April 16, 2012

LAWRENCE, Kan. - More than a half a century of coaching knowledge and experience was on display this weekend at the Anderson Family Football Complex, as head coach Charlie Weis and his staff hosted the annual Kansas Football Coaches Clinic.

The two-day event kicked off on Friday afternoon, with close to 100 high school football coaches from across Missouri and Kansas getting a chance to watch spring practice. Following the three-hour practice, clinic participants had dinner with the Jayhawk coaching staff and took part in a special `Chalk Talk' session with Coach Weis and his staff.

"The purpose of this clinic is to get to know the local high school coaches," explained Scott Vestal, who is the Assistant Director of KU Football Operations. "We want to share ideas with these guys and hopefully they take something away that can benefit their program."

From offensive schemes to defensive X's and O's, Weis and his staff discussed many different coaching tactics and situations that come across each and every Saturday on the sidelines.

"Maybe what they take away is something that they learn or perhaps it's something that validates what they already know," Vestal said. "This clinic is all about relationship building, getting close to these guys and knowing that we learn from them just as much as they learn from us."

Vestal, who was responsible for organizing the clinic, hopes that in 2013 it will expand its footprint, to have coaching participants come to KU from as far away as Omaha and Dallas, but for now it's all about sharing the wealth of knowledge each coach possesses.

"The overall experience of the staff is outstanding and it starts at the top," he explained. "Coach Weis has four Super Bowl rings and is a guy that has worked his way up. He really understands the fundamentals of each position and our clinic is based on those fundamentals and schematics of the game."