Kansas coach Charlie Weis addresses the media during his turn at the microphone during Big 12 media days Monday in Dallas.

Athlon’s preseason college football magazine ranked the Football Bowl Subdivision coaches from 1 through 128.

The good news for Kansas University’s Charlie Weis: He wasn’t the lowest among former Notre Dame coaches. The bad news: He ranked 102nd.

Bob Davie, who went to the broadcast booth after getting fired by Notre Dame, was ranked 103rd. He has gone 7-18 in two seasons at New Mexico.

Weis ranked 10th among Big 12 field bosses, behind: 4. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma); 5. Art Briles (Baylor); 6. Bill Snyder (Kansas State); 20. Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State); 23. Gary Patterson (TCU); 26. Charlie Strong (Texas); 49. Paul Rhoads (Iowa State); 56. Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech); 72. Dana Holgorsen (West Virginia).

Weis is one of 21 FBS coaches entering his third season, and at 4-20 is tied with a fellow former offensive guru — Hawaii’s Norm Chow — for the worst record among the 21. Davie and Chow were the only third-year coaches ranked behind Weis, and 18 were placed ahead of him.

Before looking at whether Weis’ ranking is fair, consider some other Athlon opinions.

Not surprisingly, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Ohio State’s Urban Meyer fill the top two spots. The first surprise had South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier at No. 3, a deserving pick but not one many would make. A flop as an NFL head coach, Spurrier remains an exceptional college leader, as evidenced by his 42-11 record in the past four seasons and a No. 4 ranking in last season’s Associated Press poll.

Former KU assistant coach Mark Dantonio of Michigan State is ranked No. 8, raising the question: Could there be an assistant on Weis’ staff who one day will merit such respect as a head coach, and, if so, what’s his name?

A top-26 coach, per Athlon, will be standing opposite Weis for half of this season’s dozen games, including Duke’s David Cutcliffe, ranked No. 15 in the nation.

Check out the list and see if you can find a coach more short-changed than Missouri’s Gary Pinkel, ranked No. 22.

Many projected football doom for Missouri when it bolted the Big 12 for the SEC, and it took Pinkel all of two years to win an SEC East title. The Tigers ranked fifth in last season’s final AP poll.

Assistant coaches seldom leave Pinkel’s staff unless it’s for a promotion. That staff stability enables Missouri to gradually deepen its recruiting roots and cuts down on the time wasted learning the head coach’s way of doing things. At worst, Pinkel should fall at the back of the top 10 on what otherwise was a solid list. Rhoads of Iowa State is too highly ranked at No. 49.

As for the 102 next to Weis’ name, that seems fair.

Weis certainly inherited a difficult situation. The academic standing of several players was bleak, and he sent packing a number of players who didn’t adhere to his demands in that area, which set the roster into an even deeper hole. He inherited a shockingly low number of prospects on the offensive line and at wide receiver and still hasn’t recovered from the former shortage.

But not everything can be blamed on the previous administration. Weis installed an offense ill-suited for college football, and that has played a big part in that 4-20 record. He also misfired on a number of quarterbacks. Excluding Ryan Willis of Bishop Miege, who arrives in 2015, Weis has brought six quarterbacks into the program.

Notre Dame transfer Dayne Crist lost his starting job midway through his only year of eligibility with Kansas. Junior-college recruit Turner Baty transferred after one season spent as a red-shirt. Jake Heaps transferred after an unproductive season. High school recruit Jordan Darling enters his red-shirt freshman season ranked fourth on the depth chart, with nobody predicting he will climb higher than that during his career. UCLA transfer T.J. Millweard was fourth on the depth chart before Heaps bolted for Miami (Fla.). Sophomore Montell Cozart has his chance this season to show he’s the best of the Weis QB recruits.

More than not finding the right trigger man undermined Weis the past two seasons. Shaky play-calling at crucial times in close games and the failure to recruit a kicker equipped to claim the job outright — which appears to have been addressed for his third season with the recruitment of John Duvic — also worked against KU’s chances of scoring points.

In some cases, such a heavy reliance on junior-college talent when recruiting was unavoidable, but it’s a shaky strategy, in part because so many fail to make it through the two years. High transfer numbers under Weis can be traced in part to relying so heavily on jucos. A stronger emphasis on high-school talent, particularly in the trenches, where players can be developed, is in order.

If Kansas significantly exceeds gloomy predictions — three seems to be the most common over/under guess for victories in 2014 — he’ll move way up the rankings and will draw kudos for having the humility to fire himself as OC.

If his team doesn’t surpass expectations, good luck trying to find his name on Athlon’s list a year from now.