Who could be Notre Dame's Harbaugh???

[NDfaninBama]

CHARLIE WEIS!

Schematic advantage!

 

[Irish#1]

Skip Holtz would be the obvious nomination. Also Tom Clements. They are 50 and 61 though.

Cracks me up that so many think that's old. When you get to that age, you'll understand how wrong you are.

 

[ulukinatme]

I know that. But I could've sworn he was set to join ND's staff as a GA.

Kelly said he'd be welcome, but my guess is that Tommy chose Northwestern based on proximity to home. I did a Google Maps search and Northwestern's campus is only about 45 minutes from his old home town while Notre Dame is 2 1/2 hours. That's probably what drove the decision.

 

[ulukinatme]

Also, Kelly is our Harbaugh. Not saying he's the best coach out there, but I still think he's probably the best one available to us at his time. It's not like we'd be able to lure Saban, Urban, or a Stoops away from a Division 1 program, it would have to be someone from a school like Colorado State...and then we'd have a hard time competing with other big time Div 1 schools for that coach's services.

If we're talking strictly former graduates as a future coach...Skip Holtz would probably be a candidate, but he's certainly not as good as Harbaugh. There's also Mike Haywood.

 

[EddytoNow]

Our Harbaugh? I'd suggest Charlie Strong. Not loved in Texas, but will get that program back on track given enough time. Strong has the Notre Dame background, worked with Urban at Florida, and was successful at Louisville.

 

[irishff1014]

My honest opinion is Kelly. I don't think any other coach would want to come to a school where the kids have to attend class and are held accountable for that. And let's face ND football isn't what it used to be.

 

[Wingman Ray]

The main thing is player development which Kelly DOES NOT HAVE. ND sells itself as long as the coach actually puts in SOME effort (i.e. Willingham) so recruiting will always be there. Most unfortunately, at ND it is about perception and having a PR coach. That is why that Dantonio at Mich St, who does wonders with 2 star talent, would never be considered for ND even though what he would do would be amazing.

Imagine ND with a Dantonio from Mich St or Briles from Baylor. That would be something.

But no, we get Davies, Willingham, Weis and Kelly.

 

[IrishLax]

The main thing is player development which Kelly DOES NOT HAVE. ND sells itself as long as the coach actually puts in SOME effort (i.e. Willingham) so recruiting will always be there. Most unfortunately, at ND it is about perception and having a PR coach. That is why that Dantonio at Mich St, who does wonders with 2 star talent, would never be considered for ND even though what he would do would be amazing.

Imagine ND with a Dantonio from Mich St or Briles from Baylor. That would be something.

But no, we get Davies, Willingham, Weis and Kelly.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but this is absolutely absurd.

Some facts:
-No team but Bama has had more players drafted in the last two years than ND.
-Every player that could've left early saw a HUGE uptick in production staying for an additional year, and almost all of them made a giant leap in draft stock.
-Harrison Smith was terrible when Kelly took the job, ended up a 1st round pick.
-Tyler Eifert was an unheralded, under-recruited TE coming out of HS... ended up a 1st round pick.
-Manti Te'o developed into a freaking 2nd place Heisman finalist staying for another year.
-Floyd developed into a top 10 pick.
-Zach Martin stayed an extra year and developed into a 1st round pick despite being continually snubbed/under-appreciated.

In general, when not set back by injuries or other happenstance, players have developed well on both sides of the ball. He's turning out NFL players as well as anyone.

 

[ThePiombino]

The main thing is player development which Kelly DOES NOT HAVE. ND sells itself as long as the coach actually puts in SOME effort (i.e. Willingham) so recruiting will always be there. Most unfortunately, at ND it is about perception and having a PR coach. That is why that Dantonio at Mich St, who does wonders with 2 star talent, would never be considered for ND even though what he would do would be amazing.

Imagine ND with a Dantonio from Mich St or Briles from Baylor. That would be something.

But no, we get Davies, Willingham, Weis and Kelly.

You lumping Kelly in with those three tells me all I need to know about you.

#movingalong

 

[kmoose]

The main thing is player development which Kelly DOES NOT HAVE. ND sells itself as long as the coach actually puts in SOME effort (i.e. Willingham) so recruiting will always be there. Most unfortunately, at ND it is about perception and having a PR coach. That is why that Dantonio at Mich St, who does wonders with 2 star talent, would never be considered for ND even though what he would do would be amazing.

Imagine ND with a Dantonio from Mich St or Briles from Baylor. That would be something.

But no, we get Davies, Willingham, Weis and Kelly.

Yeah, I mean what did Kelly win at Cincinnati with all of those 4 and 5 star guys? BUPKISS!!

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I'd take Brady Quinn, just for the looks.

 

[tko]

Powlus and his 4 Heismans

 

[ulukinatme]

Our Harbaugh? I'd suggest Charlie Strong. Not loved in Texas, but will get that program back on track given enough time. Strong has the Notre Dame background, worked with Urban at Florida, and was successful at Louisville.

Texas will be rolling under Strong in a year or two I think. He culled the heard this year, they will be much tougher in the coming years. Next year's match-up will be difficult coming out of the gate I think. I think 2016's match-up will likely be a loss unless we really get our shit together and can prevent the injuries/suspensions.

The main thing is player development which Kelly DOES NOT HAVE. ND sells itself as long as the coach actually puts in SOME effort (i.e. Willingham) so recruiting will always be there. Most unfortunately, at ND it is about perception and having a PR coach. That is why that Dantonio at Mich St, who does wonders with 2 star talent, would never be considered for ND even though what he would do would be amazing.

Imagine ND with a Dantonio from Mich St or Briles from Baylor. That would be something.

But no, we get Davies, Willingham, Weis and Kelly.

I've got all kinds of issues with this post. For one, I think Kelly does a decent job developing talent. Is he the best? Maybe not, but certainly much better than Weis and some of Kelly's predecessors.

As far as Dantonio, Kelly has had Dantonio's number, despite Dantonio having some pretty good football teams in recent years at MSU. Dantonio has one lone win against Kelly, and it came in Kelly's first season on a gutsy final play with some bullshit thrown in (Two missed penalties thanks to the refs). While Dantonio is a pretty decent coach, I wonder how much of his success could be attributed to Narduzzi's defense. Quite frankly, I don't think Dantonio would be destroying our opponents like you perceive. He's a good coach, but you're expecting miracles for a guy that can't beat Kelly.

I think Briles is a decent coach too, but perception is greater than reality. Baylor plays 2-3 good teams each year, it's not hard to get up for 2-3 games. He certainly is an offensive guru, but so was Weis. All the offense in the world doesn't mean jack when your defense is weak, as we saw from this season (Injuries being the main problem of course). Briles would give you more games like the North Carolina shootout we had this year.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side. People expected us to be an offensive juggernaut with Kelly based on his previous seasons as Cinci. If anything, Kelly has been somewhat more defensive minded prior to this season. I'm not saying that either of those coaches couldn't be better than Kelly, but to expect that Michigan State's success or Baylor's success would be our own is foolish. Both of those coaches are good fits for those schools, I'm not sure either would do just as well at ND.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

The answer to the thread question, IMO, was Urban Meyer. Don't know about ya'll, but as soon as Willingham was let go, I thought it was a slam dunk that Urban would go to South Bend. I was so wrong & who knows how he'd have worked out if he took the gig. He looked at the rosters he'd be inheriting at UF & ND. Then he looked at the recruiting advantages. Then he made the obvious choice & went on to win two NCs.

Granted, most of us have very few nice things to say about Meyer as a person since he took that UF gig. Not b/c he spurned ND, but b/c of the questionable character kids he recruited & the way he successfully negative recruited against ND.

But think back to 2004. I doubt there were any ND fans who didn't think Meyer was the perfect fit. Former WR coach under Holtz & Davie. Catholic kid. Midwest kid. Winner.

 

[IRISH in MT]

Any tough minded S.O.B. My ND Alumni Coaching Dream Team:

HC - Lou has 3-5 years of fight left in him (especially if Mark May says he can't do it)

OC - Charlie W up in the booth (his offenses scored pts but needs more power run)

DC - Alvarez has to be tired of replacing HC's at Wisconsin by now

OL - Aaron Taylor

DL - Zorich

LB's - Stonebreaker

RB's - Bettis or Marc Edwards

QB's - Quinn (Rees may be a good coach)

DB's - Jeff Burris or Todd Lyght

TE's - Take your pick

WR's - Tim Brown or Rocket

 

[ulukinatme]

I like the list, but I'd take Bobby Taylor as DB's coach.

 

[IRISH in MT]

I like the list, but I'd take Bobby Taylor as DB's coach.

I first thought of Bobby but Lyght was 2x All-American so I listed him instead. Taylor was a stud indeed!

 

[GoldenDomer]

Has nobody mentioned Cam? Don't know his future plans but I could see him as someone who could get into coaching.

 

[gkIrish]

The scary and sad thing about this thread is that there is absolutely no answer to the question. Tom Clements is the only one with any credentials and I don't think he would excite people too much.

 

[Henges24]

Tommy Rees

This

 

[kmoose]

Somewhat unrelated to this particular thread, in that I am not putting him forth as a potential head coach at ND, but you know whose name rarely gets mentioned for coaching vacancies anymore?

Bill Cowher.

And he is such a "rah-rah" guy, I think he might be able to have great success at the collegiate level.

 

[ulukinatme]

Somewhat unrelated to this particular thread, in that I am not putting him forth as a potential head coach at ND, but you know whose name rarely gets mentioned for coaching vacancies anymore?

Bill Cowher.

And he is such a "rah-rah" guy, I think he might be able to have great success at the collegiate level.

Crazy to think he's been out of the league for almost a decade, but he's only 56 and could definitely coach again. He also walked out on top.

In Cowher’s 15 seasons, the Steelers captured eight division titles, earned 10 postseason playoff berths, played in 21 playoff games, advanced to six AFC Championship games and made two Super Bowl appearances. He is one of only six coaches in NFL history to claim at least seven division titles. At the conclusion of the 2005 season, the Steelers had the best record of any team in the NFL since Cowher was hired as head coach.

 

[phgreek]

Somewhat unrelated to this particular thread, in that I am not putting him forth as a potential head coach at ND, but you know whose name rarely gets mentioned for coaching vacancies anymore?

Bill Cowher.

And he is such a "rah-rah" guy, I think he might be able to have great success at the collegiate level.

I love Bill, but I question how he translates to college...and specifically ND. Part of the gig is teaching assistant coaches and players...I just don't know if he wants that again.

I also think he'd throttle some doners ... I'd pay to see the first time someone questioned him because they think donating money gives them that privilege...

I don't know how he'd deal with the seemingly incessant "appearances" and time requirements on the ND head coach...

That said, I'd bet on the guy killing himself trying to do whatever the job took if he made the commitment.

But the more I see, the more I believe Brian Kelly was made for this gig. He does fine with player development, recruiting is good. Sometimes player execution is frustrating...I think at times lack of depth made it hard to hold folks accountable with pine time...And he seems to like the other goofy shit the ND coach must endure...I think ND has as good as it gets at this point in time.

 

[BobD]

I don't think there is a qualified replacement for Kelly.

Thinking way outside the box: Maybe we could throw a bunch of money at Peyton Manning when he retires. I think he's already qualified to coach, maybe more than most coaches he works with now. I think he'll coach Tennessee some day or start out as an O coordinator or QB coach in the pros.

 

[kmoose]

I love Bill, but I question how he translates to college...and specifically ND. Part of the gig is teaching assistant coaches and players...I just don't know if he wants that again.

I also think he'd throttle some doners ... I'd pay to see the first time someone questioned him because they think donating money gives them that privilege...

I don't know how he'd deal with the seemingly incessant "appearances" and time requirements on the ND head coach...

That said, I'd bet on the guy killing himself trying to do whatever the job took if he made the commitment.

But the more I see, the more I believe Brian Kelly was made for this gig. He does fine with player development, recruiting is good. Sometimes player execution is frustrating...I think at times lack of depth made it hard to hold folks accountable with pine time...And he seems to like the other goofy shit the ND coach must endure...I think ND has as good as it gets at this point in time.

Somewhat unrelated to this particular thread, in that I am not putting him forth as a potential head coach at ND, but you know whose name rarely gets mentioned for coaching vacancies anymore?

Bill Cowher.

And he is such a "rah-rah" guy, I think he might be able to have great success at the collegiate level.

I'm just surprised that his name is no longer thrown around, in any of the coaching change discussions.

 

[phgreek]

I'm just surprised that his name is no longer thrown around, in any of the coaching change discussions.

I saw your qualification...I ignored it so I could throw out some of my thoughts on big Bill at the collegiate level, and ND in particular...I've thought alot about Bill since his retirement...so you bringing him up gave me an excuse...I bet every single NFL opening starts with one of those "feeler" companies calling him...he'll show up again somewhere with nice weather...

 

[kmoose]

I saw your qualification...I ignored it so I could throw out some of my thoughts on big Bill at the collegiate level, and ND in particular...I've thought alot about Bill since his retirement...so you bringing him up gave me an excuse...I bet every single NFL opening starts with one of those "feeler" companies calling him...he'll show up again somewhere with nice weather...

I would bet that a guy like him enjoys the broadcasting gig, but really misses being in the film room, in the locker room, on the sidelines, etc. He strikes me as a guy who wants to DO. A man of action, so to speak. He probably would have made an outstanding Marine.

 

[phgreek]

I would bet that a guy like him enjoys the broadcasting gig, but really misses being in the film room, in the locker room, on the sidelines, etc. He strikes me as a guy who wants to DO. A man of action, so to speak. He probably would have made an outstanding Marine.

I agree he seems to be comfortable broadcasting, but I also believe there is a burning desire to accomplish something in that guy...I think he'd have been an asset as a soldier...for sure.

A little spittle from the "Drill Sergeant"...

 

[L-cart ND-ana]

Digger Phelps

 

[ThePiombino]

I don't think there is a qualified replacement for Kelly.

Thinking way outside the box: Maybe we could throw a bunch of money at Peyton Manning when he retires. I think he's already qualified to coach, maybe more than most coaches he works with now. I think he'll coach Tennessee some day or start out as an O coordinator or QB coach in the pros.

Another unproven coach...at ANY level. Brilliant idea. Really.