Senior quarterback
Brady Quinn (6-4, 231) was one of the most improved players in the country last season, throwing for 3,919 yards, 32 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Quinn credits Weis with bringing his game to another level.
"He's a great teacher. He's taught me so many things about how to run an offense and be a leader," Quinn said. "A lot of things he learned in the NFL, he's brought to Notre Dame to teach me."
Quinn looked a lot like another Weis student, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, most of last season and surprised many by not declaring for the 2006 NFL draft. When asked why he decided to return to South Bend rather than play on Sundays this fall, Quinn cited the chance to learn further from Weis, the chance to win the national championship, and the chance to win a Heisman Trophy as reasons.
The old-school Weis thinks the individual awards go hand in hand with team success.
"If he wins the Heisman Trophy, then that probably means that we'll be playing for the national championship,'' Weis said.
With Quinn at the controls and much more comfortable in his second season of running Weis' system, Notre Dame will have one of the nation's most feared offenses. In 2005, Quinn set single-season Notre Dame records in attempts (450), completions (292), passing yards (3.919), passing yards per game (326.6), touchdown passes (32) and completion percentage (64.5 percent).
"One of the biggest things about our offense is that it plays to your strengths," said Quinn. "Coach Weis isn't going to ask us to do things outside of ourselves."
Weis has made no secret that he expects Quinn to be the unquestioned leader for the Irish, just as he expected that of Brady, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, in New England. "You don't have very many quarterbacks that fall into that category that are 'all-day tough,'" Weis said. "Well, [Quinn] obviously is one of them. Once you take that ingredient, then you have to find out what the key components are that he does as a quarterback. Is he intelligent? Yes. Does he have arm strength? Yes. Does he have touch? Yes. …
"But the most important element of a quarterback, without a doubt, is his leadership ability. And the fact that the team voted for him as a junior and a senior to be the offensive captain, it obviously tells me what the team thinks of his leadership ability."