Silver screen meets Golden Dome: Let the tug of war begin

The battle for Jimmy Clausen's heart, soul and arm has begun. It should be a great show considering the kid rolled into South Bend eight months ago with the hubris of a cheap grifter.

On one side of the conflict are guys like Jeff Freedman. The high-powered L.A. movie publicist was hired by Clausen's family to orchestrate a stretch-Hummer-limo entrance to the College Football Hall of Fame to announce Jimmy's commitment to Notre Dame.

It's up to Charlie Weis to provide a support system for Jimmy Clausen. (Getty Images)

Never mind that Clausen was 17 months away (at least) from throwing his first college pass. Style wrestled substance to the ground that day.

"If you pick the wrong transportation to get there, it's a slight mistake in the big scheme," Freedman said. "Of all the mistakes, to kill a guy over his ride ..."

On the other side is the voice of reason: Charlie Weis. If the Notre Dame coach is smart, he will quickly apply a soothing brainwash rinse to The Next Great One.

In the middle is Ron Powlus. Yes, that Ron Powlus and his two Heismans that never were. Powlus is probably the perfect human to be Notre Dame's quarterbacks coach at this point in history.

In 1993, Powlus was Clausen. Maybe bigger. He was perhaps the most-recruited quarterback in Notre Dame history. Heaped with outrageous expectations, he was loaded into the ND wood chipper and came out intact.

Forty-six games, a couple of major bowls and no national championships. Kicked around the NFL for a while. Spent a couple of years as an assistant in the Pennsylvania State Senate. Powlus married his senior year, settled down, had kids.

Last week, he was elevated by Weis from his role as director of personnel development.

Upon reflection, Beano Cook was the fool for handing Powlus two Heismans before he had done anything. All Powlus did was keep his head down and play as well as he could.

It has been a decade since he left school and we're in the middle of another recruiting season. Haven't we learned? Jimmy, Jeff, are you listening?

"Sure it's flattering, absolutely," Powlus said. "I don't know when it started or when it became a reality in mind. The attention you receive as quarterback at Notre Dame is part of the job."

A job. How unique. This era's Clausenites see college as a brief three-year stop before the next level. They want all the glory and none of the work.

This is a California kid coming to South Bend to play in weather. The nation's best prep player entering college football's biggest fish bowl. A hotshot playing for the head coach who demands the most from his quarterbacks.

It will be curious to see when (not if) Clausen is intercepted, injured or -- God forbid -- loses. Because long before that Weis will tear down Clausen, before he builds him up.

Brady Quinn thrived in that atmosphere -- like Powlus, setting every passing record that matters at Notre Dame.

Your serve, Jimmy.

The perfect support system awaits -- a head coach who is well connected to the NFL and a position coach who is well connected to perspective.

Powlus repeatedly called it "fun" being the BMOC for his entire five-year college career. Even Quinn, who broke a lot of Powlus' passing records, was never that.

"You deal with it," Powlus said. "You go to class and sign autographs and take pictures coming out of 7-11. It never threw me too much for a loop."

If the elevation of Powlus and recruitment of Clausen were on parallel tracks, then Weis is smarter than we all thought. Clausen enrolled early this month, a once-in-a-decade player we are told. A strange and maybe wonderful symmetry, since Powlus' last year was 1997.

Weis' first order of business should be cutting Clausen's stage father, Jim, out of the picture. You might have gathered that Hummers and Weis don't mix. ND Nation expects Clausen to be starting at some point this fall, if not in the opener. He will be handed absolutely nothing.

Hopefully, Powlus doesn't have to tell him that. Once the kid steps on the field, Quinn's backup Evan Sharpley will want his shot. Dual-threat Demetrius Jones and Zach Frazer were part of last year's class.

"That's part of what you buy into," Powlus said. "All the guys that come in here expect to play. If you don't, we don't want you on the team."

The only advantage Clausen has is his rep. If he goes to two major bowls in four years without a national championship, will ND Nation be satisfied? Will Daddy Clausen be satisfied? What about that wood chipper?

"It's all about how you do on the field, especially a freshman in college," Freedman said. "How much is he going to play? The real story will be two or three years from now."

It's funny how people find religion when the situation suits them. That's what most of us were thinking in April, when Freedman assembled JC's shindig. His background is hyping actors, movies, not real-life quarterbacks. Lately Freedman has been heavily involved in promoting We Are Marshall and Gridiron Gang.

If we look at it that way, it's easy to understand. Right now, Jimmy Clausen, The Rock and Matthew McConaughey have one thing in common. They're all commodities.

Two have careers.

The other hopefully doesn't wreck his.

If you're ever in town, Freedman would love to tell you about it.

"Call me sometime, we'll go to lunch," the publicist said from his L.A. office, far, far away from South Bend.