This would probably be a home run but what are the odds he hates the NFL that much? You already know you’re not gonna pay more.
just don't get so far down the list that ND gets to PJ Fleck pls lmao at thinking John Harbaugh leaves for a college job, almost as insane as the Tomlin to USC nonsense
They probably will, but he's not walking out on his team on the playoffs. The guy is one coach that I think is just wired differently, in a good way.
Someone explain to me why John harbaugh would leave the fucking Baltimore ravens, a perennial playoff team with a young franchise qb to come be a college coach and deal with recruiting.
If they can keep this up and find an elite QB, we’ll see. It’s been the thing Saban/Day/Riley and Dabo understood. Kelly’s best have been Kizer and Book.
no one can- like I said it’s been weirdly hinted at for years that he’s interested in the job. The Harbaughs are weird
His daughter plays on NDs women’s lacrosse team and his name has been floating around our job randomly for the past couple years. It’s one of those weird ND message board rumors that 1,000,000% isn’t happening but let us dream…or not dream cuz idk if he’d even be good.
There used to be the same stuff when UM was open in 2010 and 14 that John could be interested and all that stuff. People randomly mention his name for college jobs every few years and it never means anything. John is literally gifting Jim assistant coaches on his staff trying to help him win at UM. I cannot see a scenario in which John chooses to go to ND to compete against Jim in recruiting. And I don't see why he'd leave one of the best jobs in the NFL where he's been forever at age 59 to go recruit HS kids.
2015 was our best shot and we had a retard coaching our defense 2012 was never talented enough to compete. 2015 was
The last two Playoff teams had it defensively and OL, along with plus level runners but again, those were both started by Ian Book.
he's the hottest coordinator name in football and an elite recruiter on top of that. i don't personally see how he's retained as just the DC when a new coach comes in, either. chip kelly (and mike bellotti before him), bob stoops, lincoln riley, ryan day, and probably many, many others were all promoted from within. if you have the guy, your AD and team know it and you run with him.
ND has quite a bit of scar tissue from doing this with Bob Davie. Granted, part of the issue there was the administration pulled back on academic standards and resources once they pushed Holtz out. But frankly, that could be a concern with Freeman too. If ND makes that hire, it’s the easy, safe one. It also shows they’re not willing to get involved with the college football arms race that’s happening. That’s not a fun feeling for ND fans that saw what happened under Davie.
Things had gone stale with Holtz and there was dysfunction on the staff with the Davie transition. You don't have that this time around.
ND knows Freeman at this point well enough to know if he's ready for the job. If they think he's at least close, he'd have a better chance of success there than at other major programs because he wouldn't have to hire a completely new staff and could keep a lot of the infrastructure in place while he figures it out. I don't know enough about him to know if he's ready for that or not, but if they think he is I don't think that would be a huge risk. And, if you give him that shot and it turns out he's not ready, he's cheaper to move on from than just about any other sitting candidate based on what the market is now.
oregon did it with mark helfrich and it didn't work (after a heisman and a playoff berth, to be fair). sometimes it doesn't work. but cristobal got the job because, like what we see at ND, the players loved him, the smart AD loved him, and everyone (donors) bought into his vision for the program. it damn sure wasn't his failed stint at FIU that gave him the right experience. i think when you have an elite coach on staff, it's very obvious to people who are involved with the program (provided they know how to run a good program). chip basically forced mike bellotti (by far our most successful coach in history at that point) to retire at 57 or something like that. i'm pretty sure riley did something similar to stoops. i would bet that the same thing would've happened to Kelly after another year or so if neither he nor Freeman were poached this offseason.
That’s close to 30 years ago. It’s insane to use that as a comparison given the current landscape of college football
Honestly im just skipping tier 1 here as i dont see it happening (but then again, i didnt see BK leaving happening) but tier 2 and 3 sound just absolutely fine. Hiring Rhule away from the Panthers would be a slam dunk to me, and a clear sign ND means business
Conference at 10 this morning, 247 board saying it’s to announce Freeman as the HC. No clue if that means for now or permanent.
I get they’ve got influence but do players/ex-players ever stump for a good hire? Seems like most of those go pretty poorly.
Care more about whether or not theyre willing to get involved in the college football arms race than I am about him particularly leaving. For better or worse, he’s left the program in the most healthy position it’s been in since the middle of the Holtz tenure.
hell no. i grew up loving nd and i'd bolt for 15 million a year. would have preferred it happened differently, but the world is an imperfect place.
I agree with this. I like BK. Probably more than some fans. The program is light years ahead of where it was, even from five years ago. But yeah, it feels like the right time. He can win at LSU, and I think the right coach with the right approach can build on what he did at ND. If it's Freeman, I'm OK. I'd hate to miss out on him reaching his potential because I think it's through the roof. I just hope, as well, they are committed to staying in the arms race to support him. Paying up to keep Balis would be a big start. Then Freeman would have to make some smart choices on offense to get QB and WR talent levels up closer to where they need to be to take the next step while maintaining the momentum at other positions.
It depends on the hires. But I fully expect Freeman as HC to take a more aggressive approach personally toward to recruiting them, just like we've seen him do with elite defenders. I'm actually excited about that potential. We heard a lot of him saying "why aren't we calling this guy?" in regards to top defenders that prior coaches had written off. He's called them and landed them. It's time to take that approach with offensive skill players.