Comments on: You Don’t Know What You’ve Got….

By: Ndogolf

Ndogolf — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 23:36:34 +0000

Our “independence” is completely dependent on our ability to win football games. Last night we laid the wood to MSU. This morning, every naysaying pundit had jumped on the ND bandwagon. If we win football games, we control our own “independence”. It is as simple as that.

By: CJW

CJW — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:19:27 +0000

Wow a lot of strong feelings here about ND football and the ACC. First I would like to commend Swarbrick. The ACC is a strong conference for all sports, is a minor upgrade over the Big East at its pinnacle for Men’s and Woman’s basketball. Problem is Big East is becoming Big Easy with the exit of so many quality programs to what else but the ACC. I for one can’t wait to see the basketball matchups with Duke/NC/Wake, plus we get to keep playing big east familiars Syracuse/Pitt/BC as well as other quality teams like Maryland and FSU. Brey and Muffit have the programs on solid footing and there is no reason to believe they won’t be competitive in the new league. ACC is solid in all other sports so this will also keep the other ND sports relavent.

Now FB…..people as everyone who is old enough to remember we are not what we once were in FB. Almost 20 years of schyso behavoir, mediocrity, and underperforming against top opponents has eroded the product, but not the brand. Every other major conference including the Big10+ woud wanted our FB program to give us admitance. I think Swarbrick worked a good deal. The ACC is down a little in FB with FSU and Miami not really dominating like they did in the 90s. We will me a marque matchup and TV appearance for their teams. 5 games seems right. It will allow us to keep our most meaningful rivals in USC and Navy, and it will allow us to still regularly play Big10 and local foes like MI/MSU/Purdue. It will still allow us to schedule special games like the shamrock series games and it will leave us room for a few lesser opponents to ballance the schedule. I don’t know how this isn’t a win, especially when it opens us up to far more bowl considerations and has us playing in FL more.

To those that bemoan that this is the beginning of the end for FB indedpendace……Maybe, maybe not. That depends on some factors ND can control and some they can not. If both sides like this agreement and find it beneficial, and if the NCAA does not tinker with the 4 team championship equation for a while then this deal could be the best way to keep us indy for another 10+ years. If we have to go conference for FB that will be a sad day, but we will have already established ourselves in the ACC and look its not the SEC for Football so we will be very competitive.

Also to all the contrarians. After last night I think the FB program is trending in the right direction. We may still only win 7 or 8 games against this murderous schedule but look at what you are seeing on the field. We have speed/athleticism/depth and big play ability like we have not had since the Holtz era. We have a lot of youth on the field and will bring back most of the O and D next year with even more experience. We just dominate a top 10 opponent on the road and did it with OL and DL play. After a couple of tough years on and off the field I think Kelly and Diacco have settled in and last night was the best game plan and play calling I have seen since their arrivial. Kelly is solid in a lot of areas. He is a good statesman, a great recruiter, the kids love him as is evidenced by him being able to retain top SR players like Teo and Floyd when Weiss was more than happy to ship them the NFL. He is good at developing talent and playing young guys as is evidenced by the DL and DBs and Golsen. He finally has the type of team he likes on the field and that is only going to continue. After two years of trying to manage and playcalling too conservatively for his nature, he is getting back to who we hire, which is a creative, unpredictable, gambler. This can bite you at times, but when the talent is good and confidence is high it generally works because you see what bland coaches like Dantonio give you.

So, and I have said this here before, lets just quit all the neihsaying and sit back and watch. This year is going to be fun and this team is likely going to exceed expectations and begin the return to glory. I am tried of people saying the university wants mediocrity and doesn’t care about FB. They upgraded the stadium, they upgraded the practice facilities, they upgraded our bowl options with the ACC deal. Admissions has been more flexible even while maintaining much higher standards than other schools, we still graduate 90% of our FB players, and academic affairs seems to have eased its prior nazi stance by letting Kelly take the lead and manage his players off the field issues (Like Floyd, Reese, and Wood). I think the mix is looking about right and I for the first time in 20 years believe we are going to be back to contending for BCS and championships regularly. This sounds a hell of a lot better than what we have had. GO IRISH!

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 22:39:57 +0000

I wonder if players from 20 years ago (like Zorich and Rice) can get into ND today? If so, then ND needs more of that type of player! If not, then start getting use to 8-5 seasons as a great season and going to the Sun Bowl as an award from now on!!!!!!

BY THE WAY….GREAT ARTICLE!

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:12:49 +0000

In reply to Andrew. Andrew, you will learn to hate some of these teams real soon. For example, having lived in North Carolina for five years, I can tell you that people there absolutely despise ND. They have strong programs in Bball, Lacrosse, Soccer and Baseball. They will be causing a lot of heartache for Irish fans over the coming years. And do you remember Paul Johnson, the master of the triple option, who beat ND with those little fellas from Navy? Well, now he has some real athletes, and he, his players, and the state of Georgia will be looking forward to playing the Irish. Once teams like GA Tech, FL State, and VA Tech start getting wins against the Irish, you will start to feel differently about them. Hated rivals are formed over time, they will come. There is no shortage of "hate" for ND down here in the south.

By: NCHdomer

NCHdomer — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:12:39 +0000

While I appreciate the opinion and viewpoint of the author, I disagree that this is the beginning of the end for ND football independence. Actually, I think it ensures such independence and gives ND leverage to keep rivals such as MSU, Purdue and Michigan on the schedule.
First, it has been announced that USC, Navy and Stanford remain on the schedule. No change there.
Second, ND now will play 5 ACC teams. This is what should be examined more closely because it is not as drastic a scheduling development as has been portrayed. The ACC has been changing and now includes Pitt, BC, GT and Miami – 4 teams that for the most part have been a part of ND’s schedules for a long time, especially Pitt, GT (opener for renovated Stadium) and Miami (pre 1991). BC is more recent, beginning, I believe, with the Liberty Bowl in the 70s. FSU is no stranger to the schedule nor is North Carolina (didn’t Montana beat them with pass to Bergmeier?). Consequently, ND is really adding only one or two ACC teams to its schedule on a regular basis. For the most part, ND has always had at least 3 “ACC” teams on their schedule, albeit when the teams were in different conferences.
Finally, there are 4 teams remaining on the schedule. These can easily accommodate Purdue, MSU and Michigan, while leaving room for the occassional Texas, Oklahoma, BYU, etc. game.
I believe that our Big Ten rivals were singled out as possibly being casualties of the ACC move more in response to the Big Ten’s not so subtle jabs at ND that if the Big Ten moves to an 8 or 9 game schedule, certain non-conference rivalries may have to be discontinued (read: ND). This is ND’s way of saying to the Big Ten that two can play that game. I don’t see Purdue ever leaving the schedule. MSU and Michigan will probably begin a rotation, with MSU seeing more games than Michigan. As correctly observed in the wonderful book Natural Enemies, the ND/Michigan rivalry has been played more off the field than on the field over the years. And with Urban Meyer at OSU and the expanding playoff format, the days of the Big Ten Championship being more important than the National Championship will begin to fade, as has the 3 yards in a cloud of dust from the days of Woody and Bo. The relevance of this being that Michigan and perhaps ND will likely not want to be on the other’s schedule on a regular basis because that game impacts both schools National Championship aspirations very early in a season. We will see. Just my speculation. But I see the move strengthening ND’s ability to remain independent in football.

By: RoccoRules

RoccoRules — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 06:03:36 +0000

as long as the “football playoff” allows for “at-large bids”, there’s no reason for us to join a conference…nor do I think we will join a conference!! No way the “elite” conferences will ever alow a playoff to only allow conference champions since they will fancy their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers as being better than WAC and MWC conference champions. Therefore, there should always be an “at large” bid in the playoff….and as long as that’s the case, there’s no reason for us to join a conference. Go Irish!!

By: Dirty

Dirty — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 03:53:06 +0000

I don’t see how this is the end of independence at all; it is a great way to get the best of both worlds-Independence and bowl tie ins. The move is genius.

By: Jim Kress

Jim Kress — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 02:04:29 +0000

In reply to Mike Coffey. The ND Administration has made it clear that mediocrity is their goal. They are going down the path that Ted Hesburgh was too wise to be lured to travel.

By: Jim Kress

Jim Kress — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 02:01:46 +0000

In reply to Pete. Excellent point!

By: Sean Kelly

Sean Kelly — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 22:28:46 +0000

In reply to Gene Patton. In fairness to Boston College, even with the last two seasons of disappointing football performances, they still have the second most conference wins in football since they joined the ACC.