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No Excuses: One Man's Incredible Rise Through the NFL to Head Coach of Notre Dame
Weis was taught football by some of the best minds in the Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. Parcells would give him a life-defining break in 1990 by hiring him as an assistant on the New York Giants staff. For a Jersey guy who loved sports, this was a dream come true, especially when Weis won his first championship in his debut year in the NFL. He'd always wanted to be a sports announcer—the next Marv Albert—but he'd caught the coaching bug and was now in a position to learn from the best. And he did, following Parcells to the New England Patriots and then to the New York Jets. Under enormous pressure and exacting standards, Weis flourished and later became offensive coordinator. When Parcells stepped down as coach of the Jets, Weis joined his colleague and friend Bill Belichick, who was the newly named Patriots head coach. Together they would thrive, building a storied franchise, a rare modern-day dynasty that won three Super Bowls in four years. Through it all, Weis designed offensive schemes that would befuddle even the best defenses in the NFL, and he coached a number of players to greatness, including Pro Bowlers Ben Coates, Curtis Martin, and, of course, Tom Brady. The chance of a lifetime arrived in December of 2004: Weis was offered the opportunity to lead one of the most prestigious football schools in the country, Notre Dame—home of coaching legends Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine, and Lou Holtz. And so began a new chapter in Weis's career. Weis took over a program in dire need of direction, and now he is in the process of building his own legacy with his unique vision. Off the field, Weis faced his other challenges. Seeking to improve his health and lose weight, he decided to get gastric bypass surgery. What he thought would be a routine procedure turned into a nightmare as he nearly bled to death, lapsed into a coma, and was read the last rites. It was a horrifying experience, yet he battled back in inspiring fashion and still demands nothing less of himself despite the long-lasting aftereffects. He has had his joys, too. Weis considers his wife, Maura, his best friend. They have two beautiful Charlie, his "best buddy," and Hannah, who he and his wife consider their "guiding angel." Hannah is developmentally delayed and has been the inspiration leading to the establishment of Hannah and Friends, a nonprofit foundation seeking to improve the quality of life for people with special needs. No Excuses is not only illuminating and insightful, it is an extraordinary look inside one of football's greatest minds who has helped shape today's game.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 17, 2018
Charlie Weiss: No Excuses is a sport biography about former assistant coach in NFL and head football coach at Notre Dame between 2005 and 2009. As well as the Kansas Jayhawk football coach between 2012 and 2014. The book was published in 2006. As a result, it only covers years up to 2005.
The book was a typical sport biography, the reader understands what it takes to become a successful football coach at the highest levels. My biggest problem with the book is it only speaks of everything positive, nothing negative. He doesn't mention any negativity, if it comes up he attempts to passes it off as some other reason. Charlie Weiss, is never at fault, if it is his fault he justifies it with a very poor excuse. It is an interesting read as sport biographies and the reader does learn a little bit about the man, Charlie Weiss.
The book was a typical sport biography, the reader understands what it takes to become a successful football coach at the highest levels. My biggest problem with the book is it only speaks of everything positive, nothing negative. He doesn't mention any negativity, if it comes up he attempts to passes it off as some other reason. Charlie Weiss, is never at fault, if it is his fault he justifies it with a very poor excuse. It is an interesting read as sport biographies and the reader does learn a little bit about the man, Charlie Weiss.
June 2, 2025
His story was pretty cool. His inability to recruit a decent class…. Maybe not so much??? He inherited a great football team (in my opinion). But I thought his story of just never giving up and watching endless hours of game film and doing whatever needed to be done and just doing it was pretty inspiring. I guess I didn’t realize he never really played football. Made his story even more incredible.
April 12, 2023
Overall good, informational book.
July 21, 2022
No Excuses details the rise of Charlie Weis from a high school football coach to a stint as an offensive coordinator and head coaching candidate in the NFL to the head coach of the storied Notre Dame football program.
Weis certainly doesn't have the resume of most prominent head football coaches in the NFL. As a Notre Dame undergrad, instead of diagramming plays and obsessing about football like so many other head coaches in his position, Weis longed for a career as a sports broadcaster. Having also gotten a degree in English, Weis found himself teaching and coaching sports in high school where he started to learn the nuances of the game. Through contacts Weis eventually wound up as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina. While at South Carolina he did some grunt work breaking down plays for the New York Giants. Noticing his work ethic and acumen, Weis was eventually offered a job by head coach Bill Parcells. The job was low on the pecking order but it gave Weis his start in the NFL. From there, of course, he climbed through the ranks, eventually following Bill Belichick, Parcells' long time defensive coordinator, to the New England Patriots where he served as offensive coordinator.
Three Super Bowl championships later and a brush with death after gastric bypass surgery to control his weight, Weis was offered a job as head football coach at his alma mater, Notre Dame, a job he just couldn't turn down.
This book really is not about football. It's mostly about Weis's rise through the ranks and his personal work and moral ethics that are the groundwork for what he teaches players and how he tries to conduct himself in the rough and tumble world of professional and big time college football. Much of his coaching philosophy comes from his sports crazed childhood and current family life, in which he has a special needs child. He seems to have a very solid foundation for a job that requires a great deal of leadership and motivational skills.
The biggest drawback of the book is a lack of material about the biggest games Weis has been involved in as a coach and his football philosophy (the X's and O's). There's little here about the day to day activities of a coach, nor is there a chronicling of the Patriots' Super Bowl winning seasons which Weis was an integral part of. Readers looking for a book about football or the New England Patriots (or the New York Giants) will be disappointed. I know I was, a little.
There is, however, a very good chronicling of Weis' near death experience after gastric bypass surgery and how Tom Brady, the New England Patriots' quarterback, helped his wife cope with the situation. It's a rather touching story about Brady and gives insight into why he is so well liked around the league.
Overall, this is a very readable, engaging book and interesting for football fans - despite that it talks little about football specifically.
Weis certainly doesn't have the resume of most prominent head football coaches in the NFL. As a Notre Dame undergrad, instead of diagramming plays and obsessing about football like so many other head coaches in his position, Weis longed for a career as a sports broadcaster. Having also gotten a degree in English, Weis found himself teaching and coaching sports in high school where he started to learn the nuances of the game. Through contacts Weis eventually wound up as an assistant coach at the University of South Carolina. While at South Carolina he did some grunt work breaking down plays for the New York Giants. Noticing his work ethic and acumen, Weis was eventually offered a job by head coach Bill Parcells. The job was low on the pecking order but it gave Weis his start in the NFL. From there, of course, he climbed through the ranks, eventually following Bill Belichick, Parcells' long time defensive coordinator, to the New England Patriots where he served as offensive coordinator.
Three Super Bowl championships later and a brush with death after gastric bypass surgery to control his weight, Weis was offered a job as head football coach at his alma mater, Notre Dame, a job he just couldn't turn down.
This book really is not about football. It's mostly about Weis's rise through the ranks and his personal work and moral ethics that are the groundwork for what he teaches players and how he tries to conduct himself in the rough and tumble world of professional and big time college football. Much of his coaching philosophy comes from his sports crazed childhood and current family life, in which he has a special needs child. He seems to have a very solid foundation for a job that requires a great deal of leadership and motivational skills.
The biggest drawback of the book is a lack of material about the biggest games Weis has been involved in as a coach and his football philosophy (the X's and O's). There's little here about the day to day activities of a coach, nor is there a chronicling of the Patriots' Super Bowl winning seasons which Weis was an integral part of. Readers looking for a book about football or the New England Patriots (or the New York Giants) will be disappointed. I know I was, a little.
There is, however, a very good chronicling of Weis' near death experience after gastric bypass surgery and how Tom Brady, the New England Patriots' quarterback, helped his wife cope with the situation. It's a rather touching story about Brady and gives insight into why he is so well liked around the league.
Overall, this is a very readable, engaging book and interesting for football fans - despite that it talks little about football specifically.
October 6, 2012
It had some interesting behind the scenes look at NCAA and NFL football, but overall I thought it was a rather self-serving book. It was about his life, so to some extent that makes sense, I suppose. To his credit, there were times he mentioned his mistakes, but at other times it was too self-indulgent for my tastes.
It was also interesting how he makes himself out be a big family man (doesn't fish, golf, etc. so he can spend all his free time with them), but doesn't say much about his "special needs daughter" as he always seems to refer to her. She was mentioned around page 100 when they found out before she was born that there were problems and then really doesn't talk about her again until 100+ pages later where she gets another 2-3 paragraphs and then that's all. He talks about how his wife and his "best buddy" son were there for his mulitple Super Bowl wins, but says nothing about his daughter, Hannah, and where she was during these momementous events in his life.
The book, in general, just didn't sit well with me. However, I did like how he held his collegiate players to high standards, athletic AND academic. We need more coaches who agree with that philosphy.I don't regret reading it, but definitely don't need to read it again.
It was also interesting how he makes himself out be a big family man (doesn't fish, golf, etc. so he can spend all his free time with them), but doesn't say much about his "special needs daughter" as he always seems to refer to her. She was mentioned around page 100 when they found out before she was born that there were problems and then really doesn't talk about her again until 100+ pages later where she gets another 2-3 paragraphs and then that's all. He talks about how his wife and his "best buddy" son were there for his mulitple Super Bowl wins, but says nothing about his daughter, Hannah, and where she was during these momementous events in his life.
The book, in general, just didn't sit well with me. However, I did like how he held his collegiate players to high standards, athletic AND academic. We need more coaches who agree with that philosphy.I don't regret reading it, but definitely don't need to read it again.
March 20, 2008
charlie weis is an aberration from the modern day coaching norm, and the details of his career and personal life are quite stirring. weis may have the most difficult job in all of sports, and he has demonstrated, often against seemingly insurmountable odds, his capacity to lead boldly (as coach, as father, as husband, as caring citizen). perhaps even more admirable is his loyalty to commitment, which he exemplifies unwaveringly.
you may detest football, you may even despise notre dame football, but there is not a single thing to dislike about no excuses. like all great stories, it can excite the courage, compassion, and devotion within us all.
go irish.
you may detest football, you may even despise notre dame football, but there is not a single thing to dislike about no excuses. like all great stories, it can excite the courage, compassion, and devotion within us all.
go irish.
September 12, 2007
So Charlie Weis really is a no-nonsense kind of guy; as a result his book was kind of boring. I liked the bits where he talked about his undying love for both Tommy Brady and Brady Quinn (seriously) but other than that, man, I think I'm just glad I'm not the head football coach at Notre Dame. What a wretched, high-pressure job! I'm glad to have had this peek into Coach Weis's psyche, but I am also glad that it was only 200 pages long. It did make sitting on the F concourse of O'hare International Airport a bit more bearable, though. ::g::
GO IRISH.
GO IRISH.
June 2, 2008
As sports biographies go, this one is pretty good. Weis begins the book with his hiring as head football coach at Notre Dame and then backtracks to a brief look at his childhood and college years. Even in these early chapters, Weis focuses--as one would expect--on his experiences with sports. Weis provides much information on his start in coaching as he worked first in high school, then college, and finally breaking in to the NFL.
The book is a quick read and is good for a college football fix in the middle of the summer.
The book is a quick read and is good for a college football fix in the middle of the summer.
December 8, 2008
Definately ghost written, and in terms of his performance as a head coach, maybe he should have spent more time coaching and less time trying to cash in on Notre Dame and win a few more games. But, I'm not bitter or anything.
September 18, 2009
notre dame is a great football team. they are coached by a great coach named charlie weis. they always come prepard and ready to play. at the stadium they have touchdown Jesus statue and many cool surroundings like the library. i really want to go to notre dame college when i get older
October 19, 2014
This book was so hard to finish. On one hand, you have to give credit to Charlie Weis for his accomplishments as the Offensive Coordinator for the New England Patriots. However, this book more focuses on his college career which for those that do not have been pretty disappointing.
December 28, 2006
This book was actually read by my husband...a Notre Dame fanatic.
Want to read
September 14, 2007anything with notre dame, im reading!!!
February 25, 2008
Fun read for ND fans
August 7, 2008
This book is an okay book. Most people wouldn't like it at all. I takes a Notre Dame fan I think to truly enjoy it.
November 13, 2021
Please let me know when Urban Meyer is ready to coach Notre Dame.
March 14, 2009
Weis is a better coach than author - the book did not do his career, experiences or achievements justice.
June 30, 2012
If you are a Notre Dame fan or a Pat's fan, this is a must read!
January 27, 2014
I figured I had better read it before he gets fired.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews