What grade would you give BK thus far.

[DCirishfan]

I would like to know your opinion. I obviously was all for him and still really like him. But from a objective standpoint after this last game I feel that he has not nearly done as well as I thought he would. I give him a B for turning his first season around. This year he gets a generous C-. Overall I give him a C thus far. I think that the Stanford game is so pivotal. If we look outmatched and out-coached in that game I fear this regime will be short lived, I say that with zero pleasure. Teams that have many turnovers typically are not coached well.

I still really like BK but honestly he is not doing a great job, not a terrible job, but not a a great job. Our margin of error to keep a decent recruiting class and to progress as a program just got extremely narrow. Kelly needs to take advantage of this opportunity that he has and he needs to do it quickly.

There is little question that as long as UM is a free agent that BK has limited security. If right now JS was alerted that UM was interested in coming to ND he would pull the trigger right away. I think that scenario is a long shot but it is not impossible to imagine.

 

[ShamrockOnHelmet]

I don't know about all that....


But, I would give him a C. The results on the field are not better than previous regimes. The recruiting is significantly better, along with other off-field improvements on his watch. That brings his grade up a full letter.

 

[RyCo1983]

There is little question that as long as UM is a free agent that BK has limited security. If right now JS was alerted that UM was interested in coming to ND he would pull the trigger right away. I think that scenario is a long shot but it is not impossible to imagine.

If this day ever comes I will put aside my Irish fandom until he is no longer the coach.

Kelly isn't going anywhere though.



As for BK's grade...B to B- area for on the field production.
Recruiting is an A+ to A though.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

A-/B+ and pointed in the right direction.

 

[IrishLax]

Recruiting: A
Representation of the University: A-
On-Field Results: C+

Overall: B+

Will be interesting to see how he closes out this seasons and wraps up this recruiting class. No matter what he needs to be given 5 years. 2013 is the first year where the schedule sets up well AND he will have mostly his recruits. 2014 will be the first year of all his recruits.

 

[CanadalovesND]

C+

He has some great things in recruiting, but still hasnt amassed the team (O and D) many would have thought.

 

[phork]

A-/B+ and pointed in the right direction.

Not sure I share your sentiment there bro. I give him a B- closer to a C, and plateaued.

 

[pkt77242]

Incomplete. Realisticly you can't give a letter grade after 1.5 years unless the completely suck or alreadly got you to a BCS bowl (but even then some coaches flamre out afterwards). A coach needs 3-4 years to truly have a grasp of how they are doing, as far as recruiting, coaching up the players, etc.

 

[JoeyGetherall]

I would like to know your opinion. I obviously was all for him and still really like him. But from a objective standpoint after this last game I feel that he has not nearly done as well as I thought he would. I give him a B for turning his first season around. This year he gets a generous C-. Overall I give him a C thus far. I think that the Stanford game is so pivotal. If we look outmatched and out-coached in that game I fear this regime will be short lived, I say that with zero pleasure. Teams that have many turnovers typically are not coached well.

I still really like BK but honestly he is not doing a great job, not a terrible job, but not a a great job. Our margin of error to keep a decent recruiting class and to progress as a program just got extremely narrow. Kelly needs to take advantage of this opportunity that he has and he needs to do it quickly.

There is little question that as long as UM is a free agent that BK has limited security. If right now JS was alerted that UM was interested in coming to ND he would pull the trigger right away. I think that scenario is a long shot but it is not impossible to imagine.

I disagree that turnovers are a sign of bad coaching. What may be the case though is that these current players do not have to skill set to run this offense. Should BK instead try to tailor is offense to their skill set? I think he has done that as much has he can and yet the players are making dumb errors after dumb errors. We knew what kind of offense we were getting with BK. So far these players have yet to show they can perform at a consistent high level. It just takes time. When they are clicking and playing with confidence they're are fun to watch. But when they're not... well you've seen it. I've watched a lot of football and I haven't seen anything quite like what this team has gone through.

With all that said. I give him a B. Love what he is doing with recriuting and all the off the field improvements. Now at some point the results on the field need to be consistent. I am confident they will be.

 

[IrishLax]

Turnovers are a sign of players lacking poise. Everyone needs to remember that players make plays. Not coaches. How do you coach someone to not let a snap go through their legs? Or let the ball slip out of their hand on a throw? Literally nothing to do with coaching and everything to do with players individually coming up short.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Not sure I share your sentiment there bro. I give him a B- closer to a C, and plateaued.

I can understand that and that's fine.

My thing is, I can take physical mistakes, but no way in hell are mental mistakes acceptable. Are the physical things killing us right now? Without a doubt... Mental mistakes? Outside of a few personal fouls which were downright idiotic, no. This team is developing...obviously not at a level we'd all like to this point, but if you compare this team to where we were 3 years ago, they are so much further along than they were. Kelly's doing the right things... He'll use the balance of this season to continue to beat those values into the kid's heads and bring that winning mentality back to the University. just one guy's opinion...

 

[GBdomer]

B+. Rome wasn't built over night.

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Turnovers are a sign of players lacking poise. Everyone needs to remember that players make plays. Not coaches. How do you coach someone to not let a snap go through their legs? Or let the ball slip out of their hand on a throw? Literally nothing to do with coaching and everything to do with players individually coming up short.

Exactly.... See my post above.

 

[GreatGolson]

B-, to me he hasnt won any major games. He beat down USC team without Barkley, an overrated Utah team coming off a loss. MSU was a good win, but not the signature win the program needs. Recruiting has been amazing thus far so i have faith. Also, 3 was long ago the magic year for ND coaches (Rockne, Ara, and Holtz all won NCs in their 3rd year)

 

[Legacy93]

Solid B, I think I would up it to a B+ depending on how the rest of the year shakes out on the field/recruiting. Remember Kelly is building this program back up from the ashes. There are going to be growing pains. No one goes from where we were when Weis(hell of an alliteration) left to a BCS lock and keeps that up. Weis led us to a BCS bowl in years 1 and 2 then tanked. I can see changes in progress game by game.
We don't win every game, and I don't expect to.
--Positives I've seen:
No longer playing down to the level of weaker teams
Recruiting
High-octane offense when we don't turn the ball over
--Negatives:
Haven't learned how to play big on the big stage
Losing focus occasionally (1st quarter SC/ 4th UM)
--Problems that I'd expect to see fixed with time:
More athletic D (we still don't have the speed we need---getting there but not just yet)
A qb to fit the system-- only a matter of time (we all see what Hendrix can do)
Continued improvement along both D-line and O-line (O-line is good so keeping up their good work)

Patience is hard when we all love ND and want to see ND win and win BIG. Recruits sense what we all hope is occurring... that ND football is RETURNING to prominence. We aren't there and may not be back next year. However, we are on the road there.

 

[Buster Bluth]

B+

Maybe an A- since the unforced turnovers really aren't his fault at all. It's a lack of poise, simple as that.

This program will be in great shape soon enough. Clearly, it's taken longer than we all would have liked, and knowing how good this team could be is truly frustrating.

You must recognize that this offense is being run with a quarterback who is nowhere close to what Kelly needs. He's really only scratched the surface in that department.

 

[tadman95]

I can't grade him with a letter (that's 7th grade here and only 6 are required so, you know...) but here's what I think.

I think our cupboards were maybe a little more bare than we thought they were to compete on a BCS level. Kelly is certainly working to improve that but one year didn't fix it. We still need players.

This ain't Cincinnati and he has to make adjustments to a higher level. I have absolutely no doubt he's doing that.

AS fans we get too hyped and look for every little twitch to proclaim our return, that's what fans do. This is going to take a little longer than I thought. Kelly can coach. He's our man.

 

[Irish4Life09]

I think at the minimum he deserves a B+, but I give him an A.
Look at the facts:
2 wins over Top15 teams in 2 seasons
Ended the streak against USC(is also only 2nd ND coach to beat USC 1st season besides Holtz.)
Bowl win in first season
Installed a completely brand new identity into our program.
Top notch recruiting...

I mean, I could go on and on guys. So he isn't undefeated.So what? This is exactly why people across the country laugh at us. We have these lofty expectations that we should win 11 games every season, including after the debacle the Weis left us in. Give me a break.
WE ARE REBUILDING!!! There is no denying that,and if you don't believe it you're kidding yourself.
You have to give the guy some time. Even though Kelly said it was a 5 minute turnaround and not 5 years,you know what he really meant.We as a fanbase have to change our way of thinking.Let the man do his thing.If you really look at him objectively you will see what he has been instituting.

 

[Rhode Irish]

A-

Lots of embarrassing overreaction going on. Last night made me physically ill. It also only effected my opinion of BK and the direction of the football program by a fraction of a percent, if that.

Last night sucked. Big picture, we'll be fine.

 

[pkt77242]

A-

Lots of embarrassing overreaction going on. Last night made me physically ill. It also only effected my opinion of BK and the direction of the football program by a fraction of a percent, if that.

Last night sucked. Big picture, we'll be fine.

Notre Dame fans overreact?

 

[Old Man Mike]

A-. Good Coach; good recruiter; good systems; good person; good loyalty to the guys [tough love artist]; very high standards; understands what Notre Dame is all about; good motivator [to pick up the pieces and get back at it]; good face-of-the-program.

The "minus" has nothing to do with the losses [the major seven or eight reasons for them anyway]. Those losses are not on Coach. He's doing what he can with what he's got. Imagine the guts of the man to go with an untried rookie QB whom no one respects in front of the whole world watching. Respect the guts of the man to put a player who crushed the team with a fumble back into a major RB role. Give some credit to the man who keeps trying to find solutions to things like punt returns, and is therefore forced to gamble with inexperienced personnel there [which in Riddick's case was disastrous]. He tries a rookie at the impossibly tough outside linebacker position [Niklas], even though the odds are REAL low that he's ready. He gives Hendrix his chance and NOT in dud time. He's working HARD to get us to where we can be. I LOVE it.

Nope, my "minus" isn't for all the slack-brained things that people try to criticize Coach for, not taking any of the complexities that he's dealing with into consideration [and any claims to REALLY understand all those complexities are just bullsh!t]. My "minus" is because I think that he trusts the guys a little too much to run the plays properly. He seems to get an inspiration/hunch during the games, which from the past should work, but our guys aren't ready to consistently produce with yet. He really wants to stretch Tommy and Cierre and Theo and even Mike to unfold the whole devastatingly unstoppable system, but they can't do it with some % of the calls. He's a playcalling "enthusiast". He looks like a gambler. If the guys will run it right, he won't look like one. But if they screw it up .... Minus.

 

[Riddickulous]

Making Necessary Changes to the Program: A+
Recruiting: A+
Talent Development: B+
Gameplanning: C+
In-Game Coaching: C+

 

[DillonHall]

B-, to me he hasnt won any major games. He beat down USC team without Barkley, an overrated Utah team coming off a loss. MSU was a good win, but not the signature win the program needs. Recruiting has been amazing thus far so i have faith. Also, 3 was long ago the magic year for ND coaches (Rockne, Ara, and Holtz all won NCs in their 3rd year)

Let me ask: Has Kelly coached a game at ND that would have even been considered a 'signature win' had we won?

 

[DomerInHappyValley]

I'll give him a B.
His game planning and play calling has been suspect this year on more than 1 occasion,

 

[Buster Bluth]

Making Necessary Changes to the Program: A+
Recruiting: A+
Talent Development: B+
Gameplanning: C+
In-Game Coaching: C+

Care to elaborate?

 

[MacadamianNut]

Well you can't blame him for lack of player execution, like turnovers that have killed us this season. But I was surprised that he basically said "F*** it" last night at the end of the game by not even using a timeout. It would have been an extreme longshot, but crazier things have happened and we were only down 14. A lot of people around me in the stands were complaining about it, but also a lot of them were saying "What's the point?" so I dunno.

 

[Riddickulous]

Care to elaborate?

Sure.

Gameplanning: We had a horrid gameplan against Navy last year. With two weeks to prepare, we came out completely flat and unprepared to play our archrival last night.

In-Game Coaching: Kelly is prone to making bone-headed decisions. Spurning a field goal vs. Tulsa, opting to go for the endzone instead of booting a field goal vs. Michigan last year, continually running up the middle on third and short without success and no play-action vs. Michigan this year.

Last night wasn't so much an indicator of Kelly's failure as it was a reality check. This program is in a deeper hole than we could ever have imagined. We're slowly but surely crawling our way out of it.

 

[IrishinSyria]

A-. Good Coach; good recruiter; good systems; good person; good loyalty to the guys [tough love artist]; very high standards; understands what Notre Dame is all about; good motivator [to pick up the pieces and get back at it]; good face-of-

Didn't see much loyalty to Crist. Good motivator- we're 0 and 3 when losing at half this year. And really, what here couldn't have been said about Charlie? Good recruiter, great scheme when the players executed, went to bat for his players and was an excellent representative of the university. For better or worse, coaches at ND are judged against an impossible standard. So far Kelly has not produced a consistently excellent team. Definitely reasons to be hopeful though, so I'd give him a B.

 

[koonja]

I'm not going to grade him as a whole, but I do think he's the right guy for the job. That being said, for this season alone I give him a C-. 4-3 with this team? Come on.

 

[Honey Nut Irish]

Offense: C
Defense: B
Special Teams: D+
Coaching: D
Recruiting: A

Overall: C-

Some bright spots, especially the defensive recruits he has brought in. If he can continue to recruit well he will stand a chance. ND still looks soft. I understand he may not have his ideal players yet, but that is no excuse for some of the efforts we have seen so far this year.