Birmingham's Charlie Weis
OK, before the 1-9 season, back when Weis was still thought of as an offensive genius. Forget it, maybe I should've said Norm Chow. Anyway...
Every program has one. The quiet coach who is content to sit in the booth, calls plays and let everyone else take the credit even though he's a genius X's and O's guy. At Birmingham, that guy is offensive coordinator Jim Thornton. He drives in from Simi Valley every day, sits in the booth and hardly says a word, but according to all the other assistants, and coach Croson, he's one of the power brains behind the whole operation.
``He's our Charlie Weis,'' assistant Kevin Thomas said. ``He's just a football nut. He's been doing it his whole life. He's great at breaking down film, doing the X's and O's kind of stuff.''
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