irishog.. can you expand on why this is such a huge year for ND football? not putting you on blast, just want to know what you mean by that..
do you mean Kelly has to find the right QB for the future? Do you mean we put the future on hold for a little bit and go with Rees and we have to win 9 or 10 games? Is winning more important than finding the guy for the future? Do you think winning say 10 games is the difference between last year's pre-NSD class staying elite as apposed to kind of crumbling?
my take, I don't see a huge difference between 8 and 10 wins.. I feel like Golson or Kiel can get us 8 wins, and I don't think Rees is worth 3+ wins more than them.. maybe someone could shed some light on what a difference a couple wins means, but CW was pullin in some decent classes that were around the same as last year's class and he was winning like 6 games.. what's your take?
A one word answer to all of those-- yes! Lol
I think this is the year we may finally see if Kelly really is the right man for the job. I think it's okay logically to point out new system, growing pains, tragedies, and simply bad luck when trying to ultimately explain that Kelly is 16-10 in 2 years as ND HC, but there comes a point when they cease to be genuine reasons and simply start becoming excuses. I don't think there's any magical number of games the team has to win this year, but improvement must be shown. I think most rational fans can agree that the program is in better shape today than when Kelly took over, but it's tough to keep arguing, "Hey, I've improved __, ___, and ___, but yeah, the results on the field are basically the same.
I think we'll see this year if Kelly really is a "system" coach, or a guy that finds a way each week to win a game.
What will happen if we see Rees as the QB this year, but the same offense, more or less, and the same results? It won't be pretty. But, what if we see Rees as the QB, the same offense (more or less) and the W's start piling up? That would be interesting, to say the least.
If ND goes 8-5, how is the recruiting class going to look come February of '13? Probably not great. If ND goes 11-2, how will the recruiting class look? Hopefully pretty damn special. If not, then why the hell not?
Kelly got rid of a couple coaches this offseason that, now, word is weren't buying into Kelly (1 of those coaches was every bit a "Kelly guy," he'd been with him before and they coached together before), and replaced them with guys that seemingly have and will continue to buy in as "Kelly guys." Will this change the results on the field though?
What will be the staff and administrations response to losing guys like Lynch and Shepard (for sure) and even some of the other almosts (Darby, Greenberry, Armstead(s), Schutt)? I don't mean that that the staff, AD, and/or administration has to call a press conference and respond to each instance. I mean, even behind closed doors, what will be their plan to limit this from happening again or to help insure that they can keep these guys onboard? Also, are any more guys leaving the program this year??? Yikes!
How will Kelly address the small recruiting class from this year and some of the overload at certain positions in certain cycles?
How is the development of the QB's (not just the starter-- all of them) going? After 3 offseasons and 3 seasons at the helm, guys need to be improving significantly. If they aren't, then does Kelly and/or Molnar or Martin really need to be coaching them?
Where do Floyd, Smith, and any others go in the draft this year? Even more, what type of rookie years do they have? And going further, what will the draft stock of next year's ND guys look like? After 3 years, are Kelly and the program truly helping guys and coaching them up to get into the league?
I obviously don't know the answer to all of these, but I think we'll have a pretty clear view after this season. And I think (THINK) Kelly can get this stuff done, but we shall see.
