SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – Offensive coordinator Charlie Weise Jr. flew to Arizona with No. 6 Ole Miss on Tuesday night, the playcaller on loan from Lane Kiffin’s LSU staff is available to coach his former Rebels team against No. 10 Miami in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Thursday, Rebels offensive assistant Joe Judge said.
“Charlie is in the hotel right now watching our practice tape with the staff,” Judge said at the Fiesta Bowl’s media day with select coaches and players. “And look, I tell you what, Charlie has moved around a few times.
“Actually, he had to fly out after practice yesterday and come back last night because he also had portal visits going on, so there was scripting and phone calls on the plane and talking about notes from practice and making corrections via FaceTime.”
There was uncertainty over which coaches joining Kiffin at LSU would continue coaching the Rebels in the College Football Playoff. Running backs coach Kevin Smith is also expected to continue coaching the Rebels after being hired by LSU, sources told ESPN.
Both have received permission from LSU’s administration to continue helping the Rebels reach the national championship game, which would be the biggest game in program history if they beat Miami.
Weiss was not available to reporters Tuesday.
Judge said, “You know, it’s been a different process for all of us, but we all work very well together and Charlie has done a great job throughout this process.” “I can’t say enough about Charlie for who he is as a person, what he’s doing as a coach. And it’s a challenge that not a lot of guys have had to face.”
Judge declined to provide specific information about what LSU staff members traveled to help Ole Miss, and deferred those questions to head coach Pete Golding. Both Golding and Miami coach Mario Cristobal will address the media Wednesday morning.
Judge said that before anyone on the staff knew which assistants would return, they made a plan for who would work with which position groups and “how we would handle the things that we did throughout the season.”
“It’s about the players,” Judge said. “We’ve got to give them information, we’ve got to give them space, but we’ve got Charlie here to call the plays, and other than that, the players are ready to go.”
quarterback trinidad chamblis Said that no player or staff member has been affected by any distraction.
“It’s been a little weird at times, just because they’ve been going back and forth, but they’ve handled it very well,” Chambliss said of the assistant coaches. “Our coaches have been locked in, and they’ve been backed up. It’s a little difficult to do that, being a coach at one school, but also having obligations at another, and they’ve done a great job of handling it, and they’ve put all their focus on the game.”
