Weis has several key issues to solve in Irish's off-season

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Charlie Weis can't explain all that's wrong with his program.

"I couldn't do that in a whole day right now," Weis said. "I need days to answer that question."

Soon, Weis hopes to have answers. After Notre Dame's Saturday finale at Stanford and three weeks on the recruiting trail, the Notre Dame coach will lock himself in his office on Dec. 17 to tear apart the wreckage of the worst season in Irish history.

Weis is right. There probably are too many problems here to offer a one-stop analysis.

"But I know one thing," Weis said. "We have to find out what they are before we can move forward and try to share the blame with other factions. I think you'd better first identify what they are."

Well, since he asked, here are three issues that will dominate Notre Dame's off-season:

Trust in Clausen

Weis already does, with his team following suit.

After throwing 1 touchdown pass in his first six starts, freshman Jimmy Clausen connected on 6 in his last two. Those strikes came against Air Force and Duke, but Notre Dame won't consider the scores relative.

Any points earn unconditional applause.

"It's awesome to see him build from what he was at the beginning," said center Dan Wenger. "It gives us great confidence."

With Clausen on the rise and his stats on par with former Irish freshman Brady Quinn, there's little doubt Notre Dame has found its future quarterback.

Now, Clausen must follow Quinn's lead into the weight room, where the future Cleveland Browns first-rounder outlifted offensive linemen. Right now, Clausen would have a better competition with the student managers.

Weis wants an extra 15 pounds on Clausen's 195-pound frame.

Don't spare the pads

Of all the mistakes Weis made this season, perhaps the biggest came in August.

Instead of beating up his team during training camp, Weis took the cautious approach. Notre Dame worked out in full pads but almost never "went to ground," coach-speak for full-speed tackling. The Irish emerged from training camp injury free -- not that it mattered.

Georgia Tech sacked Notre Dame's quarterbacks nine times in the season opener. Penn State managed 6 takedowns. Michigan notched 8 sacks.

The Irish offense knew what was coming, but it wasn't physically prepared to stop it. The Yellow Jackets, Nittany Lions and Wolverines didn't play at the three-quarters speed of Irish practices.

After the 38-0 loss to Michigan, Weis got wise. He returned Notre Dame to training camp, this time for real. Instead of playing it safe to avoid injuries, the Irish went full speed in full pads. Injuries started to mount during that first workout, but that was the day Notre Dame learned to crawl.

Weis promised he won't make this misstep again, hinting he might make his quarterbacks live this spring. It's hard to imagine Clausen not wearing a red jersey in April, but Weis seems willing to explore all options.

Fast-forward freshmen

Weis got a crash-and-burn course in coaching young talent this season. How he alters his approach could lead to Notre Dame's biggest improvement.

After treating his freshmen like NFL rookies the past two years, Weis saw little difference between first-year players in college and the pros. But he had an obstructed view.

On veteran BCS teams his first two years, underclassmen soaked up Weis' system in the background. This year, those freshmen and sophomores had to skip that acclimation process.

"Maturity-wise, there's a huge difference between dealing with a freshman and dealing with a senior," Weis said. "Coming in, they think they are grown men already.

"But it's the first time in their lives they have been able to make decisions on their own without mom and dad being around."

Weis can't change that dynamic but can devise a better practice plan for assimilating next year's recruiting class, ranked No. 1 by Rivals.com.

Notre Dame can't afford a replay of Golden Tate, the freshman receiver who sat on the bench because the staff couldn't devise a limited package for the team's best athlete.

The Irish may have a dozen underclassmen in the starting lineup next season. Weis must figure out how to get more from that group.