Along these lines, my concern is that problem will become even worse if Notre Dame were to fire Kelly this season. Let’s say hypothetically he wins out and ND finishes 10-2. Most likely that’s an appearance in the Russell Athletic Bowl against an inferior opponent (most projections I have read say Kansas State), so that’s likely an 11-2 season. Firing Kelly, against that backdrop, has all the makings of an unfathomable PR nightmare. ESPN will ask publicly why anyone would want the ND job if the reward for an 11-2 season is a firing. Granted, this board is not entirely off base with its criticism of ESPN, and that would be especially warranted here. But the point is that too many fans, and even more importantly, potential recruits get their information largely if not exclusively from ESPN. That would create a negative perception associated with ND football in the minds of many.

We are talking about Notre Dame and that’s not good enough.

What was the overall graduation rate in 1988, the last year we won it all?

9For some time now I’ve been thinking that we need to reconsider how we view potential coaches.

Wins above historic norms is worth consider, overall win, big wins, etc…

But when we see coaches who have been successful “out of the blue” (from lesser roles) – the Dabo Swinney (WR coach), John Harbaugh (ST), Sean McVay (OC) – as well as the coaches who have maintained great success, what is the most common theme among them?

Perhaps I’ve overly attuned to it as a Cleveland Browns fan, but attention to detail seems to be a critical component of success. At the college level you can also cite a need to connect with the players in some fashion.

So my question is: is Brian Kelly a detail oriented coach – do his teams make recurrent mistakes?

I want a coach who is smart, a strong teacher, not dogmatic, and most of all detail oriented. I suspect if you find the list of coaches who bring that to the table they’ve been successful and, more salient to our issue, will be successful in the future.

In a word, No. Every ND coaching search since 1985 has been a clown show run by amateurs. The worst of it may have been the day they left Nick Saban at the airport because they didn’t bother telling him that Monk had unilaterally canceled his interview.

Have they tried in a competent manner?

Look at ND’s track record since Lou Holtz. Have they been able to recruit a coach anywhere close to his caliber since? Most elite coaches follow the easier path. It’s easier to get the players you need to compete for a championship at most other schools.

Malloy started ND down this path with his degradation of athletics (football in particular) in a moronic attempt to make ND the “Harvard of the Midwest”. His aspirational goal of mediocrity for our football program has been continued through the selection of coaches and the elevation of Jenkins to president of the university. Kelley is just the latest manifestation of this desire for mediocrity.

The sad thing about this is that when Hesburgh became president, he too wanted to diminish the football program. However, he (and the then board of trustees) were smart enough to realize 1) They could excel academically AND athletically and 2) The success of the football program served to enhance the stature of the ENTIRE university and was beneficial to their educational goals.

Malloy and Jenkins have failed to understand and live up to the brilliance of Hesburgh.

It is not fear of failure. It is the need for a proper, clear and sober assessment of risks for the purpose of not repeating the mistakes of the past. Didn’t we just finish paying Weis? Kelly was 12-1 last year and could still be 11-2 this year. You want to make a rash decisions because of 2 bad losses in two years? That would be a total waste of our alumni dollars. If you are willing to foot the bill for paying out Kelly’s contract, go nuts. I would rather “suffer” with a 12-1 or 11-2 record than light that much money on fire.

I believe there are more of them than you think.