The New Gold Standard: Charlie Weis and Notre Dame's Rise to Glory

By Tim Prister

Book Overview

From the most storied school in college football history . . .The Gold Standard -- abandoned by most of the world in the 1930s -- has been an article of faith in South Bend, Indiana, for almost a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933060204
• ISBN13: 9781933060200
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: ESPN Books
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Perfect Timing

This is one of the best works of fiction in the twenty-first century. Hats off to Charlie Weis, the Notre Dame football team and entire Southbend community!

Notre Dame Fans -- purchase away!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Mr. Brilliant just ended a 43 year winning streak over the Midshipmen. . . SUCH a genius!

Tim Prister knows Notre Dame

If you are a fan of ND or an aspiring coach, then this book is a great read. There is no doubt that Charlie Weis has had a tremendously successful career in coaching, mostly in the NFL, and this story relates how he is attempting to transpose this formula of success to a program in dire need of it. The "return to glory" portion of the title is a little too presumptuous for me, but setting that aside, there is a lot of meat here. ND is the most storied program in college football, at or near the top in wins, winning percentage, all-americans, Heisman winners, and national championships. Mired in mediocrity for over a decade, Charlie had his work cut out for him when he got the job at ND - even more so since he was commandeering the Patriot's offense toward another Superbowl win. The book goes into depth about building a staff, recruiting, dealing with academics, time management, football knowledge, people skills, and almost anything else a head coach has to know to be successful. While ND has some great players that will get attention in the NFL draft this April, there are still considerable holes on the team willed to Weis from his predecessors. The past few recruiting cycles have brought in few offensive or defensive linemen, few linebackers, and a secondary filled with converted offensive players. That Charlie Weis managed to take this team to 2 consecutive BCS games is a major accomplishment. Sure, both times they were wiped by teams with much greater talent, but what's the phrase, "Rome wasn't built in a day?" You have to admit his marvelous accomplishments given that just before he arrived the Fighting Irish were losing to programs like Pitt, Syracuse and Purdue. Given this mess of a program, the Irish have indeed found "glory" with Charlie Weis, who is also turning things around with regular top 10 recruiting classes. Again, good read for ND fans or those interested in coaching. An easy read chock full of useful information.

Irish Football: In a class by itself!

As you can tell the other review did not focus on the book! It was an opinion about Irish football. This is a well written book that all sport fans can enjoy.