Iowa State), it's unlikely UF would have offered Miles if he played for any school but Berkley.

But Miles does play for Berkley, and is close with all-world receiver, Nelson Agholor. Agholor was scheduled to visit Florida this coming weekend. It's unsure if he'll make that trip given that UF's offensive staff just up and left. 

For more on the Gators, head over to Alligator Army. For more on Weis' new home, visit Rock Chalk Talk.

Florida Gators head coach Will Muschamp spoke to the media at his scheduled Gator Bowl press conference Thursday on the heels of the announcement that the Kansas Jayhawks had hired his offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, as their new head coach.

According to the Palm Beach Post's Jason Lieser, Muschamp and Weis had indeed discussed the position in the days leading up to the move, refuting an earlier report. 

"Charlie took the Univ. of Kansas job. He informed a couple hours ago. Very happy for him...When you're a coordinator & you have an opportunity to be a head coach, I support you 100%."

Muschamp told reporters that RB coach Brian White will work as the offensive coordinator for the Gator Bowl.

As for hiring Weis' replacement, Muschamp said "We will hire somebody very similar schematically...We will remain a pro-style offense and I will hire the best offensive coordinator in the country."

Muschamp added that he had no timetable on the hire and remained focused on the Gator Bowl against the Ohio St. Buckeyes. 

For more on the hiring and Kansas football, visit Rock Chalk Talk. For the Florida reaction, head over to Alligator Army. And keep an eye on the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker. 

The Kansas Jayhawks have hired Charlie Weis to be their next head football coach and Kansas Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger spoke with ESPN's Joe Schad and said that the hiring "puts Kansas on the national map."

Schad also passed along that "Kansas believes Weis is a football mind with success at the highest level" and mentions that Kansas officials visited Weis in Ocala, FL in order to get the deal done quickly.

The move might sound good on paper given Weis' pedigree, history and the names of the programs he's worked with. However, Weis' tenure at Notre Dame isn't looked at in glowing terms and the 2011 Florida offense was considered one of the weakest in years. Weis is trading more on former glories than with recent success and Kansas is rolling the dice on that as well.

For more on the hiring and Kansas football, visit Rock Chalk Talk. For the Florida reaction, head over to Alligator Army. And keep an eye on the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker. 

The news that Florida Gators offensive coordinator Charlie Weis has been hired as the next head coach of Kansas Jayhawks football is a shock to a lot of people. Including Florida head coach Will Muschamp, apparently.

CBSSports.com's Brett McMurphy reports that Muschamp had no idea that Weis was even interviewing for the position. He also reports that the Florida head coach found out about the news while en route to a Gator Bowl press conference to discuss his team's upcoming game against the Ohio St. Buckeyes.

Edit: Or maybe he did (via Jason Lieser).

According to a source, Weis' contract with Kansas is likely to reward the four-time Super Bowl champion coach richly, perhaps in excess of the over $3 million per year Will Muschamp is making as Florida's head coach.

For more on the hiring and Kansas football, visit Rock Chalk Talk. For the Florida reaction, head over to Alligator Army. And keep an eye on the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker. 

Florida Gators' offensive coordinator and former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis has been hired as the new head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks football team and will be officially introduced at a press conference on Friday, according to the Kansas Athletics Twitterfeed.

Rumors of Weis' hiring began to spread Wednesday, though Auburn Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was considered the front-runner.

Weis will replace Turner Gill, who was fired after going 5-19 record in his two seasons with the Jayhawks.

The 55-year-old coach leaves Florida after one season. The Gators' offense averaged 27.3 points per game and 347.8 yards per game of total offense in 2011, both of which were lower-than-expected numbers. Weis spent the previous season as the offensive coordiantor of the Kansas City Chiefs. And of course, his five-year tenure as the head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was tenuous at best. He finished 35–27 there.

For more on the hiring and Kansas football, visit Rock Chalk Talk. And keep an eye on the 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker. 

Auburn Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn really might end up becoming the Kansas Jayhawks coach. As Charles Goldberg reports, Malzahn has met with KU and is one of the top candidates left on their board. KUSports.com has a list of their own, finding Northern Illinois Huskies coach Dave Doeren more likely.

And, yeah, there are also those Charlie Weis rumors.

The AU assistant was previously supposed to be close to taking the North Carolina Tar Heels job, which ended up going to Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora. Many a Mississippi Rebels fan also wanted him in Oxford. 

If Malzahn is to leave this offseason, that'll leave Gene Chizik with the task of replacing both Ted Roof as defensive coordinator and Malzahn. Malzahn may be somewhat tougher to effectively replace. 

For more on Malzahn's quest, please visit Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk, plus Auburn blog Track Em Tigers. Here's our 2011 Coaching Carousel Tracker.

Auburn Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn has been the popularly reported candidate for the North Carolina Tar Heels job for some time now, but according to ESPN's Joe Schad, you can add the Kansas Jayhawks as contenders for his services.

@schadjoe Auburn OC Gus Malzahn has emerged as a very strong candidate at Kansas and is still a possibility at North Carolina    

There are clear pros and cons to both of those jobs. UNC offers large-school resources and solid recruiting opportunities in a winnable conference, but the NCAA is still about to come crashing down on the Heels. KU would mean the chance to completely re-do a BCS program in the image of Malzahn, but support for football isn't anywhere near as great a priority in Lawrence as it is elsewhere in the Big 12. 

If he turned down the Vanderbilt job, what would make the Kansas gig different?

For more Malzahn's quest, please visit UNC blog Carolina March and Kansas blog Rock Chalk Talk, plus Auburn blog Track Em Tigers.