UHND.com - Notre Dame Football, Basketball, & Recruiting

is going? We entered the game undefeated! We aren't on the elite level and that isn't Kelly's fault. At least not totally. Drop the drama and grow a pair.

100 % agree.

If we had hired a new coach after 2016 and gotten these same exact results since, we'd be saying what a great improvement from Kelly, and it would only be a matter of time before he got over the hump and competed equally with the big boys.

The problem is Book is a liability when facing a tough defense. He's just lost. And no, I don't put that all on Kelly and Rees.

6 sacks and the receivers can’t get open. That’s Book’s fault?

Herbstreit even mentioned this, but Book won't pull the trigger. A perfect example on the misfire to Davis: Davis came free, but instead of throwing him the ball immediately, Book took 3-4 more steps before throwing. It's obvious that it takes Book too long to process when his receivers are open, and by the time he realizes it, it's too late to pull the trigger.

one coverage. Throw a 50/50 ball to him and trust that he’ll win it. That’s the benefit of having bigger receivers. No, they won’t always get the separation you’d want but they have a larger catch radius and should win most of those one on one battles.

More likely that you have the roles reversed.

Also what you don't seem to understand is that if we hired a new coach after '16, next year would be his 5th season (when you typically expect a coach to have his program fully peaking) so if he had these results his first 4 years that would be very impressive and encouraging for the future.

Kelly passed this milestone 6-7 years ago... when you consider that Kelly NEVER had back to back good seasons prior to these 3 seasons that Book has been the starter, it's a legitimate concern that we might be right back to up and down seasons after he leaves while Kelly is in year 12, 13, 14...

Book takes too long to recognize when receivers are open. Game after game after game he refuses to pull the trigger numerous times, and it hurts us against elite defenses. So it actually speaks well of our offensive talent. Put a top 10 college QB on Notre Dame and this game would have been close.

(no message)

(no message)

but the next time we roll into a high-stakes game with a great record, I'm sure there'll be no shortage of people thinking that "things will be different this time."

Charlie Brown did not learn, we Irish fans will not either.

(no message)

Well who else can beat Clemson and Bama. unless we get a generational QB we can’t beat Clemson who keeps getting the best QBS in the country.

(no message)

(no message)

Could a better coach really do much better?

The truth is ND will never be able to match Bama/Clemson man-for-man with talent. The school decided to go in a different direction.

That's why Lou left and Urban never came.

Once the Administration accepted losing, we dropped to at least 2nd tier. And it won’t get one bit better. Unless, of course, the Big teams slip a few notches. Good season. Same results

(no message)

These kids obviously don’t want to play the best, they were all hoping to lose today apparently.

(no message)

He knew after the ass kicking in the cotton bowl that the program needed an elite offensive coordinator and 2-3 maniacs who could recruit and win players who ND offers, and pursues but does not normally gets. THAT has been my biggest pet peeve with him. They have whiffed on an absurd amount of highly rated "ND fits" who are in the top 150 OA range at DE, WR and RB for too many years. Meyer at ND isn't going to get a number 1 class each year but there's no excuse to have arguable at most two five stars on this entire roster. That is a Kelly issue, not an institutional limit. Those are correctable, and not one which Notre Dame needs to alter. Lowering academic standards won't fix ANYTHING if just about all of your coaches aren't all that great at it to begin with.

His inability to attract a top tier QB is 50% of the problem

Any top tier QB today would have made that a much closer game

(no message)

They miss 5 star recruits too. Except it doesn't matter because they can can sign two other five stars who are just as good if not better than the one they missed. You can't say the same here. There simply aren't enough "ND fits" out there.

I'm not saying Brian is Saban. Far from it. But, I do think he'd be worth at least one NC win with Saban's talent.

But his hit rate on those players has been so absurdly small for so many years now it's clear he never has prioritized it like he should have years ago. For ten years now, they are late build relationships, lack aggressive and proven recruiters with a history of landing top talent and have a seemingly disorganized operation. I read all the time on the rivals and 247 boards about how ND hasn't been in contact with, or pursued, or fought for top players they offer early. It just makes no sense unless you don't think it's an issue-which it clearly has been now for years.

They haven't been perusing top guys because they didn't think they could compete for them. BK is a decent coach but he's his own worst enemy. Get rid of him and get on with it.

Kelly has brought ND a notch above Davie/Willingham/Weis but nothing more. Time to get the coach that can take us to the next level. It certainly ain't Kelly.

(no message)

(no message)