Kelly: "I recruited those guys."

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

I think anybody who tells you that back in 2021 they really wanted Marcus Freeman to be the head coach of Notre Dame after only one season as defensive coordinator is exaggerating or guilty of revisionist history at best. I don't think there was a lot of gnashing of teeth over Kelly's departure; most of us knew he had hit his ceiling, but there was plenty of angst over who the next coach should be. I'm sure glad he's our coach now, but I was pretty damned nervous about our prospects when they hired him.

I can only speak for myself but I was bullish on MF's hiring from Day 1, and I have posted many times on this board saying so. I don't claim to be telepathic but my gut told me "this is the guy ND has been waiting for." Fingers crossed that on Monday we are national champions again. It has been a long wait.

There was an article posted yesterday on The Athletic website with comments from a half dozen or so coaches (given anonymously) that have gone up against ND, giving their unvarnished thougts as to ND's prospects in beating OSU. I was pleasantly surprised how positive many of those views are. For example:

“Here’s what they are: When you watch them warm up, they are not that impressive physically, but man, they’re tough and they’re gritty,” said a defensive coordinator who also faced ND in the Playoff. “They don’t beat themselves. They are great on special teams and really good on defense. Their offense gives you problems.”

Many of the coaches gushed on Jeremiyah Love and said Riley Leonard is way underrated. He is big. long and a tough guy to bring down, and is way faster than many LBs and DBs think.

I would link the article but it is behind a pay wall. If you are a subscriber to The Athletic, it is well worth the read. I lit up a Cohiba and enjoyed a nice glass of Oban single malt after I read the article. Hopefully I will be doing the same on Monday night!

 

[HDK]

I can only speak for myself but I was bullish on MF's hiring from Day 1, and I have posted many times on this board saying so. I don't claim to be telepathic but my gut told me "this is the guy ND has been waiting for." Fingers crossed that on Monday we are national champions again. It has been a long wait.

There was an article posted yesterday on The Athletic website with comments from a half dozen or so coaches (given anonymously) that have gone up against ND, giving their unvarnished thougts as to ND's prospects in beating OSU. I was pleasantly surprised how positive many of those views are. For example:

“Here’s what they are: When you watch them warm up, they are not that impressive physically, but man, they’re tough and they’re gritty,” said a defensive coordinator who also faced ND in the Playoff. “They don’t beat themselves. They are great on special teams and really good on defense. Their offense gives you problems.”

Many of the coaches gushed on Jeremiyah Love and said Riley Leonard is way underrated. He is big. long and a tough guy to bring down, and is way faster than many LBs and DBs think.

I would link the article but it is behind a pay wall. If you are a subscriber to The Athletic, it is well worth the read. I lit up a Cohiba and enjoyed a nice glass of Oban single malt after I read the article. Hopefully I will be doing the same on Monday night!

I know there were a few who supported Freeman from Day 1, including Golson. I had nothing against him or nothing for him. I thought he was okay as a defensive coordinator; no better than Clark Lea. I found it to be a truly risky move to make him head coach with so little experience. I knew the players were excited, but, from all accounts, they loved Terry Brennan, too.

I will track down the Athletic article. I hope a miracle happens. It would be the biggest Notre Dame win in my lifetime (and I'm 67 and was born six weeks after ND ended Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak).

 

[chaseball]

I can only speak for myself but I was bullish on MF's hiring from Day 1, and I have posted many times on this board saying so. I don't claim to be telepathic but my gut told me "this is the guy ND has been waiting for." Fingers crossed that on Monday we are national champions again. It has been a long wait.

There was an article posted yesterday on The Athletic website with comments from a half dozen or so coaches (given anonymously) that have gone up against ND, giving their unvarnished thougts as to ND's prospects in beating OSU. I was pleasantly surprised how positive many of those views are. For example:

“Here’s what they are: When you watch them warm up, they are not that impressive physically, but man, they’re tough and they’re gritty,” said a defensive coordinator who also faced ND in the Playoff. “They don’t beat themselves. They are great on special teams and really good on defense. Their offense gives you problems.”

Many of the coaches gushed on Jeremiyah Love and said Riley Leonard is way underrated. He is big. long and a tough guy to bring down, and is way faster than many LBs and DBs think.

I would link the article but it is behind a pay wall. If you are a subscriber to The Athletic, it is well worth the read. I lit up a Cohiba and enjoyed a nice glass of Oban single malt after I read the article. Hopefully I will be doing the same on Monday night!

Good post thanks for sharing the quotes/info

 

[HarlemIrish]

I was all good with what BK said until...

I wasn’t leaving Notre Dame because I couldn’t win a championship. You can win championships at Notre Dame, but I chose another path because I wanted a different challenge.”

Cool story

Correct. BK, be honest. Prior to NIL , the SEC seemed to be the clear path to a title. Just my humble opinion, NIL eliminated sec bag man?

 

[savvyandsassier]

I remember in 2012, before ND was going to play Alabama in the BCSCG, Brian Kelly mentioned Charlie Weis wrote him a congratulatory note, There is way too much animosity and schadenfraude. Other than rooting for someone to lose to secure a spot in the CFP. What's gained by rooting for others to fail?

If in fact Brian Kelly, is legit pulling for the DC he hired on at ND M Freeman, one of his old coaching buddies, M Denbrock, and for some of the guys that were recruited to ND under his tenure (X Watts, T Baker, R Mills, J Thomas, D Colzie, R Spindler, M Evans, P Coogan, T Buchner, G Rubio, J Kiser, and H Cross III) to win a National Championship, something he failed to do, That is pretty mature and cool in my book

You mean like, in his heart, where no one can tell for sure what he's thinking? I don't know, he's got problems of his own right now trying to make a go of it at LSU, and he isn't out of the woods yet. Given all the incredibly toxic animosity and loathing he's been on the receiving end from the larger ND nation, to a really heavy duty, disturbing degree, my guess is he's trying not to think about it, the champonship game and all.

As far as his actual legacy at ND, I'm sure he feels great about it, why wouldn't he? And his ego, with ND in the final, three playoff wins in a row, one more to go, yeah, he did recruit like, half the players on this roster. That's a matter of fact. He will probably feel a little personal pride, no sane person would ever consider this season anything else than finishing of what BK started, and the culmination of the foundation he laid. And then wait for the next wave of relentless, hate-filled BK bashing that will sweep the internet in the wake of it. It comes from all quarters now, but principally coming out of ND, the school where he is the all-time winning coach.

 

[BGI User 756]

You mean like, in his heart, where no one can tell for sure what he's thinking? I don't know, he's got problems of his own right now trying to make a go of it at LSU, and he isn't out of the woods yet. Given all the incredibly toxic animosity and loathing he's been on the receiving end from the larger ND nation, to a really heavy duty, disturbing degree, my guess is he's trying not to think about it, the champonship game and all.

As far as his actual legacy at ND, I'm sure he feels great about it, why wouldn't he? And his ego, with ND in the final, three playoff wins in a row, one more to go, yeah, he did recruit like, half the players on this roster. That's a matter of fact. He will probably feel a little personal pride, no sane person would ever consider this season anything else than finishing of what BK started, and the culmination of the foundation he laid. And then wait for the next wave of relentless, hate-filled BK bashing that will sweep the internet in the wake of it. It comes from all quarters now, but principally coming out of ND, the school where he is the all-time winning coach.

It’s pretty simple. He is changing his tune …again. and he wants us to not believe what we heard with our own ears and saw with our own eyes (reminds you of the past 4 years).

And might want to recheck the roster. BK may have contacted about 2 dozen of the scholarship players on the current team. The team is loaded with frosh-soph-junior players that were not committed when he skipped town while on the recruiting trip in 2021. Add the in double digits for both portal players and walkons over last 3 years, it might be less than 20% of “his players” on the team (easily the long timers like Kiser and Mills and Watts)