While of course I always hate to see kids transfer, we won't miss Corey Holmes other than the USC game he was never a factor in the offense and in fact had been passed by walk on Chris Finke. I think I read though that he was a great student and will graduate and transfer to play another f2 years somewhere. He said nothing but the right things in his announcement about his time at ND but said he had a dream of playing in the NFL and that he didn't see that happening at ND. No doubt because he's so far down the depth chart.
also it's being reported that Kelly met with the departing sr's and then the team and told them to be ready for the toughest off season of their careers. Also Phil Snow of Temple and Elko of Wake Forrest are a couple of names along with Wilcox of Wisc and of course Charlie Strong.
Yikes Irish women are up 72-23 vs Valparaiso at half time . Men play later against NC A&T which should be an easy win as well.
Irish women cruise past Valpo easily 114 to 54, next up is a showdown with UConn which while #2 really should be #1 till somebody beats them. Hopefully that is the Irish at home Wed night but it won't be easy and if I were betting I'd say UConn should be the favorite. They handled Texas today fairly easily after a tough start. Irish Men also won an easy game vs NC A&T 107 - 53 Both of these games were really exhibition games, the competition was very poor. Irish Men have IPFW up next before a big game with defending champion Villanova next Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark .
There is going to be a full page ad in the SBT protesting the current state of the football program and I think even a Billboard put up with the same topic. Citizens of NDNation are extremely frustrated that Kelly was not fired and that Swarbrick in his radio show was supportive of Kelly and the direction of the program. Those behind these ad's also would like to see Swarbrick fired and consider him as much a part of the problem as Kelly. Fr. Jenkins is also considered someone fails to realize the state of the program and how Swarbrick and Kelly are destroying traditions and really care little for ND in the first place. There is crowd funding for this effort, there has been work on the content of the Ad but I'm not sure if anybody has stepped up and agreed to front whatever money it takes to place the AD and Billboard and hope for reimbursement from crowd funding. Maybe the Operators of NDNation, who support the effort 100% are funding it I don't really know. I doubt if it can have any impact to tell you the truth, but it does represent how frustrated many ND fans are with Kelly and the direction of the Program.
Expect an announcement that Devin Butler will transfer at the end of the semester. Also from what I read I expect Kizer to make an announcement on the NFL in the next couple of weeks. If I'm a NFL GM I don't think I would draft him in the 1st round. He has a lot of good physical traits, he's tall, he's mobile and he has a strong arm, but he doesn't look accurate to me throwing the ball and that is almost the most important thing in the NFL. I do think he'll be a 1st Day draft pick and that's not a bad thing, just ask Dak Prescott.
Kizer stats regressed quarter by quarter throughout each game and that is a big warning sign to the NFL. I don't think you could call him a "finisher" by any stretch. Nothing short of a sharp TV ratings drop or empty seats could motivate the powers that be to do anything. At least that is how it appears to us distant observers.
Irish Men at home tonight vs IPFW who I've found out beat IU earlier so they are not a push over. Irish ranked for the 1st time this year after the 8-0 start, they have a date with #1 Villanova coming up this Sat so I hope the lads play well tonight.
From an Indy Star article by ND reporter Laken Litman: On Dec. 17th, we play Purdue in Indy. That will tell a lot.
Hard to really tell how good we are, we have played a relatively soft schedule so far, to be fair Colorado, Northwestern and Iowa are good teams the rest of them not so much though. That ends this weekend, Villanova and then the following Sat as you noted Purdue. 'Nova is #1 and Purdue is a very good team, destroyed Az State last night. We'll know a lot about this team after those 2 games. Irish women have a huge game tonight vs UConn who is on a 80+ game winning streak and talking about playing a good schedule, UConn has played a very challenging schedule with 4 of their 7 games being against ranked teams including top 5 Baylor. Irish will need a great game tonight to win.
I have a problem with anonymous full page ads like the one referenced here. It says more about the pitifully empty lives of those taking out the ad than it says about Kelly or Swarbrick. Of course people are mad. I'm one of them. If you're mad enough to take out a disparaging ad, then be man enough to sign your name to it. Otherwise, shut up and let the issue run its course. Idiots! http://www.indystar.com/story/sport...asting-notre-dame-ad-jack-swarbrick/95097572/
Well I'm like you Sid, not happy with the program right now. But I'm ok just complaining about it here or other boards. But I understand that there are a lot of fans who feel like nobody cares what they think, so this was their outlet. If you remember there was a big effort during the Davie years and a letter calle the "Call for Change" was composed and signed by hundreds of ND grads and sent to the BOT. I think they sent copies to news outlets as well. The Ad itself was sort of a group effort of ND Fans on NDNation. Not sure why they didn't state that specifically. But the reaction on NDNation to that criticism is that those who are critical of it are missing their point. I think that ad will also eventually run in the South Bend Tribune and I there was at one time plans for several Billboards. Bottom line is that this season left ND football fans frustrated and angry at the direction of the Program. It's hard not to look at Kelly's 7 year record and aside from the 12-0 season, it's been about what Davie and Weis accomplished and they were fired. So why is Kelly still the coach. Oregon fired it's coach and he had a team in the Nat'l Champ game just a couple of years ago. USC has had 4 coaches in Kelly's tenure and their record is about the same as ours. ND football in the Jack Swarbrick era has a worse record than Penn State, who had all that Paterno/Sandusky/sanctions. But Kelly will be back next year, and we'll see what changes he's going to make and whether he can right the ship. But it's clear he's not Saban, or Urban or Harbaugh or Sweeney. So does that mean the school of Rockne, Leahy, and Ara is going to just accept that the high point is occassional top 10 finish ( I time in Kelly's 7 years) and say that's it.
Terry, you and I basically are on the same page. Where we differ is our feelings about how the upset fans are expressing themselves. In fact, a person whose opinion I completely trust, said to me, "It's time." I was shocked. This person in the past has been reserved. He rattled off the issues which were listed in that ad and laid them squarely at Kelly's feet. He's close to the program and communicates often with former players. My sub-points re: the ad are: -If you truly love ND and what it stands for, you know that the administration will take the correct steps to deal with the issue, perhaps not in the time frame you would like, but they will deal with it. -If you are so angry that you want the AD and university president to go, don't you think that shows a disturbing level of immaturity and inability to understand the workings of a high-level organization which happens to be a university? -Since when were fans of any program under the illusion that athletic departments care what they think, especially when they conduct themselves like spoiled children throwing a tantrum? -The ND administration has taken a different position than several programs, who fired coaches this year after a clear and distinct multi-year trend of losing seasons or mediocrity in general. The only exception I'm aware of is LSU. Do you really want ND to mimic LSU? -The different position referred to above basically (as I see it) is: this may be a one-time blip in an otherwise positive record. Let's find out. History in all major sports records numerous "worst-to-first" recoveries; many losing seasons reversed the next year. If, as many fear, the die is cast, and there is a clear downward spiral, the administration will do what's necessary in 2017. I don't have a problem with that approach, but what do I know? I'm just an old man who loves Notre Dame and appreciates the class shown by the university when adversity strikes, as it has the past year in several ways. They (ND) never have let me down, even during the lean years of the football program. I'm upset over the current state of the program and, truth be told, would prefer to see Kelly gone, but I stand by the decision to give him a year to right the ship.
I agree with Sid's assessment of the maturity level of the program's critics. First of all, as I've said in the past I think that Swarbrick is a first class AD. Now if you head is hitting your pancreas and you can't see anything but football you might find ND's athletic's lacking but in so many other sports they have first rate coaching and talent. I think everyone forgets that last season we were in the playoff hunt up until the final minute of the last game. What is disturbing is the LOFT of the team. (Lack of ******* Talent) We lost so great players in Smith, Staley and Fuller last season and had not comparable replacements. The current recruiting class doesn't seem to hold much hope of improvement. Most disturbing to me is the coaching itself. First, special teams despite Kelly's apparent lack of interest in the facet is important. We had a number of games that special teams had a significant impact on the defeat. Secondly, he made terrible coaching decisions in a number of games. In Texas it was playing Zaire, in NC State ot was throwing in a hurricane and in the Navy game it was the late FG. Top football coaches pay attention to the details and make sound game decisions. I don't think Kelly is a top coach.
Old golf saying Sid! It's an ugly situation right now and I certainly understand the frustration. I personally wouldn't have gone about it that way, and I didn't contribute any money to the cause. But then I'm not even likely to write a letter to the AD or Pres complaining about the program. I do think that after 7 years it's pretty clear that Kelly is a good not great coach and you have to have a great coach to be consistently successful in any team sport. He's had plenty of time to get his guys in place and develop the program. Look at what Harbaugh has done in just 2 years, look at what Urban did at 2 programs, and the same for Saban at Alabama. Those are great coaches and aren't likely to ever experience a 4-8 season. I'm not sure where the next "great" coach is to tell you the truth. I think it was clear that Meyer, Saban, and Harbaugh were home run hires for their schools based on their previous career success. Ara was and so was Lou. But sometimes you just have to take a chance and get a little lucky. Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel were hardly home run hires, they were hired after the big names turned those schools down. Brian Kelly when he was hired was a hot coach on the rise, if the Irish didn't hire him he was going to be at a very good Power 5 program sometime. He wasn't staying at UC. So we took a chance, he wasn't a sure thing, after the 2012 season I'll bet that many thought he was a good hire and was ready to take the program to being an annual competitor for the Nat'l Title. He sort of blew all the good will with that Champ game performance and then disappearing for a week while he talked with the Eagles. But he's made critical mistakes, he made a terrible decision to hire Van Gorder and when he should have cut bait after last season he insisted on staying the course, then he had to fire him mid season anyway. Gip already noted some of his coaching gaffes this year. He's lost to Navy twice, twice!! Now granted Navy isn't the same program that Holtz, Davie, and even Willingham never lost to these days. But we should have beaten them this year. He'll be the coach next year and if he makes the right moves with the defense and with the offensive talent coming back we should win 9 games and as always with some luck we could do better. That luck will have to come from having made the right move with a DCoord and getting a defense that is at least above average. But I'm not sure at this point that Kelly will ever get the program to be a consistent top 10. In his 7 years only in 2012 did his team finish in the top 10. I think we're stuck with him for a few more years to be sure. As far as Swarbrick goes, I'm not of the opinion that Jack has been a bad AD. Has he been Moose Krause or Gene Corrigan...I don't think so, but he's also not been Wadsworth or Kevin White. I am puzzled why he has been so slow in upgrading the basketball facilites, I mean for a decade we've had one of the premier womens basketball programs in the NCAA and we are in the top 10 in attendance as well. The men's team has not been as good, but they have been a solid program and Brey seems to have built a solid sustainable program that most year can compete for a Top 25 slot, although historically he's not been a great NCAA tourney coach except for the last 2 years. But still the mens and womens basketball programs deserve better facilities than they have. I don't know why they don't have them. Other sports have been upgraded in facilities, basketball is stuck. Tough time to be a ND football fan that is for sure. Sid was there for the Joe Kuharich days, I can't imagine that those were fun, the students, alumni and fans didn't have the internet to help them organize things like this...I'd be curious to hear from Sid what went on in those days.
I didn't watch the ND/UConn game last night but clearly from what I've read that UConn is on it's way to beating their own record for wins, they are in the 80's right now and their won all time record is 90 games, I'd say they could very well beat that this season. Solid win for them last night, on the road to a good Irish team with a packed house to boot. Geno has to be one of the best basketball coaches ever, like John Wooden he's done if for a long time at a school that was not a basketball power when he arrived and he's done it many different players. They lost the core of maybe his greatest team ever and don't seem to be missing a beat.