'13 PA ATH Alex Anzalone (Florida Early Enrollee)

[Grahambo]

dem fightin words

Before it gets out of hand, I didn't do it in a bad way! haha

Just disagree on it.

For all the hoopla, I still hope AA sticks.

 

[Rocky2820]

Diaco is well worth "overpaying." The returns on that investment far exceed salary paid - I am sure of that.

 

[TheChosen1]

Would like to stay I'm soo soo sorry for starting this. Not my intention at all.

 

[McGlovin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but was there any real hype building for Diaco prior to this year? If anything, I heard that he may be the problem as to why Notre Dame was stuck in neutral. Even if he's gaining credibility on the national scene, surely it will take a few solid years to build consistency...

 

[BurningRiver]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but was there any real hype building for Diaco prior to this year? If anything, I heard that he may be the problem as to why Notre Dame was stuck in neutral. Even if he's gaining credibility on the national scene, surely it will take a few solid years to build consistency...

He's kind of been a cult hero around here ever since the defense's dominating 4 game stretch to end 2011 and his arrival at Ishaq William's house at 4:30 one morning to get a commitment after Williams had made his mind up on PSU.

Not to mention the fact that ND has had a well above-average defense for the majority of his time here.

 

[IrishMoore1]

We get a good chunk of change if we go to a BCS game correct?

Actually no. Generally teams split BCS money with their conferences. ND, however, is independent and so gets a set amount of BCS earnings. I don't remember how much but it is less than what a team would get if it could actually keep the entire earnings.

 

[Irish To The Core]

Anyway, Anzalone is not gone. He is coming to see St. Bob this Suday and he and Papa Doc. Anzalone will leave 100% Irish.

 

[mgriff]

Sums it up...

 

[Buster Bluth]

Isn't it like 20+ million?

I believe Notre Dame gets the same amount that a team would get in a conference for winning. Something like 3-5mil. This is in exchange for getting 1-2mil every year when they don't make it.

 

[Rhode Irish]

I just contradicted that. Not everyone is like that.

You didn't contradict it, you just said the opposite thing. But the opposite thing that you said is wrong. Maybe you could find one extreme example of a recluse that honestly wanted to be an assistant his whole career, but basically by rule these guys all want to be head coaches. Diaco is no different. He will be a head coach someday.

 

[Buster Bluth]

If you're in coaching, you want to eventually have your own program.

Not necessarily. Many great coaches have spent their careers as assistants and coordinators. Guys like Monte Kiffin, Mickey Andrews, Jerry Sandusky (yeah), Jim Heacock, Charlie McBride. Some guys are excellent #2's and are completely fine with it.

Some guys too are the DC and Assoc HC for 15 years and then take the reigns. It's whatever.

 

[Rhode Irish]

I would give him anything he wants to keep him at ND. Obviously it's not my money to be throwing around and it's unreasonable to overpay an assistant coach, but what Diaco has done for this team goes beyond what the defense is doing on the field. He's an elite coordinator, coach, and recruiter, and it would be a damn crime to let him walk away.

He's also an associate head coach, so they definitely can justify giving him a bit more. Under the arrangement that he and Kelly put into place after last season, he is taking on a lot of the behind-the-scenes head coaching duties in order to allow Kelly to be more hands-on with the team. Its a great trade-off for each of them, because Diaco gets valuable training for when he is eventually a head coach (plus he got a raise, I believe) and Kelly's increased interaction with the team has apparently paid dividends on the field.

As far as Diaco being "new to the scene" or whatever (I know not you, BR, just don't want to make another post), I think its pretty common for assistants to get "hot" pretty suddenly and become the new "it" guy and land a job. Beyond that, I do think that people in the know in college football have held Diaco in pretty high regard and recognized him as a rising coach prior to this year. Just a few whack-job ND fans who blamed him for the ND loss to Navy two years ago wanted Diaco fired (it wasn't his greatest effort).

 

[Irish8248]

Bob Elliott if i recall correctly...

 

[Rhode Irish]

Not necessarily. Many great coaches have spent their careers as assistants and coordinators. Guys like Monte Kiffin, Mickey Andrews, Jerry Sandusky (yeah), Jim Heacock, Charlie McBride. Some guys are excellent #2's and are completely fine with it.

Some guys too are the DC and Assoc HC for 15 years and then take the reigns. It's whatever.

I think the number of guys who get into coaching without the goal of becoming head guys is infinitesimally small, and they are just not wired quite right. I will eat my hat if Bob Diaco is the Associate Head Coach at Notre Dame in 2017.

Some guys don't ever get the shot, or don't get the right opportunity. Sandusky definitely wanted to be a head coach. Monte Kiffin would have had to leave big-time football and go back and start over again. Circumstances matter, but the vast majority of guys want to be head coaches.

 

[stlnd01]

Circumstances matter, but the vast majority of guys want to be head coaches.

Probably true. Though some guys are just better cut out to be assistants (Charlie Weis, for instance). Diaco just might be so awesome that he has the self-awareness to realize that's true about himself. And that Brian Kelly is the perfect yang to his yin.
Again, one can hope.

And, yes, from everything I've read, Sandusky definitely wanted to be a head. He just didn't want to leave Happy Valley to do it. Unfortunately we know why.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Probably true. Though some guys are just better cut out to be assistants (Charlie Weis, for instance). Diaco just might be so awesome that he has the self-awareness to realize that's true about himself. And that Brian Kelly is the perfect yang to his yin.
Again, one can hope.

And, yes, from everything I've read, Sandusky definitely wanted to be a head. He just didn't want to leave Happy Valley to do it. Unfortunately we know why.

I don't hope Diaco settles for working for someone else his whole career. I want our people to do well and maximize their potential. That goes for the players and the coaches. Even if there are guys who are better suited to be assistants (and there certainly are), they should still have the opportunity to find that out for themselves and get the big pay day that everyone should want for their family. I question the character of anyone who doesn't want to reach the pinnacle of their profession. Diaco does not seem like the type of guy that would be scared to go where his talent leads him.

 

[ALLGATOR]

Diaco isnt going to get the Texas job. Diaco isnt going to get an NFL D coordinator job. The guy has spent his whole career in college. I could see him leaving ND for a big east or Big 10 head coaching job. He probably would even take the right MAC head coaching job.

 

[IrishLax]

Diaco isnt going to get the Texas job. Diaco isnt going to get an NFL D coordinator job. The guy has spent his whole career in college. I could see him leaving ND for a big east or Big 10 head coaching job. He probably would even take the right MAC head coaching job.

Probably not, and that's what he's apt to get offered right now. Everything I've heard from reliable sources is that he is almost sure to be at ND next year. Most everyone thinks he's going to stick around at ND until he does enough to get a big time offer like Muschamp did at Florida from Texas... you don't get that after one good year, you get that after proving yourself over multiple seasons at a big time program.

 

[aubeirish]

Diaco is not going anywhere. nuff said.

 

[ALLGATOR]

Probably not, and that's what he's apt to get offered right now. Everything I've heard from reliable sources is that he is almost sure to be at ND next year. Most everyone thinks he's going to stick around at ND until he does enough to get a big time offer like Muschamp did at Florida from Texas... you don't get that after one good year, you get that after proving yourself over multiple seasons at a big time program.

Well typically you have to win for a long time as an assistant to get a job like Florida or Texas. It might be a quicker path taking the right MAC job and then leaving in 2 or 3 years.

 

[Rhode Irish]

And just to clarify, I am not in a hurry to see Diaco go anywhere. I think another couple of years at ND would be better for his long-term career prospects than taking a low level deadend job. I just think its head-in-the-sand-ish to think the guy is going to be the DC at Notre Dame for the next forty years and then retire. That isn't how stuff works now. You can name a handful of guys that stayed in one place and settled for being lifetime assistants, but how many of them are from Coach Diaco's generation? Not just in football, but in life, guys just don't stay in one job for their entire careers accepting that they will never be the boss. People will change jobs every other year now chasing more money, more power and more prestige. And they should.

 

[IrishLax]

Well typically you have to win for a long time as an assistant to get a job like Florida or Texas. It might be a quicker path taking the right MAC job and then leaving in 2 or 3 years.

Yeah, and that's my point. From everything people are saying around the program, he's likely to take that route over the MAC route.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Yeah, and that's my point. From everything people are saying around the program, he's likely to take that route over the MAC route.

And he should. Much better route to that major job. For every MAC coach that makes it, there are dozens and dozens whose careers die there.

 

[IrishLax]

And just to clarify, I am not in a hurry to see Diaco go anywhere. I think another couple of years at ND would be better for his long-term career prospects than taking a low level deadend job. I just think its head-in-the-sand-ish to think the guy is going to be the DC at Notre Dame for the next forty years and then retire. That isn't how stuff works now. You can name a handful of guys that stayed in one place and settled for being lifetime assistants, but how many of them are from Coach Diaco's generation? Not just in football, but in life, guys just don't stay in one job for their entire careers accepting that they will never be the boss. People will change jobs every other year now chasing more money, more power and more prestige. And they should.

This pretty much sums it up. I'd expect him to stick around for 1-5 more years and then probably end up at a middle tier BCS conference job. One of the major contributing factors I think is his age... he can afford to make the right long term choice here with his youth and stay put building his resume/championship defenses.

Also, if he left I think you'd simply see Chuck Martin move to DC and Jeff Quinn rejoin Kelly as the OC from Buffalo. So as much as Diaco is the ****ing man, I wouldn't envision a cataclysmic drop off like you'd have with Weis losing a key lieutenant.

 

[pkt77242]

So does anyone have any news on Alex?

 

[IrishLax]

So does anyone have any news on Alex?

Nope. Probably no new development until next Tuesday (unless he cancels his plans) and then we should have a better idea of where things stand.

 

[ALLGATOR]

So does anyone have any news on Alex?

going to tOSU and he is going to wear 44 in honor of Zack Boren and continue the legacy of FB turned LB.

 

[MrIrishCanadian1]

On power hour, Mike Frank had mentioned that there was 'something that might have happened' that had made Alex less interested in Notre Dame which was why he started looking more at Florida. Mike refused to say on the air what happened, but was willing to say if you tailgate with him. Does anybody know what he's referring to???

 

[GBdomer]

Its because we recruited Isaac Savinniea or whatever and he got pissed. I am sure Alex reads message boards most recruits do they know what's going on.

I miss the Diaco pictures of when Ishaq committed anybody have those please PM them to me.

 

[Buster Bluth]

People will change jobs every other year now chasing more money, more power and more prestige. And they should.

Welcome to the Republican Party..