Comments on: Irish in the Zone Against Pitt

By: PC

PC — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 20:19:07 +0000

Good debate—Your not convinced about Kelly I understand— The sting of the Alabama game and the loss to FSU which imploded the season last year sucked mightily but I come from a position as a man in his mid 30’s who has seen very few good ND teams and definitely no sustained success. Lots of past rah rah we are ND stuff but the performance since the 80’s so far and away doesn’t meet the storied history. For me it does speak volumes to how Kelly has gotten the programs equilibrium back. To lose the amount of key players this year and be in contention is coach of the year type stuff and you can say the recruiting standards are overblown but no big names wanted to take the job so it must have some merit. The first time you were to tell Saban or Meyer sorry coach that kid cant get in here he would be handing in his resignation. You think the standards are overblown but your not being fair because as soon as I take away 25 of the top 40 kids and 40 of the top 100 and say you cant have them whose to say that’s overblown?

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:37:07 +0000

In reply to PC.

Sorry, “best since Holtz” doesn’t do it for me given how awful and unacceptable his predecessors were. And I’m not a fan of the “tougher era” qualification either — the “tougher recruiting standards” are tighter than NCAA average, but not nearly as tough as most people think they are. ND likes the story, though.

By: PC

PC — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:25:57 +0000

.583 Davie
.583 Willingham
.565 Weis
.712 Kelly
Win Percentages since Holtz… Hes not at Holtz (.765) level yet but lets say they win out and they play in Final 4. whether they win or lose that, he will have produced 2 great seasons in his first 5 which is about as good as anyone could’ve ever expected and exactly what Holtz produced.

***I love Lou Holtz I think we all can agree he was a great coach/motivator/recruiter and if he is the gold standard then all I am saying is Kelly might be pretty close when its all said and done and is doing it in a much tougher ERA of college football with tougher recruiting standards.

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 14:45:49 +0000

In reply to Pc.

I’m not complaining, I’m merely pointing out statistics that don’t necessarily mean what people think.

One great season sandwiched within four mediocre ones. That’s not my standard for Notre Dame. This season certainly is going well, and I’ll be very happy if it continues to do so.

By: Pc

Pc — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 01:23:59 +0000

Mike, the Brian Kelly Era is so far and away the best we have had since Holtz. Maybe you could counter that’s not saying much but I would argue that most who don’t like Kelly would at least concede his recruiting has been excellent overall. Just take a look at the QBs we have right now and throw Golson into that and we have 4 who could start at almost every program. We’ve come along way from the train wreck coaches over the last 20 years and brought credibility back to the program. After living through the last bunch of coaches I cannot fathom how anyone would complain about who we have unless you were/are under the delusion Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, or Nick Saban would ever take on this tough a job. ND is the Kentucky of basketball except we have real student athletes. Come on let’s give him his due. The job is brutal and he has performed admirably.

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 04:14:04 +0000

In reply to Scott. How many of those coaches had 13 games each season to get to those eight games?

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 20:33:54 +0000

In reply to PC. He is also the only coach in ND's history to win 8+ games in each season he's coached.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 20:28:59 +0000

In reply to Terry. It is a skill that ALL DBs at the collegiate level should have. Watch Alabama's DBs, they have the ability.

By: NDBonecrusher

NDBonecrusher — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 20:46:32 +0000

In reply to gspach. Thanks gspach. 3 more wins--and maybe more after that!

By: PC

PC — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 16:47:37 +0000

A nice afternoon became a really goodnight when ND received some help from Navy, Temple and USC to keep the “good wins” intact along with the biggest loss being by TCU. If the Big 12 can beat each other up over these last 4 weeks I think we will get in. We aren’t getting in over an undefeated Power 5 conference school under any circumstance. The committee is not going to set that precedent. I think there is a better shot that the all the Big 12 teams receive a loss then the Big 10. Most realistic outcome that includes ND in the final 4 would be: 1 Clemson 2. Alabama 3. Ohio St. 4. Notre Dame

And considering the amount of injuries we have faced the fact that’s even a real possibility speaks to the overall great recruiting job BK has done. Over the years he has received his fair share of abuse and I never understood it. We haven’t had a coach that was even in his stratosphere in 20 years and then he comes along and many cried for someone better. If they reach the playoff this season he will have given us 2 incredible seasons in the last 4 years and almost every school not named Alabama would sign up for that.