2017 End of Year Grades

[Irish YJ]

Since I did this for 2017 Midyear, here goes end of year. I left mid year grades and comments, and added new grade and EoY comments.



Overall Team: B / B+
=Brian Kelly - Head Football Coach: B+,
Midyear comment .... Given the staff turnover, giving him credit for keeping it together, and especially the new attitude the kids seem to be playing with. Definitely having more fun. Game prep definitely better.
EoY: So the end of the year game prep seemed to shit the bed a bit. Good close out with a bowl win. Glad BK had the nuts to make the change to Book before it was too late. Overall, thought BK did a fantastic job with an all new staff. They tanked two games, but going to increase him to a B+ for coming back and taking a major bowl, instead of totally collapsing.

Overall Offense: B / C+ EoY
=Chip Long - Offensive Coordinator: B+ / C
- TE: C+ / B. Better blocking this year, but less offensive production.
EoY WTF happened to TE U?
=Autry Denson - Running Backs: A+ / A+. Incredible job.
EoY - second half was not his fault. Blame it on Brandon and Tommy for making us single threaded.
=Harry Hiestand - Offensive Line: B / B+, a little inconsistent at times (passing game) which is surprising, but overall still good stuff.
EoY - two first found guys!
=Del Alexander - Wide Receivers: D+, D. Most disappointing aspect of the team to me. Still not a big fan of inserting the 5th year transfers immediately into the mix.
EoY - Could blame this on BW, but too many drops this year. ESB took a step back. Maybe he's allergic to ducks.
=Tom Rees - Quarterbacks: C+/ D, Thought BW would be more ready, more consistent, and more accurate. Love his athleticism, but he's going to have to improve passing skills or he's going to be hurt half the time. Not bad, but could be better IMO.
EoY - I thought I'd see a little improvement. NOPE.


Overall Defense: B+ / A-
=Mike Elko - Defensive Coordinator: A / A+. I was surprised with the quick improvement. Can he keep it up in the 2nd half???
EoY. Love it that they didn't play safe BS all bowl game. The second half had ups and downs, but I don't think Elko was the culprit for some of the bed shits.
=Mike Elston - Defensive Line (Asst HC): B+ / A, probably the area of most happiness for me. G
EoY - given the performance last year, helluva improvement.
=Todd Lyght - Defensive Backs Coach: C+ / B . I think they have improved, but still very concerned with consistency. Still inconsistent, but much happier than last year. Help is on the way. I will grade him harder next year when he gets Gilman back, and gets to F'ing studs.
=Clark Lea - Linebackers: B / B+. Was concerned early, but coming along nicely.
EoY - Coney's improvement and leadership was huge the second half. Will grade him harder next year, but I expect he will not skip a beat without Morgan.


=Brian Polian - Recruiting Coordinator: B+ / B+
- Special Teams Coordinator: B, Better on coverage. KO return has improved I think. Still would like to see more production in the punt return game.
EoY regressed a little on ST. Need to improve the return game. would have been a C+ if not for his recruiting.

=Matt Balis - Director of Football Performance: A / A, Better conditioning, and guys showing more swagger/confidence.
EoY - can't wait to see 2018 with another year under Balis.

=Bill Rees - Director of Scouting: A / B game readiness has improved a ton. Not sure if this is Rees, BK, or the new coordinators, but whatever it is it's improved.
EoY - Shit the bed vs Miami and Stanford.



=Most Improved Player or Players: Going with Tillery here. 4.5 TFLs and 3 Sacks. Definitely playing with a new attitude and level of focus.
EoY - Coney. Freaking Stud.

=Most regressed Player or Players: ESB. I think some of this can be attributed to BW, but not all. Going to need him big time in the second half of the year.
EoY - ESB and Mack - smh

=Offensive MVP: Josh Adams. I don't think anyone else is even close.
EoY - no change

=Defensive MVP: Drue Tranquill. 34 Ts, 4.5 TFLs, 1 Sack, 1 INT, 2 fumble recoveries. Out there having fun.
EoY - DT can split the award with Coney.

=Newcomer: Neon Deon. Gonna be special.
EoY - Boykin



Easy copy/paste for those that want to play....

Overall Team:
=Brian Kelly - Head Football Coach:
Overall Offense:
=Chip Long - Offensive Coordinator:
- TE:
=Autry Denson - Running Backs:
=Harry Hiestand - Offensive Line:
=Del Alexander - Wide Receivers:
=Tom Rees - Quarterbacks:
Overall Defense:
=Mike Elko - Defensive Coordinator:
=Mike Elston - Defensive Line (Asst HC):
=Todd Lyght - Defensive Backs Coach:
=Clark Lea - Linebackers:
=Brian Polian - Recruiting Coordinator:
- Special Teams Coordinator:
=Matt Balis - Director of Football Performance:
=Bill Rees - Director of Scouting:
=Most Improved Player or Players:
=Most Digressed Player or Players:
=Offensive MVP:
=Defensive MVP:
=Newcomer:

 

[irishtrooper]

Overall Team: A- Considering where we were to where we are... I am thrilled and it appears the arrow is pointing up. Once you consider the schedule/coaching changes/general bad feelings in light of an awful previous season... I gotta figure we had a great year. Beating SC by 5 TDs was my favorite!
=Brian Kelly - Head Football Coach: A- See above. He's the CEO after all. Don't love some of the missteps before the Miami game and during, but all things considered I think he bounced back huge
Overall Offense: B. Would be an A after mid season but the second half inconsistency was rough. Don't love slow developing run plays and passing game deficiencies. Loved the big plays in the beginning of the year.
=Chip Long - Offensive Coordinator: C- The run game seemed to get worse each game after mid year and it wasn't competition only. Can't believe with that line and all the skill, that we couldn't keep some momentum during games. Almost holding my breath at times with play calling in big moments.
- TE: B- I did like the blocking, but total disappointment in production in passing game. Only reason it's not lower is because (other than Mack) not too many opportunities. Gotta get back to being productive
=Autry Denson - Running Backs: A. When healthy Adams was beastly. Really like our back ups. Wish concurrently that Dexter would get more chances AND pass pro better.
=Harry Hiestand - Offensive Line:A+. Best line in the country. Great talent and productive. Even though we couldn't execute (for the most part) at QB position, we stayed competitive in all but one game. Two probable top 20 picks in NFL draft is really all that needs saying.
=Del Alexander - Wide Receivers: D. ESB was bad. Wish Boykin would've gotten more chances. This includes the disappointment of Stepherson being suspended multiple games. We also got essentially nothing out of our 2 grad xfers. Thought it was one of the strongest groups. Ended up as one of the weakest. Part of it though was likely the thrower and not always the receiver.
=Tom Rees - Quarterbacks: D. Loved the running but not being able to EVER complete a simple 5-7 yard pitch/catch defined the failure of this offense. We have the talent to compete for the playoff, yet being held back in my opinion by a QB that didn't execute (for this level) simple passes prevented us from being what we could have been. Actually got worse with additional reps. Hopefully it can be fixed with BW, but I'm not holding my breath. I'd love nothing more than for him to figure it out. Seems to have everything we need skill-wise and has dynamic playmaking ability.
Overall Defense: A. All things considered I feel they way outperformed the expectations. Turnovers fell off at the end of the year, but big plays were actually made this year. Talent is getting better and we seem to have turned a corner on defense. No longer do we have to outscore teams to win very often. Highlights were USC and MSU for me. Maybe GA too....
=Mike Elko - Defensive Coordinator: A+. Finally an attacking scheme and our guts are put in position to make plays. Once the talent coming begins to produce at the safety position, I think we are headed toward a good ole LSU/ Fla/Georgia type defense. Play with speed/swagger and considering the position they were put in A LOT in the second half by our O, they were great.
=Mike Elston - Defensive Line (Asst HC): A- They ended up being a strength rather than a weakness that everyone thought they may be. Tillery is finally reaching his potential. Got a lot out of the newbs and even some oldies (Trumbetti and J Hayes). Liked the actual QB pressures and did a decent job stopping the run.
=Todd Lyght - Defensive Backs Coach: B. Safety position = yuck. CB position= very good year. Really loved Love. Watkins was good most of the year. Crawford had his moments too. I do wish (other than Love) somehow our CBs would play the ball better.
=Clark Lea - Linebackers: A. Thought Martini was very solid. Loved Tranquil (assume we're counting him as an LB here). Coney was terrific. Morgan was better as a Jr. Good but didn't seem to improve.
=Brian Polian - Recruiting Coordinator:A. I love the recruiting, so in this respect = HR
- Special Teams Coordinator: B- Returns were horrific all season. Either a disaster or nothing. What the heck happened to Sanders!? Yoon was money and Newsome was very good mostly all year
=Matt Balis - Director of Football Performance: B. Love where it seems to be headed and we do seem stronger and faster. Some games we seemed to get a little worn down, but not as much as years past. Marked improvement and I like our future in this area.
=Bill Rees - Director of Scouting: B. We really were ready for most teams and our game plans were much better (other than Miami). I'd like to have seen how the Miami game plays out if we score at the beginning though.
=Most Improved Player or Players: Coney seems like the easy choice. Really liked Drue too. I would say over the course of this season it's Coney.
=Most Digressed Player or Players: BW got worse and worse. I think if you compare to last year ESB is a choice here too. Adams could be mentioned (although likely due to being hurt).
=Offensive MVP: Q. Nelson embarrassed almost everyone he blocked. I'm certainly biased, but for my money he is the best OL I've watched in CFB. Adams is worth a mention if you take entirety of the season production wise. One of the best running seasons in ND history. Shows how great he was in the first half when he's also mentioned in possible digressed player.
=Defensive MVP: Split with Coney/Drue. They were both sooooo good. Tillery and Love get special mention too as those 4 were the heart and soul of this much improved defense.
=Newcomer: Coach Elko is my favorite newcomer. If you want a player, I'd say Hainsey. Expected not to see him until at least next year (probably longer, if ever). He was pretty solid this year on a great line. I think he was fairly under appreciated and has a bright future.

 

[DONTH8]

I noticed both of you put safeties under Lyght, but isn't Elko the one in charge of them? Or am I wrong?