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Kansas Jayhawks Head Coach Charlie Weis met with the media on Tuesday for his weekly press conference. Weis had some interesting takes as his team heads to Austin to face the Big 12 Conference leading Texas Longhorns. Quotes/Summaries obtained via KUSports.com
Weis on making changes within his offensive staff: Said it wasn’t difficult. The trick was the timing of it. It’s unusual to make a change like that two or three games into a season. Making a change is always difficult. Weis then went on to compare his situation to the one at Texas where Manny Diaz was replaced by Greg Robinson. Later, Weis stated he is coaching a lot more after he made the offensive staff shuffle a few weeks ago. He’s also allowed to focus more during the game. Weis says you miss a lot of the game when you call the game, because a majority of your interest is trying to prepare for the next series.
Weis on his players attitude headed into the game: KU’s players should feel like they have a chance of winning this year after last year’s close loss to Texas at home. KU came off a butt-kicking last week. Texas has momentum. But just as Brown is showing the UT players game tape to say, ‘Don’t overlook these guys,’ KU’s coaches are showing their own guys the same tape to say, ‘Those are the same guys you had on the ropes.’
Weis on Quarterback Montell Cozart: He has a lot of room for improvement. He got about half of the reps in practice, then he got about half the reps in the game. Weis wanted to make sure both QBs got an opportunity and weren’t looking over their shoulders if they screwed up or had one three-and-out. Every time Cozart gets out there, he’s going to gain valuable experience. He’s going to get better and better, and he’ll be out there a bunch this week.
On the progress of his program: Weis says sometimes you have to not only look at how things are going with your program at the current time, but how they finish. Weis has said all along that KU will be playing its best football at the end of the year. KU has five games to prove that. Baylor just stomped KU, but BU has been stomping a lot of teams. That’s not an excuse; that’s reality. Weis says if his team finishes this year 2-10, it’s going to be hard for Weis argue his team has made progress. Weis liked the way his receivers ran routes last week. He thinks they all played harder and with more definition. That’s not a knock on receivers coach Rob Ianello. Weis thinks part of it is that the main boss (him) was hanging around the receivers more often in practices. The receivers looked improved last week.
Weis on Tony Pierson: There’s nothing medical that’s keeping him from playing. Maybe, Weis says, he is overly concerned. When a kid is out there for three plays and doesn’t get hit and is dizzy, that’s a concern. How hypocritical would you be if you sent a guy out there that is woozy without getting hit, if you’re a coach that says he cares about his players? If you go out there dizzy like that, you play afraid, and you can’t play like that. Pierson will not see the field until he feels like he is healthy and like he won’t get hurt.
Weis on Linebacker Ben Heeney: Said he wanted to play last week. Until Friday, he was trying to get ready to go. The BU game was going to be a game that was played in space. Texas, meanwhile, will try to pound you. The Texas game will suit Heeney better. Giving him the extra rest will suit him well for a gameplan that is going to need him.
