Comments on: It’s Not an Execution Problem, Brian

By: goirish1988

goirish1988 — Sat, 18 Nov 2017 17:55:41 +0000

I am infuriated but not surprised at this terrible quote: “I think I was Coach of the Year two weeks ago and now there is a FireBK.com,” said Kelly. I don’t know a single knowledgeable Notre Dame graduate who thinks Brian Kelly should ever be considered for coach of the year unless he wins a national championship, which will never happen as long as we “try to match the energy of the opponent in a hostile environment.”

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 15:40:29 +0000

In reply to Tom D..

The coach strategy problem is due to Brian Kelly’s arrogance. When you run right at a team and overpower them physically and beat them with your strength and skill, the players get the credit. When you have a successful aerial attack with complex routes, the coach gets the credit. BRIAN KELLY WANTS ALL OF THE CREDIT AND ACCOLADES! His team is great because of his players and in spite of him, and he has a fatal flaw in the need to be seen as a “genius” coach when he is not. If a RB gets a Heisman, a coach doesn’t get much credit – the offensive line gets credit, the RB gets credit. If a QB gets a Heisman, the coach is lauded. I think that Kelly is in this for himself – just like when he left Cincinnati and abandoned his players before the biggest game in school history to come to Notre Dame. He is about Brian Kelly; he is not about winning unless he looks good doing so.

By: Ara's Magical Season

Ara's Magical Season — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 16:48:54 +0000

In reply to SEE. We need to stop acting like McGlinchey is so good. He sucked in both his NFL type match-ups and I'm starting to feel we have a bully offensive line. We look good and like to puff out our chest against inferior teams and when someone hits back we fade real quick.

By: Darden Road

Darden Road — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 14:02:57 +0000

While I see the need to establish the running game facing a very aggressive defensive line that stacks the box, I also believe that every offense must have countermeasures to being out-quicked or bowled over at the line of scrimmage, which often results in an “L” no matter what you do. The philosophy in that situation should be to “take what the defense gives” and good coaching staff should spot those opportunities and adjust. A mistake many coaches make is to become one-dimensional and get conservative. Phillip Fulmer may well have been dismissed Tennessee for losing games because he took on a bunker mentality and used a “prevent” defensive posture that allowed the opponent to snatch victory away in the final minutes of the game. Last week, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn made a conscious decision to play aggressively against Georgia correcting a mistake he made against LSU. The takeaway is “don’t get too conservative.” L’audace, L’audace, Toujours, L’audace!
The best example I can think of where a team played not only aggressively but audaciously to the last play is the 2007 Fiesta Bowl wherein Boise State edged Oklahoma 43 – 42 in a pins and needles game that employed archaic plays such as the Statue of Liberty and the Hook & Ladder. There is much to be said about deception, misdirection, and finesse when playing a team that is controlling the line of scrimmage. Once an offense becomes predicable, it’s over. Teams like Notre Dame need a huge library of plays for every kind of defense because sometimes what worked last week is a recipe for disaster this week.

By: Farsdahl

Farsdahl — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 22:07:38 +0000

Three comments:

1) Yes, we were out-coached, and the buck stops with the head coach.

2) I watched Brian Kelly’s press conference, and I didn’t think he was dodging responsibility like you seem to think. You appear to differ with him regarding the specific coaching issues at fault, but he did acknowledge several times that this was a failure in coaching.

3) In the end, I don’t think we lost because (or at least solely because) we were out-coached. We lost to a better team. To re-state the obvious, their defensive front was faster and more athletic than our offensive line could handle. They were also more motivated than we were, and this is a coaching issue, but there were other issues as well.

I know others feel differently, but I’m willing to call this a misstep for an otherwise much-improved coaching staff. One bad game doesn’t erase the accomplishments of the rest of this season. I’m looking forward to see how the coaches and the team respond in the last two games of the season and the bowl game. If they do, Kelly will still have my support.

By: Doc

Doc — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 21:59:31 +0000

If we do not control the line of scrimmage and the clock with a good running we will lose to Navy.Chunk plays ,mixed in with a lot of three and outs and Kelly arrogance will not work.

By: Farsdahl

Farsdahl — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 21:42:07 +0000

In reply to JDM. Completely agree, although I think we probably gave up on the run a bit early and didn't try as many options as we could have. Their defensive front 7 was more athletic than our line could handle, and they were chasing down sweeps and off-tackle dives from the back side. Miami's defense was better than our offensive line, period.

By: 2017

2017 — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 05:21:24 +0000

Agree with the slow developing run plays against fast defenses and anything to the outside, on the short side of the field was never going to work. It looked like Miami had some run blitzes in store, but ND appeared terribly slow and not decisive. We were also saying ‘run right at them’ and neutralize the speed. The QB was clearly off and seemed inevitable the turnovers would come. Sad part was the defense, was hoping they’d play like Miami. Had them pinned back on first drive, but they drove right down the field. 4th and 9 stood out. That big screen pass hurt. 10 yards off receivers even though Miami QB was not elite thrower. That QB sneak on that TD was real bad. DBs getting ran over. No big hits on a running QB. Got better in second half, but game was pretty much over at the end of first quarter.

By: ND Chaz

ND Chaz — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 04:33:16 +0000

Oh yeah and forgot to mention… NBC can go away if we join a conference. Let’s break the tie that binds us for big prime time tv revenues. Had enough of a solid rating product in return for a team that can compete

By: Fitz

Fitz — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 03:09:14 +0000

Can’t say I fully agree with this. Football is all about execution. If Wimbush can’t execute a simple throw to a hitch route on a mid range third down, or a wide open slant, then he can’t play QB at Notre Dame. But he can execute those throws and he has executed those throws to an extent. ND’s lack of ability to match Miami’s emotion/energy killed them in this game and while I didn’t love the gameplan, it ALL comes down to execution. Idk what else could have been done, but the back breakers were throws that need to be completed against any opponent for this offense to run effectively.