WILKES-BARRE — Brady Quinn may have fallen to No. 22 in the recent NFL Draft, but that is not preventing Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis from sticking to his contention that someday, Brady Quinn will be an elite quarterback in the NFL.
Weis, the head football coach at Notre Dame, was in town as the featured speaker at Thursday night’s Volunteers of America dinner held at Genetti’s in downtown Wilkes-Barre. He touched on a variety of topics ranging from Brady Quinn, his new quarterbacks’ coach and recruiting.
“We weren’t surprised, the only surprise was No. 9.” Weis said, referring to the fact that the Dolphins selected Ohio State’s Ted Ginn with their first pick rather than take Brady Quinn. “Cleveland had already informed me and (Brady Quinn’s) agent that they were going to take (Wisconsin’s) Joe Thomas (with the third pick). When it got to the Dolphins and they passed on Brady Quinn, I figured it would take a team that needed a quarterback in the first round.
“It was not a meteoric drop after the Dolphins, it was just the Browns trying to get back in the first round. They started calling everybody to get back in and get their quarterback. They did a marvelous job positioning themselves for the future.”
The Browns traded back into the first round to get their quarterback of the future.
If there is one thing Weis is good at it is developing quarterbacks. He is credited with developing Tom Brady, a sixth-round draft pick, into a three-time Super Bow champion. Weis was part of those Super Bowl titles as offensive coordinator with the Patriots.
“I would not make a statement that I expect a guy to be that good if I did not think he was going to be that good,” Weis said. “I am confident Brady Quinn is going to be a frontline quarterback in the NFL. If I didn’t think that, I would not be stupid enough to say it.”
But when it comes to evaluating talent, scouts do not look at the positives, they prefer to focus on the negatives.
“You can find holes in every player in the draft, no matter who the player is,” Weis said. “The only guy they didn’t punch holes in was (Georgia Tech wideout) Calvin Johnson and after playing against him I can see why. The pro mentality is not to find all the strengths but find the holes.”
As for the current crop of Fighting Irish quarterbacks, Weis does not expect to let them know where they stand until May 30.
Weis is excited about the coach working with them, former Berwick star and Irish quarterback Ron Powlus.
“This has been a very good situation for me especially going into this year with inexperienced quarterbacks,” Weis said. “To have the guy who was my director of player personnel, I got to watch how he works. He started at quarterback four years at Notre Dame and he understands all the pressures that come along with it. It has been a smooth transition and he is up with what I tell the quarterbacks.” and they hear the same thing from him. He answers questions that I can’t answer. He was a player and I wasn’t. I don’t have the background to answer some of the questions that he hears.”
