Quarter Season Analysis - State of ND!?!

[jonesman]

Here we are 25% done with the football season and some folks are already 100% done with Kelly, ND, our players and any faith in the entire program. I will always remember a quote by Lou Holtz, "your never as good as you think and never as bad as you think".

So, let's face a few realities. We are not as talented as we had all believed. I will point this out later. We have an absolute BRUTAL schedule. I will address this later. We have the right coach. I will discuss this later.

COACHING:
I think you will all agree that we had given CW long enough and had to move on. So, we hired the hottest guy available in Kelly. Is he the right guy? I firmly believe that he is the guy. He has won at every level and knows how to build a program. Besides, Urban, Tressel, Stoops, Saban are not going to come thru that door in South Bend. There are too many parameters they are not willing to accept. Do you think sigining 30 guys a year will fly in South Bend like it does in Alabama. Do you think 30 arrests would be acceptable?? Do you think dumbing down the schedule to take on half the MAC will work like it does in Columbus?
So, face the facts that we have a guy who loves ND, knows how to develop kids and is showing that he can recruit also. If you throw out Kelly, WHO YOU GONNA GET??? I like our coach and support him. Is he perfect, no but he is a big improvement over Charlie and deserves our support.

SCHEDULING:
ND prides itself on scheduling anyone, anytime, anyplace. Well, that philosophy is going to make this season difficult. When this year is complete, I believe we will look back and say, WOW, THAT WAS MURDERERS ROW!!!. We are looking at a schedule that will likely include 9 bowl teams. Further, I would not be suprised if 7 opponents end up in the Top 25. Trying to rebuild a team and install a new O and D in light of this schedule can make things difficult to say the least. Ask yourself if the powerful Buckeyes would make it thru out schedule undefeated?? NO WAY!!! Imagine how much faith you would have in Kelly if we had the OSU schedule to start the season. Marshall, Miami, OhioU, EasternMI, Indiana, Illinois?? We would start atleast 5-1, maybe 6-0 against that schedule. That is the type of schedule one of the favorites for the National Title plays this year.

TALENT/POSITION ANALYSIS:
QB - We have a guy who never played a meaningful down prior to this season. He has matured and grown in his first 3 games, but is still making a few mistakes which are costly. Depth?? What depth? We have some talented freshmen, but you can only teach one guy a new offense and there was really no time for developing the others. Grades, performance:B- Depth:F Talent: B because of future

RB - Armando has really become a goto guy. He finds yards no matter what. Cierre is still learning and needs to become more physical. Jonas has shown a few good moves. Would like to see more of Hughes. Grades, performance:A- Depth:C+ Talent:B

WR - Theo Riddick is gonna really free up Floyd. Floyd is finding his groove in this O. TJ is growing as a freshman. Would like to see Kamara, Goodman get some snaps. Overall the group is starting to bond well with Crist. Grades, Performance:B Depth:B- Talent:A-

TE - Rudy is plainly an animal. He is unstoppable and going to dominate all year. Need to get Effiert and Ragone in the mix. Could not be happier with him to this point. Grades, Performance:A+ Depth:B- Talent:A

OL - I must say that I am fairly impressed with how fast the two OT's have become good performers. Overall, I do not see many bad assignments. Good news is that they will all be back next season except, Big Stew. They do need to become more consistent on run blocking. Grades, Performance:C+ Depth:B- Talent:B

DL - This group has been fairly steady, but nothing special. I must say that I am dissapointed that Ethan Johnson has not become a dominate player. He is looking average. KLM is doing well, but as a group they are just not getting to the QB. I have noticed alot of back-ups getting time, but none have really stood out. Overall, this is a really average group. Grades, Performance:C- Depth:C Talent:C-

OLB- This is the group I am most dissapointed with on the entire team. They have just so underperformed. I am so dissapointed at how many times they are chasing plays from behind. Overall, I am also finding that they are just not as talented as all had assumed. After a very good freshman year, Brian Smith has just regressed. This group needs a shake-up. Grades, Performance+ Depth:C Talent:C-

ILB - Teo is becoming Teo. He made some great plays last night. Calabrese has been a steady performer, although I noticed McDonald playing some last night. McDonald is just not physical enough. He gets pushed and dominated to easy. Scary part is that we really only have 3 ILB's. Grades, Performance:B- Depth:C- Talent:B- only because of Teo

CB - Gray and Walls are really playing like veterans. They are making tackles and covering well. Last night they got exposed a couple times because the DL got ZERO rush. On MSU's last TD, they QB had almost 10 seconds. Even the Jet's Reves would get exposed in that situation. Grades, Performance:B+ Depth Talent:C+

Safety - This position is just downright scary with McCarthy and Slaughter on the sidelines. Hayseed has actually played pretty well most of the season. He is making some big hits and tackling better. Motta is just going thru HUGE learning pains. He is putting in big effort, but just out of position and struggling with coverage at times. I am hopeful that Kelly kept McCarthy and Slaughter out of the game last night knowing we will need everyone next week against Stanford's pass attack. Grades, Performance+ Depth Talent:C-

So, the final analysis is this. Our offense is going to continue to improve and become a scoring machine as the year progresses. They talent on O will give any D struggles as Crist continues to mature. Floyd, Rudy, Riddick, Armando, TJ and Crist are a talented group.

Our Defense is plain average and below average at a few positions. For all the great recruiting CW did on O, he failed on D. There is not one player on the DL or OLB or S who will see time in the NFL. We have one star at ILB and a couple good CB's, but the rest is just average. The best defensive mind in football cannot fix a lack of talent and depth. We are going to have to show patience until Kelly gets his boys on D.

Finally, For those of you who are willing to give up, get out. I have no time for bashing, fear mongoring and sky is falling in the third week of a new coaches regime. We are literally a couple plays from being 3-0. I see improvement each week. Without a freak injury to Crist and a fake FG, we are undefeated. If you want to be a ****ty fan, go root for USC or the Suckeyes.

GO IRISH!! GO KELLY!!! We have faith!!

 

[D-BOE34]

Its about damn time someone actually made a post with reality on mind. GREAT GREAT post jones! One thing I noticed is BK has kept his game plan the same. It seemed to me that he made good calls and the team just didn't execute. If you watch the replay of the fake field goal you can see that the guys on the end didn't rush for the block. They punched them at the line but when the guy released for the pass we didn't follow. The initial contact they gave gives me the impression BK did mention to watch for the fake. I honestly feel we as a defense didn't do our job. Kind of how I felt the entire game. Poor execution on both O and D. We look great at one point and stupid the next. Inconsistent is the way I explain the season so far. I feel that next year when we have a team that is not new with the scheme of things we will be winners. I love the way BK is going about things. Every coach makes bad decisions but he has not made a call that lost us the game. Yes, I have yelled at my TV why!! At the end I can say I understand. How can you ask a team to believe and follow in your way of coaching if you have to dial down the tempo, play calling, aggression, etc? BK is going to continue asking these kids to do what is expected. The only thing I remember him asking for from this team was hard work and to be disciplined... clearly we are not! I don't write the season off after 3 games. We are coming up to a nice stretch in the schedule that we can find our groove, build as ONE and coast through the rest of the teams. Even Utah USC and others. New coach, new WR, new OL, new defense, first road game, asked to do more than double what weis did, and a strong tough *** schedule. I would be a liar if I said I wasn't upset at the way we as fans are acting. Yes this is a board where you can vent your frustration but alot of posts are more about giving up hope and jumping off the bandwagon. YUP! I feel most of the posters are not die hard fans through and through. Those of you that understand what I am saying will know that it does not include you. Rally around the team and believe just as BK asks our players to do. We will se an upside with this hire and with this team...

Once again nice breakdown Jones

 

[DirtySecret]

Here we are 25% done with the football season and some folks are already 100% done with Kelly, ND, our players and any faith in the entire program. I will always remember a quote by Lou Holtz, "your never as good as you think and never as bad as you think".

So, let's face a few realities. We are not as talented as we had all believed. I will point this out later. We have an absolute BRUTAL schedule. I will address this later. We have the right coach. I will discuss this later.

COACHING:
I think you will all agree that we had given CW long enough and had to move on. So, we hired the hottest guy available in Kelly. Is he the right guy? I firmly believe that he is the guy. He has won at every level and knows how to build a program. Besides, Urban, Tressel, Stoops, Saban are not going to come thru that door in South Bend. There are too many parameters they are not willing to accept. Do you think sigining 30 guys a year will fly in South Bend like it does in Alabama. Do you think 30 arrests would be acceptable?? Do you think dumbing down the schedule to take on half the MAC will work like it does in Columbus?
So, face the facts that we have a guy who loves ND, knows how to develop kids and is showing that he can recruit also. If you throw out Kelly, WHO YOU GONNA GET??? I like our coach and support him. Is he perfect, no but he is a big improvement over Charlie and deserves our support.

SCHEDULING:
ND prides itself on scheduling anyone, anytime, anyplace. Well, that philosophy is going to make this season difficult. When this year is complete, I believe we will look back and say, WOW, THAT WAS MURDERERS ROW!!!. We are looking at a schedule that will likely include 9 bowl teams. Further, I would not be suprised if 7 opponents end up in the Top 25. Trying to rebuild a team and install a new O and D in light of this schedule can make things difficult to say the least. Ask yourself if the powerful Buckeyes would make it thru out schedule undefeated?? NO WAY!!! Imagine how much faith you would have in Kelly if we had the OSU schedule to start the season. Marshall, Miami, OhioU, EasternMI, Indiana, Illinois?? We would start atleast 5-1, maybe 6-0 against that schedule. That is the type of schedule one of the favorites for the National Title plays this year.

TALENT/POSITION ANALYSIS:
QB - We have a guy who never played a meaningful down prior to this season. He has matured and grown in his first 3 games, but is still making a few mistakes which are costly. Depth?? What depth? We have some talented freshmen, but you can only teach one guy a new offense and there was really no time for developing the others. Grades, performance:B- Depth:F Talent: B because of future

RB - Armando has really become a goto guy. He finds yards no matter what. Cierre is still learning and needs to become more physical. Jonas has shown a few good moves. Would like to see more of Hughes. Grades, performance:A- Depth:C+ Talent:B

WR - Theo Riddick is gonna really free up Floyd. Floyd is finding his groove in this O. TJ is growing as a freshman. Would like to see Kamara, Goodman get some snaps. Overall the group is starting to bond well with Crist. Grades, Performance:B Depth:B- Talent:A-

TE - Rudy is plainly an animal. He is unstoppable and going to dominate all year. Need to get Effiert and Ragone in the mix. Could not be happier with him to this point. Grades, Performance:A+ Depth:B- Talent:A

OL - I must say that I am fairly impressed with how fast the two OT's have become good performers. Overall, I do not see many bad assignments. Good news is that they will all be back next season except, Big Stew. They do need to become more consistent on run blocking. Grades, Performance:C+ Depth:B- Talent:B

DL - This group has been fairly steady, but nothing special. I must say that I am dissapointed that Ethan Johnson has not become a dominate player. He is looking average. KLM is doing well, but as a group they are just not getting to the QB. I have noticed alot of back-ups getting time, but none have really stood out. Overall, this is a really average group. Grades, Performance:C- Depth:C Talent:C-

OLB- This is the group I am most dissapointed with on the entire team. They have just so underperformed. I am so dissapointed at how many times they are chasing plays from behind. Overall, I am also finding that they are just not as talented as all had assumed. After a very good freshman year, Brian Smith has just regressed. This group needs a shake-up. Grades, Performance+ Depth:C Talent:C-

ILB - Teo is becoming Teo. He made some great plays last night. Calabrese has been a steady performer, although I noticed McDonald playing some last night. McDonald is just not physical enough. He gets pushed and dominated to easy. Scary part is that we really only have 3 ILB's. Grades, Performance:B- Depth:C- Talent:B- only because of Teo

CB - Gray and Walls are really playing like veterans. They are making tackles and covering well. Last night they got exposed a couple times because the DL got ZERO rush. On MSU's last TD, they QB had almost 10 seconds. Even the Jet's Reves would get exposed in that situation. Grades, Performance:B+ Depth Talent:C+

Safety - This position is just downright scary with McCarthy and Slaughter on the sidelines. Hayseed has actually played pretty well most of the season. He is making some big hits and tackling better. Motta is just going thru HUGE learning pains. He is putting in big effort, but just out of position and struggling with coverage at times. I am hopeful that Kelly kept McCarthy and Slaughter out of the game last night knowing we will need everyone next week against Stanford's pass attack. Grades, Performance+ Depth Talent:C-

So, the final analysis is this. Our offense is going to continue to improve and become a scoring machine as the year progresses. They talent on O will give any D struggles as Crist continues to mature. Floyd, Rudy, Riddick, Armando, TJ and Crist are a talented group.

Our Defense is plain average and below average at a few positions. For all the great recruiting CW did on O, he failed on D. There is not one player on the DL or OLB or S who will see time in the NFL. We have one star at ILB and a couple good CB's, but the rest is just average. The best defensive mind in football cannot fix a lack of talent and depth. We are going to have to show patience until Kelly gets his boys on D.

Finally, For those of you who are willing to give up, get out. I have no time for bashing, fear mongoring and sky is falling in the third week of a new coaches regime. We are literally a couple plays from being 3-0. I see improvement each week. Without a freak injury to Crist and a fake FG, we are undefeated. If you want to be a ****ty fan, go root for USC or the Suckeyes.

GO IRISH!! GO KELLY!!! We have faith!!

I have no problem with the post but the part that is bold.. I'm tired of hearing "well if the chips fell our way we could easily be 3-0." We could easily went undefeated last year if a few plays went our way too.

 

[NDOM]

I have no problem with the post but the part that is bold.. I'm tired of hearing "well if the chips fell our way we could easily be 3-0." We could easily went undefeated last year if a few plays went our way too.

Beautiful. Couldnt have said it better. Ya just beat me to it.

 

[BestBIrish47]

I read this and didnt' even know it was you Jonesy... Wow... I think we are def on the same page... Great work sir... Everyone else should step off the ledge.

 

[gmnysdad]

I was really thinking about somethings since last night, and I started to recall something. Does anyone remember the "great" Nick Saban's record his first year at Alabama?? I know that they look pretty unstopable now, but I believe they were below .500 with an ugly loss his first year, and correct me if I am wrong, but this is only his fourth year there. We all saw just how slow most of the defense was last night, but at least you can see that the coaching staff put them in a position to make things happen. I thought that the game plan and play calling were pretty good, and given time in the system I believe the players will begin to execute much better. this just might be a pretty tough year with the big ups and downs.

 

[dsotm]

I have no problem with the post but the part that is bold.. I'm tired of hearing "well if the chips fell our way we could easily be 3-0." We could easily went undefeated last year if a few plays went our way too.

Hold on. There is a big difference in saying we are 2 play calls from being 3-0, than 2 plays.

2 bad calls- one on offense, and one on defense are the reason we are not 3-0. Are they the only reason, of course not, but they are decisions that translated to the loss. I'm simply not willing to overlook bad coaching in the name of rebuilding. We've been rebuilding for 22 years. With mediocre talent (which is all we are ever going to get, average across the board) we need perfect coaching. To believe otherwise is fooling yourself.

 

[phork]

Add in defensive confusion.. I'll be happy when the defense comes on the field and knows where they should be instead of running around with their hands up asking WTF? This has happened too many times for my liking.

 

[TinyT]

Our Defense is plain average and below average at a few positions. For all the great recruiting CW did on O, he failed on D. There is not one player on the DL or OLB or S who will see time in the NFL. We have one star at ILB and a couple good CB's, but the rest is just average. T

I would be willing to bet that the starting front 3 and Fleming will play on Sunday. I believe that the starters actually do a decent job, but with the constant rotation of lineman we see a whole bunch of the backups who just aren't at the same level. Ian constantly gets push, but Cwynar seems just a bit undersized. KPL and Johnson also get push...they are supposed to be gap control if I am not mistaken, so they can't just pin their ears back and rush. I think our front line is solid, but the reinforcements are learning and may even be playing out of position, so they will need more time with the Strength and Conditioning staff.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

Jonesman....excellent post....

Any loss hurts however BK has not had much time with these guys...future is bright...however we will have some growing pains.

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

Good post. Biggest point i agree with is the safety position.


However, it is getting old that those of you who think that you are Joe #1 Fan telling people to "get out, we dont want you as a fan" or "leave and go root for USC". Seriously? It's pretty corny. No one is jumping off and on bandwagons. I have every right to question anything i want to question.

It doesnt make anyone less of fan because they are angry that ND lost. We arent in 2nd grade. Not everyone is a winner anymore. Its college football and a business.

 

[jonesman]

Dsotm,
I will not look at one single call and blame our coach that we are 1-2. I was in agreement with the call to go for it at UM. It would have been a brilliant call if it was completed. The UM game was lost due to the loss of Crist for almost the entire half.

As for the MSU fake FG, there is not one person on this board who would have even suspected that play. I watched the replay and our D was knocked down in trying to play the coverage.

I am going to watch our team for the body of work, which so far I am seeing progress.

As for those saying that our front 4 will play on Sunday's, I will take that bet. Maybe one of the four will make a team and play some back-up. They are just not overally talented.

Still an Irish and Kelly supporter!!!

 

[jonesman]

I am not telling anyone who does not want to be a fan to move on. I am just tired of folks who are constant whiners that think ND is the worst and we will never win again. This team will win and win consistently in the future.

Face the fact that ND has made some major coaching mistakes. Kelly is not one of those.

As for the Brutal scedule? Yes, I do believe we have a brutal schedule. The facts will support this when the season is complete. As for Big Ten bottom feeders, UM will be in a bowl. MSU will be in the mix to be Big Ten Champs all year.

 

[phork]

Dsotm,

As for the MSU fake FG, there is not one person on this board who would have even suspected that play. I watched the replay and our D was knocked down in trying to play the coverage.

Err I suspected it. Kelly suspected it.. Anyone with half a football brain suspected it. Kid just his longest ever at 50, indoors. Hell I was yelling at the TV when they were running on the field. Then I almost put my fist through the TV as the time ran out and no call was made.

 

[jason_h537]

Coaching: Frustrating at times, you se areas of improvement but some boneheaded calls the last weeks, its not all on the coaches but they gotta shoulder some of the blaim

QB: Solid improvement each week, Crist will be just fine

RB: Allen is solid, we need to run more. Over 50 pass attempts, are you serious?

WR/TE: Dissapointing, i expect so much more out of this group

OLine: Good, still struggle at times but have played far greater than i expected

DLine: Starters have been great all year, do we have any backups?

LB: Slow on the edges, this is a huge problem

DB: Corners have played solid but injuries have killed us. Motta is clearly not ready and These guiys are REALLY tired

ST: Punting needs to find consitancy

 

[IrishJayhawk]

The problem is its a bunch of boys from ND playing against MEN.

"It's" means "it is." You need an apostrophe. e.g., It's important to learn the rules of the English language.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Jonesman: big time post and a world of rationality away from the two groups that you have to cope with on this board---the consistently negative ice shower boys [who usually are pretty good football minds] , and the near hysterics [who seem to know almost nothing about football]. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leaving further "analysis" of that "sociology" aside, I'll say that I'm with you on your wisdom and greater perspective. We have played three games. One we controlled entirely. One we got to literally the last play with a good opportunity to win. One we went into overtime with a darn good opponent at their house. We have given every opponent one hell of a battle. "Boys against Men": What an outrageous crock!! These guys play football and they play to the last whistle. I'm proud as hell of them, and if others on this board aren't, well, if I had anything to say about it [which I don't] I'd say get lost. I don't usually get steamed, but the trash some folks are trying to lay on these players and the coaches is out-of-line at least for me. Thankfully, I guess, Irish Envy is more "tolerant".

 

[irishtrain]

Here we are 25% done with the football season and some folks are already 100% done with Kelly, ND, our players and any faith in the entire program. I will always remember a quote by Lou Holtz, "your never as good as you think and never as bad as you think".

So, let's face a few realities. We are not as talented as we had all believed. I will point this out later. We have an absolute BRUTAL schedule. I will address this later. We have the right coach. I will discuss this later.

COACHING:
I think you will all agree that we had given CW long enough and had to move on. So, we hired the hottest guy available in Kelly. Is he the right guy? I firmly believe that he is the guy. He has won at every level and knows how to build a program. Besides, Urban, Tressel, Stoops, Saban are not going to come thru that door in South Bend. There are too many parameters they are not willing to accept. Do you think sigining 30 guys a year will fly in South Bend like it does in Alabama. Do you think 30 arrests would be acceptable?? Do you think dumbing down the schedule to take on half the MAC will work like it does in Columbus?
So, face the facts that we have a guy who loves ND, knows how to develop kids and is showing that he can recruit also. If you throw out Kelly, WHO YOU GONNA GET??? I like our coach and support him. Is he perfect, no but he is a big improvement over Charlie and deserves our support.

SCHEDULING:
ND prides itself on scheduling anyone, anytime, anyplace. Well, that philosophy is going to make this season difficult. When this year is complete, I believe we will look back and say, WOW, THAT WAS MURDERERS ROW!!!. We are looking at a schedule that will likely include 9 bowl teams. Further, I would not be suprised if 7 opponents end up in the Top 25. Trying to rebuild a team and install a new O and D in light of this schedule can make things difficult to say the least. Ask yourself if the powerful Buckeyes would make it thru out schedule undefeated?? NO WAY!!! Imagine how much faith you would have in Kelly if we had the OSU schedule to start the season. Marshall, Miami, OhioU, EasternMI, Indiana, Illinois?? We would start atleast 5-1, maybe 6-0 against that schedule. That is the type of schedule one of the favorites for the National Title plays this year.

TALENT/POSITION ANALYSIS:
QB - We have a guy who never played a meaningful down prior to this season. He has matured and grown in his first 3 games, but is still making a few mistakes which are costly. Depth?? What depth? We have some talented freshmen, but you can only teach one guy a new offense and there was really no time for developing the others. Grades, performance:B- Depth:F Talent: B because of future

RB - Armando has really become a goto guy. He finds yards no matter what. Cierre is still learning and needs to become more physical. Jonas has shown a few good moves. Would like to see more of Hughes. Grades, performance:A- Depth:C+ Talent:B

WR - Theo Riddick is gonna really free up Floyd. Floyd is finding his groove in this O. TJ is growing as a freshman. Would like to see Kamara, Goodman get some snaps. Overall the group is starting to bond well with Crist. Grades, Performance:B Depth:B- Talent:A-

TE - Rudy is plainly an animal. He is unstoppable and going to dominate all year. Need to get Effiert and Ragone in the mix. Could not be happier with him to this point. Grades, Performance:A+ Depth:B- Talent:A

OL - I must say that I am fairly impressed with how fast the two OT's have become good performers. Overall, I do not see many bad assignments. Good news is that they will all be back next season except, Big Stew. They do need to become more consistent on run blocking. Grades, Performance:C+ Depth:B- Talent:B

DL - This group has been fairly steady, but nothing special. I must say that I am dissapointed that Ethan Johnson has not become a dominate player. He is looking average. KLM is doing well, but as a group they are just not getting to the QB. I have noticed alot of back-ups getting time, but none have really stood out. Overall, this is a really average group. Grades, Performance:C- Depth:C Talent:C-

OLB- This is the group I am most dissapointed with on the entire team. They have just so underperformed. I am so dissapointed at how many times they are chasing plays from behind. Overall, I am also finding that they are just not as talented as all had assumed. After a very good freshman year, Brian Smith has just regressed. This group needs a shake-up. Grades, Performance+ Depth:C Talent:C-

ILB - Teo is becoming Teo. He made some great plays last night. Calabrese has been a steady performer, although I noticed McDonald playing some last night. McDonald is just not physical enough. He gets pushed and dominated to easy. Scary part is that we really only have 3 ILB's. Grades, Performance:B- Depth:C- Talent:B- only because of Teo

CB - Gray and Walls are really playing like veterans. They are making tackles and covering well. Last night they got exposed a couple times because the DL got ZERO rush. On MSU's last TD, they QB had almost 10 seconds. Even the Jet's Reves would get exposed in that situation. Grades, Performance:B+ Depth Talent:C+

Safety - This position is just downright scary with McCarthy and Slaughter on the sidelines. Hayseed has actually played pretty well most of the season. He is making some big hits and tackling better. Motta is just going thru HUGE learning pains. He is putting in big effort, but just out of position and struggling with coverage at times. I am hopeful that Kelly kept McCarthy and Slaughter out of the game last night knowing we will need everyone next week against Stanford's pass attack. Grades, Performance+ Depth Talent:C-

So, the final analysis is this. Our offense is going to continue to improve and become a scoring machine as the year progresses. They talent on O will give any D struggles as Crist continues to mature. Floyd, Rudy, Riddick, Armando, TJ and Crist are a talented group.

Our Defense is plain average and below average at a few positions. For all the great recruiting CW did on O, he failed on D. There is not one player on the DL or OLB or S who will see time in the NFL. We have one star at ILB and a couple good CB's, but the rest is just average. The best defensive mind in football cannot fix a lack of talent and depth. We are going to have to show patience until Kelly gets his boys on D.

Finally, For those of you who are willing to give up, get out. I have no time for bashing, fear mongoring and sky is falling in the third week of a new coaches regime. We are literally a couple plays from being 3-0. I see improvement each week. Without a freak injury to Crist and a fake FG, we are undefeated. If you want to be a ****ty fan, go root for USC or the Suckeyes.

GO IRISH!! GO KELLY!!! We have faith!!

Couldnt have said it better myself-thanks for being so eloquint. As for me I stand behind the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. This guy will win games and there will be room on the bandwagon-I may remember those who bashed but your welcome to have a seat on the bandwagon anyway.

 

[IrishLax]

Good post. And yes, we need to dumb down our schedule like everyone in the SEC and Big Ten does with 3-4 cake walks + conference schedule (or play in the Big 12 where they simply have 2 good teams and 8 crap teams). We would be 3-0 right now against Purdue, UMass and Florida Atlantic with a schedule still hard enough to get us into the NC if we chose to go down that road.

I don't panic about this team... they really are playing not-so-bad besides our safeties... but my optimism is gone for this year simply because of our schedule. The Stanford game, as much as it pains me to say it, might be a blowout.

 

[phork]

I'd rather lose to a D1 team than an D2 team. This is why they play the games, any given Saturday and all..

 

[]\/[GoBlue]

Hold on. There is a big difference in saying we are 2 play calls from being 3-0, than 2 plays.

2 bad calls- one on offense, and one on defense are the reason we are not 3-0. Are they the only reason, of course not, but they are decisions that translated to the loss. I'm simply not willing to overlook bad coaching in the name of rebuilding. We've been rebuilding for 22 years. With mediocre talent (which is all we are ever going to get, average across the board) we need perfect coaching. To believe otherwise is fooling yourself.

You currently have the number six recruiting class on Rivals, you had poor coaching don't look for other excuses.

14
21
02
08

By the way those are not lottery numbers either, that would be your last four class rankings.

 

[GoingGreen]

You currently have the number six recruiting class on Rivals, you had poor coaching don't look for other excuses.

14
21
02
08

By the way those are not lottery numbers either, that would be your last four class rankings.

Yeah, we've always had the talent.

 

[dsotm]

You currently have the number six recruiting class on Rivals, you had poor coaching don't look for other excuses.

14
21
02
08

By the way those are not lottery numbers either, that would be your last four class rankings.

You misunderstood my post, obviously. I'm not blaming our talent - I'm stating what it is. I'm just not overstating it. We're a big time school, numbers 14 and 21 are not obviously in the top 10, are they? Aside from that, I don't really care what Rivals says, I know the rankings they give us and it's pretty obvious that our classes are not in the caliber of Ohio State, Florida, USC, etc, and that's what we need. The purpose is not to go 10-3, it's to go undefeated and win an NC- or else what are we doing?

In any case, the point of my posts all day today was that since we don't have the best team out there physically, we have to be on point with coaching. Which you were correct in stating, we've had poor coaching in the past, and poor coaching this last few games. We need our coached to direct us within our talent. Charlie never got over the fact that he wasn't coaching pro's, and Kelly, well, in these 3 games I really think he was just not there. He made mistake that to me, reflected either lapses in judgment, or simple unpreparedness.

 

[phork]

Nothing wrong with the offensive side of recruiting.. We have lacked on the D side big time. As for some "mistakes" Kelly may or may not have made I think you have just answered your own point. You have to be on point with coaching. Second guessing decisions is getting old because you don't know how it would have played out otherwise. And no, you cannot simply say that everything would be the same after that decision. Its called the Butterfly Effect.

 

[]\/[GoBlue]

You misunderstood my post, obviously. I'm not blaming our talent - I'm stating what it is. I'm just not overstating it. We're a big time school, numbers 14 and 21 are not obviously in the top 10, are they? Aside from that, I don't really care what Rivals says, I know the rankings they give us and it's pretty obvious that our classes are not in the caliber of Ohio State, Florida, USC, etc, and that's what we need. The purpose is not to go 10-3, it's to go undefeated and win an NC- or else what are we doing?

In any case, the point of my posts all day today was that since we don't have the best team out there physically, we have to be on point with coaching. Which you were correct in stating, we've had poor coaching in the past, and poor coaching this last few games. We need our coached to direct us within our talent. Charlie never got over the fact that he wasn't coaching pro's, and Kelly, well, in these 3 games I really think he was just not there. He made mistake that to me, reflected either lapses in judgment, or simple unpreparedness.

No, I pretty sure I understood your post perfectly. You said you had mediocre talent across the board, you’re wrong you don’t. You’ve had poor development of that talent. My next sentence will hurt me to say…give me a moment…deep breath….The difference between you and osu on talent is that they are GREAT at developing and using the talent they get (ah! must not say good things about osu), Weis was not. Kelly seems to be able to. I know the last thing you want to hear is; give it time, but that’s what it’s going to take. So again, don’t make other excuses. You had poor coaching.

One more thing, don’t complain about a #14 or 21 class, there are over 100 schools at that point that would like to have your recruiting class.

 

[irish4ever]

Here we are 25% done with the football season and some folks are already 100% done with Kelly, ND, our players and any faith in the entire program. I will always remember a quote by Lou Holtz, "your never as good as you think and never

That's just the 'kool-aid' drinkers that think the anything less than a 11-1 regular season record is a complete bust! And these are the ones that will still make negative comments about the lone loss!!!

 

[mrmiller8]

I posted the below comment earlier but just thought that it fit this thread as well. People need to relax, its ridiculous to expect that they are gonna be in a BCS game, I'm sick of hearing that. They need to win some games and compete and so far they are competing and they will get better so just ****ing relax, watch the games and watch the improvement come over time. Rome wasn't built in a day!!!!!

"I agree with most of the above comments. Being in a new system, new coach, new DC, a QB who has started 3 games, and a very young defense, makes it really touch to compete. We just lost to two teams in the top 25.... Say what you want about rankings and how bad our schedule is this year but three out of our first four games are no against ranked opponents. Not to mention that Boston College could be very easily be 3-0 when we play them as well. I am not mad at BK, just disappointed and thought we would at least win one of these two games and guess what we were in position to win despite the above reasons of why we shouldn't be. Irish fans just have to be patient and realize that even when you get a new coach change will come but it does take time. Our leading receiver this week was former running back, which is a good thing because it shows that we have talent and athletes. Its just gonna take some time to develop! Which is what weis didn't do, develop. With weis it seemed like recruits would come in and not get any better over four years, which was obviously disappointing. It takes time and I know we are all beside ourselves at this moment but don't get pissed this team is better coached and is going in the right direction, we may not see it now but wait till halfway through the season to jump to conclusions about BK and the irish."

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

Excellent posts and I agree with alot that has been said on here by others. We are talented, we have a good coach, and believe it or not a good team. I have to remind myself too, that we are in a new system, new head coach, new quarterback and alot of young players on this team. I believe in this team and this coaching staff. I will agree with the fact that in previous years, we have not been able to develop our talent to where they needed to be. This is a work in progress and make no mistake about it, we have the talent. BK and his staff have had 3 games. We are still young in this system and as the weeks go by, I think you will see the team improve week to week. It might be painful to watch at times, but I think by the end of the year, we will have a much better football team and a decent bowl game. We will lose a couple of games this year, yes..., but we will win some as well. I think we need to have some realistic expectations and we all need to be patient. As far as Recruiting is concerned..., we are off to a great start in bringing in some very talented athletes on the defensive side of the ball. We need to remind ourselves too that these young kids need time to develop, so don't expect miracles over night. I think BK and the staff have done and will continue to do a good job at developing the talent that we have on our roster.

 

[Old Man Mike]

One thing about the Coach: [and you may decide that you do or do not like this about him]. Kelly is not a coddler. He is a man, and he treats his players as if they are ready for a man's job. He may over-rate their readiness for that, but when coaching he makes decisions assuming a competent execution of the plan. His decisions, in his mind, are not "gambles" but what he believes will give the best chance of winning, IF the players execute. Other coaches obviously are more "pragmatists" in that they actually overtly lack confidence in their players being able to do certain things. For Kelly, they have to prove to him that they can't do what's expected of them before he gives up on them. Maybe he should be "less trusting" and maybe not. In the end, Kelly's treatment of these guys as men who CAN get their jobs done correctly, rather than incompetents who can't, will [maybe not immediately] inspire the players to make it happen, and feel like there is nothing that they cannot accomplish.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other "fans" of course will not want him to treat the players this way, and play it conservatively and risk nothing. My guess is that this sort of thinking wins more games early and truncates the development of most players long term. Of course, our "fans", like typical Americans, have no concept of long term and demand instant gratification. I'd like to play for a Kelly, who treated me like he expected me to succeed.

 

[dsotm]

No, I pretty sure I understood your post perfectly. You said you had mediocre talent across the board, you’re wrong you don’t. You’ve had poor development of that talent. My next sentence will hurt me to say…give me a moment…deep breath….The difference between you and osu on talent is that they are GREAT at developing and using the talent they get (ah! must not say good things about osu), Weis was not. Kelly seems to be able to. I know the last thing you want to hear is; give it time, but that’s what it’s going to take. So again, don’t make other excuses. You had poor coaching.

One more thing, don’t complain about a #14 or 21 class, there are over 100 schools at that point that would like to have your recruiting class.

What do I care what Yale, Central Michigan, or Miami (Oh) think about our draft class? a 14 or 21 draft class for ND is not acceptable.

We'll just have to disagree about or talent level. There is no way, talent-wise, that we're ever as big, strong, and fast as as OSU, Michigan, Florida etc...(well, maybe Michigan lately)..They just aren't. They're consistently shorter in the back and slower in the back and in secondary/CB's. So, as I said, I'm not making excuses. I'm stating that I don't expect that to change- so our coaching needs to be on point. Which it hasn't. Whether Kelly gets more out of his players than other remains to be seen. We won't know in 3 games, but what I do know is he made mistakes that cost us decisions.