Emotions aside BK did some great things

[NDgreatestofalltime!]

at ND. The program was borderline dumpster fire when he arrived. It wasn’t in shambles but it was on fire.

I’ve been critical of BK at times, I’ve harped for years about his inability to recruit QB’s and develop the ones he does bring on board. I thought he should’ve been let go after 2016. His sideline antics and the disgruntled locker room had me feeling it was time to move on. To BK’s credit, he stepped back and completely reassessed his coaching, staff, and program. The changes BK made led to a resurgence of the program beginning in 2017.

Just look at the numbers, he had seven 10+ win seasons in 11 years. ND stopped losing to teams they were supposed to beat, took us to a BCS NC game, and two playoff appearances. Sent dozens of players to the NFL. We actually won some bowl games for the first time in like 15 years.

Something overlooked is his and Jack Swarbricks influence in seeing that CFB was played last year. They were influential in getting a season played, and many coaches and universities credited their work including Dabo, and Alabama AD Bryne.

He helped bring ND’s facilities into the 21st century and be comparable to other football powers. Extensive stadium renovations, and supported NIL when a lot of coaches didn’t.

I never cared much for his personality but he exceeded most of my initial expectations back in 2010 when he was hired. I wasn’t sure if ND could be more then an occasional 9-10 win team, and be essentially a perennial 7/8 win team.

The way he left is disappointing but unfortunately it is commonplace now in CFB coaching. The new employers wants the coach to start immediately because of recruiting and the fierce competition in every facet of CFB apparatus.

ND just needs to reassure the players, and recruits with a good hire, and work to propel ND to the next step (elite) and not backwards.

I can be pessimistic at times but I’m kind of excited about the change. If you aren’t changing and adapting, then you’re failing.

Go Irish!

 

[deadirishpoet]

at ND. The program was borderline dumpster fire when he arrived. It wasn’t in shambles but it was on fire.

I’ve been critical of BK at times, I’ve harped for years about his inability to recruit QB’s and develop the ones he does bring on board. I thought he should’ve been let go after 2016. His sideline antics and the disgruntled locker room had me feeling it was time to move on. To BK’s credit, he stepped back and completely reassessed his coaching, staff, and program. The changes BK made led to a resurgence of the program beginning in 2017.

Just look at the numbers, he had seven 10+ win seasons in 11 years. ND stopped losing to teams they were supposed to beat, took us to a BCS NC game, and two playoff appearances. Sent dozens of players to the NFL. We actually won some bowl games for the first time in like 15 years.

Something overlooked is his and Jack Swarbricks influence in seeing that CFB was played last year. They were influential in getting a season played, and many coaches and universities credited their work including Dabo, and Alabama AD Bryne.

He helped bring ND’s facilities into the 21st century and be comparable to other football powers. Extensive stadium renovations, and supported NIL when a lot of coaches didn’t.

I never cared much for his personality but he exceeded most of my initial expectations back in 2010 when he was hired. I wasn’t sure if ND could be more then an occasional 9-10 win team, and be essentially a perennial 7/8 win team.

The way he left is disappointing but unfortunately it is commonplace now in CFB coaching. The new employers wants the coach to start immediately because of recruiting and the fierce competition in every facet of CFB apparatus.

ND just needs to reassure the players, and recruits with a good hire, and work to propel ND to the next step (elite) and not backwards.

I can be pessimistic at times but I’m kind of excited about the change. If you aren’t changing and adapting, then you’re failing.

Go Irish!

Agree

 

[NDDadx3]

Can’t deny he got this thing organized and credible again. He had a way of crash landing after every take off though … the BCS game, both playoff games, getting doors blown off at Miami and Michigan, the Georgia losses, the loss at Clemson in the rain, the ACCCG … just knew how to ruin a party, never competitive especially on offense every freaking time.

the first coach to have to vacate wins (embarrassing), some bad player scandals both at and after ND especially from his earlier teams.

Guy was a true paradox and in the end mostly good but never great and always more about the BK brand than the ND brand.

next man in.

 

[NDgreatestofalltime!]

I agree but after 2016 it seemed like the scandals or controversies subsided. I’m sure Jack had something to do with that.

His best wins are at OU in 2012, and Clemson 2020.

 

[FightingIrish44]

I agree but after 2016 it seemed like the scandals or controversies subsided. I’m sure Jack had something to do with that.

His best wins are at OU in 2012, and Clemson 2020.

He gave MSU their only loss in 2013 as well.

 

[Ara64]

I'm excited about the possibility of hiring a coach who can win the big games. I hope it's Fickell but I trust Jack will hire us a really good coach.

 

[PAIrishFan]

I agree, Kelly definitely is the guy who brought the program back from the dead. But, I always got the sense he had one foot out the door the whole time. I'm surprised he stayed as long as he did. He was always entertaining other offers, especially from the NFL.

I don't like the timing of his departure though. Pretty crappy and selfish to do, the week playoffs bids will be handed out. I think he left this week because he knew his stock would go down if ND got a playoff bid and he lost the game. It would be hard to make a move to a new school for big bucks if he lost on the big stage...again.

 

[john0gaunt]

Kelly apparently was talking to usc about the HC position before accepting LSU. He's dead to me.

 

[ftnfan62]

he resurrected a program that had 3 poor coaches and had lost its way. For that, as a fan I thank him.

Leaving ND without sitting down with his “Friend” and laying out his needs, if Jack is being honest, put him in the snake category for me and I have been a huge backer.

We will never know if ND is complicit here and ignores his asks and pleas and he got fed up or if he is a snake.

until the real story comes out, I will just assume both are at fault, Jack learns from it and we find the coach that can take the table BK set and deliver the first real dinner.

 

[PAIrishFan]

Kelly apparently was talking to usc about the HC position before accepting LSU. He's dead to me.

Wouldn't surprise me. He probably turned that job down because he would be afraid to face ND and the fanbase every year, knowing that if he lost, so many people would enjoy it.

 

[NDinNJ]

He was definitely a mixed bag. Disappointed that it’s Kelly that holds the all-time wins record., even though technically per NCAA, he does not. Hopefully the next hire will be a home run hire that will shatter that record and win a couple of championships.

 

[Patrirish]

No one, well maybe a few, are questioning his performance and results at ND, IT’s how he conducted himself in these last two weeks.

He clearly stated, publicly, that he wasn’t leaving ND.

Then, he left ND like a thief in the night !

 

[twalsh]

If we win our next game that will be 55 wins in 5 years. Yeah, he did "some good things" is a bit of an understatement.

 

[HDK]

Kelly apparently was talking to usc about the HC position before accepting LSU. He's dead to me.

Knute Rockne also talked to USC too, but he's already dead to you and everybody else.

 

[tkirish]

at ND. The program was borderline dumpster fire when he arrived. It wasn’t in shambles but it was on fire.

I’ve been critical of BK at times, I’ve harped for years about his inability to recruit QB’s and develop the ones he does bring on board. I thought he should’ve been let go after 2016. His sideline antics and the disgruntled locker room had me feeling it was time to move on. To BK’s credit, he stepped back and completely reassessed his coaching, staff, and program. The changes BK made led to a resurgence of the program beginning in 2017.

Just look at the numbers, he had seven 10+ win seasons in 11 years. ND stopped losing to teams they were supposed to beat, took us to a BCS NC game, and two playoff appearances. Sent dozens of players to the NFL. We actually won some bowl games for the first time in like 15 years.

Something overlooked is his and Jack Swarbricks influence in seeing that CFB was played last year. They were influential in getting a season played, and many coaches and universities credited their work including Dabo, and Alabama AD Bryne.

He helped bring ND’s facilities into the 21st century and be comparable to other football powers. Extensive stadium renovations, and supported NIL when a lot of coaches didn’t.

I never cared much for his personality but he exceeded most of my initial expectations back in 2010 when he was hired. I wasn’t sure if ND could be more then an occasional 9-10 win team, and be essentially a perennial 7/8 win team.

The way he left is disappointing but unfortunately it is commonplace now in CFB coaching. The new employers wants the coach to start immediately because of recruiting and the fierce competition in every facet of CFB apparatus.

ND just needs to reassure the players, and recruits with a good hire, and work to propel ND to the next step (elite) and not backwards.

I can be pessimistic at times but I’m kind of excited about the change. If you aren’t changing and adapting, then you’re failing.

Go Irish!

All correct. However , digging a little deeper will add some clarity. He did a good job righting the ship after 2016. Up until that point he was mediocre. I credit Swarbrick more than Kelly. JS could have easily said “ see ya” after 2016. He didn’t. So both sat down and came up with a plan to help the program. It worked and made the Irish relevant. I would like to add , the watered down schedule over the last five years helped. Still, even with the 10 plus win seasons, he whiffed more times than not on being able to win “ key” games. There were quite a few opportunities to show they were able to play with the big boys. In his 11 or 12 years his two biggest wins were at Oklahoma in 2012 and Clemson last year in South Bend. That of course was without Trevor “ Fabio” Lawrence. Clemson got their revenge and then some a few weeks later. His record against the top teams isn’t mediocre it’s awful. He finally leaned how to beat teams they should have beat all along. Bravo!! He did a good job . Nothing more.

His departure wasn’t disappointing. It was “ bush league”. It was amateur. He showed absolutely no consideration for his boss who gave him a life line after 2016 and supported him his entire tenure. Let’s not forget literally walking out on his players that did all he asked to get this team to an 11-1 season. All his talk about playing for your brothers and doing things the right way was total BS. LSU called and said hey , here’s a hundred million dollars for ten years and Kelly said “ I’m on my way” . I know people say, hey anyone would have done the same thing. I disagree. I’m not saying he should not have taken the offer. He could have said I will but give me a day or two to meet with my staff, team and athletic director. Would that have been so hard ? Instead he text everyone. He had a 3 minute meeting and split. Use any descriptive word you want. I’m using Coward, Classless and Fraud.

Lastly, Declan Sullivan. Vacated wins. Nuff said.

 

[Coleykane10]

He did a lot of good things
He is still a purple rat however

 

[HDK]

All correct. However , digging a little deeper will add some clarity. He did a good job righting the ship after 2016. Up until that point he was mediocre. I credit Swarbrick more than Kelly. JS could have easily said “ see ya” after 2016. He didn’t. So both sat down and came up with a plan to help the program. It worked and made the Irish relevant. I would like to add , the watered down schedule over the last five years helped. Still, even with the 10 plus win seasons, he whiffed more times than not on being able to win “ key” games. There were quite a few opportunities to show they were able to play with the big boys. In his 11 or 12 years his two biggest wins were at Oklahoma in 2012 and Clemson last year in South Bend. That of course was without Trevor “ Fabio” Lawrence. Clemson got their revenge and then some a few weeks later. His record against the top teams isn’t mediocre it’s awful. He finally leaned how to beat teams they should have beat all along. Bravo!! He did a good job . Nothing more.

His departure wasn’t disappointing. It was “ bush league”. It was amateur. He showed absolutely no consideration for his boss who gave him a life line after 2016 and supported him his entire tenure. Let’s not forget literally walking out on his players that did all he asked to get this team to an 11-1 season. All his talk about playing for your brothers and doing things the right way was total BS. LSU called and said hey , here’s a hundred million dollars for ten years and Kelly said “ I’m on my way” . I know people say, hey anyone would have done the same thing. I disagree. I’m not saying he should not have taken the offer. He could have said I will but give me a day or two to meet with my staff, team and athletic director. Would that have been so hard ? Instead he text everyone. He had a 3 minute meeting and split. Use any descriptive word you want. I’m using Coward, Classless and Fraud.

Lastly, Declan Sullivan. Vacated wins. Nuff said.

I agree with everything you said, except I'll give Kelly the benefit of the doubt about the news leaking out. He probably would have returned to ND to drop the bombshell in person if he could have. But from what I heard about the announcement, he didn't have a minute to spare, to field any questions or explain himself in more detail. That's certainly a dick move.

 

[twalsh]

I agree with everything you said, except I'll give Kelly the benefit of the doubt about the news leaking out. He probably would have returned to ND to drop the bombshell in person if he could have. But from what I heard about the announcement, he didn't have a minute to spare, to field any questions or explain himself in more detail. That's certainly a dick move.

People at LSU couldn’t suppress their joy and blabbed to the media. That aspetc of this is not on Kelly.

 

[Patrirish]

All correct. However , digging a little deeper will add some clarity. He did a good job righting the ship after 2016. Up until that point he was mediocre. I credit Swarbrick more than Kelly. JS could have easily said “ see ya” after 2016. He didn’t. So both sat down and came up with a plan to help the program. It worked and made the Irish relevant. I would like to add , the watered down schedule over the last five years helped. Still, even with the 10 plus win seasons, he whiffed more times than not on being able to win “ key” games. There were quite a few opportunities to show they were able to play with the big boys. In his 11 or 12 years his two biggest wins were at Oklahoma in 2012 and Clemson last year in South Bend. That of course was without Trevor “ Fabio” Lawrence. Clemson got their revenge and then some a few weeks later. His record against the top teams isn’t mediocre it’s awful. He finally leaned how to beat teams they should have beat all along. Bravo!! He did a good job . Nothing more.

His departure wasn’t disappointing. It was “ bush league”. It was amateur. He showed absolutely no consideration for his boss who gave him a life line after 2016 and supported him his entire tenure. Let’s not forget literally walking out on his players that did all he asked to get this team to an 11-1 season. All his talk about playing for your brothers and doing things the right way was total BS. LSU called and said hey , here’s a hundred million dollars for ten years and Kelly said “ I’m on my way” . I know people say, hey anyone would have done the same thing. I disagree. I’m not saying he should not have taken the offer. He could have said I will but give me a day or two to meet with my staff, team and athletic director. Would that have been so hard ? Instead he text everyone. He had a 3 minute meeting and split. Use any descriptive word you want. I’m using Coward, Classless and Fraud.

Lastly, Declan Sullivan. Vacated wins. Nuff said.

I agree with everything except your last sentence, I don’t believe that those two issues were his doing.

Kelly never sought a counter or matching offer from Notre Dame.

I believe that ND might have matched it, but, we’ll never know.

I think that EGO and opportunity converged and that Kelly felt that the missing link, the Holy Grail was in Baton Rouge and that he was running out of time in south Bend.

irrespective of my theories and everyone else’s theories, I think it‘s safe to say that Kelly handled this terribly.

But then I go back to my instincts and my instincts told me in 2012, in Kelly’s third year at ND, when ND was preparing to play Alabama, that a coach poised to take his team to the National Championship who’s negotiating to become the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, has no loyalty and isn’t to be trusted.

A highly respected physician/diagnostician once told me to trust my instincts, and boy was he right !

 

[tkirish]

I agree with everything except your last sentence, I don’t believe that those two issues were his doing.

Kelly never sought a counter or matching offer from Notre Dame.

I believe that ND might have matched it, but, we’ll never know.

I think that EGO and opportunity converged and that Kelly felt that the missing link, the Holy Grail was in Baton Rouge and that he was running out of time in south Bend.

irrespective of my theories and everyone else’s theories, I think it‘s safe to say that Kelly handled this terribly.

But then I go back to my instincts and my instincts told me in 2012, in Kelly’s third year at ND, when ND was preparing to play Alabama, that a coach poised to take his team to the National Championship who’s negotiating to become the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, has no loyalty and isn’t to be trusted.

A highly respected physician/diagnostician once told me to trust my instincts, and boy was he right !

Pat. Spot on. Just for clarification. My last line was basically a dig that those two issues were also under his tenure. I find it comical that he is billed as the all time winningest coach while vacating 2 years worth of wins. I’m not sure how the math works. He is also a coach who has close to the most losses. I guess that little fact doesn’t matter in Kelly world.

 

[IRISHJD98]

Yep, great things.

12 seasons. 5 minor bowl victories, one of which (the one against LSU) was vacated. 4 embarrassing major bowl losses. Zero national championships.

Thanks coach.

And lets not forget two one-year NCAA probations.

Thanks again.

Maybe Kelly is right. Maybe LSU really is better aligned with his football values.

 

[NotreDame du Lac]

They should build a headless statue of BK and place it in the lake.