Strangely Comforting Joe Schad Tweet

[phork]

Joe Schad ‏ @schadjoe

ND coach Brian Kelly: "I feel really good because for the first time I can say, 'This is my team.'"
Retweeted by Irish Illustrated

I don't know why I feel like there will be rainbows tomorrow and everything will be all right. Someone slap me around for God's sake.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Isn't that your job?

 

[TerryTate]

I don't know why I feel like there will be rainbows tomorrow and everything will be all right. Someone slap me around for God's sake.

Nope, now we will have a relapse of the "my guys" episode of the soap opera

 

[BeauBenken]

Wow, Phork feels good about the team...

That's gotta mean something.

And you're right. That quote really, really means something. Brian feels like now he has a completely dedicated team. They're dedicated to him, to each other, and to winning. You can't ask for much more and this means you can't kick out Brian anytime soon.

 

[NDFan4Life]

phork was abducted by aliens. This has to be the extraterrestrial clone that they made. Think "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

In all seriousness, it's great to hear Kelly's quote. It sounds like things are falling into place.

 

[RyCo1983]

Man am I glad that they are all in. I am ready for September...
I can't watch the game today...so I gotta catch the highlights on the web tomorrow evening.

 

[stlnd01]

They're dedicated to him, to each other, and to winning. You can't ask for much more and this means you can't kick out Brian anytime soon.

Well, let's hope so. Because if that dedication doesn't translate into more wins at some point, methinks we'll have to wait through another two-plus years of becoming the next guy's team.

 

[OCIrish]

I don't know why I feel like there will be rainbows tomorrow and everything will be all right. Someone slap me around for God's sake.

:starwars:

 

[JD Irish]

I think it's a good quote and is very positive for the upcoming year, but man, isn't that a real slap in the face to the players who've graduated in the last two years? I'd hate to be, say, Mike Floyd / Harrison Smith / Robert Blanton / Jonas Gray, who played their hearts out for ND, and read that quote.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Nope, now we will have a relapse of the "my guys" episode of the soap opera

Yep.

Cwynar already retweeted it and said "interesting."

 

[clashmore_mike]

Ruffer retweeted Hamilton's tweet about it. Perfect to have him weighing in.

 

[notredomer23]

so phork, you now think we win 7 instead of 6?

 

[PANDFAN]

I just don't understand after the backlash last year to say something similar...its not like he wasn't the coach last year...

 

[BobD]

So the coach says "This is my team", declaring that ALL of these guys are HIS guys, and that's a bad thing? Are we really gonna try to spin it that way?

Lets enjoy this beautiful day we've been given and the Blue & Gold game!! GO IRISH!!

 

[anarin]

Of course everyone reads into it way too much.

 

[PANDFAN]

Of course everyone reads into it way too much.

Yep and his former players are talking about it...so obviously it rubs some people the wrong.way

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

So the coach says "This is my team", declaring that ALL of these guys are HIS guys, and that's a bad thing? Are we really gonna try to spin it that way?

Lets enjoy this beautiful day we've been given and the Blue & Gold game!! GO IRISH!!

We aren't the ones spinning it.

 

[Domina Nostra]

This was by far the most annoying part of last year. Its amazing to me that people are interested in bringing it back up.

As people have said, he is calling a bunch of Weis guys his guys too.

Plus, I could probably find 20 quotes of Kelly praising Ruffer and Sean, not to mention Floyd, Smith, Blanton,and Gray, so I think people should lighten up.

And what about the fact that the coaches told Sean they wanted him back but he decided to stop playing football, he of all people should be a little more discrete chiming in.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

I honestly think Kelly was trying to say is that he is comfortable with the team, and this team will be a closer reflection to what he is striving for. Like someone who moved into a house, it takes time to make the house a home on a personal level. Kinda harmless.

Having said that, I wonder why you would say it (the way he said it) to a reporter. Whether on the football field or outside of the field, we seem determined to make it harder on ourselves. Coaches and players.

 

[IrishLax]

What shocks me is how individual players take such umbridge to blanket statements. I read this statement as having everything to with "fits" (i.e. players recruited specifically to play a position in his offense or defense) and absolutely nothing to do with the work/attitude/performance of former players.

For instance, for the first time Kelly has a player with correct DOG linebacker characteristics who might be ready to play some snaps. He has two guys ready to play snaps at CAT. He has the OL and running game getting to the point he wants. Instead of having basically zero QBs ready to play winning football at the start of last year, he has at least two guys trending towards what he wants to see at that position.

The list of examples goes on and on. Why anyone, like Cwynar or Ruffer (both guys Kelly tabbed as starters), would be perturbed by such an innocuous and open-for-interpretation statement is beyond me.

 

[BGIF]

What shocks me is how individual players take such umbridge to blanket statements. I read this statement as having everything to with "fits" (i.e. players recruited specifically to play a position in his offense or defense) and absolutely nothing to do with the work/attitude/performance of former players.

For instance, for the first time Kelly has a player with correct DOG linebacker characteristics who might be ready to play some snaps. He has two guys ready to play snaps at CAT. He has the OL and running game getting to the point he wants. Instead of having basically zero QBs ready to play winning football at the start of last year, he has at least two guys trending towards what he wants to see at that position.

The list of examples goes on and on. Why anyone, like Cwynar or Ruffer (both guys Kelly tabbed as starters), would be perturbed by such an innocuous and open-for-interpretation statement is beyond me.

^

It can be taken several ways, especially out of context. I read it as you did. The chef finally has the correct combination of ingredients in the appropriate amounts for his signature soup. The symphony may have had 74 virtuoso violinists but had an acute shortage of percussionists which would limit the group's playlist. Now he has the right distribution of resources, they're all using the same sheet music, and performing at the maestro's tempo.

Now the maestro needs to make beautiful music and not urinate in the soup.

 

[OCIrish]

^

It can be taken several ways, especially out of context. I read it as you did. The chef finally has the correct combination of ingredients in the appropriate amounts for his signature soup. The symphony may have had 74 virtuoso violinists but had an acute shortage of percussionists which would limit the group's playlist. Now he has the right distribution of resources, they're all using the same sheet music, and performing at the maestro's tempo.

Now the maestro needs to make beautiful music and not urininate in the soup.

I couldn't agree more with you about this statement.....

 

[Rhode Irish]

People are too sensitive.

 

[Old Man Mike]

The Maestro still needs the "concert master" in the first violinist seat. If he finds THAT guy, THEN he will make beautiful music.

 

[Grahambo]

Maybe if some of those former players worried more about winning, they wouldn't be so butt hurt. Syracuse, Navy, UCONN, 1 win vs USC in the last whatever years, USF..I'll stop there. Im glad that sense of entitlement garbage is gone.

 

[Zwidmanio]

I agree with those that have stated that people are looking way too much into this quote.

Earlier I was thinking about the general subject and remembering how in Kelly's first year he was talking about how he was trying to get the team to practice the way he wanted. The second year, he was talking about how the team was practicing better but he was trying to get the team to completely buy into and get to know the system they were running (this is all really loose paraphrasing so if somebody wants to tighten up the language help me out).

This year, I don't recall hearing anything about having to learn how to practice or getting the system down. It seems that the team, for the most part, knows how to do things Kelly's way and now they're working on fundamentals and tuning up their technique within the system. Thus, the team is now "his team." Not a big deal.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

I honestly think he means that the team is playing well together, they trust Kelly and the coaching staff, and they are practicing the way a Kelly coached team should. I don't think he means that he has mostly his guys now and so the team is his team and not Weis' team anymore. I mean, he still has a ton of guys recruited by Weis that are starters or at least will play a lot. He has Wood, Riddick, Manti, KLM, Cave, I believe Zach Martin, Goodman, Slaughter, etc. All of those guys are an integral part of this team and were all recruited by Weis but we all know Kelly considers them his guys every bit as much as the ones he recruited. Even Nix was recruited by Weis. This statement has nothing to do with who recruited who but about how the team prepares to go to work everyday.

 

[Irish#1]

Wow, Phork feels good about the team...

That's gotta mean something.

And you're right. That quote really, really means something. Brian feels like now he has a completely dedicated team. They're dedicated to him, to each other, and to winning. You can't ask for much more and this means you can't kick out Brian anytime soon.

Not that he would give any, but it also means "no excuses".

 

[NDBoiler]

Not that he would give any, but it also means "no excuses".

This is the key interpretation of this comment IMO. If BK is confident enough to make this statement, I am guessing he is confident enough in the team that they will make some good positive strides in the fall. Otherwise, he just unloaded a 12-gauge on his own foot. I trust that he is smart enough to understand that though.