The Charlie Weis era in Lawrence has begun as expected - with the former Notre Dame coach and longtime offensive coordinator naming former Irish QB Dayne Crist his starter
ESPN Big 12 blogger David Ubben profiles the quarterback race at KU, with Weis praising Crist almost as much as BYU transfer Jake Heaps, who can't play in 2012 due to transfer issues:
"Heaps is leaps and bounds ahead of the other quarterbacks in the program; it’s not close," Weis said. "How am I going to get him ready to play here in the program knowing that he can’t play in the games next year? When you’re getting your teams ready to play in the summertime, how many reps can you really get him?"
But what about the backups? Clearly Weis has done little to stoke the fires of competing for the starting job, but someone will have to back up Crist this fall. Three names - Michael Cummings, Blake Jablonski and incoming freshman Turner Baty will vie for the No. 2 job.
For his part, Weis doesn't sound exactly focused on the matter of an understudy:
"We have a lot of options right now, but this has got to be the time that Jake gets his time because he doesn’t have time once we get to the summer," Weis said.
For more on the Kansas Jayhawks, check out Rock Chalk Talk and SB Nation's college football news page.