Just a few short games ago, Notre Dame was on the receiving end of one woodshed beating after another when it went up against Top 20 opponents.

 

Now, just 14 games into the career of head coach Charlie Weis – less than the length of a single NFL season – the Irish are the ones dragging their opponents past the hay barn and the henhouse and making no effort to muffle the screams of their helpless victims.

 

After an inauspicious start last weekend – a 14-10 win at Georgia Tech – Notre Dame exploded in a 41-17 win at home against No. 19 Penn State. The Irish led 41-3 in the fourth quarter before giving up two late TDs.

 

Notre Dame is now 2-0 this season and 11-3 under Weis. Offense has led the way: The Irish have scored 30 or more points in 11 of those 14 games and 40 or more in seven of the 14.

 

When the polls are released later today, Notre Dame will probably emerge as the No. 2 team in the country behind Ohio State (which picked apart defending national champ Texas, 24-7, last night).

 

Quarterback Brady Quinn was magnificent in the win over Penn State. His final numbers read 25 of 36 for 287 yards and 3 TDs – but he passed for more than 220 yards in the first half alone.

 

There's a long way to go in South Bend. Weis's career will be considered a failure if he doesn't win at least one national title, and more would be expected if he is to join the ranks of Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy and Ara Parseghian. But the 14 games at Notre Dame have already been a remarkable chapter in the career of a remarkable coach.

 

Consider just how far the Irish have come in those 14 games.

 

They had hit rock bottom at the end of the 2004 season. Notre Dame suffered one historic defeat after another, expediting the university's decision to get rid of coach Ty Willingham. Notre Dame had been playing football for 119 years and had never allowed an opponent to throw for five TDs in a game. Yet their final two opponents of the 2004 season ripped them for five TD passes each. Sure, one of those quarterbacks was Matt Leinart leading the USC juggernaut. But the other was immortal Pittsburgh sophomore Tyler Palko.

 

Now Notre Dame's Quinn is the quarterback shredding opponents. Fifteen games ago, he was a nice little quarterback for a ho-hum team. Today, after 14 games playing for Weis, he holds virtually every Notre Dame game, season and career passing record and is considered a favorite for the Heisman Trophy and a likely No. 1 draft pick.

 

The "pundits" mocked Weis when he announced back in December 2004 that he'd be taking the Notre Dame job in the wake of the Willingham debacle.

 

"Weis might be the last guy who still thinks (Notre Dame) is a glamour gig," said Mike Lupica on ESPN's The Sports Reporters soon afterward.

 

The Cold, Hard Football Facts were steadfast in the knowledge that it was the right guy for the right team – a proven coach who was going to take over the nation's most popular football franchise.

 

Folks like Lupica should have read the ESPN company memo: After all, it was ESPN that broadcast, live, the Notre Dame pep rally last year before the USC game.

 

If Weis had waited for NFL jobs with the likes of Cleveland or San Francisco, he'd be invisible to most of Planet Pigskin. Today, he's leading back to prominence a team that's so popular that its pep rallies the night before big games are broadcast from coast to coast.

 

As we noted at the time, the Weis is right. The proof is on the field.

 

***

 

We've provided this data before, but it's so remarkable that it deserves mention again. It chronicles the amazing coaching career of Weis, from his time as an assistant on up.

 

Basically, this is what you'll find. When Weis coaches a player, the player sets records. Teams that Weis coaches improve dramatically and win championships.

 

Weis was a defensive assistant and assistant special teams coach for the New York Giants. The Giants beat Buffalo, 20-19, in Super Bowl XXV and turned in what many consider one of the great defensive performances in championship-game history.

 

Weis was New England's tight ends coach. Ben Coates set a record for receptions by a tight end with 96 (1994).

 

Weis was New England's running backs coach. Curtis Martin set a franchise rushing record (1,487 yards, since surpassed by Corey Dillon) and was named NFL "Rookie of the Year."

 

Weis was New England's receivers coach. Terry Glenn set an NFL rookie record with 90 receptions.

 

Weis was offensive coordinator of the New York Jets. The Jets offense improved from 279 points scored in 1996 to 348 in 1997. In 1998, the Jets scored 416 points and appeared in the AFC title game. In the entire history of the franchise, only the Super Bowl-winning 1968 Jets scored more (419, against AFL competition).  

 

Weis returned to New England as offensive coordinator. The Patriots won three Super Bowls in five years with Weis leading the offense.

 

Weis added quarterbacks coach to his duties following the death of coach Dick Rehbein in training camp. Sixth-round draft pick and second-year player Tom Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe as New England's quarterback and became one of the most successful QBs in NFL history.

 

Weis took his first head coaching job with Notre Dame. Irish quarterback Brady Quinn emerged as one of the best passers in the nation while setting 30 different game, season and career passing records, at a school that's produced the likes of Joe Theismann and Joe Montana and four Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks.