8-4

[BeauBenken]

Apparently we can't have hope around here anymore because there are closet USC and Michigan fans on this site who believe that we should not be thinking positive thoughts and we should all just curl up in a ball and suck on our thumbs. I for one completely agree with you and wish all the negativity would go over to the NDNation forum where they belong!!!!!

I'm sorry, but could you please stop posting in bold?

 

[4irishnation]

-1

 

[Domer4ever]

I know if you aren't blowing cotten candy out your behind on this board about how improved this team is under Kelly you will be called "delusional," "unrealistic," etc by others on this board who think they know more then everybody else.....but let's get real! 8-4 with this team and this schedule is not good enough especially considering how those 4 games were lost this year. Everybody and their mothers know this team should have been 10-2 minimum this season and they just flat out blew it and choked. That is the reality, so how anybody can be satisfied with this season's result is beyond me. This season was lined up perfectly for Notre Dame to make huge strides with Floyd coming back, a solid defense returning, Kelly's system in place for another season, and the schedule lining up favorably. I think they had a chance to make major strides in returning the program to national relevence and making a killing in recruiting coming off a big season. I dont know how that shakes out at this point.

Everybody knows that building a program is a process, and while they have improved in some areas the overall result is much the same as it has been for the last decade with Notre Dame falling short of expectations. It is especially unsatisfying when Brady f'n Hoke takes the skunkbears to the BCS in his first season on the job.

Nobody can break your heart like Notre Dame.

 

[IrishinSyria]

I know if you aren't blowing cotten candy out your behind on this board about how improved this team is under Kelly you will be called "delusional," "unrealistic," etc by others on this board who think they know more then everybody else.....but let's get real! 8-4 with this team and this schedule is not good enough especially considering how those 4 games were lost this year. Everybody and their mothers know this team should have been 10-2 minimum this season and they just flat out blew it and choked. That is the reality, so how anybody can be satisfied with this season's result is beyond me. This season was lined up perfectly for Notre Dame to make huge strides with Floyd coming back, a solid defense returning, Kelly's system in place for another season, and the schedule lining up favorably. I think they had a chance to make major strides in returning the program to national relevence and making a killing in recruiting coming off a big season. I dont know how that shakes out at this point.

Everybody knows that building a program is a process, and while they have improved in some areas the overall result is much the same as it has been for the last decade with Notre Dame falling short of expectations. It is especially unsatisfying when Brady f'n Hoke takes the skunkbears to the BCS in his first season on the job.

Nobody can break your heart like Notre Dame.

I certainly don't know that. I figure Stanford and USC were about 80% and 60% loss games (i.e. we play Stanford 10 times I think we win 2).

Michigan and Michigan State were about 50/50 games.

The rest of the schedule favored the Irish.

Even if a team has a 90% chance to beat every team on their schedule, it's incredibly tough to go undefeated. Part of football is luck. The Irish are building. It's slow, it's painful, it's frustrating. They should have beat Michigan this year. But they're getting better. Next year, hopefully there's only one team favored against us (Oklahoma). Still expect a few losses on 50/50 games, but it would be progress.

 

[Grahambo]

Look at who has been hired since Lou left:

Bob Davie: A career defensive coordinator who was good at that. Had Texas A&M as the #1 rated defense in '91. Davie was the first assistant to become a head coach at Notre Dame since 1954, when Terry Brennan replaced Frank Leahy.

George O'Leary: Enough said

Ty Willingham: Became head coach without ever being an coordinator. Average at Stanford with a 44-36-1 record. Nothing stood out about him.

Charlie Weis: NFL coach for many years who tried bringing an offensive NFL mentality to the college ranks. Terrible defensive recruiter. Was the #2 choice behind Urban Meyer. Florida had a terrible offense this year with him as the OC.

 

[Grahambo]

I know if you aren't blowing cotten candy out your behind on this board about how improved this team is under Kelly you will be called "delusional," "unrealistic," etc by others on this board who think they know more then everybody else.....but let's get real! 8-4 with this team and this schedule is not good enough especially considering how those 4 games were lost this year. Everybody and their mothers know this team should have been 10-2 minimum this season and they just flat out blew it and choked. That is the reality, so how anybody can be satisfied with this season's result is beyond me. This season was lined up perfectly for Notre Dame to make huge strides with Floyd coming back, a solid defense returning, Kelly's system in place for another season, and the schedule lining up favorably. I think they had a chance to make major strides in returning the program to national relevence and making a killing in recruiting coming off a big season. I dont know how that shakes out at this point.

Everybody knows that building a program is a process, and while they have improved in some areas the overall result is much the same as it has been for the last decade with Notre Dame falling short of expectations. It is especially unsatisfying when Brady f'n Hoke takes the skunkbears to the BCS in his first season on the job.

Nobody can break your heart like Notre Dame.

Charlie Weis did the same thing with ND his first two years and look how that turned out.

 

[Domer4ever]

Charlie Weis did the same thing with ND his first two years and look how that turned out.

True, but he is killing it in recruiting because the team has returned to national relevance. You have to wonder if Notre Dame wins a couple of those games they lost and rewaching a major bowl game if you have more kids considering the Irish instead of wondering if it's just going to be the same ol' Irish?

 

[Grahambo]

True, but he is killing it in recruiting because the team has returned to national relevance. You have to wonder if Notre Dame wins a couple of those games they lost and rewaching a major bowl game if you have more kids considering the Irish instead of wondering if it's just going to be the same ol' Irish?

In the end though, whose fault is it really that ND couldn't kill it in recruiting defensively? Weis was just not good at it. He was too proud and would turn the other when a kid said no. Would Lynch, Tuitt, or Ishaq be here if Weis is coaching? Subjective answer but you know what I'm getting at. If he put in the effort and didn't give up on recruits, maybe things are different.

Hoke is going out and recruiting hard. Keep in mind that Michigan has been more relevant then ND the past 10-15 years as well.

 

[Domer4ever]

In the end though, whose fault is it really that ND couldn't kill it in recruiting defensively? Weis was just not good at it. He was too proud and would turn the other when a kid said no. Would Lynch, Tuitt, or Ishaq be here if Weis is coaching? Subjective answer but you know what I'm getting at. If he put in the effort and didn't give up on recruits, maybe things are different.

Hoke is going out and recruiting hard. Keep in mind that Michigan has been more relevant then ND the past 10-15 years as well.

I agree on Weis and I like what Kelly was able to do last year in recruiting. I thought they had a chance to really make some noise with a strong season this year, but they blew it and that is the point. I think a lot was riding on this season and they didn't take that next step forward like what was expected by many including the coach himself. Next year looks to be more difficult and who is to say after that, but at some point they need to stop shooting themselves in the foot and winning some of these games they are not supposed to. Until then, as much as I hate to say it...... it's the same old Irish.

 

[Jozodog1201]

I agree on Weis and I like what Kelly was able to do last year in recruiting. I thought they had a chance to really make some noise with a strong season this year, but they blew it and that is the point. I think a lot was riding on this season and they didn't take that next step forward like what was expected by many including the coach himself. Next year looks to be more difficult and who is to say after that, but at some point they need to stop shooting themselves in the foot and winning some of these games they are not supposed to. Until then, as much as I hate to say it...... it's the same old Irish.

Wow. Finally somebody said it. Couldn't agree with you more. Those 50-50 games that IrishSyria is talking about... Winners find a way. And lets not forget the nail biters against Pitt and Boston College. This is a good ND team with a weak schedule who just flat out underachieved. 2 losses would have been a good season, 3 losses expected, 4 a bust. Next year is a tougher schedule with key players going to the NFL.

 

[irish4ever]

My take is that the Irish legitimately SHOULD HAVE been 10-2 (pizzed away the USF and scUM games). The losses to U$C and Stanford were atrocious and obviously shows that the Irish have a way to go to consistently play with the "major teams". I have a sense Kelly and his staff will take the Irish to that level, but I do believe they are a couple years away. Hopefully next yr. their record will improve to 9-3 and decent bowl game (realsitic I believe). That rcord including a win over scUM, I'd be content!

 

[Ndaccountant]

When will people realize that being a truly elite team comes from having an elite QB, elite athleticism, or an elite defense. Occasionally, a team has all three.

Right now, ND doesn have any of the three. IMO, QB and defense can hide so many problems. You really think UM is a 10 win team with Gardner instead of Denard? We can argue all we want about if Dayne is/was better than Tommy, but in the end it doesn't matter b/c neither are elite. Our defense is improving, but not at a point where it can carry us to a win in a big game when the offense is stalling. Plus, the team has some great players but still lacks athleticism at some key positions.

With that said, if Clausen of Quinn was leading this team, we would be 11-1. The QB play killed this team and the bust of Dayne really hurt the program (no matter who is at fault for it).

But, the D is getting better with each recruiting cycle and Hendrix looks to be a better QB option for the team.

Kelly is building a program that will field a complete team across the board. Winning 8 games is frustrating because it could have been more, but people need to realize that ND has been crumbling from within for many years.

 

[goldandblue]

Here is my take on the Irish this season.

1. Brian Kelly is doing a good job as the HC. He needs to make some key personnel changes this year. Specifically on special teams.

2. His recruiting has been positive. I think with a bowl win we finish this recruiting cycle in the top 12. Gunner Kiel will help that quite a bit.

3. Brian Kelly is not responsible for all 26 turnovers the irish have given up this year. You are taught at the ripe age of 10 years old in Pop Warner to not put the football on the ground... The Irish are tied for 116 out of 120 possible spots in turnover margin.
The record of the other teams from spots 101 to 120 are as follows: Imagine what Brian Kelly could have done if his boys would have held on to the damn football...

101. Illinois - 6-6
102. Minnesota - 3-9
103. Ole Miss - 2-10
104. Oregon St. 3-9
105. Texas A&M - 6-6
106. UTEP - 5-7
107. Army - 3-8
108. FLA Atlantic - 1-10
109. Akron - 1-11
110. Duke - 3-9
111. New Mexico - 1-10
112. Troy - 3-8
113. Utah State - 6-5
114. Florida - 6-6
115. Central Michigan - 3-9
116. Bowling Green -5-7
117. Fresno St. - 4-8
118. Notre Dame - 8-4
119. East Carolina - 5-7
120. SMU - 7-5



4. Dayne Crist has been mediocre at best his career here at ND. I think Kelly under pressure to win as many games as possible had no choice but to put someone in that could produce more. Tommy Rees did accomplish that most of the time. But ultimately his lack of physical tools surfaced.

5. Jonas Gray injury cost us for the Stanford game and potentially cost Rees. If Gray is in and we are productive on the ground, that is less pressure on Rees and it shakes up the Cardinal defense allowing for more opportunities in the pass game.

6. Key losses on the defensive line hurt us this year. Stephon Tuitt, Ethan Johnson

7. We are currently ranked 33rd in total defense. This is up quite a bit from past years.

8. We need Manti and Eifert to come back next year.

9. Everyone wants to blame someone... Brian Kelly seems to be the "catch all" alot of times. We are all getting impatient I know I am...

10. Kelly has done some questionable **** his first two years here. But I do think that he has this program moving in the right direction by placing a solid foundation under it.

 

[AlbuquerqueIrishFan]

Our struggles are centered around the quarterback. Hendrix could be the answer. In the past, it was defense, linemen and depth. We've fixed that. Just need that quality qb.

 

[koonja]

Our struggles are centered around the quarterback. Hendrix could be the answer. In the past, it was defense, linemen and depth. We've fixed that. Just need that quality qb.

.

 

[phork]

Here is my take on the Irish this season.

3. Brian Kelly is not responsible for all 26 turnovers the irish have given up this year. You are taught at the ripe age of 10 years old in Pop Warner to not put the football on the ground... The Irish are tied for 116 out of 120 possible spots in turnover margin.
The record of the other teams from spots 101 to 120 are as follows: Imagine what Brian Kelly could have done if his boys would have held on to the damn football...

The problem here is that penalties and turnovers are the result of discipline issues.. 2 false starts to start the Stanford game?

5. Jonas Gray injury cost us for the Stanford game and potentially cost Rees. If Gray is in and we are productive on the ground, that is less pressure on Rees and it shakes up the Cardinal defense allowing for more opportunities in the pass game.

I disagree with you here. Their defense was killing us. Gray in or out would not have meant anything.

6. Key losses on the defensive line hurt us this year. Stephon Tuitt, Ethan Johnson

I thought the line performed admirably, the secondary destroyed this defense.

7. We are currently ranked 33rd in total defense. This is up quite a bit from past years.

Michigan jumped from 104 to 16th with defensive personel that were the historically worst in UM history. I use UM as the example because they are a rival and they also recently went through a coaching/regime change. So what happened?

10. Kelly has done some questionable **** his first two years here. But I do think that he has this program moving in the right direction by placing a solid foundation under it.

 

[gspjeb]

I am optimistic. For the first time in a long time I felt optimistic for national relevance at the beginning of this season....that is the difference for me...the changes that have been made with this team actually make me feel like they can win again. I havent felt that in a while. Kelly is getting the pieces in place and will win with the Irish. If you can't see the difference and the balance we are building here then you must not watch college football enough....it takes time. Auburn was not relevant until they were relevant. Believe and enjoy the ride.....its college football and we are fans of the Irish....can't ask for more

 

[tonyroberts4life]

^ This is very well said!!!

Agreed! I see improvement. BK will win with his own set of players. Give the program time to run it's course.

 

[Patulski]

I think Kelly can walk into living rooms and tell players that they'll play next year. He can point to Lynch, Tuitt, Nicklas, Hounschell, Geroge Atkison III and say "not only will you play, but we'll win with you playing right away. And when you get older, we'll win it all.". This, along with all the other benefits of ND, is a very strong selling point.

 

[phork]

Auburn was not relevant until they were relevant.

Understatement of the year !