Press Conference 9/13/2011

[gkautz10]

If they would have won Saturday Riddick would be the main story, shows his ability to forget the past and get better the next game. After his bad game against USF.

Gary Gray will have a great game

Good joke, this made my week. Maybe his neck was stiff last week. I have full confidence in the rest of the team and do think they are going to win. They must win!!!

 

[BeauBenken]

I'm sorry, but **** everyone who doesn't think Gary Gray can do better.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

I'm sorry, but **** everyone who doesn't think Gary Gray can do better.

Well................ His effort can only go up.

I kid.... He'll be fine.

 

[Yes]

My first post on this site. Hello everyone!

I really keep liking Kelly more and more. It's great to see that he's still excited for this team even after the first two heartbreaking losses. The faith he has in this team is contagious.

 

[BurningRiver]

I'm sorry, but **** everyone who doesn't think Gary Gray can do better.

Totally agree, because he's shown throughout his career that he can be a very good corner, and even came close to being an AA this year if I'm correct.

But that being said, there is no excuse for how sh*itty he was last Saturday. Some of his plays left me scratching my head. It's like BK had put me in at corner.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

I say again...

Gary Gray was the darling of Irish Envy this off-season. How quickly people turn on a player...

 

[Rhode Irish]

To be fair to Gray (and he was bad), his coverage wasn't always terrible. More than a couple of times he had good coverage and Robinson made a terrible underthrow and the receiver made a good play on the ball in the air, and Gary didn't. He will have to be much better going forward.

 

[Rhode Irish]

I say again...

Gary Gray was the darling of Irish Envy this off-season. How quickly people turn on a player...

I think Gary is a microcosm of the whole team right now. People are frustrated and a little disappointed. Nobody thinks he's terrible; it is actually the opposite. We know he is good, we just want desperately to see it on the field.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

I think Gary is a microcosm of the whole team right now. People are frustrated and a little disappointed. Nobody thinks he's terrible; it is actually the opposite. We know he is good, we just want desperately to see it on the field.

A fair point.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Gary was in the proper position if there was a legit passer, throwing proper passes..

That said, Gary will play best against a QB like Cousins.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Gary was in the proper position if there was a legit passer, throwing proper passes..

That said, Gary will play best against a QB like Cousins.

Yeah, I pointed this out a little earlier. There were multiple plays on which he was "beat" that he had good coverage and the ball was badly underthrown, and the receiver made a better play on the ball in the air than he did. But this wasn't always true. I believe Gary was badly out of position on the long play on Michigan's final drive that put them in position to win the game.

 

[gkautz10]

my whole point is that he never turned his head to see where the ball was guys!! i understand the balls were terrible and under thrown and i agree, BUT you have to get your head turned around! That is simple mechanics. Just because Cousins will throw a better ball does not mean he will know it is coming his way. your logic as to he will be better against a better qb is silly to me my friend. Blanton did not seem to have trouble doing that and he had a pretty good game by all accounts. And considering he only has 4 int in his career, seems this has been a problem the entire time since it is extremely hard to pick off a pass without ever seeing it. But you can consider me a pessimist when it comes to our corners. i remember how they played a few years ago and that level of play scares the daylights out of me and this last week was a glimpse of that. I know many of you will disagree so we will just agree to disagree right now. i hope he proves me wrong and has a hell of a season. go irish beat state PLEASE!!

 

[Whiskeyjack]

your logic as to he will be better against a better qb is silly to me my friend.

Keith Arnold agrees with Rhode Irish.

Expect the Spartans to test Gray early. In many ways having an accurate passer like Cousins actually helps Gray, as he really struggled against the under thrown ball, something Robinson did a lot of… not necessarily on purpose.

 

[BeauBenken]

You guys do realize that a proper way to play the deep ball is to not turn your head and rather read the WR's hands and try to break up the pass that way.

Corner is a hard *** position guys.

I can play safety all day. My zone coverage is amazing (I once had 3 picks in 3 straight drives, booyah!), but playing man coverage on a wide receiver is a bitch sometimes.

 

[BGIF]

I say again...

Gary Gray was the darling of Irish Envy this off-season. How quickly people turn on a player...

It's worth another read.

 

[BGIF]

I think Ragone will have a Chance with an NFL team. He is an excellent blocker, has good speed (though he never used it at ND) and can make an occasional grab.

He's had two knee surgeries already. Tough young man. He might decide, like Mike Anello after breaking a leg, that it's time to takes his ND degrees and start earning a living. Good luck Mike with whatever you choose.

 

[BGIF]

I really doubt Brindza isn't a better punter. What probably happens is that when Turk has no pressure, he consistenly kicks 52-yarders while Brindza kicks 45-yarders. If Kelly wants to give that waste of a scholarship yet another chance, fine, but when he messes up again, he should at least try Brindza or hold tryouts for members of the soccer teams.

Is your evaluation of Brindza as a better punter based on your observations of him kicking in practice as he hasn't punted in a game or simply his HS clippings?

Turk numbers have been similar to several great ND punters at this stage of his development. Yes, he shanks some. But his yardage stats also include the kicks he is asked to make inside the opponents 20 without a touchback. Turk was also known for high hang time which allow the gunners to get downfield and prevent runbacks. 52 yarders are every effective when the returner rips off a 20 yard return because the gunners can't contain.

Likewise how do you know Brindza doesn't kick line drive punts? Again have you seen him?

The kickoffs you have seen are with a fixed ball. Brindza hasn't had to field high snaps, low snaps, bounced snaps and still get off his kicks. And nobody was trying to stuff the ball down his throat while he was in the process of kicking.

I don't know that Brindza has any problem. I do know that Kelly burned a year of eligibility so he kickoff. Seems inane that any coach would burn a year of eligibility for a specialist but not use him as a punter if it gave his team a better chance to win.

 

[irish4ever]

500 yards should score more than 31 points, not happy in that aspect. He expects for every 80 yards should result in 7 points

That's 40+ pts. in each of those (2) games. Without the TO's in the red zone, they should have definitely hit that mark! I doubt there is anyone on this board that doesn't think the Irish should be 2-0. Hopefully, the offense can continue to rack up the yardage, only to turn that into TD's in stead of TO's.

 

[JughedJones]

Love ya Mike. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

(I love that we're talking to him like he's here)

BK makes me believe. Every Wednesday, I think we can go undefeated. This Wednesday is no different.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Just to clarify, I never said that Gray will have a better week against Cousins than he did against Robinson, although I can certainly see how he could. I was just pointing out that most of the passes completed against him were badly underthrown and were the result of not playing the ball well in the air, not poor coverage. I'm not excusing his not playing the ball well in the air, either. That is part of the job, too. But I can see how his play would translate better against Cousins; namely, Cousins likely won't even make throws into the coverage that Gray was playing against Michigan, so playing the ball in the air won't be as big of a factor.

 

[JughedJones]

I personally guarantee a win.

Cousins is a pocket QB playing from a pro style offense.

We will kill him.

We've had and have had a hard time planning against a mobile/spread guy. I guarantee a big win here. Our D is very good and they'll show it Saturday.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

I personally guarantee a win.

Cousins is a pocket QB playing from a pro style offense.

We will kill him.

We've had and have had a hard time planning against a mobile/spread guy. I guarantee a big win here. Our D is very good and they'll show it Saturday.

KLM and Lynch will combine for 3 sacks.

 

[Jerry]

I was listening to the Score 670 in Chicago this morning and Mully and Hanelly were talking about how Brian Kelly is blaming the players and not himself, blah, blah. Whatever. But then they went on to talk about the terrible things that Brian Kelly has done since taking over the program. Like Declan Sullivan, the alleged rape and letting Michael Floyd play after getting his 2nd DUI.

Sort of careless commentary if you want people to actually respect your opinion. How about doing a little fact checking before you start spouting off about somebody??

 

[Meacon Irish]

To be fair to Gray (and he was bad), his coverage wasn't always terrible. More than a couple of times he had good coverage and Robinson made a terrible underthrow and the receiver made a good play on the ball in the air, and Gary didn't. He will have to be much better going forward.

Agreed 100%. Heck, that was what happened on the game winning touchdown. Gray was covering his man like glue. Just so happened Denard underthrew his receiver, who was able to adjust quicker than Gary.

Good presser. I really, really love Kelly. I can't stand the serious people wanting him out. Quick coaching changes is part of the reason we found ourselves in this rut in the first place. We need consistency in the coaching staff if we ever want to get back to where we all want to be. If Kelly is here for five years, and we keep floating around 8-5, lets talk. But two games into his second season is asinine.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

I was listening to the Score 670 in Chicago this morning and Mully and Hanelly were talking about how Brian Kelly is blaming the players and not himself, blah, blah. Whatever. But then they went on to talk about the terrible things that Brian Kelly has done since taking over the program. Like Declan Sullivan, the alleged rape and letting Michael Floyd play after getting his 2nd DUI.

Sort of careless commentary if you want people to actually respect your opinion. How about doing a little fact checking before you start spouting off about somebody??

Sounds like the comment section on any Chicago Tribune article about ND.

 

[RDU Irish]

Watched the whole PC and can't help but think that Kelly handles the podium VERY well. He also shows a lot of excitement about how good this team can be. He has broken them down and now is working on building them back up. I expect him to be our guy for the next ten years and only hope we remember how hard it is to be consistently good and periodically great.

I truly believe we are closer to being good again than we have been since Lou. Real good, not flash in the pan, stars align just right stuff. Consistency in expectations and style will pay big dividends starting with constant improvement through the end of this year. I fully expect to be able to compete with anyone in the nation this year, starting with a whipping of Sparty this weekend and finishing with a great game vs. Stanford at year end. We won't win them all but they all will leave knowing they were in a battle.

We can't be great before we are consistently good. We will be consistently good by year end with flashes of brilliance. Then it will start to become a matter of reloading versus retooling.

 

[EifertPower]

If you really look at the defense they are doing great, Michigan only had 180 yards after 3 Q's. You have to look at the big picture. The defense has had 1 bad Q out of 8

This really bothers me because the defense had 4 opportunities in that game to make a stop that would have won the game for us. In all 4 spots they failed and there wasn't one questionable call they can use to blame. I can't say the defense is doing great.

In the past 3 years I've rarely seen ND make a big time play late in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line. Robert Blanton's INT last Saturday was the first "play" I've seen our defense make late in the fourth quarter when we need one.

It would be so refreshing to see our defense come up with a sack late in the game, a big time hit for a fumble, or a beautiful pass deflection or INT.

 

[military_irish]

This really bothers me because the defense had 4 opportunities in that game to make a stop that would have won the game for us. In all 4 spots they failed and there wasn't one questionable call they can use to blame. I can't say the defense is doing great.

In the past 3 years I've rarely seen ND make a big time play late in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line. Robert Blanton's INT last Saturday was the first "play" I've seen our defense make late in the fourth quarter when we need one.

It would be so refreshing to see our defense come up with a sack late in the game, a big time hit for a fumble, or a beautiful pass deflection or INT.

Harrison Smith had an INT against USC last year that sealed the game. I believe in the PITT game last year Gray had a pass break up at the end of the game to seal it also.

In 2009 there were a few games I can recall where the team made last drive INT to seal a game. Neither season was great so those games don't show much but the defense has some good stops. Against UW they had like 8 plays from the 2 and stop UW's offense the every time.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

This really bothers me because the defense had 4 opportunities in that game to make a stop that would have won the game for us. In all 4 spots they failed and there wasn't one questionable call they can use to blame. I can't say the defense is doing great.

You might feel better after reading this article. The Irish are pretty clearly in Stage 3: Conscious Competence. They can play great football, but they have to really focus to do so; thus, they're prone to mental breakdowns in crunch time.

In the past 3 years I've rarely seen ND make a big time play late in the 4th quarter when the game is on the line. Robert Blanton's INT last Saturday was the first "play" I've seen our defense make late in the fourth quarter when we need one.

How about Harrison Smith's interception to win the USC game last year?

It would be so refreshing to see our defense come up with a sack late in the game, a big time hit for a fumble, or a beautiful pass deflection or INT.

It's a process; we're not there yet, but we will be. In fact, you'll start seeing that before this season is over.

 

[kmoose]

Watched the whole PC and can't help but think that Kelly handles the podium VERY well. He also shows a lot of excitement about how good this team can be. He has broken them down and now is working on building them back up. I expect him to be our guy for the next ten years and only hope we remember how hard it is to be consistently good and periodically great.

I truly believe we are closer to being good again than we have been since Lou. Real good, not flash in the pan, stars align just right stuff. Consistency in expectations and style will pay big dividends starting with constant improvement through the end of this year. I fully expect to be able to compete with anyone in the nation this year, starting with a whipping of Sparty this weekend and finishing with a great game vs. Stanford at year end. We won't win them all but they all will leave knowing they were in a battle.

We can't be great before we are consistently good. We will be consistently good by year end with flashes of brilliance. Then it will start to become a matter of reloading versus retooling.

I see what you're saying, and I don't necessarily disagree. But, I think next year is going to be a little too late, unless one of the receivers REALLY steps up and shows that they can be the engine that makes the offense run, ala Michael Floyd. I don't think you can overstate Michael Floyd's worth to this offense. We haven't seen him make many 50+ yard catches, but how many times have you seen him take a bubble screen or a 3 yard out, and turn 2nd and 8 or 9 into 3rd and 1 or 2? I haven't seen Riddick or Jones show the ability to be a "guaranteed" 5-10 yards, especially when you really need it. Hopefully one of them will develop into that, by the end of the year.