Hey boys and girls: Just got back home to Cabo from my trip to Los Angeles to have a lunch with Coach Kelly last Thursday. Here's my report.
My brother Bill (also an ND grad) and myself sat at Coach Kelly's table at the Los Angeles ND Club's fund raiser lunch. Apparently the ND club that ranks highest among all clubs in a number of categories gets a few benefits, one of which is having Coach Kelly speak at one of their fund raisers. Well, the LA club ranked numbero Uno so they had the pleasure of doing a fund raising lunch. Bill bought the tickets to the event and even "sprang" for the "Coaches Table". Wow, what a neat day. We got there early, even before the place opened, and staked out seats at the table, not really knowing where the Coach would sit. As it turned out the coach ended up sitting right next to me. Wow. Before the lunch began, our tickets allowed us to be be in the VIP lounge...with appetizers and mixed drinks. It was fun talking to all of the other ND guys...can't believe how many ND Law School grads were there...all practicing law in the LA area. Billl and I spent a lot of time talking to Johnny Huarte, what a class guy. The highlight of the VIP event was the opportunity to have our pictures taken with the Coach...can't wait to get them.
The luncheon was your typical "rubber chicken" affair. At our table, the conversations were really pretty much generic general topics. The following are a couple of football topics that came up at the table.
Coach Kelly is absolutely opposed to the "Satellite Camp" concept. He views these events as a "road show" and has no interest in doing them. His attitude is he wants the kids on Campus for them to fully participate in the experience ND experience. He wants the kids to come out of the ND visit with a "Wow"...when can I get back to Campus. The satellite camps just do not provide this.
He was questioned about the defense!!! Basically, he said the issued centered around the 3-4 vs. the 4-3 schemes. When they made the decision to make the transition to the 4-3 it meant a complete "retooling" of the type of kids they recruited. He said that they have now completed the retooling and the defense is "really good". His words, not mine!
He talked about the RKG and if they recruit them everything else will take care of itself. The kids need to have "intrinsic values" and be committed to the ND value system.
In talking about recruiting, he feels that they have made very good inroads into recruiting top kids from California.
Looking at my notes, I think this is when the Coach began his talk to the audience. By the way, the Club was having a silent auction during the entire program for a number of different ND objects. My brother Bill was feverishly going after the two autographed footballs.
Coach Kelly started off by saying that the School's ability to pay for parents transportation for official visits is going to be "hugh" for ND. He then talked about the skill sets of each of the QB's. Pretty much the same thing that we read all of the time in the blogs. One point he did make and it was crystal clear is that Winbush will "red shirt" this coming year. He then talked about injuries and how we can get better in reducing them. He said they are trying to bring "science" into the equation and I got the idea that the measurement will be at the individual player level. It was pretty heady stuff on how this will happen. Apparently, they recently brought someone on board that is going to work this scientific approach. They want to place more emphasis on mobility and flexibility. The Coach was asked about how his half time speeches differ between when they are winning or losing at that point. If losing, his focus is on building up the confidence of the players that they can do it. If they are winning, it harder as there will be more "brow beating". He then spent a lot of time on the defense and, as noted above, he felt they were caught "in between" with 3-4 personnel and had to retool to get the 4-3 kids. He said they now have the right kids to play and that they are now "close to being really good". In passing he did mention that Todd Lyght fully paid back his scholarship money to ND. He is really proud of the two ND guys on his coaching staff. Someone asked him who was his favorite ND football coach...his answer was that Lew Holtz was an amazing man and coach but his favorite was Ara, whom he describes as an incredible coach and man. He mentioned that Ara still sends him notes after each game which is quite remarkable for a 93 year old gentlemen. My last note was that someone asked him about a "full house" backfield. Brian's response was that the type of guys needed for fullback are now playing defense and he doesn't want them to take time from defensive practice to do the fullback think. Got the feeling that we won't see any fullback plays in ND's future. Well, that pretty much covers the major points made during his speech. I'm sure that I've left out some stuff and sure that someone else at the event will be posting here also.
Oh, by the way Bill successfully bid for both of the footballs, one of which was autographed: To Marty, Go Irish. Brian Kelly. I think that I died and went to Heaven and will be eternally grateful to my brother. Love you Bill
Go Irish...Beat Texas.
My brother Bill (also an ND grad) and myself sat at Coach Kelly's table at the Los Angeles ND Club's fund raiser lunch. Apparently the ND club that ranks highest among all clubs in a number of categories gets a few benefits, one of which is having Coach Kelly speak at one of their fund raisers. Well, the LA club ranked numbero Uno so they had the pleasure of doing a fund raising lunch. Bill bought the tickets to the event and even "sprang" for the "Coaches Table". Wow, what a neat day. We got there early, even before the place opened, and staked out seats at the table, not really knowing where the Coach would sit. As it turned out the coach ended up sitting right next to me. Wow. Before the lunch began, our tickets allowed us to be be in the VIP lounge...with appetizers and mixed drinks. It was fun talking to all of the other ND guys...can't believe how many ND Law School grads were there...all practicing law in the LA area. Billl and I spent a lot of time talking to Johnny Huarte, what a class guy. The highlight of the VIP event was the opportunity to have our pictures taken with the Coach...can't wait to get them.
The luncheon was your typical "rubber chicken" affair. At our table, the conversations were really pretty much generic general topics. The following are a couple of football topics that came up at the table.
Coach Kelly is absolutely opposed to the "Satellite Camp" concept. He views these events as a "road show" and has no interest in doing them. His attitude is he wants the kids on Campus for them to fully participate in the experience ND experience. He wants the kids to come out of the ND visit with a "Wow"...when can I get back to Campus. The satellite camps just do not provide this.
He was questioned about the defense!!! Basically, he said the issued centered around the 3-4 vs. the 4-3 schemes. When they made the decision to make the transition to the 4-3 it meant a complete "retooling" of the type of kids they recruited. He said that they have now completed the retooling and the defense is "really good". His words, not mine!
He talked about the RKG and if they recruit them everything else will take care of itself. The kids need to have "intrinsic values" and be committed to the ND value system.
In talking about recruiting, he feels that they have made very good inroads into recruiting top kids from California.
Looking at my notes, I think this is when the Coach began his talk to the audience. By the way, the Club was having a silent auction during the entire program for a number of different ND objects. My brother Bill was feverishly going after the two autographed footballs.
Coach Kelly started off by saying that the School's ability to pay for parents transportation for official visits is going to be "hugh" for ND. He then talked about the skill sets of each of the QB's. Pretty much the same thing that we read all of the time in the blogs. One point he did make and it was crystal clear is that Winbush will "red shirt" this coming year. He then talked about injuries and how we can get better in reducing them. He said they are trying to bring "science" into the equation and I got the idea that the measurement will be at the individual player level. It was pretty heady stuff on how this will happen. Apparently, they recently brought someone on board that is going to work this scientific approach. They want to place more emphasis on mobility and flexibility. The Coach was asked about how his half time speeches differ between when they are winning or losing at that point. If losing, his focus is on building up the confidence of the players that they can do it. If they are winning, it harder as there will be more "brow beating". He then spent a lot of time on the defense and, as noted above, he felt they were caught "in between" with 3-4 personnel and had to retool to get the 4-3 kids. He said they now have the right kids to play and that they are now "close to being really good". In passing he did mention that Todd Lyght fully paid back his scholarship money to ND. He is really proud of the two ND guys on his coaching staff. Someone asked him who was his favorite ND football coach...his answer was that Lew Holtz was an amazing man and coach but his favorite was Ara, whom he describes as an incredible coach and man. He mentioned that Ara still sends him notes after each game which is quite remarkable for a 93 year old gentlemen. My last note was that someone asked him about a "full house" backfield. Brian's response was that the type of guys needed for fullback are now playing defense and he doesn't want them to take time from defensive practice to do the fullback think. Got the feeling that we won't see any fullback plays in ND's future. Well, that pretty much covers the major points made during his speech. I'm sure that I've left out some stuff and sure that someone else at the event will be posting here also.
Oh, by the way Bill successfully bid for both of the footballs, one of which was autographed: To Marty, Go Irish. Brian Kelly. I think that I died and went to Heaven and will be eternally grateful to my brother. Love you Bill
Go Irish...Beat Texas.
