Monday, November 10, 2008

Nobody at the Wheel | by Jay

One curio from the Sunday presser.

Q. Do you know what you want to do right now as far as offense is concerned?

COACH WEIS: No, I'll know after I talk to the staff. It won't take me until Tuesday to figure out what I'm going to do is what I'm saying. I don't have etched in stone what I'm going to do at this point. If I'm going to be more involved with game planning and play calling, those type of things, I have to be involved tomorrow. That's not something I can decide on Tuesday because you'd have to be in all the meetings and -- you have to be in all the meetings and the installation and implementation and all those other things. But I'm saying right now it would be a bit premature. I think that we have a ways to go.
Well, I guess this answers one lingering question from the preseason. In case you were wondering whether Charlie would ever really, truly delegate the offensive planning and playcalling to Haywood, this seems to answer that: he actually did turn over a large measure of control to his titular offensive coordinator. I was wondering how much control Haywood actually had; by Charlie's description, it seems to have been substantial.

I think if Charlie is going to come through this storm, he's going to need a stronger hand at the offensive wheel: someone he can delegate to, someone he won't have to worry about, and someone he won't have to take over for nine games into a season.