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Charlie Weatherbie

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Charlie Weatherbie
Biographical details
Born (1955-01-17) January 17, 1955 (age 71)
Sedan, Kansas, U.S.
Playing career
1973–1976Oklahoma State
1979Ottawa Rough Riders
1979–1980Hamilton Tiger-Cats
1980Ottawa Rough Riders
PositionQuarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1977Oklahoma State (GA)
1978Enid HS (OK) (assistant)
1981–1983Wyoming (QB)
1984–1989Air Force (assistant)
1990–1991Arkansas (QB/OC)
1992–1994Utah State
1995–2001Navy
2003–2009Louisiana–Monroe
Head coaching record
Overall76–115
Bowls2–0
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 Big West (1993)
1 Sun Belt (2005)

Charles Alvin Weatherbie (born January 17, 1955) is an American former college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Utah State University (1992–1994), the United States Naval Academy (1995–2001), and Louisiana Monroe (2003–2009).

In 17 seasons as a college football head coach, he compiled a 76–115 record, including victories in the 1993 Las Vegas Bowl, the 1996 Aloha Bowl, and a 2007 victory over Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa at Bryant–Denny Stadium.

Coaching career

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Following the 1980 CFL season, Weatherbie decided to halt his playing career for the sake of his family and enter the realm of coaching, finding a job as the quarterback coach for Wyoming from 1981–83. He would subsequently move onto Air Force for six years, coaching quarterbacks and fullbacks under Fisher DeBerry.

In 1989, when Elliot Uzelac was fired by Navy Midshipmen, Weatherbie, who had been a part of six consecutive Air Force victories over Navy, called athletic director Jack Lengyel, who informed him he was looking for someone with head coaching experience. This was a driving factor in Weatherbie's move to Arkansas under Jack Crowe where he spent 1990 as the quarterback coach, and 1991 as an offensive coordinator, for the first time in his career serving in a coordinator position.[1]

Weatherbie's move paid off when he was hired in 1992 to serve as head coach for the Utah State Aggies. In 1993, Weatherbie helmed the Aggies to their first bowl appearance in 32 years, defeating Ball State, 42–33. Following a 3–8 season in 1994, Weatherbie's head was turned by the now-vacant head coaching position at his alma mater, Oklahoma State. (The idea of a return existed strongly enough in Weatherbie's mind to include a no-buyout exit clause to allow him to join Oklahoma State when he signed his initial contract at Utah State.) "It was a dream," Weatherbie would state. Oklahoma State's position was filled on December 16, 1994, with Bob Simmons, which left Weatherbie unencumbered to pursue the once-again vacant Naval Academy head coaching role.[1][2] Weatherbie would be announced on December 30, 1994, as the 34th coach in Navy's footballing history.[3]

Weatherbie's first season in charge was extensively chronicled in John Feinstein's book 'A Civil War' about the Army–Navy rivalry following both teams during the 1995 season. Weatherbie went 5–6 in his first season, including a difficult loss to Army in which the Midshipmen opted to go for it on fourth and goal from their half-yard line, up six, instead of kicking a field goal. The Midshipmen were stopped, and Army would go the entire length of the field to score a touchdown, win the game 14–13, and doom Navy to a losing season and a fourth consecutive loss in the Army/Navy Game.[4]

Weatherbie led Navy, in 1996 and 1997, to their first consecutive winning seasons in 15 years. 1996 saw the Midshipmen's first bowl victory since 1978, a victory in the 1996 Aloha Bowl against the California Golden Bears. The successes of 1996 saw Weatherbie sign a ten-year contract with the Academy.[5] 1997 saw Navy snap a five-game losing streak to Army in 1997 with a 39–7 thumping.

Weatherbie's '97 Midshipmen were also involved in a highly-memorable game against Notre Dame. The Midshipmen lost 21–17, hindered immensely by an erroneous spot that allowed the Irish's game-winning drive to continue en route to a touchdown. Following the game, a somewhat bizarre scene occurred. In 1995, the playing of Navy's alma mater was disrupted by the Band of the Fighting Irish, and the athletic directors of the two schools agreed that the band would only take the field following the playing of 'Blue and Gold'. By this point in time, the deeply Christian Weatherbie had implemented a midfield prayer as part of his team's post-game actions. Following the playing of 'Blue and Gold', as expected, the Irish band took the field, but Weatherbie directed his team to midfield, pointing and saying, "Prayer." Feinstein, in 'A Civil War', described the scene: "An [sic] so they began charging through the band to midfield. It was not a pretty scene. ... A couple of band members were knocked down, instruments sent flying. Profanities were exchanged." Feinstein wrote media members on-field reported quotes the next day to the effect of, "Get out of our way, goddamn it, we've got to f––– pray."[6] Fighting Irish fans booed the scene, and Weatherbie responded in the press stating, "We sing the ‘Navy Blue and Gold’ and say a prayer at midfield after every game. This is the first time we’ve been booed for praying."[7] Jack Lengyel and Weatherbie agreed to a shift for the post-game prayer to occur the end zone, particularly in the event of a band performance.[6]

Weatherbie continued at Navy into the 2001 season, however his back-to-back winning seasons, and Aloha Bowl victory, were the high water marks. Despite wins over Army in 1999 and 2000, after a 1–10 season in 2000, the Midshipmen started the season 0–7 and Weatherbie was relieved of his duties.[8]

After a year away from coaching, Weatherbie accepted the head job at Louisiana–Monroe in 2003.[9] At his time of joining, the (then) Indians, in nine years of Division I-A football, had never won more than three games against I-A opposition. After a 1–11 first season, Weatherbie accomplished a 5–6 season, with all five wins against I-A opposition, in 2004, and a Sun Belt Conference Co-Championship and 5–2 conference record in 2005.

Weatherbie was at the helm of UL–Monroe for one of the program's most famous victories when, in 2007 they toppled Alabama 21–14 in Nick Saban's first season as head coach. The loss has been cited by Saban as one of his most humiliating.[10][11] The now-Warhawks had accomplished a 6–6 (.500) season for the first time in their I-A history, and would follow that up again in 2009. This, ultimately, would be Weatherbie's final season as a collegiate coach; Louisiana-Monroe would not extend his contract.[12]

Personal life and religiosity

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Weatherbie's post-coaching career revolves around missionary work towards athletes.[13][14]

Discussing Weatherbie's evangelical faith in a service academy setting, in 'A Civil War' (in an updated 2000 afterword for the paperback release of the book), John Feinstein would state, "Weatherbie's evangelical Christianity had been accepted at the academy in part because it was clearly genuine, in part because the team had been winning games. But there was some discomfort within the team and the athletic department with this added public display."[15]

Feinstein cited the opening line of Weatherbie's first meeting with the 1995 team to be, "Men, let's all grab a hand and start with a prayer" [p. 26] and would provide further examples as to the extent in which prayer was involved in a Weatherbie-run football program, including praying for very specific requests ("Lord, give us the ability to focus until the clock hits zero, zero, zero" [p. 127] ahead of his first game at Navy in 1995, "Lord, allow us to do a good job analyzing this video we're going to watch" [p. 217] ahead of a film session, for two).[16]

Head coaching record

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Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Utah State Aggies (Big West Conference) (1992–1994)
1992 Utah State 5–64–2T–2nd
1993 Utah State 7–55–1T–1stW Las Vegas
1994 Utah State 3–82–47th
Utah State: 15–1911–7
Navy Midshipmen (NCAA Division I-A independent) (1995–2001)
1995 Navy 5–6
1996 Navy 9–3W Aloha
1997 Navy 7–4
1998 Navy 3–8
1999 Navy 5–7
2000 Navy 1–10
2001 Navy 0–7
Navy: 30–45
Louisiana–Monroe Indians/Warhawks (Sun Belt Conference) (2003–2009)
2003 Louisiana–Monroe 1–111–58th
2004 Louisiana–Monroe 5–63–3T–5th
2005 Louisiana–Monroe 5–65–2T–1st
2006 Louisiana–Monroe 4–83–4T–5th
2007 Louisiana–Monroe 6–64–3T–3rd
2008 Louisiana–Monroe 4–83–4T–5th
2009 Louisiana–Monroe 6–65–33rd
Louisiana–Monroe: 31–5124–24
Total:76–115
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References

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  1. 1 2 Feinstein, John (1996). A Civil War. United States of America: Back Bay Books. pp. 28–30. ISBN 978-0316278249.
  2. ↑ Hamilton, Linda (December 30, 1994). "WEATHERBIE LEAVES USU FOR NAVY". Deseret News. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  3. ↑ "SPORTS PEOPLE: COLLEGE FOOTBALL; New Coach at Navy Comes From Utah State". The New York Times. December 31, 1994. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  4. ↑ Feinstein, John (1996). A Civil War. United States of America: Back Bay Books. pp. 360, 368–376. ISBN 978-0316278249.
  5. ↑ By (December 5, 2000). "1-10 Navy shakes up coaching staff". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Feinstein, John (1996). A Civil War. United States of America: Back Bay Books. pp. 401–408. ISBN 978-0316278249.
  7. ↑ Goldstein, Alan (November 2, 1997). "Navy Just Shy of a Miracle at South Bend". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Weatherbie Relieved Of His Duties". Naval Academy Athletics. October 28, 2001. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  9. ↑ "ULM names Weatherbie head football coach: Former Utah State and Navy mentor takes over Indians program". sunbeltsports.org. May 7, 2003. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Nick Saban names the 'most humiliating' loss of his college football career". CFB-HQ On SI. October 11, 2025. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  11. ↑ Scarborough, Alex. "Nick Saban's worst loss and the building of an Alabama dynasty". www.espn.com. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Weatherbie's contract won't be renewed". www.espn.com. November 30, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  13. ↑ "GameChanger 316 | Non-profit Christian sports ministry". Gamechanger316. Retrieved July 12, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ↑ Fennelly, Martin. "College Football Playoff: Remembering the day Lousiana Monroe took down Nick Saban's Alabama". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  15. ↑ Feinstein, John (1996). A Civil War. United States of America: Back Bay Books. p. 403. ISBN 978-0316278249.
  16. ↑ Feinstein, John (1996). A Civil War. United States of America: Back Bay Books. pp. 26, 128, 217. ISBN 978-0316278249.
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