Correct I don't believe defense has been the problem, but if Elston wasn't the guy 3 years ago, wasn't the guy 2 years ago- why would he be the guy now? What's changed
I honestly think Rees does have the potential to be very good. But Notre Dame - at this point in the program - should not be a place for on the job training. It would’ve been perfectly fine keeping Rees as the QB Coach and Pass Game coordinator under a more seasoned, proven OC. Elston is a guy we’ve passed up for years because he doesn’t have the Xs and Os acumen. And unlike Rees, I’ve never heard any hype around Elston’s potential in the DC role. This feels like settling on a guy because a he’s close to our Head Coach and has been on staff for awhile. When looking at other top programs around the country, they get into bidding wars for super high ceiling assistants and employ guys who end up going and getting top tier HC jobs thereafter. It’s a bad sign when ND wants Tommy Rees or Mike Elston to be their coordinators when no other top programs (save Purdue) want those guys. It’s like settling on “diamond in the rough” 3 star recruits that nobody else offered and hoping they have 5 star production. Is it possible? Sure. But I’d still rather land the 5 stars every time.
Like I said before, Elston is not the same coach now that he was in 2016 or 2018, there's no way he can be. I totally understand why BK went with Elko in 2016. He needed a proven DC outside the program because the program was broken. In 2018, we had seen exactly 1 year of the Elko defense and it's clear BK liked what he saw so he wanted to keep it. So he hired Lea and that was the right hire even though he had zero coordinator experience because he fit with everyone else at ND and he understood Elko's defense the next best. Elston got to learn under Elko and Lea for 4 total years. I'm sure he's learned quite a bit from both of them and he fully understands the defense and he's probably the most qualified guy on the staff to run it now. So passing on him in 2016 and 2018 made total sense for what BK wanted, but it's 2021 now and people learn and grow. It's clear Freeman is the top choice, but no one can make him come to ND. If it's a $ issues, that's not on BK either. So to use your recruiting analogy, Freeman is the 5 star everyone wants but like 5 star recruits, everyone is fighting for them and they get to pick where they want to go so if they pass on your offer, you go to the next guy. If the next guy happens to be Elston, then so be it. Maybe he's a 3 star or maybe he's a 5 star in waiting, who knows? But I don't see how Elston's position is any different than Clark's was 3 years ago.
exactly, he now feels secure and he it looks like he is settling in a comfort zone that is not healthy for the program. chip long and now lea are out, there won’t be a lot of outside influence soon.
I am on wait and see mode though, if it’s elston I won’t jump off a cliff. I think he can be good. it’s definitely a bit suspect that he never got much of a look at dc over the years. With Nd or other teams.
I don’t think Elston should be the next option. I think there are probably five options I’d prefer ahead of Elston. That’s the major issue here. Once Kelly misses on the 5 star, he resorts to the easy 3 star option. It’s a sign of pure complacency.
I echo that it just doesn’t seem like they are trying as hard as they can. That said, I also recognize that being this critical after 40 wins over 4 years is why coaches don’t last too long here.
I don't think Elston will fail. But it's painfully obvious that there is a ceiling on this program right now and Elston does very, very little to elevate that. To be clear, I don't think Freeman would change it very much either, but it would be a sign that they at least know they need to swing for the fences.
That is actually a verifiable positive change that BK probably forced this year. He said in the bama press conference that he knows they can't dick around with HR stuff during coaching searches anymore. Looks like he won that battle.
Given how quick the official announcement was made, this was likely all but done when he left ND. LSU was likely a formality that came with maybe a last request for more money than ND likely gave in to. /speculation
Wow. A lot of folks made this thread rivals worthy over the past 12 hours. You guys owe the rest of us some beers. Glad we landed our man.
Wouldn't be shocked if he does essentially have some handshake right of first refusal HC thing when Kelly steps down in a couple years.
Football scoop saying he was all but signed to LSU until we upped our offer above what Lea was making ($1.6m). Nice.
Since I haven’t been in this thread, I can say with certainty that I never had a doubt about the hire. Knew it the whole time. Didn’t have an offline meltdown in a group chat or anything
Does....does....does this mean our administration is actually willing to do what’s needed to compete??
I don’t even care if this guy ends up sucking. Crazy good vibes about where Nd is heading. Let’s see some of the other changes now