Tony Alford

[nlroma1o]

Fuk em. He just made a deal with the devil. I hope he has zero success while at OSU. That program is just as bad as your Bamas and flo rida states...

 

[china423]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Sources tell Irish Illustrated that long-time Brian Kelly OC/OL coach Jeff Quinn to join the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NDFB?src=hash">#NDFB</a> staff as QB coach. Others title not known</p>— Tim Prister (@timprister) <a href="https://twitter.com/timprister/status/564097749457850368">February 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[nlroma1o]

People can talk about Tony just being a mediocre coach but when the best Head Coach in college football needed a RB coach he went right after Alford. That says a lot.

Best of luck to him, I thought he did a great job here. Hope the next guy is even better.

Yeah sorry but Saban has been proving for the last 8 years that he is the best coach in college football. Urban got lucky this year.

 

[yankeeND]

I understand the sentiment, but it has been preached repeatedly. ND has got to start paying these guys more. Mike Frank shouts this to the moon on Power Hour quite frequently and I agree with him 100 percent. Alford probably also wants to move up the food chain in regards to career progression. I don't have a problem with him doing something that he feels is a better way to achieve that. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that is for him to decide. Best of luck Tony, hopefully ND gets an opportunity to prove you wrong, but I have no ill will towards your decision, and I appreciate all you have done for ND!

 

[Chi_IRISH]

Yeah sorry but Saban has been proving for the last 8 years that he is the best coach in college football. Urban got lucky this year.

And besides, coaching aside Tony is one hell of a recruiter!

 

[Grahambo]

Step away from the ledge. Let the offseason play out and allow BK the time to make the necessary changes. Maybe, just maybe BK does not want to pony up for Tony. Maybe, just maybe BK has a plan for his staff.

Lest we forget, you can win a title without Alford as the RB coach. Calm it down people. As for Alford, he can focus solely on coaching football and not have to worry about academics. Good on him.

And for the OSU thing, let it go, him and Urban go back to Alford's Colorado State days.

 

[Corry]

Yeah sorry but Saban has been proving for the last 8 years that he is the best coach in college football. Urban got lucky this year.

Urban has 3 championships. He takes a back seat to no one.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Alford was like an employee at Carmax (ethical dealership, no BS) who was so good at his job, he was able to sell many cars despite the obvious handicaps he faced compared to salesmen at dealerships.

He is now moving to the sleaziest dealership in the land. The kind that will let him say and do whatever he wants, as long as he meets his "sales quota," which he will more than certainly do.

Good luck to TA, although he won't need it. He is good at his job, and without handcuffs, he will become the best at it.

 

[NDRock]

Yeah sorry but Saban has been proving for the last 8 years that he is the best coach in college football. Urban got lucky this year.

Between Utah, UF and OSU, Urban must be the "luckiest" SOB ever.

 

[Hammer Of The Gods]

I think this has more to do with the coaching staff than it does ND. Alford is essentially going to be coaching with several former ND coaches at OSU. We don't run the ball as much or effectively enough to showcase his "coaching" ability in my opinion. Urban showed he likes to run the ball and Elliot is a machine. Alford will look like a genius and in a couple of years he'll get his shot as a OC or HC.

On the surface this seems lateral. But it isn't. Ezekiel Elliot gets to run the ball and run the ball and run the ball some more. Here he has to get bitched at because Greg Bryant doesnt pass block well enough.

I hate OSU. But they win. It's a no brainier in my opinion.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Urban has 3 championships. He takes a back seat to no one.

They are, without a doubt, the two best coaches in the game. And there's a huge gap between the next tier of coaches.

 

[Cali_domer]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Sources tell Irish Illustrated that long-time Brian Kelly OC/OL coach Jeff Quinn to join the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NDFB?src=hash">#NDFB</a> staff as QB coach. Others title not known</p>— Tim Prister (@timprister) <a href="https://twitter.com/timprister/status/564097749457850368">February 7, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Meyer hits home runs we put down a bunt.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Meyer hits home runs we put down a bunt.

I thought Quinn was supposed to be a savior...

 

[Chi_IRISH]

I dont have a side either way. But if someone says Denbrock isnt a good recruiter then what makes Alford a good recruiter?

Alford has pulled some big names, but at the sametime he has pulled 3 kids in two years. Corey Holmes, Tevon Coney and Dexter Williams. Good pulls, but there also isnt a lot of numbers.

Alford is good at recruiting, dont get me wrong. It would be a loss to have him go to osu, but I think a lot of the fanbase is overreacting. Assistant coaches and running back coaches are out there. It would be nice for Alford to stay to have stability.

However, I wont think less of Alford as a man if he does go to osu and you all know that I do not like the osu program. Its similar to LeBron leaving Cleveland. Right now, osu is a better job and he would have a chance to improve his resume. Both BK and Urban have a great coaching tree, but at ND Alford hasnt been getting promotions for OC jobs at ND or elsewhere, and he might benefit from another teacher to bolster his weaknesses. LeBron benefited from learning from Pat Riley, Eric Spolstera and D-wade bc they had experience in Championship basketball and gave him different perspective on the game.

Its always a risk to change jobs and sometimes you have to take one you dont like to get where you want to go. I dont know there Alford ideally sees himself in the college football world, but he probably doesnt want to be a running back/recruiting coordinator for the rest of his coaching career.

He also has the chance to leverage ND a bit. By his name coming up, if ND wants to keep him, then they could sweeten the pot. I think as fans of ND, we sometimes lose focus on the career/business aspect of football. He isnt doing any of his recruits dirty if he leaves. The job came open after signing day.

Go Irish.

All great points, but is there a bigger issue here? Out of all the posters you seem most tuned in with the program! On the surface not a big deal, but when you are losing coaches that are seeming taking lateral jobs, it raises some eyebrows.

 

[NDohio]

Meyer hits home runs we put down a bunt.

What!?!

I take Quinn ten times out of ten over Alford.

 

[NDRock]

What!?!

I take Quinn ten times out of ten over Alford.

Honest question, why?

 

[Cali_domer]

What!?!

I take Quinn ten times out of ten over Alford.

What has Quinn done to make you say this beside now be an ND employee?

What big program experience does he have?

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

What!?!

I take Quinn ten times out of ten over Alford.

It's good to know we are split on this issue. Is Quinn a 1/10th the recruiter of Alford? If not, is he at least 10x better at coaching than Alford? If not, how does it compare favorably for us?

 

[Chi_IRISH]

Any chance Quinn is calling plays next year? Or is BK hiring him for his eventual departure so Quinn could be the head coach of whatever bowl game they go to

 

[PerthDomer]

He was the OC at Cincy when Kelly made his run. He actually did really well at Buffalo but got canned mideast by an idiotic admin that got greedy. He was OC when every qb at Cincy got hurt if you remember. He's an upgrade to Lafleur but it remains to be seen how or if we replace Alford.

 

[IrishLax]

Seriously though, I get people rationalizing, but the optics of this are terrible. I'll be very surprised if this upcoming recruiting class measures up to the last three given how hard it's going to get recruiting in our backyard coupled with the loss of longstanding relationships in Florida and Texas. People saying Alford "only recruited Florida" as if that somehow mitigates the loss of the most universally loves and respected coach on the staff... who also organized all recruiting efforts.

 

[NDohio]

It's two-fold for me.

1. His experience with BK. I was in Cinci when they were together and their working relationship was fantastic. BK's offense is better when JQ is around.

2. He has a lot more, higher level experience. He has been an offensive coordinator and a head coach. He had great success as a coordinator. Not a lot of success as a HC but he was able to get the job(and it was Buffalo).

Don't any of you find it odd that TA has never risen above the level of RB coach? And we never hear of him interviewing for OC jobs.

 

[Classic Irish]

So Alford is gone and it's time to move on. Who are possible replacements for Alford? Someone mentioned Autry Denson earlier. Anyone have any thoughts on other possibilities?

 

[nlroma1o]

Urban has 3 championships. He takes a back seat to no one.

Ask 100 competent CFB fans to choose between Saban and Urban, and Im more than willinn to say Saban win that poll.

 

[nlroma1o]

Between Utah, UF and OSU, Urban must be the "luckiest" SOB ever.

OSU barely even made it into the playoff. One could say they were "lucky" to even make it into the playoff.

 

[TheChosen1]

@PeteSampson_: Just spoke with Tony Alford. He will be the next running back coach and assistant head coach at Ohio State.

 

[IrishLax]

Urban gave him promotion to assistant head coach. That's why he left. Well, one of the reasons. You can't expect someone with aspirations to sit still in a job where he's being paid less and not given the upward mobility he desires.

 

[BeauBenken]

I'm not sure I agree with NDOhio's 10 out of 10 figures, but let's talk about why Quinn would be a good hire.

He has over 20 years of coordinating experience. He has head coaching experience. He has worked closely with Kelly for about 20 years. He is credited with helping coordinate Kelly's most successful offenses. He has a strong Midwest base which would be good for recruiting the area, allowing us to send other recruiters elsewhere.

It would be a more than solid hire.

 

[arahop]

Step away from the ledge. Let the offseason play out and allow BK the time to make the necessary changes. Maybe, just maybe BK does not want to pony up for Tony. Maybe, just maybe BK has a plan for his staff.

Lest we forget, you can win a title without Alford as the RB coach. Calm it down people. As for Alford, he can focus solely on coaching football and not have to worry about academics. Good on him.

And for the OSU thing, let it go, him and Urban go back to Alford's Colorado State days.[/Qa

BK isn't in charge of "ponying" up for Alford or any of the assistants. Secondly. Notre Dame doesn't pay their football assistants as much as The Bama's, O$U, etc. Notre Dame blue hairs are THE absolute main problem for the success of the football program. Count me in the honest minority who wish Urban would have a choose us back in the day. He saw a sinking ship and has won 3 titles. Would he have won at Notre Dame? No IMO. the University is it's own biggest enemy

 

[irishknight35]

Seriously though, I get people rationalizing, but the optics of this are terrible. I'll be very surprised if this upcoming recruiting class measures up to the last three given how hard it's going to get recruiting in our backyard coupled with the loss of longstanding relationships in Florida and Texas. People saying Alford "only recruited Florida" as if that somehow mitigates the loss of the most universally loves and respected coach on the staff... who also organized all recruiting efforts.

Without a doubt this. He was the recruiting coordinator for a reason and covered one of the most highly competitive states for recruiting in Florida for a reason. He covered his area and coordinated the efforts of the staff to make the classes that ND got. Who does his job as recruiting coordinator now? Who thinks they will get the universal love that Alford got from ND players, commits, and even non-commits who adored the guy. Recruiting will take a hit. Coaching might be a different story but you got to get the talent to school in the first place.