Eric Hansen

David Bruton never asked. The Notre Dame senior free safety just assumed the lasagna he wolfed down at Charlie Weis’ house in the offseason was part of the Irish head football coach’s sincere stab at reinventing himself.

"The man can cook," Bruton raved at the time, before later hearing the cold, hard truth that it was actually a catered meal that so impressed him and some of his Irish teammates.

Bruton, arguably Notre Dame’s best player, was more impressed with Weis’ not-so-cosmetic offseason changes, anyway — like Weis instituting longer and more-physical practices, where players could metabolize the lessons at game speed and becoming more approachable and more human off the field.

"Just the way he has been able to change for the well-being of the players and the well-being of the team, it’s been very enlightening to see that in your head coach, who was once so stern." Bruton said. "You’re able to actually talk to him now and joke around him and feel comfortable with him.

"It is surprising. My freshman and sophomore years, I hardly talked to him. I felt uncomfortable."

As Weis heads into his fourth season at Notre Dame and the most defining one of his 30-year career, he finds the improved comfort level runs both ways — especially with the defensive players. In his first three years, as the primary offensive play-caller, Weis was rarely, if ever, in the meetings with defensive players. Now Weis spreads himself evenly.

"They might get sick of me before it’s all (said and) done," Weis said with a chuckle. "But I am around them a whole lot more. So now they know all sides of me. Now they have a better understanding of who you are, so this way they can progress at a faster pace."

With Notre Dame’s season opener against San Diego State (0-1) fast approaching and the depth chart virtually settled, here are four things Weis is still learning about his team:

Can the Irish get an "A" in chemistry?
Weis went so far as to shuffle the way the lockers are sequenced in the locker room to break up the cliques that tend to form along positional and chronological lines. For instance, now starting sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen (7) is flanked by a senior safety (Ray Herring) and a junior cornerback (Raeshon McNeil).

But chemistry can only be choreographed to a point. It has to come from leaders. Weis has three captains (wide receiver David Grimes, linebacker Maurice Crum and Bruton) who are more lead-by-example guys than vocal presences.

"It doesn’t have to be a 'win one for the Gipper' type of thing," Weis said. "I think our team responds to that type of mentality."

The real chemistry tests lie ahead. How will those captains respond when a veteran player vents about getting pushed down on the depth chart by a freshman? How will the leadership handle a crisis? There are no drills to simulate it in August, but how the head coach deals with negative press and negative circumstances does set the tone.

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