Comments on: Mid-Term Grades – Defense and Coaching

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 12:22:55 +0000

In reply to Coach. That's the assessment of a number of guys who cover recruiting for the team, although there is an opinion he's trying harder this year.

By: Coach

Coach — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:40:35 +0000

John. I agree with your assessment of Kelly. I do not have access to inside information. But “mailing it in” regarding recruiting is a serious offense. I have always felt that as an alumnus who did not play varsity football that I could easily recruit 3 star guys to ND. Even today at age 60. Kelly’s average seems to be about 3.5 star recruits. I have never seen you more edgy than the above replies. I thought they were funny, and certainly noticeable. ND by 10 vs. Southern Cal and 14 vs NC State. Still hard to root for Kelly.

By: Return2Glory

Return2Glory — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 14:30:02 +0000

Its a fair grade on Kelly and the staff. Although, there is a lot Kelly needs to show starting with winning the next two games at home, he should get some credit for changing the staff. Even if it was mandated he make changes, he still had to get the right guys in. Our Irish have gotten most if not all the help they need where they probably control their own fate to get into the playoff. Very long and difficult schedule ahead but should make Saturday night very fun!

By: ocmj

ocmj — Mon, 16 Oct 2017 05:07:58 +0000

Another pleasant surprise from the Defense this season is going for the ball and causing turnovers. Crawford is just a stud; coming off that terrible injury. His ball awareness in punching it out then recovering the fumble in the end zone was epic. So much more fitness and fire on this side of the ball. If Wimbush and the receivers (I’m just at a loss about St. Brown but haven’t given up on him yet) can get on the same page consistently, we will be a force to be reckoned with.

By: John Vannie

John Vannie — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 23:25:09 +0000

In reply to tc69.

No, Tom, I continue to believe that Kelly is a mediocre coach and poor representative of the university who finds it all too easy to throw his players under the bus. He’s fortunate that he was forced to hire Mike Elko, and the players had to beg him to hire competent strength coaches. Even then, he resisted until he was pushed to ditch a worthless crony. Kelly continues to mail it in on the recruiting trail, where top recruits just say no thanks. At this stage, I’d wait a bit before declaring Brian Kelly version 2.0 a success. We’ve seen flashes of competence in the past but they were not sustained. You might recall your own impressions of him:

“Inconsistent, One-Dimensional, Snakebit and soft( both mentally and physicially) are 4 words that come to mind in describing current state of ND football…

I thought Kelly would be a major upgrade over Charlie… but it is more of the same if not worse…

Even in my worst nightmares, I thought we would finish no worse that 6-6… Boy was I wrong!!!”

By: tc69

tc69 — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 21:49:02 +0000

Re Coaching….. Kelly is still owed a lot of money under his current contract, and he is not willing to negotiate a buyout for a lesser amount. The resultant stalemate is silently perpetuated between feckless administrators and a coach who has no other job prospects. Kelly fills his seat today while giving minimal effort, and he continues to embarrass the University with every self-serving public utterance. Meanwhile, the product for which he is responsible remains decidedly mediocre.

HAS YOUR OPINION CHANGED AT ALL SINCE AUGUST 19TH??

By: John Vannie

John Vannie — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 19:41:57 +0000

In reply to flirish. Obviously, you've never been in a submarine.

By: flirish

flirish — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 19:19:22 +0000

I think the assessment and grades all seem good except one which is highly inflated. The special teams return teams don’t deserve such a highly inflated grade. the most accurate grade would be F-. the are simply pathetic. this is unacceptable because we know in close games special teams are vital. Again–go back to Alabama FSU in the first week. special teams make difference. Kelly has never emphasized this and it seems as though he is protecting against fake punts etc but we can never expect to flip the field with a good return. good teams can do this and I wonder if we won’t be burned again the hard part of our schedule because of this. Look at the University of Miami and their punt return team. It is a vital part of their game and frankly had a huge impact in their win against G tech. Until Kelly decides that all phases of the game are important I don’t see us competing with the truly good teams

By: John Vannie

John Vannie — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 03:26:23 +0000

In reply to SubmarineAlum_2012.

We’re going to do a deep dive with the latest submersibles to see if we can find you a sense of humor, but I’m not optimistic. Could very well be another Malaysia 370.

I fundamentally disagree that a return team that just manages to hang onto the ball should receive a passing grade. I imagine that Tim Brown and Rocket Ismail would agree with me.

If you expect to have a more productive discussion about one of your counterpoints, you need to come up with something more persuasive.

By: SubmarineAlum_2012

SubmarineAlum_2012 — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 23:50:04 +0000

In reply to John Vannie. 3 patrols on a ballistic missile submarine, maintaining a third of the nation’s nuclear strategic deterrence triad, but please let me know how youre an expert on time spent on alert. The only thing that is not so special is your snarky attitude to any semblance of counterpoint.