Which is dog shit. That being said, will ND wrap another mediocre season like that has an improvement under Kelly? That might not even come into play, as 4 losses feels like a longshot (I see 6).
S02 TEMPLE
S09 GEORGIA
S16 @ Boston College
S23 @ Michigan State
S30 MIAMI(OH)
O07 @ North Carolina
O21 SOUTHERN CAL
O28 NORTH CAROLINA STATE
N04 WAKE FOREST
N11 @ Miami(FL)
N18 NAVY
N25 @ Stanford
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So you saw some of this coming, but not the extent.
If the pre-season prediction thread were to be done today, I would probably go with 7 wins in 2017 (or what I think is the bare minimum for Kelly to be back in 2018)
Because of the confidence that game will either instill or take away.
Beat Georgia, and confidence should be sky high and carry them to a 5-0 or 4-1 record. A good start like that will likely get them to 8 or 9 wins by season's end. If they win 9, I can honestly say Kelly deserves to keep his job.
If they lose to Georgia, I see shit spiraling out of control real fast because at 1-1 their confidence will be shot (ND teams always have fragile psyches) and with the challenging road games that immediately follow, they will probably have another 5-7 season. But then it's bye bye Kelly, which is a long-term positive.
I think they lose to Georgia, by the way, meaning 5-7 or 6-6 is most likely.
this game will set the tone for another 4-8 season
Mostly b/c I don't expect ND to beat UGA. I expect wins over Temple and BC. Losing the MSU game would put Kelly on instant lame duck status for the rest of the year. As we saw in 2009, that's not a good thing.
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I was so wrong about this year that I am open to being surprised.
2016 may be the worst season in ND history.
And people on this board think position coaches will a damn bit of difference
And avoid this further embarrassment.
Not that it would get me much time back since I watched the least amount of ND football this year that I have in my life.
But I look forward to an 8-4 season with everyone talking about the 4 win improvement.
I think most here would feel that 8-4 would/should lead to a coaching change.
Most wanted a change this year (myself included) but we didn't get one. No one is happy with where Notre Dame is at right now, but we get 12-14 Notre Dame games a year to look forward to. Nine months out, I myself will try to find some positives so that I have something to look forward to.
And I look forward to good ND football, not bad ND football or purgatory.
With 2 kids now, I doubt I will watch any games unless they are at night and the kids are in bed.
Agree that 2016 is close to the worst but personally still think 2007 is worse because most of those games weren't even competitive.
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But you have conveniently ignored me.
I said a certain number of terrorist acts are sure to be committed by those we let into the country. I never said they would be numerous. A simple search confirms this.
Care to explain the occasions?
Link: Still waiting.
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2007's season is barely worse, when looking at pure W / L, but there was no way that team would have done any better than 4-5 wins, even with a Nick Saban at the helm. That team's junior and senior depth was non-existent.
2016's team, by all rights, had the personnel to get at least 9 wins, but somehow found ways for the defense and special teams to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory during most of those losses.
The 2007 schedule was no gauntlet and one of the biggest reasons that team was so awful was because we wasted how much time trying to learn the spread offense only to scrap it in week 2. The 2007 season was lost in March of that year. There was a lack of a depth in the junior and senior classes, but there was enough talent on that roster to win more than 3 games.
Its one thing to have an inexperienced team. Its another to have an inexperienced team that spends all offseason learning a new offense, only to scrap it after 1 game. ND should have won at least 5 games that year with competent coaching.
That's perhaps the most maddening thing about the 4-8 season....it happened against the easiest schedule ND has played since probably Ara was coach.