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I'll take Gerry Faust over Brian Kelly eight days a week

Kelly may be a bit of an asshole, but the man could coach. I was happy to have him after the Dave/Willingham/Weis purgatory.

That being said coaching in the SEC is a different animal (and the reverse is true). Not surprised he is struggling a bit.

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2010 and 2011 should have been BCS bowl teams, but Kelly's stubborn methods of trying to ram square pegs into round holes cost us several wins each year. I'm still pissed at his trying to make Dayne Crist run his offense in a spread-option, run first manner, when we had all of the parts in place for an excellent downfield passing game. That led to his getting his knee blown out, and he was never the same after that.

2012 season is one that I give him full credit for, although Lady Luck was certainly on our side that year, until the end. The funny thing is, that we would have beaten either Kansas State or Oregon, but both of them choked at the end. Alabama was easily the best team in the nation, though, which is why I grudgingly accept that season was about as successful as possible.

2013 should have been a BCS bowl team, possibly even a NC game team, but Everett Golson's actions in the off-season cost us dearly. Still, I give him credit for squeezing out a 9 win season with a MAC backup level quarterback.

2014 could have easily been a NY6 bowl team if the defense weren't so putrid, and the injuries weren't so rampant. His refusal to get rid of Van Gorder cost us at least 4 wins that year.

2015 should have been a playoff team, at the very least, given how much NFL talent was on that roster. Again, Van Gorder's inpetitude cost us at least two games.

2016 should have been a NY6 bowl team as well for the same reasons as 2014. 3 games were lost on special teams blunders, and 5 due to a putrid defense. By all rights, we should have lost the Miami game as well, due to the special teams blunders.



The sheer number of injuries during Kelly 1.0 was astounding, and that was when Paul Longo was at least functional. We actually scared away several recruits (the other St. Brown brothers, especially) when they saw how many knee injuries were just spontaneously occurring.

In 2015 and 2016, Longo was barely even on the premises. His assistants were basically running the program, trying to do what Longo would previously have done. Kelly knew that Longo's health was terrible, but did nothing to replace his good friend with someone better.

It's no coincidence that when we finally got a decent S&C coach in 2017, that the team became much healthier, stronger, etc.

He had 9 multi game losing streaks in his first 7 seasons at ND, and had 2 of these in his first three seasons at LSU

Marcus Freeman is in his 4th season ever coaching and just had his 2nd such losing streak

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Applaud Kelly for what he did. It can’t be denied that he rebuilt a moribund program. But that’s it… Now down to the brass tacks. Kelly is the quintessential Boomer brat…an “all-about-me” prick, with no real feeling for or understanding of Notre Dame, of right or wrong, or of his own limitations. But because of the new norms, where values have been redefined by those to whom the old rules apparently seem frightening, Kelly and the others like him not only survive but laugh at the rest of us, and do very well for themselves… That’s the world now.

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whatever Michigan called the QB who didn’t tie his shoe laces, look like a Heisman candidate in 2010 & 2011 instead.

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I think winning out puts us on the bubble.

I think we likely get in at 10-2, just because there are always gonna be 2 loss teams in a 12+ team Playoff and there aren't any 2 loss teams above us, but I wouldn't consider it a sure thing.

There are currently 8 1-loss teams above us, so how many of them drop below us with a 2nd loss vs how many don't take a second loss

Then there are 12 unbeaten teams, maybe 3-4 of them fall below us with first loss, but the rest we need to lose 2-3 games.

So yeah, we got our work cut out AND need some help.

If we keep laying like last week there is little doubt we can win 8 straight more. Seemed odd we only jumped one slot though after beating up on an SEC team by 43 points. Not a lot of respect for what we did.

They probably think we are better than where they have us ranked, but don't want to rush and move us back up too soon. At least not until we create some distance in the rear view from those "two losses"...at the end of the day 2 losses is still 2 losses and its hard to complain about your spot when you're the highest ranked 2 loss team.

If we're sitting at 5-2 after USC, I bet we'll make a move up into the top 15, then it's just a matter of attrition.

They need to beat Michigan to regain standing and drop Michigan down even further

The pros:

He has a very high floor, and can build a program and get it to regular top 10 contention.

He is one of the best out there at finding underrated players, and turning them into very fine collegiate performers, and yes, even into NFL players.




The cons:

His ceiling doesn't extend much further than his floor. Beating the best of the best only happens once in a blue moon, at best, and only when circumstances are in his favor (Clemson 2020, during the regular season).

He has a very difficult time developing highly rated prospects.

He throws people under the bus, instead of taking responsibility.

He plays his favorites all too often, choosing to stick with the low ceiling safe choice. He won't hesitate to yank someone in favor of his RKG instead of giving that guy a second chance.



I'm not even including his temper, along with letting some of the better players rot on the bench, or how his loyalty to his cronies would keep terrible assistants on his staff (Longo, Van Gorder, etc).

slightly above average win % vs comparable teams (ranked 11-25), atrocious win % vs teams ranked in top 10, and had never in 22 seasons as an FBS HC beaten a Top 15 team in the post-season

54-9 backs it up. He took us to the national title game and to the playoffs. That's pretty good, even if you hate the guy.

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