Charlie Weis was the New England Patriots offensive coordinator from 2000-2004 before taking the Notre Dame head coaching gig. His five years in Foxboro put him right in the middle of the scandal that refuses to die: Spygate. And according to the unfailingly credible Matt Walsh, Weis not only knew of the team's illegal taping practices, but benefited from them. In an interview with the New York Times, Walsh cited a 2000 game against the Buccaneers as an example:
"I asked one of our quarterbacks if the information that I provided was beneficial in any way," Walsh told the Times. "He said, 'Actually, probably about 75 percent of the time, Tampa Bay ran the defense we thought they were going to run. If not more.' "The Chicago Tribune's Brian Hamilton wonders how complicit Weis was in Bill Belichick's nefarious plot for world domination, but wisely, Weis ain't talking.
In the HBO interview, Walsh said this unnamed quarterback learned the Buccaneers' defensive signals from the exhibition tapes, then read them and relayed them to Weis during the regular-season game.
"My response is pretty straightforward: Simply speaking, it's just not a Notre Dame matter," athletic director Kevin White said via phone from a conference in Texas, declining to say whether he has an explanation from Weis about Spygate.Hamilton argues that "anything that has to do with the head coach at Notre Dame is ... a Notre Dame matter." Maybe. But at this point, I think most people are ready to put the whole ordeal in the rearview -- even those of us who openly pray that the Patriots to lose every week -- and I suspect college fans, particularly those whose favorite team just came off a three-win season.
In terms of being held accountable and all that, I'm quite certain those coaches competing with Weis for high school talent won't have any trouble reminding potential recruits that the Notre Dame coach has a history of cheating. You know, because recruiting is such a noble endeavor.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-18-2008 @ 7:19PM
lk said...
Well I guess the Buccanneers game did not fall into the 75% since they lost that one and about 12 others that year. it's hard to imagine them having an advantage considering how badly they sucked in 2000. just goes to show you, you can not win by singals alone. You must be able to execute the game. One not, shouldn't this be called videogate? since after all spying has been going on in football since the beginning and is considered gamesmanship, as long as you are not using a camera. So I do not think Spygate is the right term. But I bet is sells more papers.
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5-19-2008 @ 7:21PM
Steve said...
lk..you miss the point....it did not matter if they won or lost...the point is they cheated...worse...they knew they were cheating...worse than that... all teams were advised by the NFL in very clear formal documentation to not videotape opponents signals and the Patriots continued to do so ...Belicheat should be banned from the NFL
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5-19-2008 @ 10:17AM
joe wallace said...
Walsh is writing a book called "Third Video Assistant: Secret Weapon."
This low-level employee apparently was in on game strategy. I know this is the case all over. I hear the cleaning lady at the White House has frequent conversations with Dick Cheney regarding foreign policy.
Perhaps Mr. Walsh could explain the little "puffing" he did on his resume. Maybe BB advised him to do it, since BB is apparently, to some of you, the only person in the history of the NFL who ever cheated. Even the people and teams who were CAUGHT cheating didn't REALLY cheat, just BB.
Glad we have matt Walsh to help get rid of the NFL's only cheater.
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