Weis takes over play-calling for Notre Dame

Nov 11, 2008 - 8:26 PM SOUTH BEND, Indiana (Ticker) -- Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said Tuesday that he is taking over the play-calling duties for Saturday's game against Navy.

The Fighting Irish (5-4) have dropped two straight games and are coming off a dismal 17-0 loss to Boston College in which quarterback Jimmy Clausen was intercepted four times.

Weis said he made the change because offensive coordinator Mike Haywood will miss some practices this week to attend a family member's funeral in Houston.

However, Weis, who has come under fire in his fourth season at Notre Dame, did not rule out calling plays for the remainder of the year.

"The bottom line is where the program's going to go," Weis said. "And I'm confident that the program is going to go where we want it to go. That's as honest as I can be."

Weis called plays in his first three seasons at Notre Dame, but backed off this year to concentrate more of his efforts on being the head coach. He turned over the play-calling duties to Haywood.

The Fighting Irish have shown some improvement following last season's 3-9 finish - the worst in school history - but still need to win another game to become bowl eligible.

Notre Dame hosts Syracuse next week, then visits No. 6 Southern California on November 29.