OT: D1

[EdinboroFB]

Tough to pick a school and not a coach when playing football. Coaches have the biggest control and impact on your life for the time youre in school playing football. They pretty much control your life for 4-5 years. And they can be cool or the biggest *******s. They might like you and see your potential or dislike you and think your a waste of money and not helping them look good.

Kelly is a bigger loss for ND than a lot seem to think IMO. The program hasnt been dominant since the Lou Holtz run in the late 80s to early 90s. The program was 16-21 the three seasons before he took over under Charlie Weis. Kelly's last 5 years ND is 54-9 and all 5 years over 10 wins. Kelly wins everywhere he goes.

It's another reason it's good the players can move around more now. Coaches hate it because they lose some power. I know a guy that played at a Big 8 school back in the day. He graduated in 4 years and got beat out by a juco in the spring. He wanted to transfer but the coach wouldnt ok it so he decided not to play his 5th year. He wouldve been able to grad transfer now. The coach couldve left but he was at the coaches mercy.

[IUPNation]

ESPN reporting Brian Kelly met with his players this morning for 11 minutes and then left for LSU. He will not coach the Irish should they make the playoff.


Should a coach be contractually required to finish a season before moving along? Kelly just gave a big middle finger to Notre Dame. Hard to fathom.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

When Todd 'Hammer Down' Graham left Pitt ... he sent a group text to the team while on board the jet to Arizona. I would have loved to read some of the replies.

The Brian Kelly move is just quite extraordinary. I think he's the first coach to ever leave Notre Dame on his own accord for another job, not to mention being No. 6 and having a shot at the Final Four.

We'll see how well his act plays down in the Bayou.

[Fightingscot82]

When Todd 'Hammer Down' Graham left Pitt ... he sent a group text to the team while on board the jet to Arizona. I would have loved to read some of the replies.

The Brian Kelly move is just quite extraordinary. I think he's the first coach to ever leave Notre Dame on his own accord for another job, not to mention being No. 6 and having a shot at the Final Four.

We'll see how well his act plays down in the Bayou.

I know he's getting paid but I don't think that's a big enough jump in pay to justify a) bailing on your team mid-season, and b) jumping into a meat grinder of a conference full of fanbases who believe in any given year they're in it for the national championship.

[CHIP72]

Kelly is a bigger loss for ND than a lot seem to think IMO. The program hasn't been dominant since the Lou Holtz run in the late 80s to early 90s. The program was 16-21 the three seasons before he took over under Charlie Weis. Kelly's last 5 years ND is 54-9 and all 5 years over 10 wins. Kelly wins everywhere he goes.

I agree with this. Brian Kelly was the best coach Notre Dame has had since Lou Holtz, and IMO a very good coach at/for Notre Dame in absolute terms. With the dramatic shift over the last 20-25 years from program-centric to conference-centric college football, plus Notre Dame's ties to the ACC, they aren't in nearly a strong a spot in the college football landscape now as they were before about the year 2000. Before then Notre Dame was arguably THE marquee program in college football, and had been so for many years. (Other teams would temporarily hold the honor when Notre Dame was down, but if Notre Dame was good they got the most attention of the top programs.) Now Notre Dame is just A marquee college football program, but not higher on the marquee than some teams in the SEC and Big Ten (especially Ohio State in the latter case).

Whoever replaces Kelly at Notre Dame will have big shoes to fill IMO.

[Fightingscot82]

New vacancies:

Butler (FCS)
Fresno State
New Hampshire (FCS)

[ctrabs74]

ESPN reporting Brian Kelly met with his players this morning for 11 minutes and then left for LSU. He will not coach the Irish should they make the playoff.


Should a coach be contractually required to finish a season before moving along? Kelly just gave a big middle finger to Notre Dame. Hard to fathom.

In a perfect world, there would be a hiring freeze until after the CFP Championship game so coaches who intend to leave can at least honor their commitment to their current team until the end of current season (looking at you, Lincoln Riley). Unfortunately, we're in a world where college sports is run by the NCAA and we have an early signing period that takes place during Bowl Season so it's probably not going to happen.

[ctrabs74]

It will always be a stepping stone position. Matt Rhule used it on his way to the NFL. Bruce Arians was once the head coach there.

They could have a decent Group of 5 program. The school was on board to have an on campus stadium but that seems to have gone quiet.

The neighbors in North Philly had a lot to do with hindering an on-campus stadium for Temple, as I recall.

[ctrabs74]

Less than 24 hours after saying he's not leaving Oklahoma ... Lincoln Riley is expected to be named the new HC at USC within 24 hours.

D-bag move by a d-bag coach. Never particularly cared for No-U dating back to the Switzer days. Hell, they're probably heading back to the dark days between Switzer and Stoops down in Norman (and I can't wait ... lol).

[ctrabs74]

There's some chatter on sports talk in Dallas that one reason behind Brian Kelly bailing for Baton Rouge was that RND wasn't willing to "keep up with the Jones'" as far as salary was concerned. RND is going to have to commit a boatload of money to even get a semi-credible candidate to take over in South Bend.

[IUPNation]

There's some chatter on sports talk in Dallas that one reason behind Brian Kelly bailing for Baton Rouge was that RND wasn't willing to "keep up with the Jones'" as far as salary was concerned. RND is going to have to commit a boatload of money to even get a semi-credible candidate to take over in South Bend.

Their TV contract expires in 3 years s why should NBC renew it? They are the National school they were 60 years ago when there were a lot of Catholics in Catholic schools and Real Notre Dame was the top place to land.

They should have joined the BIG when the chance was there and now they have to join the ACC at some point.

[Fightingscot82]

Their TV contract expires in 3 years s why should NBC renew it? They are the National school they were 60 years ago when there were a lot of Catholics in Catholic schools and Real Notre Dame was the top place to land.

They should have joined the BIG when the chance was there and now they have to join the ACC at some point.

Their games still generate huge ratings. Some of that has to be because they're on a broadcast network every week. They're averaging almost 3.5M viewers per game.

[ctrabs74]

Their games still generate huge ratings. Some of that has to be because they're on a broadcast network every week. They're averaging almost 3.5M viewers per game.

Other than one of their home games being streamed on NBC's Peacock service (the Toledo game, IINM), that's correct. If they're not at home (NBC), then the Four Letter Nitwits/ABC is usually carrying their games on one of their networks. I honestly can't recall a RND road game ever airing on Fox/FS1 in recent years, though I could be wrong.

Since RND is connected to the ACC in other sports, that means the football program would likely be locked into what's turning into a pretty crappy TV deal with the FLNs until 2035. Maybe Nation is right that RND should've joined the B1G when they had the chance to do so, given what that league has turned into (really, the #2 league behind the SEC in football). At least the rest of the B1G would've been spared from the spare additions that turned out to be Rutgers or Maryland (more likely Rutgers, because at least Maryland has been marginally competitive in football, more so than the Spare University of Joisey).

But, as long as the brainiacs in South Bend are stubborn enough to remain independent, don't count on the Domers being in a national playoff discussion, barring (the inevitable) expansion.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Their games still generate huge ratings. Some of that has to be because they're on a broadcast network every week. They're averaging almost 3.5M viewers per game.

No doubt they still get good ratings. But, America is getting older, too. The Irish's glory days IUP Nation mentioned ... probably has some truth to it. I'm not sure ND is quite the big deal it used to be -- especially to younger audiences.

Can the next guy elevate ND higher than Brian Kelly did? I have doubts. Compared to most at their level, they have very stringent academic standards for admission. Freshmen must take (and pass) calculus. Their facilities aren't on par with the true elite programs. Notre Dame Stadium is historic, but it's essentially a relic to a different time. South Bend, aside from the ND campus, is a dump.

Notre Dame will always be good ... providing they don't hire another high school coach. But, do today's 4- and 5-star players still see it the way those same players did in the 90s? I don't think so.

[Fightingscot82]

No doubt they still get good ratings. But, America is getting older, too. The Irish's glory days IUP Nation mentioned ... probably has some truth to it. I'm not sure ND is quite the big deal it used to be -- especially to younger audiences.

Can the next guy elevate ND higher than Brian Kelly did? I have doubts. Compared to most at their level, they have very stringent academic standards for admission. Freshmen must take (and pass) calculus. Their facilities aren't on par with the true elite programs. Notre Dame Stadium is historic, but it's essentially a relic to a different time. South Bend, aside from the ND campus, is a dump.

Notre Dame will always be good ... providing they don't hire another high school coach. But, do today's 4- and 5-star players still see it the way those same players did in the 90s? I don't think so.

I'd argue that their ratings were surprisingly awesome. A bunch of their games this year are top 5 with 1 or 2 being the most watched game of the week. Their game against Florida State was watched by 7.5 million people. Not surprisingly, their least watched game was against Navy, but that still drew almost 1.5 million.

I agree that ND isn't what it was to Boomers and older folks. I also agree that I'd be surprised if ND can improve on what Brian Kelly is doing. I truly believe he's one of the top 5 coaches. There's a reason he's won EVERYWHERE he's coached.