Program Turning Point

[EifertPower]

It's a cosmic confluence of factors that have brought us to the brink once again. I'll go back even further and say the turning point was the Bush Push game in '05. We win that game, we are playing Texas for a national title that year. Win or lose, I don't believe the recruiting momentum would've been much, if any, stronger, and our defensive flaws would continue to manifest as Charlie would no doubt have gotten a little more latitude and more time with a potential national title under his belt.

I would go one step further to say that Brady Quinn would have gone pro a year earlier, with Sharpley and 2 true freshmen battling for the starting QB spot in 2006. The offense would have floundered, and our offensive recruiting may have stalled out, with players like Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph perhaps taking their talents elsewhere.

So in reality, we all have that cheating bastard Reggie Bush to thank for our beloved Irish finally being rebuilt the right way, with the potential for a decade of dominance and beyond.

This is really a great post and more accurate than people realize. The Bush Push game was the best college football game i've ever seen and what people often fail to realize is that we had clearly stopped Leinert and there is no way he gets in without Bush's illegal push. If Bush hadn't pushed or had the refs called the illegal push, we win that game and there's really no question that we would have been #2 in the final BCS standings and played Texas in the National Championship.

It's amazing how legacies and seasons are defined by such small plays. If Pitt makes a chip shot fg on us this year our entire perception of the season changes. If had been successful in their Bush Push on 2nd and goal against us this year, i think they would have had a great chance to win.

Am i thrilled that Kelly is our coach? Yes, he clearly appears to be the right guy for the job. But unlike many of you, i have extremely fond memories of the Weis years and Weis teams even some of the bad ones. We were one illegal play away from being in this position 7 years ago. We brought in some great recruits year after year. And rarely (except for USC games and Michigan in '06) did we not go down without fighting.

 

[ickythump1225]

This is really a great post and more accurate than people realize. The Bush Push game was the best college football game i've ever seen and what people often fail to realize is that we had clearly stopped Leinert and there is no way he gets in without Bush's illegal push. If Bush hadn't pushed or had the refs called the illegal push, we win that game and there's really no question that we would have been #2 in the final BCS standings and played Texas in the National Championship.

It's amazing how legacies and seasons are defined by such small plays. If Pitt makes a chip shot fg on us this year our entire perception of the season changes. If had been successful in their Bush Push on 2nd and goal against us this year, i think they would have had a great chance to win.

Am i thrilled that Kelly is our coach? Yes, he clearly appears to be the right guy for the job. But unlike many of you, i have extremely fond memories of the Weis years and Weis teams even some of the bad ones. We were one illegal play away from being in this position 7 years ago. We brought in some great recruits year after year. And rarely (except for USC games and Michigan in '06) did we not go down without fighting.

I won't disagree but we'd keep fighting losing efforts. Now our team battles and our will>> than the other team's will. Teams in the Weis era would find ways to lose, now we always find a way to win. We were pretty much this year's version of USC every year: great quarterback, a deadly pair of WR's, and a shoddy defense.

Don't get me wrong I have some great memories from the Weis era but we were a frustrating team to watch. A lot of mental mistakes and shooting ourselves in the foot.

 

[EifertPower]

I won't disagree but we'd keep fighting losing efforts. Now our team battles and our will>> than the other team's will. Teams in the Weis era would find ways to lose, now we always find a way to win. We were pretty much this year's version of USC every year: great quarterback, a deadly pair of WR's, and a shoddy defense.

Don't get me wrong I have some great memories from the Weis era but we were a frustrating team to watch. A lot of mental mistakes and shooting ourselves in the foot.

I agree completely with you, but until this season Kelly's teams were the same way. The Michigan loss last year...the Florida State loss last year...the South Florida loss last year...the USC loss last year....and the Mich State, Michigan, and Tulsa losses the year before. Some of the were just downright absurd and creative ways to try and lose football games.

You may say that's because those were Weis' guys that Kelly was trying to change the culture for...and you may be right, but i dont think that's entirely fair either.

 

[phork]

The turning point came when someone realized that running the ball and stopping the run will win you a lot of games. Kelly's offense has taken a back seat to hard nosed, run stopping defense.

 

[Irishman77]

To me it was nd admitting they made a mistake and paid Weiss Millions to leave and hire the best head coach in the country.

Kelly has :
1. Developed the players he inherited and changed the way they practice and play
2. Along with staff recruited a TEAM of players
3. Changed the old and dusty atmosphere.

I could go on and on but the point is Kelly is the finest coach in the country and isn't even close!

 

[shalom]

I'll go back further. Charlie Weis's effort into recruiting top tier players was the start of Notre Dame's resurgence. I also could argue that getting Manti Teo was a pivotal point. Everything Kelly has been doing since he got here with team building and conditioning as well.

No Weis gets credit for what he did: recruiting some good players and not doing much with them.

It's no hyperbole to say that Kelly had to "re recruit" Te'o and before him Floyd for their senior campaigns. Weis recruited Te'o but it's an open question whether under Weis Manti would have come back. If he'd gone to USC, Manti would likely be in the NFL right now. You can say that Weis recruited the first 3 years of Te'o and Kelly recruited Te'o for his 4th. So.. maybe give 3/4 of the recruiting credit to Weis and 95% of the developmental/football credit to Kelly and his staff?

It's about salesmanship, coaching, development, buy-in and finally mechanical usage, BK has done a lot with his players. He does actually not have elite talent, compared to the other teams in the BCS top 5 and this honestly is a 8-4 or so team looking at the talent. There have been 2 stars aligning for this magical run, named Brian Kelly and Manti Te'o. Between Golson and Rees who do most coaches start? Even this board was howling about Golson. Montana withdrew his son in disgust lol. Against some conventional wisdom, Kelly has made the right choices in terms of personnel, MOTIVATION and coaching on the field.

Also the idea that some keep saying about Kelly being on the hot seat this or that is simply projecting what FANS wanted, who are fickle, and have no institutional responsibilities to the program. As an AD you don't just take 2 year waivers on coaches when you're trying to build something. That doesn't even make sense. Swarbrick clearly was committed to Kelly for at least 4 seasons and nothing the first 2 years nudged that at all to the negative.

As for "turn arounds" ND actually had a comparable team last year. Less experience up front on D but a much better offense with Floyd and (at least as a practice QB) Dayne Crist. The first 2 years what destroyed ND were inconsistency and mental weakness: they'd drive to the 5 yard line then turn it over. Then the entire team would collapse.