ND Coaching Search Megathread

[GATTACA!]

If we go with Freeman how about Dan Mullen as our OC/AHC?

 

[T-Boone]

If we go with Freeman how about Dan Mullen as our OC/AHC?

Yep

HC Freeman
DC Elston
OC Mullen

 

[CanadalovesND]

Rhule and Peterson both suck. Not interested in either.

Also shouldn't we assume USC made the call to Urb? If he didn't take that job me thinks ND doesn't have a shot.

Rhule has struggled with the Panthers, but unless he loses out the rest of the season, he's finishing with a better record in year two.

But, take a look what he's done at the college level mate.

Turned Temple into a dominant program for his last two seasons, then transformed Baylor. 1-11 is his first year to 11-3 in year three.

His teams are tough to play.

Honestly, he's a name that should be considered

 

[ulukinatme]

Some LSU boards are already saying Kelly is keeping their RB and DB coaches on board, so Lance Taylor and Mike Mickens are probably safe unless the next coach doesn't want them.

 

[ulukinatme]

It ain't happening, but damn she's good

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/AnnieAgar/status/1465490953775505409[/TWEET]

 

[BabyIrish]

Read an ESPN article about candidates:
1. Fickell is the main one talked about. They all think there’s no way he’d turn down the job. The question is would we be able to wait.
2. Freeman was the next talked about for all the reasons we know.
3. Campbell- It’s basically his dream job.
4. Last one they mentioned and it surprised me- Pat Fitzgerald from Northwestern. He’s done great things there no doubt but I’m pretty sure I’d say no thanks to this one.

Watched a little bit of Driskell live last night. He was outright celebrating Kelly leaving. His four candidates:
The safe picks according to him: Fickell and Stoops. He’d think they’d maintain what Kelly did but not get us over the hump.
Risks: Freeman or Brohm. Risks because they could lower the floor of the program but be dynamic enough to take us to the promised land.

I say go get Dabo but understand if it’s Freeman or Fickel.

 

[irishff1014]

Make them say no:
Saban
Dabo
Urban (if he's a take at ND)
John Harbaugh
Kirby Smart

Realistic:
Fickell
Freeman
Campbell
Stoops
Joe Brady

No dice:
PJ
Joey Freshwater
Pat Fitzgerald
Jeff Brohm

If we did t have the money to keep Kelly why do you think we have the money to bring in your tier one guys?

Freeman is young, we know that he can recruit, the support the man is getting speaks volumes for him.

I just hope they don’t take a month to make a decision.

 

[MacIrish75]

Lock up Freeman by the time BKs presser starts in Baton Rouge. Get the smoke ready to go out the chimney at The Gug.

 

[NDFAN2008]

It needs to be Marcus Freeman and they need to announce it in the next couple days. You can't put this off past early signing period. If you want to save the recruiting class Freeman needs to be the guy.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

I think reading between the lines some here:
1) ND out offered LSU last year for Markus Freeman which honestly was surprising at the time
2) recruits from the 2022 and 2023 classes almost universally point to Freeman as the guy, even offensive guys
3) reports of Day to Bears, then Fickell to OSU, and more dominos falling probably does leave Freeman as a top choice for HC somewhere
4) Kelly knows all this and realizes the classes fall apart without Freeman
5) Swarbrick does to so will not match crazy LSU offer
6) Freeman is going to be the guy

 

[EvilleIrish]

Read an ESPN article about candidates:
1. Fickell is the main one talked about. They all think there’s no way he’d turn down the job. The question is would we be able to wait.
2. Freeman was the next talked about for all the reasons we know.
3. Campbell- It’s basically his dream job.
4. Last one they mentioned and it surprised me- Pat Fitzgerald from Northwestern. He’s done great things there no doubt but I’m pretty sure I’d say no thanks to this one.

Watched a little bit of Driskell live last night. He was outright celebrating Kelly leaving. His four candidates:
The safe picks according to him: Fickell and Stoops. He’d think they’d maintain what Kelly did but not get us over the hump.
Risks: Freeman or Brohm. Risks because they could lower the floor of the program but be dynamic enough to take us to the promised land.

I say go get Dabo but understand if it’s Freeman or Fickel.

I might actually stop caring if we hire Fitzgerald.

 

[arrowryan]

I am all in on Freeman. It’ll be awesome to have a rock star recruiter at HC. Brian Kelly rebuilt this program, Freeman can get us over the hump.

 

[Free Manera]

At this point I would be shocked if it isn't Freeman. I think at today's 10 am presser they announce him as interim. Behind the scenes they work out his deal. Then announce him as coach within days. It has to be done very soon or you lose the class.

The real question is what does his staff look like? Does Rees go with Kelly? Does Freeman want him to stay? I could see Freeman wanting to snag former teammate and WR coach Brian Hartline from OSU to be OC. Keeping Balis would be huge. Keeping Lance Taylor would probably be huge.

Quinn and Polian are going with Kelly it seems, which I think most would be totally ok with.

 

[drayer54]

I want Freeman signed quickly. I thought I wanted to go throw bags of cash around to the big names, but I think Freeman is the man. I'm worried about OSU dumping a pile of cash for him. I really hope Balis and Rees stick around. Not sure what kind of relationship Freeman and Rees have. Tommy Rees belongs in South Bend.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Priority should be to keep the entire defensive staff and Balis and let the offensive staff sans Taylor walk with Kelly.

 

[IrishTusker]

If we did t have the money to keep Kelly why do you think we have the money to bring in your tier one guys?

Freeman is young, we know that he can recruit, the support the man is getting speaks volumes for him.

I just hope they don’t take a month to make a decision.

Kelly isn't worth $14 million/year. Sorry.

 

[IrishTusker]

I think reading between the lines some here:
1) ND out offered LSU last year for Markus Freeman which honestly was surprising at the time
2) recruits from the 2022 and 2023 classes almost universally point to Freeman as the guy, even offensive guys
3) reports of Day to Bears, then Fickell to OSU, and more dominos falling probably does leave Freeman as a top choice for HC somewhere
4) Kelly knows all this and realizes the classes fall apart without Freeman
5) Swarbrick does to so will not match crazy LSU offer
6) Freeman is going to be the guy

Even if this is true, you still make the call for the more experienced HCs first. They can keep the classes together too. This is not the time for a quick, panic move.

 

[NDFAN2008]

At the end of the day I'm okay with Kelly leaving. He had his success but also had his downfalls too. I think this team can get over the hump with Freeman. Someone else mentioned on twitter they think at the end of the day Kelly got bored at ND you got no conference title to play for ever and then LSU dropped the bags on him, if anyone of us was in that situation we would say yes too.

 

[ThePiombino]

I might actually stop caring if we hire Fitzgerald.

I feel the same way about Campbell

 

[notredomer23]

It’s Freeman or Fickle and I’d prefer Freeman.

 

[notredomer23]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/joshuaburnham20/status/1465668249086046223?s=21[/TWEET]

 

[bkess8]

I’ll take Freeman and give me a coordinator with some head coaching experience to help him along the way! Not sure any kid in the country can trust what a coach says now during a recruiting visit but I believe Freeman gives us the best chance! Oh and BK is a snake!

 

[TorontoGold]

I feel the same way about Campbell

"Our goal wasn't to beat Stanford, it was to become the best version of ourselves we could be"

 

[irishff1014]

At the end of the day I'm okay with Kelly leaving. He had his success but also had his downfalls too. I think this team can get over the hump with Freeman. Someone else mentioned on twitter they think at the end of the day Kelly got bored at ND you got no conference title to play for ever and then LSU dropped the bags on him, if anyone of us was in that situation we would say yes too.

I think you are a little crazy. Even if Freeman gets the job this is going to have huge impact on the program. I love the energy Freeman brings and his recruiting ability. This will knock us down the ladder some.

 

[wizards8507]

I think anyone who wants Tommy Rees gone right now is nuts. This isn't a program that needs to rebuild, it's a perennial powerhouse that should be prioritizing continuity above all else. Give Freeman the HC not but do what you can to keep TR as OC.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

I'd say I'd rather have Fickell (since he has been a head coach of a playoff contender) if available but that wont happen likely till after the CFP which could hurt recruiting.

Freeman seems to be the players and recruits choices... and I tend to side on that aspect. Lets give Freeman a shot and see if he can do what Smart did at UGA

 

[arrowryan]

Things are trending in the right direction between Notre Dame and Freeman, per Loy.

I know Notre Dame was caught off guard, but the everything seems to be moving quickly between ND/MF. Makes me wonder if this was the plan all along, it just happened 2-3 years early.

 

[greyhammer90]

I think anyone who wants Tommy Rees gone right now is nuts. This isn't a program that needs to rebuild, it's a perennial powerhouse that should be prioritizing continuity above all else. Give Freeman the HC not but do what you can to keep TR as OC.

Strong agree. If we keep Freeman and Rees, the sting of this whole thing is lessened quite a bit.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Kelly isn't worth $14 million/year. Sorry.

This

 

[notredomer23]

I think you are a little crazy. Even if Freeman gets the job this is going to have huge impact on the program. I love the energy Freeman brings and his recruiting ability. This will knock us down the ladder some.

This is way too negative. If it’s Freeman you have minimal turnover from transfers and the majority of the class stays in tact. And fact of the matter is we don’t know if he will be a good HC or not. But he will have a top 10 roster talent wise that he will likely only upgrade with the 2023 class.