Ready to Drink the Kool-Aid?

I am almost ready to drink the Brian Kelly Kool-Aid.  When Lou Holtz left and Bob Davie took over, you kind of knew that excitement was off the table.  Having Davie as your head coach was fine if you wanted to be content, but Irish fans want a frenzy.  Davie was a defensive minded coach with a sound football pedigree, but no head coaching experience.  Ty Willingham was closer to what I was looking for in terms of confidence, experience and attitude.  Willingham also had more offensive experience and had been a college head coach at Stanford.  I would have liked to have seen Ty stick around a little longer, but the powers that be wanted a faster return to glory.

Charlie Weiss came in and we were all hypnotized by his four Super Bowl Rings.  We figured he would turn the Irish into the New England Patriots and thought that if it weren’t for Weiss, Tom Brady would just be another quarterback.  When it came to offensive genius, Charlie was considered the gold standard, which was music to the ears of Notre Dame fans and alumni.  We thought having Charlie walk into recruits’ homes flashing Super Bowl rings players would result in immediate commitments. After finishing his first season at 5-2, the University drank the Kool-Aid, locking in Weiss with a new 10 year deal supposedly worth upwards of 40 million dollars.  That made me a little nervous, and what did not sit right with me is when I had the opportunity to meet Weiss at a golf event sponsored by Xerox, and he came across as cocky, not confident.  Looking back at the Weiss era, I think his biggest shortcoming is that he is not a head coach (he never was, even his high school coaching days)…he was and still is a great offensive coordinator.

From Grand Valley State to Central Michigan and into Cincinnati, I feel that Kelly has refined his ability to be a top level, top notch head coach.  Kelly, an Irish Catholic himself, seems to be much more personable than Weiss and while the Irish Nation loved Weiss, I don’t think it was a two way street.  Kelly is loved and he seems to love the fans back.  Each week Brain Kelly does pre- and post-game press conferences where I thought he was genuine, informative and honest, whereas Weiss was like a robot.

It’s not only the winning record, the big win over USC or the beating the Irish gave Miami in the Sun Bowl - it’s how he did it.  It was not an easy year and could have been worse.  After beating Purdue, the Irish suffered a close loss to Michigan, then Kelly was upstaged by Michigan State with an overtime fake field goal.   After the first 5 games, the Irish were 2-3, but Kelly rallied the troops to improve to 4-3.  With all that going on, Kelly’s team lost to Navy, had Declan Sullivan (a student assistant) die while operating a camera during a practice, and had his starting quarterback go out with a season ending injury.  Again, he rallied the team, mentored a freshman quarterback and won out the regular season, including a much needed win over USC and a bowl game win against the rival Miami Hurricanes.

I have enjoyed seeing how or more so who he is recruiting.  His recruiting matches his coaching…get players who belong on a football field in South Bend and put them where they need to be to win.  Kelly’s character wasn’t shown by what happened in his first season but how he responded to what happened. 

What’s in a number?

Last year’s preseason AP Poll had Alabama ranked one and Auburn ranked 22^nd.  At the end of the year,  Auburn was undefeated and ranked number one with a National Championship while Alabama was ranked 10^th with three loses.   The story was similar in the USA Today Coaches Poll, with Alabama receiving a preseason number one ranking and Auburn ranked 22^nd.  When it was all over, Alabama was down to 11^th.  Just because Oklahoma is the preseason number one this year doesn’t mean they will finish that way, but it doesn’t that they won’t either.  So when Brian Kelly says he doesn’t worry or pay too much attention to the Irish’s preseason 18^th, I have to believe him.

I am, however, excited to be in the preseason rankings - there are positives to it.  First, it’s always recruiting season and being ranked is attractive to high school players.  Some may say that Notre Dame get a few extra votes for being Notre Dame.  That may be true, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  Pollsters may have some reverence for the echoes of the past but teams facing the Irish on the field this year don’t care about South Bend’s history, they aren’t intimidated by touchdown Jesus or the Golden Dome.  This is why Kelly and his team need to keep their perspective on what is written and said about them and do their talking on the field of play.

What’s in a number?

Last year’s preseason AP Poll had Alabama ranked one and Auburn ranked 22^nd.  At the end of the year,  Auburn was undefeated and ranked number one with a National Championship while Alabama was ranked 10^th with three loses.   The story was similar in the USA Today Coaches Poll, with Alabama receiving a preseason number one ranking and Auburn ranked 22^nd.  When it was all over, Alabama was down to 11^th.  Just because Oklahoma is the preseason number one this year doesn’t mean they will finish that way, but it doesn’t that they won’t either.  So when Brian Kelly says he doesn’t worry or pay too much attention to the Irish’s preseason 18^th, I have to believe him.

I am, however, excited to be in the preseason rankings - there are positives to it.  First, it’s always recruiting season and being ranked is attractive to high school players.  Some may say that Notre Dame get a few extra votes for being Notre Dame.  That may be true, but don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  Pollsters may have some reverence for the echoes of the past but teams facing the Irish on the field this year don’t care about South Bend’s history, they aren’t intimidated by touchdown Jesus or the Golden Dome.  This is why Kelly and his team need to keep their perspective on what is written and said about them and do their talking on the field of play.

Year Two Off and Running

Brian Kelly’s second year as Notre Dame’s Head Coach started this past weekend with the first fall practices and of course, press conferences.  Kelly remained grounded concerning his team’s ranking in the pre-season coaches poll.  He attributes the ranking to how they finished last year and the fact that they are Notre Dame.  Going into his second year, he admits they can get to football right off the bat as opposed to learning about his players and having his players learn about him as they started off last year at this time.  The coaches know what to expect from their players and the players know what to expect from the coaches.

For the first few days, players will be wearing helmets, adding shoulder pads in a couple of days and full pads on Wednesday in accordance to NCAA rules.  After the start of th team’s first practice, the skies opened up and the rain fell, soaking players and coaches.  Players appeared vocal and excited to get started.  Kelly will use the next two weeks for conditioning and evaluation, the following two weeks will be used for specific preparation for South Florida.

Brian Kelly did speak to players, positions and playing time.  In several areas, the word depth was used in a positive way, thanks in part to returning players, red-shirting players and freshman that could have immediate impact.  One of the areas in which depth is a concern is at running back.  After Senior Jonas Gray and Sophomore Cierra Wood, it gets pretty thin at the tailback position.

Although Kelly spoke a lot about players and roles, he did not tip his hat to where he stands on the $64,000 question, who will be the starting quarterback.  My take is that Dayne Crist will start, Tommy Rees will be the solid back up and there will be designed plays and situations for both Everett Golson and Andrew Hendrix for their athletic abilities.