It was a spring of change at Notre Dame.

Maybe not so much on the field, but there are a couple of big-picture, program-defining themes at play, the foremost of which is the stated desire of coach Charlie Weis to be more accessible, more involved in the whole team ... basically, to be kinder, gentler.

Toward that end, he ceded play-calling duties to coordinator Mike Haywood so that the head coach could focus on being the head coach of everyone—not just the quarterbacks and the rest of the offense.

"You have to make sure you're actually giving the guys an opportunity to do it, that you're not just being superficial about what you're doing," Weis said.

Not much is expected to change in the scheme as sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen is back as the ...More