John Murphy is reporting over at WIVB.com that the Buffalo Bills have contacted former Notre Dame head coach and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis about the team's head coaching vacancy. Citing sources, Murphy reports that Weis is, indeed, interested in Buffalo as a potential employer.
Murphy also cautions that it is not believed at this point that the two sides have had serious discussions about the coaching seat being kept warm by Perry Fewell.
Weis, who will turn 54 this coming March, was fired by Notre Dame on November 30 after a disappointing 6-6 finish in his fifth and final season with the Irish. In his five seasons at Notre Dame, the Irish finished with a 35-27 record. That included a 19-6 record in his first two seasons - years in which Brady Quinn led a potent offensive attack - but the Irish flopped in consecutive BCS bowl losses to Ohio State and then LSU. Weis' Irish then went 16-21 over the next three seasons, with one more bowl appearance - this time, a win over Hawaii.
As Murphy's report reminds us, Weis was a serious candidate for Buffalo's head coaching vacancy in 2004, a year in which the Bills eventually hired Mike Mularkey. At that time, Weis was the offensive coordinator of Bill Belichick's Patriots, and had served in the same capacity under Bill Parcells with the New York Jets. His first year coaching in the NFL was in 1990, when, on Parcells' New York Giants staff, the Giants beat the Bills in Super Bowl XXV.