ND <r>Little more interesting info on Long. Looks like we should see our TEs get much more into the game again. TE will be one position we will have decent depth and more on the way with the incoming freshman class.<br/> <br/> <URL url="http://www.ndinsider.com/football/report-notre-dame-to-hire-memphis-chip-long-as-offensive/article_fc4fa43c-cecb-11e6-bffa-031f9d95fd45.html"><LINK_TEXT text="http://www.ndinsider.com/football/repor ... 5fd45.html">http://www.ndinsider.com/football/report-notre-dame-to-hire-memphis-chip-long-as-offensive/article_fc4fa43c-cecb-11e6-bffa-031f9d95fd45.html</LINK_TEXT></URL></r>
Memphis threw the ball all over the yard. They run for what talent they have for that angle.They throw to set up the run. There's a lot of RPO and utilizing the TEs and backs. Things should be looking up if this guy gets to have some input.
I hope he knows how to position a QB under center, at least in the red zone. Or dare I wish for an occasional fullback? Be still my heart.
I guess the real question is will Kelly let him call the offense and the plays or will Kelly grab the reins as so as the game starts. Rumors of Tommy Rees coming ni as a QB. I'll bet that excites QB recruits. I like Tommy, but he has no resume, never coached QB's, and even if Kelly was always praising Tommy for his football IQ, it's a reach for him to be our QB coach. Offensive GA for sure is good. Long also was a TE Coach, so he might coach TE's as well. That leaves Jeff Quinn out it would seem. He'd been mentioned as the TE coach.
Gritty win by the Irish in OT at Pittsburgh. Nice to win the first conference game on the road against a good team.
Last few games the 2nd half has not been good for the Irish, glad to hear they finished it out with a tough 2nd half and OT. A conference road win is a good way to finish 2016.
ND <t>Back on Long the new OC.<br/> <br/> Corey said: Memphis threw the ball all over the yard. They run for what talent they have for that angle.They throw to set up the run. There's a lot of RPO and utilizing the TEs and backs. Things should be looking up if this guy gets to have some input.<br/> <br/> He did that with a first year starter at QB and that's of course what he will have with Wimbush. I'm expecting a lot from Wimbush based on what I've heard the first two years he's been with the team. <br/> <br/> I hope we don't get another co-offensive coordinator thing like we had with Denbrock, Sanford and Kelly. I really never did figure that out. We need to get QB coach who does just that and let the OC be the OC. I'm always about keeping it simple.<br/> <br/> We have the talent on hand and incoming, plus a schedule to have a good season next year if Kelly lets it happen.</t>
Tim, It all gets down to 'Is Kelly going to let his coaches coach' or are they just all puppets for what he wants to do?
ND <t>Corey,<br/> <br/> You would think that with his job on the line this coming season he would. He looks like he is trying to restart this thing making the right choices on coaches instead of pulling from his pool of former assistants. Now as you say he needs to let them all do what they do best. Hopefully so.</t>
Watching the bowl games is a constant reminder of how far the Irish have fallen. W-L records aside, there is a world of difference between the skill levels of many of these teams and the Irish in 2016.
Rumors .. where did the one that had Tommy Rees coming back to ND as the QB coach? Tommy himself has said that he's never been contacted about the job. Nothing against Tommy, and everybody always said he had a high football IQ and all, but he's never been a QB coach and really has very little experience at all, with 1 year as a GA at Northwestern and this year as an "Offensive Asst" with the Chargers which I don't know what that means. Tommy may someday coach with the Irish but it's a little early in his career to be the QB coach. Still a lot up in the air with the coaching though, who's going to coach TE's, will it be Chip Long the new OCoord who has a background with TE's, Jeff Quinn is still around but he's an OL coach and has never coached TE's. Kelly is likely to want to coach QB's without being the QB coach officially. Will Gilmore be retained as the DL coach? What about Mike Elston? What about Greg Hudson? With no QB on the roster who has ever started at football game and Wimbush other than the UMass game has really hardly ever saw the field in 2015. So we need a good QB, who is also OK with BK interfering, which apparently Sanford was.
ND <t>George,<br/> <br/> Personally I don't think we are off very far at all on offense. It's just how we play what we have that hasn't been good. Defense is another story, we are way off when compared to most top 10 teams.</t>
I agree Tim, we should be fine on offense. If Alize Jones has taken care of business in the Classroom he will be a big addition, and Durham Smythe while hardly a star at TE is a capable TE, as is Nic Weishar. Add in super Frosh Brock Wright and we should be good there, we have a lot of WR's who played quite a bit last year, I ESB and Stepherson are solid, and CJ Sanders although his production declined as the year wore on, is still exciting when you get him the ball. I think last year was a learning experience for him and I expect he'll be much more consistent in 2017. I'm excited to see if Claypool will be able to match his enormous talent with production and if McKinley can get back on track. The RB's will be solid, Josh Adams, Dexter Williams and Tony Jones Jr will be a solid group. The OL while disappointing given the high expectations will finally be what we expected them to be, they will have depth and experience. It'll be interesting to see if Hoge, Kraemer, Eichenberg and Parker contribute and push for starting jobs. It's the defense that is going to need some magic, esp along the DL. I think our LB's and DB's will be fine. The DB's are all young but they got a lot of playing time last year, and I've heard that Drue Tranquil will probably move to LB. Elko has the reputation of getting a lot out of 2 and 3 star talent and he will have better talent at ND, so hopefully we'll see a cohesive defense that knows where's it's going and how to lineup without consulting a Chinese Dictionary! The BVG hire was really such a disaster, his defense was too complex and he was a black hole when it came to recruiting. I just wonder where we would be now if Kelly had made a good hire at DCoord when Diaco left.
Irish Men face top 10 Louisville at home this week. It will be a big upset if the Irish win, but for some reason we've had some success with Pitino's Louisville squads even given that they are always loaded with talent. Who can forget the epic 5OT win a few years ago in South Bend. We've beaten them at Louisville as well. So if we win a close one I won't be shocked, but also won't be shocked if they handle us easily, they are very talented. The story of the men's season of course has been the emergence of Matt Farrell as the PG. To say he's been impressive is a huge understatement. The other story is the regression of VJ Beachem, who was a star last year in the NCAA playoffs, so much so that he considered leaving for the NBA. Well unless he gets it in gear the only professional ball he'll be playing next year will be some where a couple of thousand mile east of NYC. Irish women have Wake Forrest up next, a game they should win easily. The upset by NCState was sort of a wakeup call. The women are talented for sure, with 8 McDonald's AA's, but when I've watched them this year I haven't gotten that feeling that they are sure things for a Final Four. They have to find leadership, Sid knows how important that is in sports, and right now I can't point to that person.