Sporting News top 25

[Irish Man3]

IM3: yep. But it has also been a long time since we had a comparable coaching situation to Coach Kelly in his second year with guys who actually know the systems [and Diaco and Longo...and etc etc etc].

Agreed again my older, wiser friend. I leave you with this however, how many "saviors" have stepped into this coaching position and failed miserably? I have a feeling about BK that I have not had with others, but to the nation it's just more ND dreaming.

 

[ACamp1900]

OMM I never looked at it as though a certain ranking says they'll beat anyone ranked lower as means to assume where the ranking body thinks each team will finish record wise... just were each team fits as a unit for unit team... tons of other factors come into play in regards to where each team will finish. But,... interesting way to look at it.

 

[Old Man Mike]

ACamp: you're correct that the rankings aren't constructed that way, but it's interesting to me that it's probably then true that if we went to one of these guys and asked him for an opinion as to whether "X" or "Y" would win a game, he'd go with his rankings, all things otherwise being equal.

I view "ranking" as a poor crystal ball, but if organization after organization keeps thinking that we're better somehow than everyone on our schedule than one or two, well maybe we can hope that they're right, and that a great coaching staff can produce the necessary consistency of effort and execution.

 

[ACamp1900]

sure, but I would say who you play and when would play into picking games right now... for instance if you ask one of these 'experts' about MSU/ND the fact that we play MSU after UM would be mentioned and may very well be the reason he says "Ill take MSU in that one..."

 

[eNDzone]

Agreed again my older, wiser friend. I leave you with this however, how many "saviors" have stepped into this coaching position and failed miserably? I have a feeling about BK that I have not had with others, but to the nation it's just more ND dreaming.

I am past the feeling stage with this staff. They started the show in the Utah game last year.

Green KoolAid by the gallon.

 

[ACamp1900]

I had moments of "this is it" with each of the last three coaches... BK makes it four in a row... I believe tghe same way I believed during year one under Ty, or going into year two of CW... and so on... I feel good about where the program is... but I'm gonna have to see more than four good games before I set myself up again... time will tell.

 

[Old Man Mike]

You're correct again. That's why i said all things elsewise equal, and emphasized the necessity for a staff to get the same high level energy and consistency for every game. Since both those variables are difficult to control, you're going to get upset once in a while; but you'll also upset someone else now and then too.

A means of better ensuring that "form holds" is to have your team in better condition than the other guys. That is a stable non-variable. Kelly/Longo try to ensure that one. The second thing is to have your guys smarter than the other guys --- we MIGHT have an edge on most opponents there. A third thing is to have your guys always BELIEVE that they're winners; I trust Kelly in out-psyching almost anybody. He seems a preternatural motivator.

Coach tries every conceivable angle to stabilize consistent systemic advantages [he's not talking only about X's and O's when he says this], as well as pile up enough of the other potential advantages that the weight of variables turns our way gradually as the game wears on. I have every possibility of being wrong about some of these things, but this Coach is a freak talent in my intuition from a nearly uncountable number of different things I've seen and heard.

 

[ACamp1900]

You're correct again. That's why i said all things elsewise equal, and emphasized the necessity for a staff to get the same high level energy and consistency for every game. Since both those variables are difficult to control, you're going to get upset once in a while; but you'll also upset someone else now and then too.

A means of better ensuring that "form holds" is to have your team in better condition than the other guys. That is a stable non-variable. Kelly/Longo try to ensure that one. The second thing is to have your guys smarter than the other guys --- we MIGHT have an edge on most opponents there. A third thing is to have your guys always BELIEVE that they're winners; I trust Kelly in out-psyching almost anybody. He seems a preternatural motivator.

Coach tries every conceivable angle to stabilize consistent systemic advantages [he's not talking only about X's and O's when he says this], as well as pile up enough of the other potential advantages that the weight of variables turns our way gradually as the game wears on. I have every possibility of being wrong about some of these things, but this Coach is a freak talent in my intuition from a nearly uncountable number of different things I've seen and heard.

yep, matchups on general also... meaning some otherwise inferior teams are just matchup headaches for otherwise better teams...

anyway, again, time shall tell