Comments on: Wonder, Think and Know: “Here’s my Orange Crush” Edition

By: bocceman2

bocceman2 — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 18:01:42 +0000

In reply to ND Chicago. You can get by with a marginal winning record at Stanford. Look at Willingham's record. Stanford usually falls out the the top ten every season and ends up 11- 20. I am not saying that is bad but ND can and should do as well Stanford. Also you must admit the academic standards aside, it is much easier to sell a young man on Palo Alto vs South Bend. I am sitting on the Kelly jury. His teams are still inconsistent week to week and he is in his fifth year. We also went into the NC game with Bama totally unprepared. I ma not saying it was winnable but it should have not been a rout, an embarrassment.

By: ND Chicago

ND Chicago — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 01:09:15 +0000

In reply to bocceman2. I agree to a certain extent, but the team we're playing this week has the same, or tougher, academic standards with nowhere near the tradition or football resources and they don't seem to have a problem recruiting or getting results on the field. It can be done if you hire the right guy; the jury is still out on whether or not Kelly can be that guy.

By: bocceman2

bocceman2 — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 14:35:42 +0000

Yes ND whiffed on four straight head coaches. Two had no prior HC experience, one was a PC hire and the last was less than honest with his resume.
I am not making excuses but many pundits rank the three toughest jobs in all sports as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, manager of the New York Yankees, and head coach at Notre Dame. All three puts a person in the national spot light. Only one puts extra pressure on the coach with regards to his player selection and that is Notre Dame. The recruiting landscape has changed dramatically in just the last ten years. Talented teens do not want a tough academic work load when there are plenty of other easier options.
Many well qualified individuals will never be interested in the ND job for this reason. I am not suggesting to lower standards, but as true ND fans we have to lower our expectations. A top twenty finish is more realistic than a National Championship appearance every few years.

By: ND Chicago

ND Chicago — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 03:10:46 +0000

I, too, was hoping for a better fate for CW, but he’s clearly not HC or college coaching material. ND completely whiffed on three consecutive (4 if you include O’Leary) head coaching selections which set the program back decades. As if any further proof was needed of how completely awful these guys were, every one of them (except O’Leary) has been an abject failure since leaving ND and coaching elsewhere. Kelly isn’t a great X’s and O’s coach, but he has done something none of these guys could do which is develop players/talent.

By: flirish

flirish — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:55:59 +0000

I do like CW a lot and I am the first to admit he didnt perfrom well as a head coach but I give him a lot of credit for many things. He changed the recruiting at ND and got us the palyers we needed to make a run with the big boys. Virtually all the key players up to last year in our program were his boys.
I think he was way misunderstood. He has held firm on his committment to the South Bend community. He also graduated very close to if not 100% of players. He has a better track record in this area than Kelly and he had a much tougher policies regrading academics, training table and many other things than Kelly has had. Not taking shots at Kelly but CW did help the program

By: Mike Coffey

Mike Coffey — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 19:02:57 +0000

In reply to a68domer. Not sure I have to "love" him, but it's enough he's the lowest coach above the antipathy line on my ND coaches list.

By: a68domer

a68domer — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 18:41:25 +0000

I agree with you on Charlie Weis. As a Domer you gotta love him. My wife is a Psychologist and her diagnosis is that CW was severely depressed during his time as coach at ND – thus his weight problem, among other things. (Maybe still is) Some time off to work on Charlie is an excellent idea.

By: atlantadomer

atlantadomer — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 17:54:26 +0000

I can’t believe I’m saying this about an ND squad, but I think what we are all witnessing is total domination in the “team speed” department by ND over everyone it has played to date. In fact, I think we retain that edge in every game except against FSU.

Very happy to see the speed ND has now, on both sides of the ball.

By: jdthom

jdthom — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 14:14:25 +0000

Here’s to hoping the turnovers were a one game problem and not something we’re likely to see again. It was their first semi-road trip after all. For some reason early in the game I just kept getting the feeling that Golson’s confidence was shaken by something. For all those yards and completions and touchdowns I just never saw him look poised and confident. My theory is it has to do with his lack of ability in running a read option. Kelly called his number on the run a few more times in this game than previously, which was designed to correct some of the problems with the run game. I would like to know how many of those times he made the correct read.
I did like seeing a couple of two-back sets and good use of the screens and sweeps. That will give Stanford something to do this week.
I agree about Mayock and Weis. Herbstreit annoys me but I don’t have a good reason why.
I hope your prediction on the 5 turns out to be true.