While Charlie Weis isn't likely to be in the running for any college head coaching jobs in the near future, he will be hotly pursued by NFL teams looking to tap into the offensive mind that helped the Patriots to three titles. According to a report in the New York Post, that doesn't include the Jets or Giants. That doesn't make much sense, particularly in the case of the Giants.
The Jets' infatuation with Brian Schottenheimer is well documented, but the results don't really back up the ardor from the front office. His approach has been overly convoluted at times, and he clearly overloaded Mark Sanchez early in his rookie season. Weis developed Tom Brady, which is a feather in his cap, but there are still reasons why it wouldn't work. Changing schemes might do more harm than good for Sanchez at this point and the thought of Weis and Rex Ryan wrestling over the microphone and takeout menus is more amusing than it is beneficial to the Jets.
But the Giants should be more open to the idea of Weis, at the very least. In many ways, we're seeing the last throes of the team that won the Super Bowl this season. However the final five weeks play out, the Giants will need to make changes to the roster because players have gotten old and worn down. The offensive line is high on the list of areas needing renovation, and the changes might not wind up being directly compatible with the way the Giants have done things under Tom Coughlin and Kevin Gilbride to date.
That approach also isn't particularly compatible with the quarterback they now have running the offense. Eli Manning doesn't need to be carried by his running game the way that he did when the Giants went to the Super Bowl two years ago and, given Brandon Jacobs's sudden decline, that probably isn't even an option for the team any longer. Part of the reason it's been hard to watch the Giants this year has been the way they keep acting like nothing is wrong when it is clear to everyone watching that what they're doing isn't working.
According to the Post, the biggest problem the Giants have with Weis is that "Coughlin is very concerned about the chemistry of his staff, and Weis's outsized ego would not be a good fit." He's certainly got an ego, but the chemistry concern seems like a pretty silly one since Coughlin's in charge of creating his staff and making sure they all get along. It's his team and those who don't like it need not make long-term plans.
Ultimately, the biggest problem with Weis to the Giants is that he isn't a defensive mind. Gilbride and the offense, in total, aren't close to the reason why the Giants have hit the skids. Bill Sheridan doesn't seem likely to make it to a second year as defensive coordinator and there are a lot more holes that need patching on that side of the ball to make tweaking the offense the first order of business.
It should be an order of business, however, whether or not Weis is part of the solution.
Sports
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
