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I give Freeman a mulligan for Oklahoma State game - he was practically an interim coach at that point.
The bad parts of his first 2 years were disappointing. Year 1 Marshall was a bad loss. Stanford was a bad loss. Offense in year 1 capped with talent available outside of O-line/TE. Year 2. Outplayed OSU in the loss. Moral victories mean little, but it was the first time in a long time we've played a big boy team and looked superior/comparable at almost every level. Offense capped by QB and WR talent, and a OC hire that fell through. I liked the Hartman grab based on the talent in the QB room. He was basically at his celling already, but could have got us another win or 2 with better WR play and/or injury luck.
He went out an grabbed an Elite OC this offseason. He already has an Elite DC who he locked up with an extension. Riley has much more upside than any QB we've had in a long time. The other QBs are either going to compete or leave. We've restocked with complementary recruiting at every position.
Year 3 - no excuses. 2 full recruiting cycles. His own guys at coordinator positions. He's done well with those items. I agree it could be special
Please describe improvement.
Key phrase is "potential 1st rounder". Sam Hartman never really had that said about him, and I really liked us getting Sam and think he did pretty well. Riley's a thoroughbred who needs polish. 3 years younger, 3 inches taller, and ~3/10ths of a second faster on his 40 than Sam Hartman.
Hartman was a known entity. Dependable, but never going to take over games. Riley could do that.
because that's all we have him for and while it's nice to be able to list ND guys in the NFL, that doesn't help us win games this year...and Riley maybe becoming an All Pro in 5 years doesn't move the needle for me.
Based on what I saw when we played him and the pressure we had on him, I'd say he's better than Hartman at extending plays with his legs (which is a real plus) but otherwise I didn't see anything that made me think he's a better passer than Hartman, or Angeli for that matter.
I'm glad we have him, I'm just not penciling him in and I hope the coaches don't either.
Let the best man win and PLEASE let the #2 STAY!
He could be mediocre here and eventually be a NFL All-Pro, but he wouldn't be as a 1st round pick.
Unless our Defense massively disappoints, a 1st round selection for Riley comes after a great 2024 ND season.
Far more of a running threat than Hartman. If he can complete 60% or better of throws plus be a major threat with his legs, then he has far more upside than Hartman. Also, he has a top -5 O.C. to create plays for him that Hartman did not have.
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It was known before he arrived.
You made it up in your mind before he came, which is why you were so overly critical of everything he did.
On the contrary you made up your mind that Pyne was the guy, so you squinted your eyes when he played poorly and cherry picked stats to paint shit performance as 'good'.
he look good in the Sr. Bowl? No.
I won't even bring up LVU, NC St., and Clem who's DBs owned him... his entire career. Hartman was a turnover machine who was highly overrated but an okay QB.
Feel free to look at the stats not your desired memories whenever you'd like. It's fun knowing when there is no rebuttle, defaul to Pyne. I believe he has a higher ND win percentage than Hartman. Pyne .800 and Hartman .750. LOL.... And Pyne played stiffer competition while here.
Also: here is mediocre to below average in a nutshell: "He (Hartman) went 5-10 against ranked teams, including a 2-2 mark at Notre Dame. Dec 11, 2023"
Link: https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/sports/college/football/2023/12/11/sam-hartman-says-goodbye-to-notre-dame-college-football-record-setting-career-steve-angeli-sun-bowl/71881846007/
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He was a 6th year that benefited from almost 5 full years in passing offense in a weak league. It's pretty easy to put up a lot of TDs in that light. Do the math / 5 and the stats aren't that great.
That's exactly what ND got. We can argue, but nothing supports All-American. Show me the award if so.
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ND needs the W-L side + the signature wins to regain credibility.
If ND goes 11-1 and then loses a first round playoff game,
I don't think that will turn the corner.
11-1 and a strong performance in Round 1 playoff game despite a loss is a strong improvement
show a steady upward climb year over year, which is a great sign for a guy who came in with ZERO HC experience.
I noticed that city if it is such was in the news when that happened.
Funeral was held at large church literally right down the road from us. Very sad.
BTW, ND is playing 4 rather than the standard 3 non-Power teams in 2024.
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Including losing to Ok state he has lost 8 out of 27 or roughly 70% winning record. He is 19-8. He is definitely improving and this year should tell us a lot. Fairly simple schedule. 11-1 or 10-2 should be the floor.
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don't try to fudge his numbers by dropping tosu and Marshall losses from his first season.
If he drops 11 to 12 wins on us this season then we'll have something to talk about.
I actually thought he was trolling this board on Kelly the whole time...
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