Wow. That is a lot of psycho babble. Not sure how one can respond to that.
We are fans on a CFB team message board doing what fans do: discussing topics of interest about the team we follow. You and Savvy get pretty defensive when Brian Kelly is brought up, though you are not nearly as passionate or sensitive on the topic as Savvy is, but why is it you feel that Kelly is immune from criticism? Did he do good things for ND? Undeniably. Is he a very good college football coach? I would say yes, though some may disagree. I am trying to understand why Kelly could never seem to make the leap from being very good to great. He had a great W/L record at Notre Dame. He restored stability to the football program. He did some really good things. But he never won a national championship, and always seemed to stumble on the big stage. Was that failure because, as Kelly famously said, he was "shopping down a different aisle" when it came to recruiting? Or were other factors at play? It is a fair topic of discussion as to why that is so. You, and certainly Savvy, think differently.
Maybe Kelly will make that jump at LSU. Based on the early indications, I don't think he will, but time will be the judge on that. I may hold a different opinion of Kelly if he is able to win a national championship at LSU, but I am not there yet.
If you think we are being unfair to Kelly on this board, spend some time on the ND Nation board. They absolutely revile Kelly over there.
I have a number of friends who are Michigan alums. Years ago they engaged in the same kind of discussions of Bo Schembechler, another HC who was very good but could never seem to win "the big one."
Probably none of us here would like to see our own lives dissected in this manner. But none of us are the head football coach of Notre Dame. The criticism comes with the territory. We all have our own "Mount Rushmore" of ND football coaches, and discussing who is on that mountain is something that fans do. For me that Mount Rushmore is Rockne, Leahy, Parseghian and Holtz. Kelly isn't on it for me, despite his wonderful won/loss record, and he never will be.
I am a huge supporter of Marcus Freeman, and have made that plain in my postings on this board. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but my perception is that you are not a supporter. At the very least, you have your doubts as to whether he is up for the job. That is fine. But how is the criticism of Kelly any different that the doubts you and others have expressed as to Freeman's ability, or the likelihood he will win a NC at Notre Dame?
Contrary to what you and Savvy may think, many of us here don't have some pathological dislike of Kelly. I certainly do not. I recognize him to be an excellent football coach. I am simply curious as to the reasons why he couldn't get over the hump from very good to great, and have expressed my thoughts on the subject on this board.
Good for you that you’re dissociating yourself from those on this board who truly HATE Kelly. Because they exist. In one of the posts just following yours, someone referred to him in the usual prickly manner as a PRICK. Not exactly a term of endearment but pretty routine here.
And in line with that, I’m totally comfortable with my comment that
“people here have an INORDINATE DESIRE to denigrate the man” because the evidence for that is EYE-POPPING in every thread in which Kelly appears.
Or else why would Savvy be writing all of those REBUTTAL POSTS? Almost every one of them has been written as a COUNTER-PUNCH to someone launching into an anti-Kelly snark or screed.
And neither of us is being defensive. We’re merely DEFENDING the guy against relentless slurs that CONFLATE his coaching, his character and whatever other cheap-shot opportunity seems handy. I mean, what do I have to be DEFENSIVE about? I’m no more invested in him than you are. I just hate seeing him used as a pinata.
I’m going to ask you to be honest. Do you actually think that a guy who’s been as successful a coach as Kelly – I’ll dispense with all of his accomplishments and assume in good faith that you’re aware of them – is deserving of the LEVEL OF ABUSE he routinely gets on this board? Do you think it is in any way JUSTIFIED?
Because I DON’T.
To me, it’s a pretty BAD LOOK and just another variation of KICK-THE-DOG-BULLYING. And of a guy who isn’t available to defend himself. I find it simply OVER THE TOP. All of this wishing that he fails and that he can’t do this or that. It’s in no way PROPORTIONAL.
As for Freeman, he CLEARLY would not have been my first choice, though not because I have any ANIMUS towards him (and you can verify that by examining my posts in which I’ve never denigrated him once as an individual, nor will I) but because of his lack of experience.
Yet, he’s done well and even if he doesn’t, I GUARANTEE I will never denigrate him as a person. It’s NOT MY STYLE, and it’s POOR FORM which is why when I see people GET VENOMOUS with Kelly, it TURNS ME OFF.
Seriously, why are people heaping abuse on a HIGH PERFORMANCE guy at a level they NEVER GOT TO and whose shoes they couldn’t shine on their best day – at least in his field – who was also the coach who made their team again relevant?
In other words,
WHY MUST THE PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD?
And how about that Kelly
hired the guy who has been all but anointed as the one who will accomplish everything he himself fell short of?
And sorry if you’re DISMISSIVE of Oedipal references, but as I said – BAD DADDY/GOOD DADDY. BK, BAD; MF, GOOD. It’s the basic WANNABE BINARY employed by school kids. Yet, WE SEE IT HERE.
Normally, I don’t get involved in these Kelly hate-fests, but this time, I thought Savvy’s post was so lights-out that I simply had to acknowledge him in support of his effort. I never like missing the opportunity of crediting someone on a good piece of writing.
