Comments on: Brindza Hits High Note in Music City

By: Fitz

Fitz — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 05:01:56 +0000

Notre Dame ran a Navy game plan and won by it. Run the ball, clock management, physical roughness. Hm? Like what I seen and provides a lot to think about.

By: Dick

Dick — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 18:38:49 +0000

Well said, PC. It is better to have BK on the hot seat needing to produce at the top level, than to go looking for another upstart that shows great promise and who gets a 3 year pass while rebuilding in his new direction.
Bk interviewed with the Eagles with no strong intentions of leaving. He had his raise but his assistants did not. After the interview, Diaco was given a raise to $1M, and the other vital assistants were also given raises. On other information, the 49’rs have contacted BK so maybe ND Chicago will get his wish.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 17:13:47 +0000

After watching the two playoff games yesterday, we have a long way to go. Unless Kelly pays attention to everything, including special teams, it is never going to change.

By: ND Chicago

ND Chicago — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 16:04:33 +0000

In reply to Dick.

I think the way Kelly went about interviewing for that job speaks volumes about him. While his players were getting ready to play in the most important game of their lives he was trying to position himself for a big(ger) payday despite the fact Swarbrick had publicly said he was getting a pay raise/extension. ND played that NCG like they were completely unprepared, which has become a Kelly hallmark. Perhaps, it was because Alabama was so much better. More likely, Kelly’s mind was somewhere else during the month leading up to the game and it showed in how poorly he prepared his team. Kelly conveniently went AWOL after word got out that he was interviewing for the Eagles job and he didn’t take calls from recruits wondering what was going on. Again, says a lot about the guy. I could live with the fact he’s a mercenary if he produced, but he has been an average coach at best while at ND and that is proven in his record. At the time he interviewed, I was way more upset about the way he handled it than the interview itself. If Brian Kelly felt that was the best thing for himself and his family he doesn’t have to check with me or anyone else, but he has an obligation to his current employer, players on the team, and kids he was recruiting to conduct himself with a little professionalism and class, which he didn’t. In hindsight, ND would have been much better off if he left because now we’re stuck with him because there’s no way another NFL team would give this guy a job based on what he’s done since that 2012 season. If he ever gets, what he feels is a better job offer, like in the NFL, he would be gone tomorrow. He has no affinity for ND at all and sees it as a means to another job. That would be much more palatable if he produced, but he hasn’t. He will be just good enough to avoid the pressure of getting fired and a lot of people will say he’s the best we can do so just accept it. Those are not the principles that Notre Dame was founded on and thrived upon.

By: GOND88

GOND88 — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 14:47:44 +0000

While I’m glad ND won the bowl game that still doesn’t mean 2015 will bring better things and under Kelly ND is becoming a carbon copy of the Iowa Hawkeyes under Kirk Ferentz. Like Iowa, each year will be marked by an upset or near upset of a highly ranked team prompting the super fans to say “we’re back!”. Then there will be 1-2 head scratching losses to inferior opponents and one blowout loss to a team on the schedule resulting in a 7-5 or 8-4 season and berth in the taxslayer.com bowl. Every once in a blue moon we’ll stumble and luck our way to a 10-2 or 11-1 season like Iowa has a couple of times under Ferentz.

By: PC

PC — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 14:41:32 +0000

I have been a Kelly supporter over my couple of years of posts on here for two main reasons: HIs recruiting seems to be consistently a few steps up from where we had been and I like the fact that he seems to have brought stability to the program. We can squabble about in game coaching decisions and wanting us to run more or dare I say stop yelling at the kids…blah, blah, blah— All items that every fan base could say about there school if they choose to knit pick everything. At the end of the day do I think Brian Kelly is the best coach/recruiter in the country…NO I don’t —but I do believe that Notre Dame has went looking for a coach 4 times in the past 15 years with ZERO luck landing the “BIG FISH” of names that often get spoken about. BUT lets face it guys—Urban Meyer, Nick Saban, Les Miles, Bob Stoops—and name your other 5 favorites dont want the difficulties that come with ND ADMIN, their independence, or there football players been bombarded with the importance of Academics so knowing all of that I am comfortable with Kelly building the program and dealing with the bumps along the way.

By: Dick

Dick — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 11:58:34 +0000

Would you have been upset at BK if he had left ND to go to the Eagles after the title run?

By: ND Chicago

ND Chicago — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 22:41:47 +0000

In reply to Dick. Kelly is 2-3 versus Stanford and he was 0-2 against Harbaugh. Neither game against Harbaugh was even close and if you're being honest with yourself the 2 times ND has won it could have easily gone the other way. Why has Stanford been able to recruit athletes who fit their academic profile and play a more competitive brand of football on Saturday afternoons? The short answer is because Brian Kelly is nowhere near the coach Harbaugh is (not sure yet about Shaw) and they play a much more physical brand of football than Kelly coached teams; FB, 2 TE's, solid running game.

By: Dick

Dick — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 20:59:40 +0000

Just a few years ago, we beat that national power-Stanford-on our way to the national championship title game. They were favored against us this year but we won at home. What is BK’s record against Stanford?

By: jabe7

jabe7 — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 20:12:38 +0000

I echo the positive feelings expressed. Euphoria was the feeling I experienced when Brindza kicked the winner. So happy for him and the team! We enter 2015 with renewed hope for a national championship.
For many of us who were screaming for BK to play Zaire there is a sense of what could’ve been had he done just that. From my perspective it was a huge missed opportunity and a coaching failure. I, as many others, felt that Zaire would bring the skill, energy, and leadership that was missing in the latter part of the season. At least that he be given the opportunity to do just that.
It is interesting to note that BK, in his after game interview, said this when asked about Zaire’s game: “He did what WE asked him to do”. This is a telling statement as to who BK is. He could not forego giving himself credit nor could he forego, therefore, implying that he had not made a mistake in not playing him that, he, in fact, had determined the right time and gave him the right package.
As someone else pointed out in an earlier post, He, in that same interview, threw Brindza under the bus by stating they had lost a few games earlier because of missed field goals. How about the coaching mistakes; e,g,not taking a knee against Northwestern with little over a minute to play.
I make these points not to throw cold water on the sense of optimism which prevails but with the hope that BK will develop a bit of humility – a persona able to sincerely praise others with the accolades they deserve without injecting himself into the picture and to accept the principle that the buck stops with him. In doing so, he will mature into the kind of winning coach which expresses the spirit of Notre Dame.