Weatherbie

Navy basketball coach Don DeVoe helped to make a bit of college sports history yesterday by signing a 10-year contract extending through the year 2007.It is similar in length to the 10-year contract signed by head football coach Charlie Weatherbie last year."I think I can safely say that we have the only coaching tandem in the country with contracts of that length," said athletic director Jack Lengyl."Both DeVoe and Weatherbie are coaches who represent the academy in the best possible way on and off the court or field, and this is our commitment to their quality of coaching."

When Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis put his signature on a 10-year contract extension last month, the knee-jerk reaction from many corners was to stare at skin color. His predecessor, Tyrone Willingham, is black. Weis is white. Willingham won his first eight games for the Fighting Irish and was fired after three seasons. Weis won five of his first seven. He was immediately rewarded with an unprecedented extension. But this isn't a race lecture because the lasting lesson we take from this will have nothing to do with ethnic backgrounds.

The Naval Academy, which has not enjoyed a winning football season since 1982, today hired Charlie Weatherbie as its new coach.Mr. Weatherbie, who resurrected a long-suffering football program at Utah State, signed a "multi-year" contract, according to a Navy official, but financial terms were not disclosed.Mr. Weatherbie, 39, replaces George Chaump, who was fired Dec. 4 after a third straight loss to arch-rival Army. Mr. Chaump had a five-year record of 14-41 with the Midshipmen, who were manhandled by most Division I foes.

Rick Lantz waited a long time for his opportunity to become a head football coach at an NCAA Division I-A school. Now that it's here after 35 years as an assistant at various institutions, he is viewing the change optimistically. Just as Ralph Friedgen - with a similar employment history - did at Maryland. Navy's defensive coordinator was named Sunday to replace Charlie Weatherbie, who was dismissed after the team lost for the 17th time in 18 games Saturday night. "I'm looking at it as though they conducted a national search and I was the guy," said Lantz, whose new title is interim head coach.

It is that time of the year again in Annapolis. Yes, it is Army-Navy week leading up to Saturday's season-ending game. But it is also a time frame in which annual reports surface that Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie might be heading elsewhere.Last year, Weatherbie's name was linked to job openings at Boston College, Pittsburgh and Baylor. The latest rumor had the University of Arkansas seeking a replacement for Danny Ford. Weatherbie, who coached the Razorbacks' quarterbacks in 1990 and 1991, was reportedly on the list of candidates.

Injuries at several skill positions, including quarterback, and in the defensive line have forced new Navy football coach Charlie Weatherbie to take a wait-and-see attitude about the Midshipmen, who will complete spring practice tomorrow with the Blue-Gold intrasquad scrimmage at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.Junior Ben Fay, expected to succeed record-breaking Jim Kubiak at quarterback, suffered a toe injury early in practice and did not return until yesterday."It gave us a chance to look at some of the other kids, and we were impressed by Howard Bryant and Chris McCoy," said Weatherbie, who has introduced his spread offense to the Mids.

During his first season as head football coach at Utah State three years ago, Charlie Weatherbie detected an air of indifference in the student body.The Aggies were beating Nevada-Las Vegas in the final game of the 1992 season, but there was little noise from the crowd. In the fourth quarter, Weatherbie left the sidelines, climbed a flagpole and waved his hands wildly to arouse the fans, who responded with a roar."Football has to be fun," the coach said.It's that same kind of inventiveness and enthusiasm that the Naval Academy hopes Weatherbie will bring to Annapolis after signing him to a five-year contract yesterday to resurrect its long-suffering football program.

Charlie Weatherbie has always been the type of coach to stress positives over negatives. And the Navy football coach has remained true to form despite the Midshipmen's 1-3 start."

HONOLULU -- Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie will meet with Naval Academy officials soon to work out a long-term contract.On the eve of Navy's Aloha Bowl game against California, Weatherbie said yesterday that he wants to settle in Annapolis.Weatherbie, who is completing his second year at Navy, made a postseason trip to Baylor but withdrew his name from consideration for the coaching vacancy and also was mentioned for the post at Boston College."I'm looking at a long-term relationship at the Naval Academy," Weatherbie said.

Coach,I just wanted to say that despite everything that happened, you and the team this year were unbelievable. I have never been more proud to be able to support you in the stands and call Navy my team. I have never been more proud to go to this academy.The e-mail keeps coming, 50 messages from midshipmen alone."It's been overwhelming," Navy football coach Charlie Weatherbie said yesterday. "I've gotten letters and faxes from retired admirals, captains, people whose kids go to school here, people who saw the game on TV, coaches I respect."

The Naval Academy yesterday fired football coach Charlie Weatherbie one day after the team suffered its 17th defeat in the past 18 games. Defensive coordinator Rick Lantz was named the interim head coach with three games remaining in the season. The dismissal was considered inevitable after the season began with Navy straining through its second consecutive poor autumn, currently with an 0-7 record after Saturday's heartbreaking 21-20 defeat at Toledo. Since successive winning seasons in 1996 (9-3, including an Aloha Bowl victory over California)

The Naval Academy has decided not to play an 11th football game this season after its Sept. 15 visit to Northwestern was canceled in the wake of the terrorist attacks. "We had people who wanted to play, both at home and away," said athletic director Chet Gladchuk. "But in the final analysis, scheduling a contest on Nov. 3 at the end of a critical exam week for the midshipmen was not appropriate." Academic considerations were the main reason for the decision. Academy students are scheduled to take critical 12-week examinations the week of the proposed game.

If one conclusion can be gleaned from the Navy Academy's football opener, it is that the Midshipmen have a difficult journey in their quest for a winning season. One loss is already recorded. The next four opponents were 2000 bowl teams, and later in the season, Navy must visit Toledo - a 38-7 winner over Minnesota on Thursday night - and Notre Dame. The remaining four games on the schedule - Rice, Rutgers, Tulane and Army - are winnable, but the Midshipmen must spring an upset or two along the way to finish above .500.

Evidence is building that Navy's new football offense is catching up with the defense. In the latest scrimmage, the flexbone attack was dominant despite missing three key weapons - quarterback Craig Candeto, running back Gene Reese and wide receiver Chandler Sims - because of minor injuries. Senior quarterback Ed Malinowski showed he is not to be counted out, completing touchdown passes to Dominic Bailey and freshman Amir Jenkins in a 13-for-16, 123-yard performance. "Ed is a guy that we know can come in and win games for us," said coach Charlie Weatherbie.

Navy's football coaching staff underwent a shake-up yesterday less than 48 hours after the team ended its season with a 30-28 victory over archrival Army in Baltimore. In the wake of a 1-10 record, offensive coordinator Mike Vaught, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator Gene McKeehan, and secondary coach Charles McMillian were fired; defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter was demoted to a lesser position with the defense. Head coach Charlie Weatherbie - who has served four years of a 10-year contract signed after the team's 1996 bowl season - remains in charge.

This has been a dismal football season at the Naval Academy, but, because of heavy personnel losses, it has afforded young players an opportunity to gain valuable experience. Fifteen members of the two-deep chart - plus three specialists - are sophomores or plebes, including five first-stringers. More will become prominent when the Midshipmen return to action two Saturdays hence at Tulane. Nine of Navy's players are not in the team's media guide because of injuries. Coach Charlie Weatherbie said yesterday that paying the price of inexperience now should provide some dividends next season.

Charlie Weatherbie, the Naval Academy's new football boss, says he was born to coach."It's just in my blood," said Weatherbie, who will begin spring practice in Annapolis tomorrow. He is faced with the task of rebuilding a football program that went 14-41 in five seasons under George Chaump, who was fired last December after a third straight loss to Army.The Midshipmen will spend the next month getting acquainted with Weatherbie, who will combine the triple-option philosophy he employed at Utah State with the freewheeling ideas of new offensive coordinator Paul Johnson, from Hawaii.

A college football coach who has lost 16 starters, all but one player on the defensive unit, plus a record-shattering quarterback, might acknowledge he is facing a major rebuilding job.But at Navy, which opens spring practice tomorrow, Charlie Weatherbie is a self-proclaimed eternal optimist."

As a groundswell of fan and alumni discontent grows after Navy's 0-7 start, coach Charlie Weatherbie, his staff and the players are maintaining a stiff upper lip. "The only control we have over anybody is ourselves," Weatherbie said yesterday. "We can't worry about what other people are saying or thinking. We have to do what we can control and look inside ourselves for improvement." Saturday's 28-21 defeat to Rutgers on homecoming increased the volume of the feedback during this dreary season, which began with high hopes after 1999's solid finish to a 5-7 record and six losses by seven points or fewer.

Navy's football team is bruised, battered and winless, and the burden does not lighten this week. When the Midshipmen return home Saturday for their fourth game, they will be greeted by nationally ranked Texas Christian and its candidate for the Heisman Trophy, running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who needs only 86 yards to break the school's rushing record. It is another major task. "Our goal is to hold him under 100," said Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie, whose team was pounded for 625 total offensive yards in a 48-7 loss to Boston College.