Clark Lea my biggest concern for ND
- Thread starter Zorich 88
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I have no idea why people think losing Elko was such a tragedy - ND's defense was mediocre to bad after the NC State game... he was hot for a minute and cashed in - he was a big splash hire for Jimbo, but he was not worth near what he got, especially in recruiting...
Gave up 37 to WF, 41 to Miami, and 38 to Stanford - gave up 17 to a Navy team smack in the middle of a 1-6 streak, and 17 and to an anemic LSU team that was #80 in points scored...
last 5 games - 215 yards rushing yards per game allowed, 4.6 YPC, 28 PPG allowed, and .4 turnovers caused - that would get you fired at Alabama, and about 30 other places...
I'm fine with Clark Lea - the players wanted him, and recruits are buying what he's selling...
Recruiter rankings
Clark Lea - #13
Mike Elko - #26
would like also to point out that Nana elected to come with Lea to ND and not stay home with Elko in Texas - ND was at 0% when Elko left, and were the favorite within 2 months...
can't ask for much more than that before the man has coached a game - let's give him a chance...
Gave up 37 to WF, 41 to Miami, and 38 to Stanford - gave up 17 to a Navy team smack in the middle of a 1-6 streak, and 17 and to an anemic LSU team that was #80 in points scored...
last 5 games - 215 yards rushing yards per game allowed, 4.6 YPC, 28 PPG allowed, and .4 turnovers caused - that would get you fired at Alabama, and about 30 other places...
I'm fine with Clark Lea - the players wanted him, and recruits are buying what he's selling...
Recruiter rankings
Clark Lea - #13
Mike Elko - #26
would like also to point out that Nana elected to come with Lea to ND and not stay home with Elko in Texas - ND was at 0% when Elko left, and were the favorite within 2 months...
can't ask for much more than that before the man has coached a game - let's give him a chance...
Dude... Elko is a better recruiter than Lea. We would have a shot with several 5 stars if he was still here.
agree with what you say. However, the D improved so much over BVG so folks view Elko as the savior. My point is the bar was so low that of course almost anyone with a pulse could have made the D better. My guess the D is going to be better than last years and last years was good but not great
I am a big amateur wrestling guy and the head coach of Penn State (winners of seven of the past national titles) is a very monotone, serious, and perhaps personalityless individual....In addition to his coaching success, he was a former four-time individual NCAA Champ and a 2004 Olympic Gold medalist.
For this reason, I am not that concerned if Lea seems like a dry guy who is lacking in outward enthusiasm.
As long as the guy has a plan and his athletes respect him for who he is, I am confident we'll get the results we all seek.
For this reason, I am not that concerned if Lea seems like a dry guy who is lacking in outward enthusiasm.
As long as the guy has a plan and his athletes respect him for who he is, I am confident we'll get the results we all seek.
Williams the 5* safety, brandon smith, another safety nick cross top 50 player. Not saying we'd get em for sure but we'd at least be in the mix
Breathe a sigh of relief, Jimbo wanted Elko. What if he had taken Lea and ND fans were stuck with Elko.
Also Elko coached the safetys which were the worse position group on the defense by a wide margin.
I didn't like the way they finished at all - started great, I was thrilled... the thing is, the wheels fell off on offense with the QB situation, so nobody seemed to notice that the defense was getting pushed around...
First 8 games - 14.4 PPG allowed
Last 5 games - 30 PPG allowed
finished
#83 in sacks
#70 in 1st downs allowed
#52 rushing defense
#50 in TOs created
if that gets you 2 mil as a DC, best of luck to you...
In spite of the stats the Defense played with a speed, physicality and athleticism that had been missing for a very many seasons. More than anything, that is the basis for the current optimism. The good news, most of that is attributed to Balis and his impact on the player development.
I'll give you Williams, but Cross is a Lea recruit, even when Elko was here, and so was Smith... players like him...
"I talk to (linebackers) coach (Clark) Lea and I talk to coach (Brian) Kelly sometimes," Cross said. "I like (Lea). He's a very down-to-earth person. I can talk to him after any game and he will tell me what I did. He is honest.
ND has seven 4 stars on defense, and it's only June - A&M has 5..
ND is still in play for some big names - Henry To'oto'o is a 5 * from Cali, and he just named his top 8 - ND made the cut... happens to be a huge Teo' fan... outside shot, but so was Teo' if you recall...
this is shaping up to be a fantastic defensive class - I have no idea what all the hand-wringing is about...
some here will never be satisfied unless every player nd signs is a 5 star across the board and even if that were the case some would find something else to whine about.
don't get me wrong, overall I like what I saw from the defense from the previous year, and when your offense is sputtering and turning the ball over, that puts a lot of pressure on your defense - I get all that... but if you're elite, then your defense should carry the team when it has to - that didn't happen - they didn't look like the same unit over the last 5 games...
Elko seems to me to be more concerned about his next job than the one that he currently has - and I don't think he will be at A&M long if he has any success...
now we have a guy that uses the same system, knows the players, the players like him, is doing a great job recruiting, and most importantly, he seems to be invested in the program - maybe he'll stick around a few years...
people say "Pay Elko" - I say screw that - pay the guy that wants to be here...
No one is hand wringing, well at least I'm not. All im saying is it's a little early to claim Lea is a better recruiter.
didn't say he was, but he doesn't seem to be having any problems getting blue-chippers in - I just pointed out that he's ranked higher in recruiter rankings, which can obviously change, but I'm pretty pleased so far...
This is a great class right now. If we finish with or without 5*. this is a great class. Probably the number 1 o-line class. If we add another DE of quality it will be a to 10 D-Line class. If we obtain a good CB, RB and WR and close out the LB's like I think we should none will be 5* but the overall class really won't miss and it will be a top 5-10. only spots i think they may miss on is TE and QB. I think they can live w/o a TE and they should pursue a QB even though he won't have the fanfare of cade.
I mean... more than one 5 star every 3 years would be nice
quality players is what's nice, regardless of their "stars" which guarantees nothing.
Been emailing the last few days with my former teammate Chuck Bullough. He was Leas' boss at both UCLA and Syracuse. He thinks the ND defense is in great hands. take it for what it's worth. an outsiders opinion with first hand knowledge of Clark Lea. I thought I would share it on the heels of the SBT article today.
ND. they were my first love as a football fan and that has not wavered. now when i played against them that was different.
I went to Lasalle which does not have a football team and rooted for Notre Dame except when we played Notre Dame in basketball. Back then Digger had some really good teams. I was thrilled when Lasalle beat Digger's team in the Palestra,
It was a great venue. Lasalle at that time had some really good teams and it was fun to go to
Echo- I have a new found hatred for MSU. Watch the ND-MSU game on YouTube. It's very clear Sparty was trying to injure our players particularly Wimbush and Adams... the dirtiest game I've seen in a while if you watch closely
53, I thought the same thing. Not a big fan of what their coach does or does not do
The "drop" position is by far the dumbest thing about this defense. I'm not exaggerating, about half of the plays whoever is at the drop mostly D. Hayes literally is a waste of a spot. What I mean by that is legit about 50% of the plays he is not rushing the passer or dropping into coverage, instead he is dropping into almost a linebacker position, about 1-2 yards behind the line of scrimmage and just hovering there like he's doing a QB spy. It is legitimately like playing with 10 men on the field. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm watching 2017 games on the internet.
Gotta remember he coached at wake...the HC knew exactly how to exploit the defense and did. It was also year one of a new system, of Lea stays and is decent to good the defense will get better with recruits meant for the d.
The scheme just isn't that good... runs up the middle and short passes can expose this defense. Also see my post a few posts up about the drop position, it's like playing with 10 men on the field for about 50% of the snaps.
Yeah I never got the strategic benefit of moving a guy out of his natural position like that.
I recall one play where Michigan dropped a DT back into the lb spot. But ND was running a sneak and looked like Rees was ploughing a man twice his size.
yeah, I know he coached at Wake - was it a coincidence that it went downhill starting with that game? I'm betting that was the most-watched game film by opposing OCs of any ND game...
Is he ready? That is the big ?
He came from WF with Elko. Presumably WF could have offered the DC job to him. It was only 1 year off.
The biggest concern, now and ongoing, is retaining Balis. I think he has tranformed the physical and mental attitude of ND players. ND has to lock him up with a deal he cannot refuse.
Liken that to the S&C mess at USC where the players are seeking out help about nutrition and weight training from ANOTHER PLAYER (P. Gustin). They have also sought conditioning advice from position coaches. All while there is a S&C staff employed. All that talent negated by poor S&C training and Helton is clueless. ND should offer to pay Lewis’s salary.
Having escaped that kind of S&C scenario, ND fans do not want to return to those problems.
Liken that to the S&C mess at USC where the players are seeking out help about nutrition and weight training from ANOTHER PLAYER (P. Gustin). They have also sought conditioning advice from position coaches. All while there is a S&C staff employed. All that talent negated by poor S&C training and Helton is clueless. ND should offer to pay Lewis’s salary.
Having escaped that kind of S&C scenario, ND fans do not want to return to those problems.
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