As noted by Gopher86, the Bill Callahan similarity is striking. Not cool.

Sorry for the negativity. I just want our expectations to be in the right place.

1.) Graduated from midwestern school Illinois (ND).

2.) 7 years as OL and OC coach in NCAA (4 in NCAA, 6 in HS).

3.) Moved on as OL, OC, and HC in NFL during 8 seasons (offensive assistant and OC for 9 seasons - never a HC, though).

4.) After his short leash with the Raiders was yanked, he went to a heralded coaching job at Nebraska (at least Weis wasn't fired before going to ND).

5.) He introduced the west coast offense, a system unfamiliar to most college players and recruits (NFL pro-style is not as unfamiliar, yet it is certainly foreign to most amateur players and programs - Harbaugh made it work at Stanford).

6.) 2 good seasons, 2 bad (2 good, 2 bad, 1 ok)

7.) Produced a star QB--Zac Taylor--but couldn't get the offense or defense to sustain success (Brady Quinn, Jimmy Clausen (sort of)).

8.) Sports Illustrated named Callahan as the worst coaching hire of the decade in college football (at least Weis doesn't exactly have big shoes to fill, from that standpoint).

Now for the good news. Weis actually was better at ND than Callahan was at NU. He took a good team and made it very good for 2 seasons, something Callahan never did (have a very good team, that is). Callahan brought in green coaches to be his OC and DC - let's hope Weis isn't foolhardy enough to do the same.