Isn’t that special?: Weis revamped the way special teams are coached for the third year in a row and drastically so. But will the third time be charming -- or even palatable?

Weis was confident enough in freshman kicker Brandon Walker that he didn’t recruit more competition in his latest recruiting class, but he will scour the student body this spring and fall just in case Walker doesn’t mature.

Coverage on kicks and punts was equally as inconsistent and kickoff returns were so-so. The Irish have too much speed and put too much emphasis on special teams not to have it be at least somewhat of an asset. The best offseason move in that vein was for Weis to move his rump to Blacksburg, Va., and pick the brain of Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, whose teams have excelled consistently in special teams.

Filling holes: The Irish must replace standouts at center, tight end, safety, inside linebacker, defensive end and punter -- but there is quantity and quality at all those positions.

Video   Notre Dame's top 10 moments of '07 Dec. 27: From everchanging QBs to colossal loss to Navy, it was a season like none other for the Fighting Irish. NBC Sports

The real holes were in the offensive line, where ND broke the old school record for sacks allowed in a season (58) by 20. It wasn’t just youth. It wasn’t just chemistry. And it wasn’t offensive line coach John Latina, no matter how it looked from the outside. There were schematic flaws in how ND went about its blocking. There were also cracks in practice structure that exposed the line more than any other phase of the Irish team last season.

That’s another area where having Tenuta on the staff will help. He set the defensive template for other teams to follow in Georgia Tech’s 33-3 season-opening overwhelming of the Irish. Chances are if he knew how to exploit the ND offense, he’ll have some good ideas on how to fix it.

Letting go: Weis prides himself on being a teacher. And if he has taught well, then Haywood should be able to take over the offense relatively seamlessly.

Weis wasn’t the only Bowl Subdivision head coach to also double as the team’s primary offensive play-caller. There were 14, in fact, last season.

Spring will be a good time to find the balance between letting Haywood have room to grow and injecting ideas that made Weis such a success in the NFL as an offensive coordinator.

If he can stand it, Weis will benefit from looking at and evaluating his team through the lens of a head coach. We’ll soon find out if he has the stomach for it.

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