B
Bogtrotter07
Guest
First, the posters that were justifying things were doing just that. They were trying to make the facts fit their limited understanding of things.
Second, overall development of all players is the only wan ND (Kelly) will succeed. Kelly says it all the time, “Next man in.” He needs three players ready at every position. And these last two years have been the first time in his career he hasn’t had the horses ready at quarterback.
Third, one glaring weakness with Kelly, if you aren’t the right kind of guy, or your personality doesn’t mesh, you shouldn’t play for Kelly. It’s 100 percent or nothing. Jump in the cow **** when you’re told to or forget about it. It builds the kind of program that can elevate some lesser players.
Fourth, the great thing about the “lesser players” that Kelly, Martin, et al., are recruiting is that they all have speed. Much more so than Cinci, or Mt. Pleasant.
Fifth, there are guys like Matthias Farley that could be tapped for corner back or wide receiver, and remember John Goodman was granted a fifth year, weeks ago. I chuckle about how preposterous this sounded to so many experts!
I met Zack Banner this fall. I was immediately impressed by three things. He was a very athletic mountain of a man; he was a kind good person; and he was (I felt) incredibly immature. I mean he was skipping along singing to Gunner Kiel. I thought about it and asked myself, what I would do if that was my son. Nope, I would have had a serious talk with him. Don’t get me wrong, I immediately liked Zack, he just had an incredible immaturity about him that I think would have rendered him less than effective for ND. Kind of like Seantrel Henderson, only much nicer. The point is, the Shaq Thompsons, DGB’s, Keith Marshals, Arik Armsteads, Ronald Darbys, etc., are going to rarely come to Notre Dame. That is why we have to respect the Gunner Kiels that do, and that is why Kelly needs such a team of such specific personality types to succeed.
You can’t; don’t bother. That is why we will start our own gang. Seriously, Kelly tried to explain it to the fan base in his interview, and his analogy was wonderful. But you can’t explain something to someone who can’t see it. I can see it primarily because of the influence of my Senior Drill Instructor, Staff Sgt. Hall. He was one of the best men I ever met. An African-American who saw combat from Iwo Jima to three tours in Viet Nam, the man was a perfect study in quiet dignity. In his late 40’s or early 50’s during a time of racial divide, he would run backwards and circles around us youngsters when we were dying at the pace on a three mile run, all the while reminding us that we all bleed the same color in his Marine Corps, green. He also had us willing to walk through walls for the Corps. This is the exact mentality at play with the Kelly staff at Notre Dame, and why the coaching changes were fundamental to the future success of the program. (Mark my words; the coaching changes will have a HUGE effect on the success of the program.)
My mentor, his wife, and I had a conversation about Urbie. We think the reason that he didn’t come to coach at ND either before or after Weis, was the same reason that he jumped at the Ohio State job. Culture, it is all how tied your hands are. Urbie could not have met with the same kind of success at ND that he did at Fla or will at tOSU. Compared to what preceded him he could almost execute his underperforming athletes to open up more scholarships! And that is why the two ND coaches that flipped to work for him were both a godsend for him and for ND!
There is a reason we have always seen eye to eye PHG! What upset me is not the things that these fans say, but kick in the nuts these fans seem to think they are always taking, via ND ****ups. Why assume a highly paid professional staff is always making mistakes, let alone those that think they could do better!