About a year ago, former Kansas City Chiefs C Tim Grunhard had the opportunity to work for Charlie Weis at his alma mater the University of Notre Dame. Grunhard was offered a graduate assistant job on Weis' staff but lost out on a family vote, and decided against relocating his family and leaving his position at Miege High School.
Grunhard is now glad that he didn't take the position because his future would be in jeopardy with Weis' dismissal.
He also recently suggested to the South Bend Tribune that part of Weis' failing at ND was his inability to treat his players as what they are - college kids - and not professionals.
"I've been in both," Grunhard said referring to college and the NFL, "and just with the terminology and just with the way the practice was run and the way that they were motivated, it seemed to me that he was treating those guys a little bit more like pro players than college players. And I think that was probably the biggest mistake he made."
Grunhard also said that he had a conversation with Weis following his arrival in Kansas City. Per Grunhard, Weis sounded "energized" at the prospects of working for the Chiefs.
"Obviously being the head coach at Notre Dame is a very, very stressful job," he said. "Charlie is a wonderful guy, but he doesn't have the best people skills at times. And you have to have a little bit of that when you're at Notre Dame.
"I think the relationship with the alumni, the relationship with the subway alums, the fans is almost as important as the relationship with the players. You say that and you think, ‘Well that can't even be close to the truth,' but it really is. You're selling a product at Notre Dame, and when you're the coach you're the head salesman. I don't think that really quite was one of Charlie's strong points."
Todd Haley definitely doesn't have the people skills of a seasoned coaching veteran, and neither does Weis apparently - both are Parcells guys, which is probably about right.
(H/T KC Chiefs Blog)