The Blue Board

When I watch ND, they play soft. Their will is easily broken when they play tough teams. Especially at home, like there's added pressure not to screw up. Having Kelly doesn't help. That spread offense doesn't really suit ND football imo. They should build teams similar to Stanford, under center, heavy playaction, power run, and let your large O-Line and D-Lines go to work. The talent is there. ND kids still get drafted to the NFL and do quite well once there. They have been to cute on O with Weis and Kelly (Willingham's tenure was unremarkable). Other teams need to be afraid to play ND and I don't think there's a single team that is right now. Perception matters imo... My

Warning: This is going to be long.

I think it's the same thing that turned Michigan State from a powerhouse in the 50's and 60's into a program fighting for respectability: lack of coaching stability, albeit for a time much shorter than MSU's, and an administration who is not willing to allow a coach enough time to develop his players.

Seriously: ND has had 4 coaches from the start of the '97 season. That's 4 coaches in 15 years; on average, your coaches, on average, have not seen their first full recruiting class graduate. On top of that, your last 3 coaches have all had different schemes: Willingham tried to go West-Coast from the option, Weiss a down-field pro-style O, and Kelly runs a spread. FWIW, Willingham and Weiss ran 4-3's and Kelly a 3-4.

I don't care how good the players your getting are, kids that have to learn new schemes in the middle of their career are not going to reach their full college potential. You're going to be forced to swallow some bad seasons, as there's usually a dip when the last class of a failed predecessor, often reduced due to the attrition following a coaching change, along with that coach's first class (short recruiting time due to coaching hires being done usually between Nov. and Jan.) become your program's only upper classmen.

If ND wants to succeed, it needs to have a coach who isn't looking over his shoulder after his second year. Unfortunately, Notre Dame appears to have the expectation that it just needs the right coach, and it should instantly be a national title contender. That allows for little room for error, and gives the ND coach 0 room for error.

Case in point: This year has become almost a "must win big" year for Kelly; after a solid first year, including a bowl W, Notre Dame regressed last season. Quite frankly, the Irish should have been 10-2, as 5 TO games against both South Florida and Michigan would likely have gone the Irish's way if they committed just 1 less TO in each. I am not trying to rub salt in the wound

The practical effect of losing those 2 games is that Kelly has had identical records in his first 2 seasons (8-5). Now, 8-5 isn't terrible, but it's not nationally elite. I'd assume 2 "ok" years are fine at ND, providing that year 3 shows marked improvement. If those 2 games go the other way, Kelly likely has a BCS bowl bid in his pocket and some insurance for year 3. Why is that important? Well . . .

Notre Dame's '12 schedule is nothing short of brutal. Games @Oklahoma, @Michigan State, @USC are all top 10-15 match-ups on the road, plus the Irish host Michigan (top 10ish preseason), Stanford (top 25) and Miami(FL) (Possibly top 25). Notre Dame could go 7-5 next year and not be upset once. The Irish could well be a much better team in '12 than in '11, but with little improvement of their record.

As long as Notre Dame does not suffer a losing season, I think the Irish need to not only keep Brian Kelly, but make it clear that he is not on the hotseat. If he is fired, the Notre Dame rebuilding process is going to be set back another few years at least, as the next coach comes in. At some point ND needs to pick a guy and stick with him.

Stability is everything in college football, and Notre Dame is proof that even the most prestigious of college football powers need it.

+1 rocky, agree with all of it.

The one thing I will say about ND and Kelly..... either he negotiated this, or the powers that be started coming to the light... but Kelly seems to get the rules bent more than the past couple of coaches. If a kid needs the door held open for him to get past admissions, its done most times.... if a kid gets in trouble for something harmless, its taken care of by the football staff rather than the campus rent a judge.. etc...

Kelly does seem to be trying to change the culture but its a long term thing for sure, and I don't know if he'll be given enough time.

Intant replay > luck of the Irish

Sometimes a little of that is good...more often than not, it isn't.

My guys are brutal when things don't go well, they're all armchair coaches.

Just a theory, but...The kids that can get into ND generally have their ish together. They likely went to a good HS and had good coaching, probably from upper middle class homes. Essentially they are being evaluated and ranked as seniors in HS, and these guys are closer to finished products from other recruits from more downtrodden areas that still have a higher ceiling. The guys that are more athletic, but not polished after a couple of years of good coaching outperform the ND kids that were ranked higher when they were 18.

I just think it's the coaching. ND needs a Coach who knows ND, who loves ND and isn't an arrogant, I'm smarter than you coach who gets his hands dirty.

Kelly, just like Weis isn't the answer IMO. Too big of an ego, all about him not the kids and the program from what I've seen.

pretty sure it's great for college football when ND is bad. Its god getting them back for playing with kids.

The Catholics.

FIXED.

Check up and down ND's roster, they have a crap load of black kids from the south on their squad.

Not necessarily true. Notre Dame has just about the same number of current NFL players as Alabama does (according to the mothership) so they're just as a finished product as Alabama's would be. It's the culture of ND more than the talent.

Fixed it for you...

Assuming BK is gone after this year, who’s got the best shot at this job? Would Pete Carroll give it a look if the Seahawks decide to get rid of him after this season?