Charlie Weis makes stop in Pittsburg

Kansas head football coach Charlie Weis made a few remarks, fielded a round of questions from Jayhawk fans and signed a few autographs Tuesday at Chatters Bar and Grill in Pittsburg as part of his tour of various Kansas cities throughout May.

“The fan support has been absolutely wonderful, whether I was out in western Kansas or southeast Kansas,” Weis said in a separate interview. “OK, think about it, you’re coming into a program that’s won five games in the last two years and has such great fan support. You go to Allen Fieldhouse any time the hoops team plays, you don’t have to worry about whether the fans will come and cheer for you. We have to give them a product they can come cheer for. The support during this has been through the roof.”

Kansas hired Weis on Dec. 9, 2011. The Jayhawks fired Turner Gill on Nov. 27 after enduring a 2-10 season in which Kansas won no Big 12 games (0-9) and opponents scored 525 points on the Jayhawks, resulting in several blowouts.

Kansas athletics director Sheahon Zenger said that he wanted to find a football coach who possesses disciplinarian tendencies, a great work ethic and a great football mind, a football coach who could right a sinking ship.

“Having said that, what you saw was on the field,” Zenger said introducing Weis on Tuesday. “You saw a 2-10 record and a 0-9 record in the conference. What I saw was that we were lacking in the weight room, we were lacking in the classroom, we were lacking in overall discipline and we weren’t lining up right on offense and defense. My job was to go out and find a ball coach who could fix all that.”

Zenger said that he sleeps a little better every night Weis has been coach.

Weis told fans that he’s not watched game film on last season but simply looked at scores like 66-24 (Georgia Tech), 70-28 (Oklahoma State), 47-17 (Oklahoma), 59-21 (Kansas State), 43-0 (Texas) and 61-7 (Texas A&M).

“There were six games they lost by more than 30 points,” he said. “Six? Are you kidding me? I mean, I don’t care how many points they score in the Big 12, you can’t lose six games by over 30. You’ve got to give your fans a reason to go to the games. You’ve got to give them a reason to be there past halftime. You’ve got to go out there and compete. I just don’t get it.”

Weis said that he gets asked most about changing the culture in Lawrence.

“It’s not change the culture, it’s every head coach has their own personality and they have their own way of doing business,” he said. “So it’s not changing the culture, it’s getting them to know this is your personality and this is the way that you do business. What you’re really doing is that you’re getting them to understand that this is the way I know, this is the way it’s done and it’s not up for debate.”

Not long ago, Kansas culminated a 12-1 season with a 24-21 win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. That was the 2007 season.

“It was just two years ago when I lived in the Kansas City area when I was the offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs,” Weis said. “So when I got a phone call from Dr. Zenger, my wife and son and I talked about it and we remembered that, not that we followed the Big 12, but we remembered that it wasn’t that long ago that KU was winning the Orange Bowl. So we went online and did some due diligence and we realized that you’re taking a job that in 2007, 2008, they’re winning bowl games. It isn’t like you have to look 10, 20 years back into history from the last time they’ve won.”

Recent winning at Kansas gives Weis hope that it can be achieved once again under a new regime.

“Obviously, 2-10 is 2-10 but when you win double-digits and four years later, you’re winning two, I mean, obviously you know that you should be able to turn it and go in the other direction,” he said.

Weis discussed many subjects on Tuesday. Here’s a few of the highlights.

On the genesis of the tour: We sat down months and months ago and I told administration that with the month of May I can’t go and recruit, I’ll go crazy. I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself. So let’s go on a little tour of the state of Kansas and try and get into a bunch of the different areas. I wouldn’t call it public relations. I’d call it more let’s get to know who the coach is, why I’m here and how I’m hoping to get this thing going in the right direction.

On his strength coach: It starts in the weight room. I hired a guy by the name of Scott Holsopple I’ve known who was down at Florida. He is a maniac, perfect for what you’re looking for in a weight room. He is a psycho. He is a psycho. If he walks in there, they’re scared to death of him, which is exactly what you’re supposed to have in a strength coach. All-American boxer at Penn State. They don’t want to fight him. They don’t want to mess with him. They don’t want to eat dinner around him. They don’t even want to be near the guy. But, I say that in jest, they love him because he’s into tough love.

On a phone conversation with a recruit: So you want to play on Sunday? OK, I get it, you want to play on Sunday, you’re a defensive player. Your head coach coached in the NFL for 16 years and has four Super Bowl rings. Your defensive coordinator (Dave Campo) coached in the NFL for 23 years and has three Super Bowl rings. So, between the head coach and the defensive coordinator, they coached in the NFL for 39 years and have seven Super Bowl rings. Now, let me ask you a question, you told me 28 teams have talked to you this week, how many of them can say that? And he paused for a second. I said ‘Let me stop and help you out. The answer’s zero.’

On going to a ‘basketball school’: I love the basketball team. I play right into it. It’s one of the greatest recruiting tools you could possibly have. You bring them to Allen Fieldhouse on a Saturday in January and if the kids don’t say yes, shame on me. I mean, think about it, it’s one of the best places in the world to recruit. All I’ve got to do is get them here.

On Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells: I worked for two Hall of Fame coaches. Bill Belichick probably has the greatest insight and greatest foresight that any coach has ever had in the NFL. Insight and foresight. Now by insight, I mean he understands the game at a superior level to almost everyone he’s going against. Foresight means he’s doing progressive things . . . as the game of football has changed over the last three decades, he’s done progressive things to stay ahead of the Joneses.

Parcells was probably by far the best psychological coach that I’ve ever been around. He would know the button to press on every single person in the organization and what button to press to make them achieve higher than what they thought they were capable of doing.

Weis started his chat with a salute to Pittsburg State head coach Tim Beck. Weis not only gave Beck credit for on-field success but the academic success of the Pitt State team and balancing a wife and four kids with the rigors of being a head football coach at the collegiate level.

Kansas opens its 2012 season Sept. 1 at home against South Dakota State.