One autographed photo personalized by Notre Dame Head Football Coach Charlie Weis

Charlie Weis, a 1978 University of Notre Dame graduate and owner of four Super Bowl-champion rings as products of a stellar 15-season career as a National Football League assistant coach, wasted no time putting his stamp on his alma mater's program in his first year as Notre Dame head football coach in 2005.

Weis quickly transformed the Irish offense into one of the most prolific in the country, as Notre Dame scored more points (440) than in any previous season in school history - and also qualified as the most improved offensive attack in the nation, jumping its total offense production (477.33 yards per game) a national best 131.8 yards per game better than in '04.

That offensive productivity, coupled with an opportunistic, physical defense that forced eight red-zone turnovers, and vastly-improved special teams, equated to a 9-3 mark in '05 that was good for a number-six ranking in the Bowl Championship Series final regular-season standings and a guaranteed at-large BCS berth in the 2006 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl opposite Big Ten co-champion Ohio State. Notre Dame's only losses in '05 came by three points in overtime to then-unbeaten Michigan State, by three points to top-ranked and unbeaten USC on a last-second Trojan touchdown, then to fourth-rated Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

Notre Dame finished ninth in the final Associated Press poll for '05 (its first AP top 10 finish since the Irish were runners-up following the '93 season), 11th according to USA Today.

That success helped make Weis winner of the 2005 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, as national college coach of the year as selected by the Football Writers Association of America. He also was one of three finalists for the `05 Munger Award as the college coach of the year (presented by the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia), one of five finalists for the '05 Schutt Division I-A Sports Coach of the Year (presented by American Football Monthly) and finished third in the balloting for the Associated Press college football coach-of-the-year award