*Notre Dame* - On Vacation

I read it four times and still don't get it.

 

It is :

Appears those returns need help those players improve for the next level.

It should be:

Appears that returning would help those players improve for the next level.

 

I take breaks in between writing mortgages and didn’t expect my brain to be fucked up temporarily by Pete Sampson. Haha

 

the recruiting rankings really mean very little this year, some of them seem so off and that's why all the crying on the IrishIllustrated board is ridiculous

 

It was more that last year when the running game was underwhelming it was all Quinn's fault and everyone forgot that under HH how bad we were in short yardage/goal to go situations at times. In other words, there was a lot of assuming that just because we were cranking out NFL prospects that the line always dominated and that was not the case.

 

come on

 

Lol

Just emptying out the account for all the places they'll never go again since there won't be fans.

 

Stop trying to make fetch happen, Cam.

 

i believe there were some serious issues between Quinn and Chip and it caused a massive rift on the team because the players could see it (and it's clear they preferred Quinn over Chip). I heard somewhere those two were barely even talking to each other. How can the Oline function properly if there is a philosophical difference between their 2 most important coaches?

I do believe the Oline has improved from a technical and experience point of view and Banks is much healthier this year than last, but the biggest difference is everyone (coaches and players) are on the same page in style an philosophy. Combine that with better health (which bit us last week) and experience and you have the best oline in the country

 

You need to try to read it like when you try to read a post of mine from a Saturday night at 23:30

 

Its scary how much sense that makes

 

i believe in Quinn but next year will be a really good test for him.

 

yes, i do believe next year will be a really good test for Quinn, but it won't be harder than what he had to do in 2018 and that line was still pretty darn good, just not as good as the 2020 line

 

Yes they were pretty good, with a toxic situation to boot. I was very vocal about not liking the hire. It was tough for him to have any success with long being the asshole that he seems to be.

Semi related, the TEs look so much better now that long is no longer involved with them. Especially blocking. It might be a coincidence. It’s a little soon to jump to conclusions.

 

From what I read, long as the te coach was a bit like how the football coach is the history teacher...no where else to put him.

 

i believe it was said that Brock Wright would not have come back for a 5th year had Chip not been fired...needless to say, he wasn't very liked in the TE room either

and the TE blocking in 2018 and 2019 kind of stunk and now they are world beaters...Kmet would have been a round one pick this year had he come out and our offense would have been incredible

 

also, it's not talked about a ton, but McNulty was a fantastic TE hire btw

a lot of fans panned that hire too but no one is complaining now

 

the recruiting was always the question mark.

 

Finally got an email from ND, they have no clue on ticketing for the championship game. Hopefully we get info soon but it sounds like it’s gonna be pretty much empty.

 

i mean, doesn't the product build itself here? How hard can it be to recruit TE at ND, especially when they are playing well and getting crazy recognition (Tremble and Mayer are getting all sorts of hype)

I think Berrong could be something special at TE, perhaps a more athletic Tremble with hopefully better hands

 

The BVG hire seems to be more of an outlier now that we're a few years removed. Guys that Kelly has brought in that he's had history with have been pretty solid hires otherwise.

The BVG hire was so bad that it almost single handedly got BK canned though. Let's not forget that BVG was "above" recruiting on top of being the worst coordinator in the country on the field. Longo was probably #2 on that list - every passing year that becomes more clear.

 

i almost added...but Nd recruits itself at tight end

So I agree with you. But I am not sure he is a bad recruiter either. Like you said, Nd is different when it comes to TE so he might be viewed as a great recruiter after landing a few huge recruits at te

i am not familiar with his earlier jobs

But I remember Tennessee fans saying that hh was a shit recruiter...and we all know how that turned out

 

this dude is a con artist, he should write a book on how he did it

 

some of those coaches he brought with him to ND were definitely not good but after 2016, he's done a really good job with his hires

 

and he's still coaching!!!!!! i wish someone would pay me hundreds of thousands of dollars to do blow up my own defense

 

Yeah, speaking more to the hires he's made since that initial staff, but agreed that his original staff wasn't a bunch of world beaters.

 

During this kelly era I learned a few things

do not hire a playcaller as a hc, he has more important things to do like hiring the best coordinators he can

do not hire a first time head coach unless the guy has his coordinators lined up.

hire a guy that will overlook the operation but understand that the coordinators are doing most of the job on game day and you let them put all of their energy on it.

look at oklahoma, their coach is a brilliant offensive mind but they will never win. Look at Saban and swinney, they always get the best coordinators

 

Forgot the recruiting part for the head coach on purpose because that’s the only thing missing from Kelly right now. And I am not sure he is not doing it.

 

So he's still good?

 

he runs the scout team at Ucf

 

Not to take away from McNulty or any of the other new hires, but I honestly think the biggest difference this year has been a total mindset shift on offense. In the past, we had elite offensive lines, and even some gaudy rushing numbers at times. But they were never dominant, particularly situationally. We ran well because we spread teams wide and forced them to try to take away one of the pass or run. But when we absolutely had to run the football, we were never consistently good at it. Short yardage situations and trying to run out the clock we’re always issues, no matter the talent level. If we faced 8 or 9 man boxes, we weren’t moving the sticks on the ground. And we gave excuses for it constantly, despite watching teams like Alabama do it no matter the opponent or look.

This year, we’ve gone balls to the wall attempting to develop a power running game. 2 and sometimes 3 TE sets. WRs responsible for cracking down in the box instead of simply distracting corners. We’re not trying to zone read out of 3 WR sets in hopes of picking up yards via misdirection anymore. We’re showing run, not giving a fuck what’s in the defensive box, and moving people straight ahead. That’s a pure mindset shift from Rees and Taylor in the run game. And it’s been incredible to watch in 4th quarters. You can see defensive front 7s flat out quit toward the ends of games, including Clemson in OT.

Now with Rees feeling confident with his WRs and keeping his eyes downfield, we’re truly multiple on offense.

Just figure out the red zone.

 

and I think when kelly hired bvg he wanted a high flying offense with an aggressive d that would give his offense a lot of possessions. Then he realized that it was not a good option at Nd.

he seems to have figured it out now.

 

I think the biggest issue with the red zone is the thing that makes the rest of the field work. Book is at his best (still pains me to use this phrase) adlibbing. Things break down and he makes plays. It just doesn't really work as well in the red zone. I also think they are too run heavy early and don't use nearly enough play action, especially with those TEs.

Run, run, out of bounds fade isn't a good set of plays. Tremble should have double digit red zone tds the way he blocks, simply by showing block and releasing, especially inside the five. I just don't think Book can make those decisions quick enough.

 

It’s just much tougher football schematically. And that’s not me saying we didn’t have tough players in the past. Quenton Nelson obviously wasn’t soft. But the Xs and Os were.

Now it feels like we can 5 wide it when necessary but also Stanford it when necessary. It’s fun to watch.

 

I am not worried at all about the redzone

 

It does strike me as funny that Kelly wanted crazy offenses when teams had ridiculous defenses, and now he's one of five or so coaches in America not trying to score quick and outscore everybody and actually play defense. Even Saban has kinda given up.

 

and the scheme allowing these players to be physical, ok I got you. It makes a ton of sense

 

Random but I kinda want Ian to throw a pick this weekend. I’m being weirdly superstitious, but I don’t want that streak ending when it actually matters.

 

2:57:27 in this video. 2nd and goal from the 3 after a four yard pass. We have 3 shots at the end zone. Both teams know how this drive is going to end. But that 2nd and 3 shift, formation, and result is something totally new to Brian Kelly’s tenure at ND.

 

The next 2nd and goal from the 3 at 3:08:45 is just as good

 

I love the new formation shofts with the three te. Absolutely just waiting for someone to not respect or overcommit to the spread look

 

These were on rees imo

 

And what a facemask penalty miss on that williams run in overtime

near 3:05

 

Absolutely. He’s been absolutely stellar given the personnel we have on offense this year.

 

Rose Bowl officially not allowing fans

 

Yeah our whole state just went into lockdown.

 

I didn’t realize that Hamilton was in for the OT periods. In fact, his rust showed as he took a horrible angle on that first Clemson slant TD in OT.

 

They can't put LB on our TE. And when we gave that run look they knew it was over.