Marcus Freeman, obviously in WAY over his head, is Jack Swarbrick’s failure.
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Mike, the timing of Kelly’s departure, a week or so removed from his pledge to remain at ND left us with an almost non-existent list of head coaching candidates.
Swarbrick’s mistake was in not hiring an interim coach.
He went all in on an inexperience, untested defensive co-ordinator..
it’s Deja Vu all over again !
But….. this team loses to FSU. This team probably loses to Toledo. And maybe even Purdue. Hell I’m not sure Wisconsin goes their way.
Swarbricks first mistake was signing Rees BEFORE hiring a Head Coach.
3 years? What if he’s 5-7 this season and next? You’d give him a 3rd? Crazy.
Your theory about “Kelly having an escape plan” is goofy.
The roster is strong. It’s a Top 15 roster. Stop trying to spin it any other way.
I would agree, but the timing of Kelly’s abandonment put ND in a terrible position and they needed to stabilize the ship, so they retained an important component
What successful coach in their right mind is going to take HC job with the condition that the OC from the departing HC remains on staff? NONE!!
Quite a few, but I agree in principle that the HC should pick his OC.
But, Lets not forget your reference to the MF press Conference where MF admits that he knows nothing about offense.
At that late hour who could MF have chosen as his OC ?
Chances are that MF would have retained TR had he had the freedom to pick his own OC.
Who knew the ND personnel and offense better than TR ?
That's fine, but Jack should have let MF make that choice. Now we have a very awkward situation where the offense is one of the worst in college football, and the OC was hired by the head coaches boss. It's like being in charge of of the owners son and the kid is a terrible employee. How do you fire him?
1. You don’t know if Jack and Marcus had that discussion and MF agreed to it
2. The OC had been highly successful in prior years
3. Your analogy is terribly flawed because TR was a very good OC
TR has shown nothing without Kelly. He's a fraud. His offenses can't score more than 14 points against one of the worst defenses in college football.
With Kelly. He's a fraud, kelly ran the offense we all knew this.
We do based on Jack's timeline. He said himself his first order of business was to secure Rees.
So it’s your position that Kelly, NOT Rees was calling the plays in previous years ?
I’ll repeat, you don’t know if MF was involved in those talks and agreed that acquiring Rees was a first priority given that MF had no previous offensive experience
It's my position that Kelly had his fingerprints all over the offense. May be not call all plays, but i'm confident he game planned the offense, called plays at critical points in games, and made in game adjustments for Rees.
What proof do you have to support your allegations ?
Game plans are usually a collective process involving other members of the staff
what proof do you have to support your position? You haven't provided any.
I have via December 2021 article, that you dismiss as stale and outdated, yet you provide ZERO proof of your position.
So you don’t have any proof !
My semi-proof is called “Common Sense” and an understanding of football operations at the highest level along with knowing the administrative responsibilities assigned to a head coach
Not being intimately involved in the offense would be a dereliction of his professional duties.
Drove that Ferrari right into a tree, backed up then drove it off a cliff.
I would bet my soul that there are high school coaches that would be 5-1 right now with the talent on this team and the terrible competition we’ve lost to.
Your kidding? Freeman is already a train wreck. He is clearly in over his head. Did you see his post game press conference? Absolutely clueless.
And I think that he knows that he’s in over his head and that’s why I feel sorry for him.
it’s not an envious position to be in.
Again, I posted in another thread a link to an article. I suggest you read it. The quotes about Rees finally having his opportunity to run the offense without Kelly.
Kelly left around November 30, a little over two weeks before early signing day. If he had waited until later, he would have been leaving recruits high and dry, Not only that, but if he left after early signing day by rule that would have opened an abilty for recruits to go elsewhere with no chance for ND to replace them, He also owed it to LSU to get there before early signing day. Same thing happened with Riley and will happen with all coaches in the future; they will leave between the end of the season and ESD.
I believe, based on almost nothing, that ND made preserving the recruiting class a priority and so kept Freeman and Rees. The alternative would have been to name Freeman both interim and a candidate and roll the dice with recruits. (SC tried this with Ed O with terrible results but that doesn't mean it would not have worked.)
I thought Freeman was a good hire, not as good IMO as Fickel or Matt Campbell, but good. Although I am no exert on ND, I just can't think of a reason why it would be preforming this way with the talent you have unless it is on the coaches.
I believe, based on almost nothing, that ND made preserving the recruiting class a priority and so kept Freeman and Rees. The alternative would have been to name Freeman both interim and a candidate and roll the dice with recruits. (SC tried this with Ed O with terrible results but that doesn't mean it would not have worked.)
I thought Freeman was a good hire, not as good IMO as Fickel or Matt Campbell, but good. Although I am no exert on ND, I just can't think of a reason why it would be preforming this way with the talent you have unless it is on the coaches.
That article was based on a presser provided before a single snap was made under MF’s tenure, ergo its meaningless.
so what are your thoughts on your support of the Freeman hiring today ?
RECRUITING ?
Compared to whom ?
What VIABLE coaching alternatives did ND have ?
Naming an interim coach would have been the most prudent decision for the long run !
so what are your thoughts on your support of the Freeman hiring today ?
Based on your talent and my belief there haven't been massive system changes with Rees and Freemen still there, I think freemen may well be the problem.
RECRUITING ?
Compared to whom ?
Risking the established great class compared to whatever a new guy could have done in less than tow weeks.
What VIABLE coaching alternatives did ND have ?
Not sure, perhaps the two I mentioned.
Naming an interim coach would have been the most prudent decision for the long run !
I agree, the best move would have been to name Freeman as a candidate and interim coach. I believe Nd was afraid of the impact on recruiting.
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That's not why. They wanted to hire MF. And I can't blame them. I mean I can, and I do, but you can at least understand the appeal. I won't repeat the laundry list of MF's various traits such as they are, but that's what ND fell for, in my strongest opinion. It's just one of those things, right place right time. Serendipity, or something like that.
Only thing is it was a serendipity that's leading the program right back to mediocrity. But ND was willing to take that chance, and now they're paying the price....
Comparing the hire to that of Faust is not without merit. It certainly wasn't that egregious, but it's the same idea. Making a vanity pick on someone they really liked, someone who really got ND and all that jazz. And then getting an unqualified coach in the bargain....
that’s strategy! make them think your clueless and then spring out and pounce upon them! genius! Trust the Plan.
I would love to see the conversation where either one of you say that to his face!
exactly! it is not about winning and losing! it is about how you play the game! lest we forget!
