Kelly Building a First Rate Program...

[stu4don]

Six of his recruits chosen in the first three rounds! Wow. Three or four more will go today. Impressive. Best since Lou's players in 1994!

I hope the two five star players announcing tomorrow have taken note.

Come to Our Lady. Get a top 15 University Education AND play for a football team that will continue to compete for the final four each year AND get drafted for your abilities, developed skills and maturity.

Way to go, Brian and coaches.

Congrats to our players in the NFL (the guys on this site have been pulling for you since you were High Schoolers!) Make us proud.

Go Irish!

 

[chaseball]

agreed 100%

I remember Kelly's intro press conference after being hired. He talked a lot about talent development -- and he's certainly delivered on that promise.

what's most impressive is that these kids that are getting drafted on day 1 & 2 (outside of Jaylon Smith) were not the type of kids coming out of HS that were realistic NFL prospects.

In a BK ran program, you know there are going to be stars emerging from unexpected places. This fact has to carry some serious weight on the recruiting trail.

 

[Toby Smart]

I just wonder if Jaylon did not get injured, would CJ and Will have stayed?

 

[chaseball]

I just wonder if Jaylon did not get injured, would CJ and Will have stayed?

I don't think so -- their draft stock simply skyrocketed over the course of the 2015 season to the point where it would have been silly to return.

 

[Irishjohn68]

I just wonder if Jaylon did not get injured, would CJ and Will have stayed?

Good question. Would Jaylon have stuck around for his 4th year? I think Jaylon was out the door.

 

[D_Master]

i wonder what we will see next year at the draft. Probably McGlinchey will be the big name for the Irish. past that its hard to say. Redfield if he can drastically improve. Folston may be a late rd pick as well, but it seems like next year will be another down year for the irish at the draft followed by a possible big year the following year again.

 

[IrishInOntario]

You think next year will be a down year for the Irish at the draft? I actually disagree completely...

1. Mike McGlinchey: Trending towards a 1st round pick.
2. DeShone Kizer: With a huge year (which many expect) he has the measurables to be highly coveted.
3. Torii Hunter: Going to have an enormous year and if he chooses to leave he'll certainly be drafted.
4. Quenton Nelson: Has first round talent. Massive human being. Could leave after his junior year and be a 1st or 2nd round pick.
5. Isaac Rochell: Stone cold lock to be drafted in the first half of the NFL draft. SO much DL flexibility at the next level. Can play SDE or 3 Tech in a 4-3 or he can play DE in 3-4.
6. Jarron Jones: As long as he comes back off his knee he'll be drafted. Huge human being. Very similar to the kid the Chiefs took in round 3 this year. Will be drafted.
7. James Onwualu: Will be a long time special teamer in the NFL. Could very well be a late round pick.
8. Cole Luke: Lock to be drafted. Corners are in high demand in the NFL. Luke will be off the board before the end of round 4.
9. Max Redfield: Has all the athleticism in the world, but needs to translate that into a really productive senior year. Should work his way into being drafted.

I'd be shocked if ND doesn't have at least 6 players drafted next year, and as many 9 players drafted, depending on who potentially declares early.

 

[end_23]

Six of his recruits chosen in the first three rounds! Wow. Three or four more will go today. Impressive. Best since Lou's players in 1994!

I hope the two five star players announcing tomorrow have taken note.

Come to Our Lady. Get a top 15 University Education AND play for a football team that will continue to compete for the final four each year AND get drafted for your abilities, developed skills and maturity.

Way to go, Brian and coaches.

Congrats to our players in the NFL (the guys on this site have been pulling for you since you were High Schoolers!) Make us proud.

Go Irish!

Why can't he win big games with all this NFL talent?

 

[chaseball]

Nice list IIO -- it's only missing the 2015 version of CJ Prosise (e.g. a player that can come out of nowhere in his 3rd year of eligibility and flash elite talent).

Exciting time to be an ND fan.

 

[chaseball]

Why can't he win big games with all this NFL talent?

Bad injury luck the last couple seasons exacerbated by inconsistent recruiting (leaving the team razor thin at key positions -- especially on defense).

I think Kelly has done a good job the last couple of classes addressing the depth issues though (e.g. instead of going all out for a 5 star/high 4 star and eventually missing, maybe taking a chance on a high 3/low 4 star).

I'm hoping with this draft success we can become more attractive to those elite blue chip talents though ... I'd love to see a BK lead team with the level of talent that of an OSU, FSU, USC, or Bama.

 

[football1irish]

Six of his recruits chosen in the first three rounds! Wow. Three or four more will go today. Impressive. Best since Lou's players in 1994!

I hope the two five star players announcing tomorrow have taken note.

Come to Our Lady. Get a top 15 University Education AND play for a football team that will continue to compete for the final four each year AND get drafted for your abilities, developed skills and maturity.

Way to go, Brian and coaches.

Congrats to our players in the NFL (the guys on this site have been pulling for you since you were High Schoolers!) Make us proud.

Go Irish!

And to think ND football coaches used to be judged on how many wins they got in January Bowl Games.

Since that's a Kelly weakness the enablers now judge performance on how many players he gets drafted. However during the season the same enablers lament all his losses and embarrassing ugly near losses against mid-majors due to a perceived talent discrepancy. However when the NFL draft comes around and proves this discrepancy doesn't exist then they spin this as a Kelly achievement that he managed to go 9 & 3 with a soft schedule and a truckload of NFL starters on his roster.

By the way Weis and Willingham sent a lot of their recruits to the NFL as well. The ND program with its very bright national spot light would be pretty good at drawing top talent even if we had no head coach at all.

 

[NDSMC78]

And to think ND football coaches used to be judged on how many wins they got in January Bowl Games.

Since that's a Kelly weakness the enablers now judge performance on how many players he gets drafted. However during the season the same enablers lament all his losses and embarrassing ugly near losses against mid-majors due to a perceived talent discrepancy. However when the NFL draft comes around and proves this discrepancy doesn't exist then they spin this as a Kelly achievement that he managed to go 9 & 3 with a soft schedule and a truckload of NFL starters on his roster.

By the way Weis and Willingham sent a lot of their recruits to the NFL as well. The ND program with its very bright national spot light would be pretty good at drawing top talent even if we had no head coach at all.

What Notre Dame coaches were ever judged by how many wins they achieved in January bowl games? None. Not a single one. As usual, you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

 

[IrishHerb]

What Notre Dame coaches were ever judged by how many wins they achieved in January bowl games? None. Not a single one. As usual, you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

Right ... since from 1925 through 1970 ND didn't even play in bowl games. During all that time ND coaches were simply judged on how many games they won, national championships and the overall success of their players.

 

[Bumpdaddy]

I just wonder if Jaylon did not get injured, would CJ and Will have stayed?

Will always had a chance to go in the 1st round so I think he was going to make that decision regardless. CJ's decision was actually easier. It wasn't just about where he was going to be drafted this year it was more about next year's RB draft class which is loaded with talent such as Fournette, Cook, Chubb, and McCaffrey. The 3rd RB taken off the board in 2016 is about as good as he could have hoped for.

 

[Bodizephax]

Great thread !! Reading this thread is like eating a warm right out of the oven chocolate chip cookie ! I need to get myself a cold glass of milk to wash it down !
Go Irish !!
Beat Texas !!

 

[cgvr]

What Notre Dame coaches were ever judged by how many wins they achieved in January bowl games? None. Not a single one. As usual, you don't have a clue what you are talking about.

You get a statue at ND for winning the big one now. That may not be judgement, but it sure is immortality...

 

[Pennick4]

You get statue at ND for winning the big one now. That's may not be judgement, but it sure is immortality...

Can anyone translate this to English?

 

[Epictitus]

It would be understandable if cgvr was drunk, but his Mom doesn't allow booze in the basement.

 

[cgvr]

Can anyone translate this to English?

Typos from phone..... I fixed it. How did your adamant Prosise NFL prediction work out?

 

[chaseball]

Can anyone translate this to English?

He's saying that the barometer for success at ND has expanded. Winning one national championship in today's game at Notre Dame is worthy of a statue now.

 

[BettisND]

By the way Weis and Willingham sent a lot of their recruits to the NFL as well. The ND program with its very bright national spot light would be pretty good at drawing top talent even if we had no head coach at all.

 

[Kelso86]

I just wonder if Jaylon did not get injured, would CJ and Will have stayed?

Doubtful -- he was already worried about being moved back to the slot with Folston, Adams and Williams back there. He wanted to stay at RB.

 

[chaseball]

Doubtful -- he was already worried about being moved back to the slot with Folston, Adams and Williams back there. He wanted to stay at RB.

I dont think a guy who is competing for a starting job at RB for the Seahawks this fall was too worried about his touches at ND in 2016.

 

[chaseball]

And to think ND football coaches used to be judged on how many wins they got in January Bowl Games.

Since that's a Kelly weakness the enablers now judge performance on how many players he gets drafted. However during the season the same enablers lament all his losses and embarrassing ugly near losses against mid-majors due to a perceived talent discrepancy. However when the NFL draft comes around and proves this discrepancy doesn't exist then they spin this as a Kelly achievement that he managed to go 9 & 3 with a soft schedule and a truckload of NFL starters on his roster.

By the way Weis and Willingham sent a lot of their recruits to the NFL as well. The ND program with its very bright national spot light would be pretty good at drawing top talent even if we had no head coach at all.

This is false. ND has had more NFL draft success during the BK era than the Davie/Willingham/Weis years combined.

There are 85 scholarship athletes -- ND has been excellent filling the top half of that (our top 40 can compete with almost any program in the country .. the goal is to close the gap on the back 45 and we've done an excellent job addressing that the last couple of recruiting cycles).

Still, the biggest obstacle in the way of this program taking the next step forward is its inability to attract top 100 players in mass ... guys who would be good enough to be on NFL rosters right out of HS. Bama, FSU, USC, and OSU are cleaning up on these players and ND is on the outside looking in.

 

[NDSMC78]

This is false. ND has had more NFL draft success during the BK era than the Davie/Willingham/Weis years combined.

There are 85 scholarship athletes -- ND has been excellent filling the top half of that (our top 40 can compete with almost any program in the country .. the goal is to close the gap on the back 45 and we've done an excellent job addressing that the last couple of recruiting cycles).

Still, the biggest obstacle in the way of this program taking the next step forward is its inability to attract top 100 players in mass ... guys who would be good enough to be on NFL rosters right out of HS. Bama, FSU, USC, and OSU are cleaning up on these players and ND is on the outside looking in.

Wrong again. Virtually no players are good enough to be on NFL rosters right out of high school.

 

[D_Master]

thank you. anyone that thinks a HS kid can compete on an NFL roster is out of their mind. You might have a Maurice Clarett every10 years or so that dominate as a freshmen, but thats still in college.

 

[IrishInOntario]

Nice list IIO -- it's only missing the 2015 version of CJ Prosise (e.g. a player that can come out of nowhere in his 3rd year of eligibility and flash elite talent).

Exciting time to be an ND fan.

I didn't even think to mention Tarean Folston, who could be a middle round pick for a team looking for a depth back. ND could very realistically have 12-15 players drafted in a 2 year window. That's a really respectable number.

 

[perseverare]

a side note:
anyone recall Christian French? heavily recruited by ND for D. His recruitment was a bit zany, but wound up as an undrafted free agent.

Get a meaningful genuine education, you may need it.

 

[greengael]

You think next year will be a down year for the Irish at the draft? I actually disagree completely...

1. Mike McGlinchey: Trending towards a 1st round pick.
2. DeShone Kizer: With a huge year (which many expect) he has the measurables to be highly coveted.
3. Torii Hunter: Going to have an enormous year and if he chooses to leave he'll certainly be drafted.
4. Quenton Nelson: Has first round talent. Massive human being. Could leave after his junior year and be a 1st or 2nd round pick.
5. Isaac Rochell: Stone cold lock to be drafted in the first half of the NFL draft. SO much DL flexibility at the next level. Can play SDE or 3 Tech in a 4-3 or he can play DE in 3-4.
6. Jarron Jones: As long as he comes back off his knee he'll be drafted. Huge human being. Very similar to the kid the Chiefs took in round 3 this year. Will be drafted.
7. James Onwualu: Will be a long time special teamer in the NFL. Could very well be a late round pick.
8. Cole Luke: Lock to be drafted. Corners are in high demand in the NFL. Luke will be off the board before the end of round 4.
9. Max Redfield: Has all the athleticism in the world, but needs to translate that into a really productive senior year. Should work his way into being drafted.

I'd be shocked if ND doesn't have at least 6 players drafted next year, and as many 9 players drafted, depending on who potentially declares early.

Awful lot of" ifs" there!

 

[mirer03]

Awful lot of" ifs" there!

Of course there are ifs, but you have to keep everything in perspective.

-ND returned what 21 starters last year? A lot of talent is moving up which can be good or bad, but they have to produce on the field to justify getting drafted. Many very good players sat because returners simply played a ton last year. Tori Hunter is a stud just waiting for opportunities. He was injured but then buried with Fuller, Breezy, and Amir getting so many snaps.

-ND had a disproportionate number of injuries. How these guys return will impact their draft status. Folston, Rochell, Jones, Nelson in particular could move up very high after limited play last year.

 

[greengael]

Of course there are ifs, but you have to keep everything in perspective.

-ND returned what 21 starters last year? A lot of talent is moving up which can be good or bad, but they have to produce on the field to justify getting drafted. Many very good players sat because returners simply played a ton last year. Tori Hunter is a stud just waiting for opportunities. He was injured but then buried with Fuller, Breezy, and Amir getting so many snaps.

-ND had a disproportionate number of injuries. How these guys return will impact their draft status. Folston, Rochell, Jones, Nelson in particular could move up very high after limited play last year.

I really have no handle on what draft status will look like in 2017 and to an extent neither does any one else which I guess maybe kinda your point?[smile]

 

[IrishHerb]

I really have no handle on what draft status will look like in 2017 and to an extent neither does any one else which I guess maybe kinda your point?[smile]

Can agree with this ... not only how well the upcoming players develop and perform during the 2016 season, but also what the NFL teams need.

Its always possible that some great NFL prospects are drafted later than expected simply because all the NFL teams that year have other pressing needs.

 

[Pennick4]

I dont think a guy who is competing for a starting job at RB for the Seahawks this fall was too worried about his touches at ND in 2016.

Doubt he will be competing for a starting job for the Seahwawks.

 

[mbd11]

Doubt he will be competing for a starting job for the Seahwawks.

Marshawn Lynch retired. His backup was a 2015 UDFA. So, I think Prosise will definitely be competing for that job, along with the other 2 RBs they drafted and that 2nd-year player.

 

[Izo]

Hope posts are right . But we lost a ton of talent in Stanley , Smith ,Martin , Fuller ,Day ,Prosise ,Russell, even the undrafted free agents . Most Irish drafted since 1994 . Plus we were a 2 point conversion and a last second touchdown away from the final four. Very tough to repeat this kind of season . Also Ohio State really handled us in the Fiesta. Our defense really has to pick up , and we have to put mediocre teams like the BCs ,Virginias , Temples away early . We had control of the Pitt and Wake game but wasn't enamored with our play . Still don't understand why we always seem to struggle with3 or 4 games every season against very mediocre teams

 

[Izo]

High powered offense . We lost tremendous offensive linemen in the last 3 years , All pro Zack Martin on Dallas Cowboys , Watt on San Diego, now N.Martin with Texans, Stanley with Ravens . With Elmer also gone , Nelson ,Bars, McGlinchey , must carry the load . How fast will it take the line to gel ?

 

[Pennick4]

Marshawn Lynch retired. His backup was a 2015 UDFA. So, I think Prosise will definitely be competing for that job, along with the other 2 RBs they drafted and that 2nd-year player.

The kid that filled in for Lynch played like a stud. Prosise might see some time but no way he is ready for the starting job. I think the Seahawks got tired of Lynch's act and are glad he is gone.

 

[chaseball]

Still don't understand why we always seem to struggle with3 or 4 games every season against very mediocre teams

It's very simple: talent.

When your roster is stacked 2+ deep at every position -- your team is better positioned to handle the ebs and flows of an up and down 13+ game season (e.g. bad ball bounces, bad turnover luck, suspensions, bad injury luck, etc.).

That's why Alabama and OSU no matter how many players they lose to transfers, quits, nfl, injury, etc. they just plug the next talented prospect in and watch them flourish with little to no drop off. That's why when those teams suffer the typical bad luck, injury, etc. associated with a physical 4 month long sport, they almost always prevail. That's why anytime a mid major steps on the field with them, the game is usually over before the 3rd quarter almost every time.

If ND loses it's nose tackle or middle linebacker the drop off to the next guy is so steep that it literally cripples the team. If ND has bad turnover luck, they dont have the talent to simply run the opposing team off the field. That's the difference between a 3-5 loss/season program (ND) and a 1-2 loss program.

 

[mbd11]

The kid that filled in for Lynch played like a stud. Prosise might see some time but no way he is ready for the starting job. I think the Seahawks got tired of Lynch's act and are glad he is gone.

Well, I'm sure a year ago, nobody thought the undrafted Rawls would end up running for 830 yds after Lynch went down, much less even make the team. So, you never know.

 

[end_23]

Kelly is building a 3.67 losses per year juggernaut. Whooooooaaaa!