Early Questions Facing A Charlie Weis Led Kansas Football Program

We're officially in day five of the Charlie Weis era. Last Thursday night the new head coach cruised in on a private jet with Sheahon Zenger to the airport and Lawrence and from that point on Kansas football fans have been talking about the hire, the track record for Weis and what he brings to the table as the new head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks.

Now that those things are settling in we're starting to get into the next set of questions related to the early portions of the Weis tenure and those are questions relating back to the program and the state of the program.

Coaching Staff

There have been supporters and detractors since the hiring of Weis. But both sides do seem to agree on one thing and that is the importance of the staff. Weis himself has acknowledged that the handling of his staff was something he felt he perhaps mismanaged during his time in South Bend and one of the things that led to his ultimate undoing at Notre Dame.

With that level of candidness Kansas fans are hoping he has learned from that misstep and in a world where patience is at a premium, we're waiting to hear about the hire(s). Based on some of the early chatter it appears that we will begin to hear some of the future staff's information leak as early as today.

Based on the timeline mentioned by Weis during his introductory presser the hiring process is something that could trickle into Wednesday or perhaps even Thursday. More than likely though it does sound like we'll have the beginnings of the staff put in place this week and those announcements will lead to another round of evaluating Weis and the state of Kansas football.

Recruiting

Obviously the big early news was the visit from Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist. Crist appears set on visiting Delaware and Wisconsin before making a decision and most of the Jayhawk nation has their fingers crossed that Weis can land Crist for the second time.

Elsewhere you have reaction from the current Kansas commits ranging from firming up their commitment to jumping ship altogether. At this point Weis has one week left before we enter a down period and then things will pick back up in January.

Early on Weis has put out a few offers, but it does seem that the majority of his recruiting will need to come in January. Once Weis has had a chance to evaluate the current offers, evaluate current players, determine new offers and send his newly placed staff on the trail it is going to have to be busy in the month of January as Weis attempts to put together a solid group under less than ideal circumstances.

One thing is certain and that is that you can expect more current commitments to change their pledge and the class size, look and feel will most certainly be quite different than what we might have been looking at with Turner Gill.

Current Jayhawks

This is going to be an interesting area to follow. Weis said he expects 10-15 departures due to attrition. That's a pretty big number when you compare it to Turner Gill's time, but that isn't really a number that is all that out of whack.

It also depends how we get to that number. Are we talking 15 guys just don't show up in January? Are we talking five in January, three after spring ball and another four over the summer? The reason for the attrition and how the attrition happens can make it feel like doomsday or it can be the 'right decision' for both parties involved.

Weis will obviously be evaluating what he currently has on the team. Based on the system and staff he chooses to run there are going to be changes. When all is said and done Zenger and Weis are here to change the culture and that seems to mean discipline and hard work first and foremost. If someone isn't prepared or interested in that, then it is probably in everyone's best interest to part ways.

By the same token not every departure is going to be under these circumstances. Some players might just feel that there best chance to play football at the collegiate level is elsewhere, under a different coach and in a different system. More power to them. The point is, we're going to see changes. Some will seem unimportant while others will sting a bit. What Weis does once the dust settles is what's important.

This is what we're watching in the coming weeks and over the upcoming month and half as we begin anew. Another offseason spent regrouping from a coaching change under less than ideal circumstances. It's going interesting to see what takes shape and fun to check in come Spring time and see what changes have occurred.