Notre Dame football coach visits Hilton Head Island

Charlie Weis saved his best for last Thursday night.

The Notre Dame football coach -- on Hilton Head Island to participate in an alumni club dinner/fundraiser -- went through the normal checklist. He told jokes, updated boosters on the state of the Fighting Irish program and answered a handful of question that had been submitted earlier. He gave the crowd of 178 Notre Dame faithful packed into a dining hall at Sea Pines Country Club all they wanted to hear: The Irish will be faster on defense, solid along the offensive line and experienced and deep at quarterback. The tide from going 10-15 over the past two seasons should be turning, he said.

But it was while answering the last of those questions -- the one that didn't have anything to do with Xs and Os -- when Weis was able to blend everything together: coach, comedian, spokesman.

The 53-year-old Weis, who served four seasons as an assistant to Joe Morrison at South Carolina during the 1980s, began by telling the story of his 2002 gastric bypass surgery that nearly killed him and resulted in a malpractice lawsuit. The following spring he and his family retreated to their condo in Litchfield Beach to regroup.

"My wife (Maura) and I were sitting there looking out at the ocean when she said to me, 'You know, you could've died and we would have never done any good for anyone other than ourselves,' " the coach recalled. "Here I am feeling pretty good about myself -- winning a bunch of Super Bowls, making good money, taking care of my family -- and she's just shooting me down, making me feel like garbage.

"I said, 'What do you mean?' She goes, 'We've got enough money to take care of Hannah because we're fortunate enough to do that. But what about all these other people with special needs' -- or, as we call, different abilities -- 'who don't have the resources to do that?' So that day was the origin of Hannah and Friends."

Hannah and Friends is a charitable organization that Weis' family founded in honor of their daughter, who was diagnosed with autism shortly after birth. The order's goal is to raise awareness and funds to improve the quality of life for children and adults with special needs. With Weis serving as a top assistant coach for the New England Patriots, he said thefoundation started off strong. But it received a jolt after he took over at Notre Dame.

He said now rather than provide $20,000 in grants, the foundation can bestow more than $100,000. Instead of building a residential community for adults with special needs by 2015, folks will be moving in to facilities around August.

And Weis hasn't only been rubbing shoulders with the who's who of the athletic world. He has a close friendship with rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who produced a $60,000 check to Hannah and Friends at a benefit in March -- though only after Weis and New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick joined him on stage for a rendition of his song "Wanted Dead or Alive."

"It's amazing what our little mom-and-pop charity has been able to do," Weis said. "Fortunately for me, I have resources most people don't have, to be able to get people to raise money.

"I go up there and embarrass myself for four minutes and he gives me a check for $60,000," he added. "I figured I could take one for the team if I need to on that one. But for all those people with special needs -- or, as my wife calls, different abilities -- we're just hoping in our own small way to make their quality of life better, to take off some of the burden from this epidemic that's coming into play ... and trying to bring more awareness and compassion to people with special needs."

Hannah and Friends received more help after Weis was done speaking Thursday, when the Notre Dame Club of Hilton Head Island presented him with a check for $1,000.