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Charlie Weis' struggles during his five-year tenure at Notre Dame are well-documented. Entering his first season at Kansas with a few familiar faces, Weis is looking to learn from those mistakes and bring a winning edge to a program coming off a two-win campaign in 2011.

The two biggest lessons he learned with the Irish? College kids ain't easy, and building a cohesive coaching staff is essential.

From the Hutchinson News' Lucas Fahrer:

"I learned early on at Notre Dame that an 18-year-old kid is not like a 23-year-old young man," Weis said Thursday during a sit-down before his speaking engagement at Prairie Dunes Country Club. "Somebody coming is not like somebody going out. They're not the same. You have to have a clear understanding of how to deal with a freshman that was a superstar in his high school and how to coach him and psychologically deal with him versus the more mature guy who's already gone through the beatdown for three or four or five years and can handle just about anything you throw at them."

Weis didn't waste time looking for silver linings from a roster that won just two games. Hence, the 10 offseason transfers. But he brought in six new players --including the Notre Dame trio of Dayne Crist, Anthony McDonald and Mike Ragone -- to show the younger guys the right way to handle themselves once they enter the latter stages of their college careers.

As for that other lesson, the coaching chemistry?

"When I went to Notre Dame, I was coming from 15 years in the NFL, and other than two coaches who I knew that were coaching with the (Miami) Dolphins and had been let go ... I didn't know any of the guys I was hiring," Weis said. "I was hiring guys based off (their) reputation not from personal knowledge of the coaching staff. I hired a bunch of really good coaches but the chemistry was always crummy. The only one I have to blame for that is me."

Weis was able to take a much more hands-on approach in forming his new staff, as he wasn't balancing coaching the Patriots' offense to another Super Bowl. In any event, as Fahrer notes, it will take much more than chemistry to solve the issues that plagued Lawrence, Kan., last season. Weis knows that now, and seeing him move away from the end of his Irish tenure should make for an interesting 2012 season at Kansas.

Insert World Peace suspended joke here.

• Declan Sullivan's family will hold a fundraiser Saturday in his honor, Stacy St. Clair writes in the Chicago Tribune.
• Dayne Crist is a Kansas captain.
• The gang at The Observer offers 2012 season predictions, which have probably made them social outcasts on campus. (Respect.)
• BlueandGold.com's Lou Somogyi looks at defensive players on the rise for Notre Dame this spring.
• I'm a couple days late here, but the South Bend Tribune's Eric Hansen has a recap of the alumni flag football game.

Optimism was high in South Bend as Notre Dame entered the 2011 season. The Fighting Irish closed the 2010 campaign riding a four-game win streak including a 33-17 victory over Miami, FL in the Sun Bowl to finish 8-5.

They were entering their second season under Brian Kelly, and in his previous bowl subdivision stops at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, Year 2 proved to be very fruitful (he won the Big East title at Cincinnati in his second year).

However, there was one huge question surrounding the Irish entering the fall: who would be the starting quarterback, veteran Dayne Crist or sophomore Tommy Rees? Crist won the job, but was replaced at halftime of the season opener by Rees, who remained the starter for the rest of the 2011 season.

Crist transferred to Kansas at season’s end where he reunites with Charlie Weis, the man who recruited him to Notre Dame in 2008.

While Rees threw 20 touchdown passes, he also consistently incurred the wrath of Kelly by throwing 14 interceptions. The Irish finished 8-5 for the second straight year after losing to Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl as Rees was intercepted twice and sophomore Andrew Hendrix once.

This spring, the Irish have another quarterback derby on their hands involving juniors Rees and Hendrix, redshirt freshman Everett Golson and true freshman Gunner Kiel – ESPN’s No. 3-rated QB in the 2012 class.

Whoever wins the job will not only be counted on to produce but also to help solve Notre Dame’s biggest problem in 2011 - turnovers.

The Irish committed 29 turnovers in 2011, only outdone by nine teams in the bowl subdivision. Things were even worse in the red zone where Notre Dame turned the ball over seven times, second only to SMU in the FBS.

The quarterbacks who played (Rees, Crist and Hendrix) were responsible for 23 of the 29 turnovers (17 interceptions and six fumbles lost). Rees alone had 19 turnovers (14 interceptions, five fumbles lost).

Over the last five seasons, only six "BCS schools" had a worse red-zone turnover percentage than Notre Dame’s 5.5 percent. Only one team in the last five seasons had a worse red-zone turnover percentage and finished with a better record: 2009 Nebraska, which featured Ndamukong Suh and one of the best defenses in recent college football history.

If the Irish quarterbacks don’t take better care of the football and play more efficiently, it could be another disappointing season in South Bend.

Mike Ragone is the latest Notre Dame player who hopes a happy ending to his college football career can be found in Kansas.

The Jayhawks announced Tuesday that the tight end will join the program, making Ragone the third former Irish player to re-unite with Kansas coach Charlie Weis, the man who recruited them all while coaching at Notre Dame.

Kansas announced on Friday that linebacker Anthony McDonald would join the program after graduating from Notre Dame next month, once again following in the footsteps of new quarterback Dayne Crist. The two had played together at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Ragone, meanwhile, has already graduated from Notre Dame and has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. The 6-foot-4, 262-pound tight end tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during Notre Dame's Week 2 loss at Michigan, this after already suffering two major knee injuries since 2007. The first one cost Ragone his senior year at Camden Catholic (N.J.) High School. He was ESPN's No. 2 tight end from the 2007 recruiting class.

In 37 games with the Irish, Ragone caught 11 passes for 109 yards.

Anthony McDonald is the latest Notre Dame player who will extend his career this upcoming season in Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas announced Friday that McDonald, a former Irish linebacker, will become a Jayhawk after graduating in May, joining high school teammate Dayne Crist in reuniting with coach Charlie Weis.

Former Notre Dame tight end Mike Ragone is reportedly Lawrence-bound as well.

All three players were recruited to Notre Dame by Weis, with both McDonald and Crist coming from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

McDonald appeared in 27 games for the Irish the past three seasons, totaling 24 tackles.

Now who will David Robinson cheer for Sept. 1 in Dublin?

• Robinson's son, Corey, is the newest member of the Irish's 2013 recruiting class. Our Damon Sayles has the story.
• Charley Molnar's first spring at UMass is underway, Jeff Thomas writes in The Republican.
• Players are battling for touches, not starting jobs this year, Dan Murphy writes on BlueandGold.com.
• Manti Te'o has found his comfort zone, Tim Prister writes on IrishIllustrated.com.
• Did former Irish wideout Jeff Samardzija take a jab at Ryan Braun?
• Dayne Crist begins the spring as Kansas' No. 1 QB.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Everett Golson fumbled consecutive snaps Saturday, and Brian Kelly was less than pleased.

"I think that's one of those game simulators," Golson said after Notre Dame's first spring practice in pads, the end of which was viewed by roughly two dozen reporters.

"In the game you have the effect of the crowd and just the pressure of the game on you, and I think coach Kelly does a great job of simulating that in practice so that when we get to game time it'll be much easier to handle."

Golson is still waiting for that opportunity to get into a game after a redshirt campaign last fall that earned him offensive scout team player-of-the-year honors and time to learn the playbook and adjust to college life as sophomores Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix saw the majority of game action.

"It was a blessing," Golson said. "Being on scout team and going against the first-team defense helped me out a lot. I got used to the speed of the game, real quick and everything. I think the only thing I was lacking after that was the footwork, just because I didn't have a coach back there with me and stuff like that. But as far as getting used to the speed of the game and seeing defenses and all that type, it's helped me out tremendously."

Though Rees and Hendrix have been seen taking snaps with the first-team offense and Golson with the 2s so far in spring practice, the mentality is different this time around, as he enters his second season in the program.

Last spring, Golson was an early enrollee, buried behind eventual starters Rees and Dayne Crist, in addition to Hendrix, who ended up seeing meaningful snaps in 2011 as well.

"I would say I've progressed tremendously," Golson said. "As far as me coming in, it was more nerve-wracking for me. It felt like I probably put a little bit too much pressure on myself, but now coming into spring I feel a little bit more relaxed and comfortable."

The 6-foot, 185-pounder's deceptively strong arm and elusiveness would appear tailor-made for the spread offense. He mentioned footwork as a weakness four separate times in a six-minute span, but Kelly praised that aspect of Golson's game following the Irish's first spring practice.

Now, it's about putting it all together.

"He's got quick feet. He's got a strong arm. He's got all the tools," Kelly said. "Now for me, it's about accuracy, getting the ball out on time, and obviously having good football intelligence. And those are the areas that he'll continue to work on. Because there's no question about his footwork. There's no questioning his arm strength. We've gotta continue to work on those other three areas."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hey, Andrew Hendrix was one of four scholarship quarterbacks last spring, too. It's just that, in his first spring, following a freshman season he redshirted in, well ...

"Last spring I was kind of like a chicken with its head cut off at times, just running around," Hendrix said. "I didn't really understand how our offense worked or even an offense worked. I wasn't as comfortable reading defenses as I am now."

And now?

"And now it's really exciting for me as things are falling into place for me as I see it," he said. "The game's slowing down for me and it makes it a lot easier, a lot less stressful. The game's a lot more fun when you're out there and you know what you're doing, so we're just trying to help Gunner [Kiel] and Everett [Golson], Tommy [Rees] and I. The more we all understand the game, the more fun it is for all of us."

Plays like the 78-yard dash Hendrix showed off last year in his first college game, late in Notre Dame's Week 6 rout of Air Force, proved plenty of fun for the then-sophomore. Plays like the fourth-quarter interception in a tight Champs Sports Bowl loss to Florida State, meanwhile, did not.

Hendrix saw more reps in the lead-up to the bowl game following the departure of Dayne Crist, along with an impressive relief outing after Rees struggled early in the regular-season finale loss at Stanford. But Hendrix started only one series against the Seminoles, and he finished the night with an underwhelming line of 3-for-8 passing for 24 yards.

"It's hard to say," Hendrix said when asked if he missed seizing an opportunity late in 2011. "Obviously I got more reps with the Dayne situation last year. I think that's when my development really started last year. So I think I've just been trying to build on my reps last year. In my mind maybe I gained confidence, I think, not to say that's what the real situation was. But right now I'm extremely confident. Any of the four quarterbacks are — you have to be in order to compete. So right now we're just all working to get better, and we'll see what happens later."

Hendrix, who appeared in five games last season, did add 26 yards on four carries in the loss, and he finished with 162 rushing yards and a score on 25 carries, bringing a dimension to the position that had not previously been seen in Brian Kelly's two years coaching the Irish.

The Cincinnati native said the mobility is a nice commodity, but understanding the offense and making quick decisions will be among the first priorities.

Putting a bad play behind him will be another step for Hendrix, Chuck Martin said, illustrating an exchange between the two during Notre Dame's first spring practice.

"A bad play happened. Andrew got that little body language that he gets when things go bad because he cares so much and he practices so hard," Martin, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, recalled. "I'm like, 'Here's the first thing we got to correct: When it goes bad, Andrew, you got to turn around like you're Brett Favre. Because even the defensive guys look at you.

"'Hey, you threw the ball bad. Who cares? Everybody makes mistakes.'"

Whoever makes the least mistakes will likely be under center for the Sept. 1 opener in Dublin, Ireland, and the self-critical Hendrix knows forgetting his will go a long way in making progress.

"I always said that I'm my toughest critic — I'm always in competition with myself," Hendrix said. "So whether it's five guys or just me or two guys, I'm always competing with myself, whether I can do it better the next time. So that's the way I think about it. I'm not competing with anybody else but myself. I can only be the best quarterback I can be, so at the end of the day I can do that. I can't control what Tommy does, what Coach Kelly does, so as long as I can be the best me, that's all I can do."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Late in Notre Dame's first full-pads practice of the spring Saturday, Tommy Rees took a snap, broke off and ran.

And ran. And ran some more.

Rees' red jersey kept him from getting hit on his roughly 40-yard burst down the right sideline, which ended with him being "forced" out of bounds. Nonetheless, the sight turned the heads of many, considering Rees gained just 39 rushing yards in all of 2011 and actually netted negative-56 rushing yards after accounting for sacks.

So, was that a glimpse of the new Rees?

"I don't know," the junior cracked, adding, "It opened up pretty well for me. I'm gonna be honest, I didn't expect to get that far down the field. I was a little tired at the end of it."

Yes, Rees knows he needs to make more plays by running. Or, at the very least, extend more plays by running.

And no, he does not have a problem with the fact that his 16 career starts -- 16 more than any other quarterback on the roster -- are not being catered to this spring, which began with all four signal-callers starting from Page 1 of the playbook.

"If you hand the full playbook to those guys they'd be spinning, so I understand where they're coming from," Rees said. "It also can give me an advantage because I've run it so much that I should be the most comfortable with it. I should be the guy that understands what we're putting in.

"I think it's probably the right way to do it, to help everyone out, even the receivers, running backs learning new positions, just trying to get the whole offense clicking before we put in so much and guys' heads would spin, and now by scaling back we can execute things even better."

Rees took over for Dayne Crist midway through 2010 and again after the first half of the 2011 opener, compiling a 12-4 record as a starter while completing better than 64 percent of his passes for 3,977 yards and 32 touchdowns.

But he has also had his share of miscues, throwing 22 interceptions over the course of those two seasons. Experience and better execution should help with curbing such gaffes, he said.

"I think you get a little bit of both: There's things you learn from and move past, and there's things that you look back on and think, why would I ever do that?" Rees said. "And those are just the mistakes you've got to erase. When a play turns bad you can't make it worse, and you've got to make the smart play. If that's throwing it away or just scrambling for a yard to get out of bounds -- just making the smart play, not trying to force something that's not there."

Rees knows credentials alone will not help him fend off Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson and Gunner Kiel, and said the deficiencies from last season have allowed him to enter the four-man race with the right mindset.

"'You gotta beat me out' -- that's his mentality and that should be his mentality," offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chuck Martin said of Rees. "And Hendrix should have a different mentality. Hendrix's mentality is, 'I'm gonna beat…' you know?

"I think [Tommy's] mentality is: 'Was I a Heisman Trophy winner? Have I locked the vault shut and I'm the guy? Maybe not. But I know I'm ahead of these guys and I'm gonna stay ahead of these guys. And there's things I need to work on to improve.' And he's not worried about the competition. The beautiful thing is him and Dayne were great friends, and still are great friends. And the beauty of the kids you recruit at Notre Dame, Andrew and him are good friends, and Everett and Andrew are good friends, and Gunner's becoming. So it's weird because they are all competitive kids, but it's not, 'Well, I'm gonna steal his playbook so I can win the job.' It's just a different animal. That's the great thing about coaching here. It doesn't get any funner than coaching at Notre Dame."

Is it too early to label Lawrence, Kan., "South Bend West"?

Mike Ragone will be the next Notre Dame player to join former Irish coach Charlie Weis at Kansas, Eric Hansen reports in the South Bend Tribune.

The tight end tore the ACL in his right knee during Notre Dame's Week 2 loss at Michigan -- his third major knee injury since 2007, when he missed his senior year at Camden Catholic (N.J.) High School.

The NCAA granted Ragone a sixth year of eligibility, Hansen reports, but he was not invited back to Notre Dame for another year.

So he will join former Irish quarterback Dayne Crist in taking advantage of the NCAA's graduate-exception rule, allowing the two Notre Dame graduates to play immediately at their new school -- and, in this case, with the college coach who originally recruited them -- so long as they enroll in graduate programs not offered at Notre Dame.

“The (right) knee feels great now,” Ragone told Hansen. “I’ve been working out at home since after the bowl game (Dec. 29). I plan to go to Kansas this summer.

“It’s going to be great playing with Dayne again. He’s a great guy and a great quarterback. I asked for one more chance, and I got it.”

With Notre Dame's spring practice season kicking off Wednesday, we're stealing a page out of the other blogs' playbooks, slightly. With one team here, we'll take a look at three key positions and where Notre Dame must look for answers this offseason. Naturally, we'll start at the most important position, quarterback.

OUT: Dayne Crist. Maybe Tommy Rees, too? Crist is off to Kansas after graduating in December. His senior season was short-lived, as the season-opening starter was yanked after the first half of Notre Dame's 23-20 loss to South Florida and hardly played the rest of the season. His final numbers in an Irish uniform are a 58 percent completion rate, 2,327 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. The No. 2 quarterback recruit of the class of 2008 caught bad breaks early on, tearing the ACL in his right knee his sophomore year before rupturing the patella tendon in his left knee almost a year later, a season that began with him as starter. He finished 4-6 as a starter at Notre Dame. Rees, meanwhile, is 12-4 as a starter after stepping in for Crist in both 2010 and 2011, but his lack of mobility and two-game losing streak to end this past season — coupled with several promising prospects behind him — have the junior-to-be in the middle of a four-man race to quarterback the Irish in 2012.

IN: Andrew Hendrix? Everett Golson? Gunner Kiel? Or Rees again? No one knows for sure as spring moves closer, and with so many arms vying for the starting spot, an answer likely won't come anytime soon. Hendrix showed flashes of promise in limited action last season, completing 18 of 37 passes for 249 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, and rushing for 162 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. But he threw a costly interception late in the Champs Sports Bowl loss to Florida State, a game he appeared in only briefly despite the departure of Crist and the late-season struggles of Rees. Golson redshirted last season as a freshman but was the offense's scout team player of the year, and his mobility is ideal for the spread offense. Kiel, meanwhile, is arguably the top quarterback prospect of the 2012 class. Then there's Rees, who has much more experience than any of the four but struggled toward the end of the season and will have plenty of competition to win the job again.

Say what you want about Charlie Weis, but you have to give the new Kansas coach credit: He does not shy away from his past, and he is not afraid to admit where he may have messed up.

In a story this week by The Sporting News' Steve Greenberg, who wrote that he intended to focus on Weis' future with the Jayhawks, the former Notre Dame coach cited his beginning in South Bend, Ind., when discussing the proper steps he has to take to get things started off on the right foot in Lawrence, Kan.

"You take a job, your first job, and you say and do some stupid things. I'm certainly guilty as charged. Not that I didn't mean what I said, but just the fact that I said it. You look back and say, 'Why did you say that?' "

"That university, you're a good guy or you're a bad guy right off the bat," he later added. "First of all, half the free world can't stand you walking in because you're at the place. And then about half the (people) at the place can't stand you. There's plenty of people at Notre Dame who could care less about ever seeing me, or me seeing them."

Weis goes on to admit that he was bothered that some thought of him as a bad person, and he says he had been dealing with constant pain between 2008 — when he tore three ligaments in his left knee in a sideline collision against Michigan in 2008 — and this past January, when his left hip was replaced.

His right knee was replaced, too.

"You never say anything. You learn not to say anything," he explained. "People think you're moody and stuff like that, but you might just be in pain. Psychologically, you can block a lot out, OK? But I was miserable."

Weis goes on to talk about his approach at Kansas, along with his newfound patience, adding that he feels he let Dayne Crist down and is happy they get another chance together.

It's a great read, especially for those who fall in the camp that, as Weis says, look at him like "some kind of ogre. Some arrogant, obnoxious, loudmouth punk from New Jersey."

Hey, someone has finally gone out on a limb.

Spring practice doesn't start for another eight days, but that hasn't stopped speculation about who will eventually start at quarterback for Notre Dame when the Irish take the field in Dublin, Ireland, nearly six months from now.

Thankfully, the fine folks at Athlon Sports are far more daring than I am at this point, and during their examination of the top quarterback battles to watch this spring, they have picked a winner in South Bend, Ind.

For the Irish to get back into contention for a BCS game, settling the quarterback position is the top priority. Coach Brian Kelly did a good job of plugging in different quarterbacks at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, but has yet to find that same success with Notre Dame. Dayne Crist began 2011 as the starter, but was eventually benched in favor of Tommy Rees. Andrew Hendrix also received playing time last year, throwing for 249 yards and one touchdown, while adding 162 yards and a score on the ground. Rees finished with 2,871 yards and 20 touchdowns, but also tossed 14 picks. Crist decided to transfer to Kansas for his senior year, leaving Rees, Hendrix, redshirt freshman Everett Golson and true freshman Gunner Kiel to compete for the No. 1 spot this spring. Kiel ranked as the No. 24 overall prospect in the 2012 Athlon Consensus 100, but has drawn mixed reviews from scouts and there’s no guarantee he will be ready to start this year. Although Rees may be limited in how far he can take Notre Dame’s offense, he may represent the safest choice. Golson and Hendrix provide a running dimension, but neither have much (or any) experience. Considering the Irish know what they have in Rees, the guess here is a different quarterback starts the season opener.
Projected Winner: Hendrix

Unless I've missed something, Athlon is the first publication to go on record and project a starter. Of course, a lot can change between now and Sept. 1 (c'mon, how many of you are already re-filling your NCAA tourney brackets today because of Syracuse?), but give the folks there credit for going out on a limb with that and several other big quarterback races so early.

For those who missed it over the weekend, SportingNews.com's Matt Hayes has a tremendous story on former Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist, who is ready to put a rough season in South Bend, Ind., behind him and finish strong with Kansas.

Crist couldn't sleep or eat after losing his job early in the 2011 campaign, which Hayes characterizes as a three-month depression, something Crist supports by saying: "You could definitely call it that."

“It was the worst time in my life,” Crist says now. “You invest so much, and it all happens so quickly … it’s just blindsided me.”

Crist was also days away from transferring to Wisconsin, Hayes writes, before former Irish and new Jayhawks coach Charlie Weis texted him.

The quarterback of course ended up in Lawrence, Kan., after watching consecutive seasons end because of injuries in each knee. After winning back the starting job to open 2011, Crist was benched after the first half of the Irish's season-opening loss to South Florida.

Still trying to process the Hornets' jerseys from last night ...

• Colleague David Ubben says figuring out what Dayne Crist can do is atop Kansas' offseason to-do list.
• Pac-12 blogger Ted Miller says Lane Kiffin is tuning out the hype around USC.
• Scott Booker is searching for a dynamic punt returner, Bob Wieneke writes in the South Bend Tribune.
• Mike Denbrock easily catches on, Lou Somogyi writes on BlueandGold.com.
• Former Irish QB Rick Mirer has gone from the gridiron to the vineyard, Vicki Salemi writes in ND Today.