RECON Daddy
Non ducor, duco
- Messages
- 215
- Reaction score
- 43
I thought this was an excellent opinion about the current state of the program.
The Class of 2005: Their Legacy And Their Turmoil
FOOTBALL
COMMENTARY
Jim DeLuca
Edited By Mark Allen
Fighting Irish Central
January 5, 2005
There are thirty-two seniors on the current Irish roster. These young men were recruited by Bob Davie and coached by him and his staff for a year. They have endured three years with the Willingham staff. Fortunately, for some, they may return for a fifth year. For those unfortunate souls that have put on the Irish uniform for the last time, this is for you.
Notre Dame has seen bad times before. Previous senior classes have had to work under two or three different coaching staffs. A look back in time shows us this is not a rare occurrence at Notre Dame. Going back to the senior class of 1956, a class has had to work with two different coaching staffs, nine times. Once, the class of 1965 had to work for three different staffs. Three times - 1966, 1977, and 1988 have those classes won or shared a National title. Including this season, four of those classes finished with records of .500 or less. What will the class of 2008's record be?
In the years before 1964 and the hire of Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame Head coaches came from within the current coaching staff. Brennan and Devore were on the previous head coaches’ staff. They had been around Notre Dame Football and Notre Dame itself for a good amount of time. They understood all that Notre Dame is and tried to live up to its high standards. Kuharich was a player for Layden and coached the freshman team. He left to go to professional football before returning as Head Coach.
Non-Notre Dame men, Parseghian and Devine even kept some of the coaches from the previous staffs on their staff. This concept of keeping previous coaches on the staff helps both the new coaches and the players. I am sure these men that Ara and Dan kept, helped them understand ND more than they already did and also provided the players with a familiar face during the early stages of the transition.
Whether your predecessor was successful or not, you will be compared to him. The hold-over coach is an easy target during bad times. They will be questioned on how the previous coach would handle the situation. To have a hold-over assistant, a head coach must have confidence in himself and his plan.
What makes this class different is that, in its' case, these coaching staffs did not believe in Notre Dame, its values, mystic and traditions. The downward spiral started when Bob Davie began assembling his staff - or should I say, disassembling the Lou Holtz staff. The people Bob brought in had no respect for Notre Dame and viewed it has just another job. Some of Lou’s coaches went on to other opportunities, but, from Joe Moore to Earle Mosley, some just weren’t retained. This was going to be Bob’s team and he wanted no one looking over his shoulders and comparing his plan to Lou’s.
You can really sum up Bob’s staff’s in the hiring of his two offensive - and I mean, offensive - coordinators. Jim Coletto came in as our offensive coordinator after being fired as the head coach of Purdue and did nothing, except provide Purdue with insults that were turned into motivation to beat us. Kevin Rogers preceded him and did nothing, except bad mouth us at every chance he gets. At least Bob did guide his assistants in that one aspect. The rest of his staff just came and went and left no impression at all. I can not think of one of his assistants that I miss or have gone on to fame and fortune somewhere else. I don’t count Urban Meyer because he came in under Lou and obviously he does not love Notre Dame the way he - or, shall we say - his contract states!
Next came the Willingham years. He had 3 assistant with big time college or pro experience. Bob Simmons was an assistant at Colorado and a head coach at Oklahoma State. Mattison was defensive coordinator at Michigan. Walters was an NFL position coach. No one, outside of Mattison, had a previous connection to Notre Dame, and his came via Bob Davie. Did any of these guys, or Ty’s other assistants, care about Notre Dame, other than to collect a pay check and get some national media attention the few times they did something right? They just did not get it, and in the past year, their comments and their product, proved it. The deeper meaning of their consistent remark about players' execution translates into "I am not to blame; My system is perfect and they don’t get it". Never has a coach at Notre Dame - or anywhere for that matter - laid sole blame for failures at the feet of players. Players, mind you, that are college student athletes at the best college in America.
Though the class of 2005 has had to endure a disastrous run, they can rest assured - the fans will remember their successes and take pity on them for what they went through. From our look back at the history of senior classes that had to deal with a coaching change, we can pretty much get a glimpse of the future. The future looks bright; we are going to need some shades!!!
The Class of 2005: Their Legacy And Their Turmoil
FOOTBALL
COMMENTARY
Jim DeLuca
Edited By Mark Allen
Fighting Irish Central
January 5, 2005
There are thirty-two seniors on the current Irish roster. These young men were recruited by Bob Davie and coached by him and his staff for a year. They have endured three years with the Willingham staff. Fortunately, for some, they may return for a fifth year. For those unfortunate souls that have put on the Irish uniform for the last time, this is for you.
Notre Dame has seen bad times before. Previous senior classes have had to work under two or three different coaching staffs. A look back in time shows us this is not a rare occurrence at Notre Dame. Going back to the senior class of 1956, a class has had to work with two different coaching staffs, nine times. Once, the class of 1965 had to work for three different staffs. Three times - 1966, 1977, and 1988 have those classes won or shared a National title. Including this season, four of those classes finished with records of .500 or less. What will the class of 2008's record be?
In the years before 1964 and the hire of Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame Head coaches came from within the current coaching staff. Brennan and Devore were on the previous head coaches’ staff. They had been around Notre Dame Football and Notre Dame itself for a good amount of time. They understood all that Notre Dame is and tried to live up to its high standards. Kuharich was a player for Layden and coached the freshman team. He left to go to professional football before returning as Head Coach.
Non-Notre Dame men, Parseghian and Devine even kept some of the coaches from the previous staffs on their staff. This concept of keeping previous coaches on the staff helps both the new coaches and the players. I am sure these men that Ara and Dan kept, helped them understand ND more than they already did and also provided the players with a familiar face during the early stages of the transition.
Whether your predecessor was successful or not, you will be compared to him. The hold-over coach is an easy target during bad times. They will be questioned on how the previous coach would handle the situation. To have a hold-over assistant, a head coach must have confidence in himself and his plan.
What makes this class different is that, in its' case, these coaching staffs did not believe in Notre Dame, its values, mystic and traditions. The downward spiral started when Bob Davie began assembling his staff - or should I say, disassembling the Lou Holtz staff. The people Bob brought in had no respect for Notre Dame and viewed it has just another job. Some of Lou’s coaches went on to other opportunities, but, from Joe Moore to Earle Mosley, some just weren’t retained. This was going to be Bob’s team and he wanted no one looking over his shoulders and comparing his plan to Lou’s.
You can really sum up Bob’s staff’s in the hiring of his two offensive - and I mean, offensive - coordinators. Jim Coletto came in as our offensive coordinator after being fired as the head coach of Purdue and did nothing, except provide Purdue with insults that were turned into motivation to beat us. Kevin Rogers preceded him and did nothing, except bad mouth us at every chance he gets. At least Bob did guide his assistants in that one aspect. The rest of his staff just came and went and left no impression at all. I can not think of one of his assistants that I miss or have gone on to fame and fortune somewhere else. I don’t count Urban Meyer because he came in under Lou and obviously he does not love Notre Dame the way he - or, shall we say - his contract states!
Next came the Willingham years. He had 3 assistant with big time college or pro experience. Bob Simmons was an assistant at Colorado and a head coach at Oklahoma State. Mattison was defensive coordinator at Michigan. Walters was an NFL position coach. No one, outside of Mattison, had a previous connection to Notre Dame, and his came via Bob Davie. Did any of these guys, or Ty’s other assistants, care about Notre Dame, other than to collect a pay check and get some national media attention the few times they did something right? They just did not get it, and in the past year, their comments and their product, proved it. The deeper meaning of their consistent remark about players' execution translates into "I am not to blame; My system is perfect and they don’t get it". Never has a coach at Notre Dame - or anywhere for that matter - laid sole blame for failures at the feet of players. Players, mind you, that are college student athletes at the best college in America.
Though the class of 2005 has had to endure a disastrous run, they can rest assured - the fans will remember their successes and take pity on them for what they went through. From our look back at the history of senior classes that had to deal with a coaching change, we can pretty much get a glimpse of the future. The future looks bright; we are going to need some shades!!!