As a Jet's fan, any thoughts on Brian Van Gorder as the new Irish DC? I have to assume that Van Gorder will be announced after the Jets game Sunday. I wonder who the OCoord will be, Kelly was candid in his press conference that the DCoord was definitely from outside the program and when asked about the OCoord he said he was still working on that.
I was wondering, does the NCAA still drug test before bowl games? If so could failed tests sometimes be the "violation of team rules" that we hear so often?
atta boy Gip! Wins is wins come bowl time. If you're not playing for the title, you're just playing to pad stats and buffer your history a bit. There's no context given to ND losing X number of bowl games (such as ND is playing in BCS games instead of the Pizza Bowl against a MAC team). Enjoy the experience, take the win if possible and head into the off-season. Claim victory and depart the field. Onward and upward. All that good stuff. As for failed drug tests, I would imagine those would fall under different rules at ND than they do other places.
ND has announced that Kelly has hired Brian VanGorder as DC. http://espn.go.com/college-football...ing-irish-new-york-jets-defensive-coordinator
ND <t>Well it looks like Van Gorder had some really nice seasons as DC at Georgia and one bad one at Auburn. Mixed bag as HC.</t>
Correction: I was wrong. The announcement did not come from ND. It was reported by "multiple media outlets".
He moves around a lot, but he's back with Kelly. BK knows him, and trusts him. This looks like a safe hire...
There are different reports about him from his different stops, but for me the bottom line is, Kelly has done his due diligence and is basing his decision on the guy's ability to build a strong defense. I'm on board.
We could hire Bugs Bunny for all I give a ****. I just want the guy to produce. How many times have we hired the 'hero' coordinator (on either side of the ball) only to find out the guy was all smoke and mirrors? I don't buy into the mixed bag about this guy. He was the DC of the best defenses in the SEC when he was at Georgia. People point to his year at Auburn, but I'd like to remind everyone of what a clusterf*ck Auburn was with "Mean Gene Members Only" at the helm. If not for the year they bought the Heisman Trophy winner and one of the greatest players I've ever seen when he decides to show up, they would have been fired before VanGorder could have been hired. They ran Ted Roof out after winning the title. They recruited poorly with their best players being suspect, marginally enrolled, JUCOs who were all gone by the time VanGorder got there. It's really hard to be the DC when there's absolutely no offense at all..and that was the case when he was there. He does jump around, and I'm not sure what that's about. A man's next change could always be his last one, ya never know. I'm pretty much excited about the 'porno stache' points we're getting in this deal.
It's always hard to tell till they come and do the job. I think Vol fans were not sad to see Harry Heistand leave for ND. But for us he's been very and good and has also been an excellent recruiter. Our OL classes since he's been here have been excellent. Bob Davie was supposed to be a homerun hire at DCoord. Not to say he wasn't a good DCoord, but it's not like his ND defenses were anything near what his "Wrecking Crew" defenses were at Texas A&M. Charlie hired Jon Tenuta after watching Tenuta's defenses destroy his offenses 2 years in a row...how'd that work out? Davie hired the OCoord from Syracuse who coached Donavan McNabb, that didn't work out all that well. After Charlie fired his original DCoord (who was that?) and went to his 'guys' (Bellichek and the Tuna) and came up with young upcomer Corwin Brown. Brown could recruit that's for sure...but Charlie never had a good defense. I trust Kelly quite a bit when it comes to building a staff, he values the chemistry of the staff a little more than big time reputation. So I'm sure this guy will be a positive addition to the staff. Funny thing is that for the last year some of the guru's have been saying that Diaco was a terrible recruiter and also not a very good LB coach. I don't know if that is true, but maybe this guy is a good LB coach, we'll see how good he is at recruiting. He'll need to hit the ground running. As far as the game. It was a little frustrating because we moved the ball at will on RU but couldn't put it in the endzone. Good thing we had a good kicker....think of how many Holtz teams lacked a good FG kicker. Tommy was Tommy, made some excellent plays/throws and made some throws he should have gotten picked off but didn't. Running game was great in the 2nd half, both McDaniel and Folston ran tough. Add in Greg Bryant next year and we should have talent at RB. Our defense played well, got what 3 picks including the game clincher by Foxy. Tuitt maybe finished his career with a face plant of a sack. The field was awful though, TJ Jones would have scored if could have kept his feet on that one Jet Sweep. I hope that next year having a mobile QB will make a big difference in the Red Zone. I see that Hendrix, Welch and Lo Wood will all follow Martin to Miami. Personally I don't understand Hendrix. He'll have to delay starting Med School a year for the opportunity (not guarantee) to be the starter at Miami. Seems like it'd make more sense to get on with life, but it's obviously something he wants to do and once he starts Med School he'll be pretty busy so I hope it works out well for him. Nobody of course knows what will happen to the Atkins boys, unlike the trio already listed they have not graduated and would have to sit out a year should they leave. Josh might as well stay and get his degree and then play a year in FCS if he feels he's still got the itch. Somebody said that GAIII is thinking of declaring for the NFL, can you believe that? He won't get drafted. He should transfer down to lower division also if he wants to play more. He really shouldn't see the field next year except on KO returns if he comes back. Another guy who should get his degree and then play a 5th year some place like Miami. On the recruiting front, there are reports that Luatua is not 100% ND, still talking to USC and Alabama, and that after slow playing Payton Hendrix (Nick Watkins teammate) waiting on JuJu Smith, he decided he'd go someplace where he was wanted and committed to Texas Tech...of course now I'm hearing that Smith is nearly 100% certain to go to USC along with Damian Mamma who'd also eliminated the Irish. The good news is that it's looking pretty good for Morgan and maybe bringing in a NFL LB coach will seal the deal. I wish Tommy Rees the best of luck in the future, whether that be in Business or starting a coaching career. People keep saying he'll be a great coach, I guess. But I have to ask Corey, Sid, JO'Co, and the other guys what makes a guy a great coach? Tommy supposedly a cerebral guy with limited talent, but as I look at his career I'm not sure why everybody thinks he's going to be a great coach. Maybe he will, but how do you know. The only other guy I can think of who played as much as Tommy did and everybody was pretty much grateful that his career at ND was finally over is Ron Powlus. Ron set a lot of records, but he really never was a QB everybody loved, the same for Tommy Rees. Ron's a QB coach with Charlie but I don't know that anybody thinks Ron's got some bright future as a coach. Anyway, Happy New Year.
I had lunch with Carlo Sr four days before the USC game. That day he told me that Wood, Welch and Hendrix would be leaving for other opportunities. I would be very surprised if either Atkinson brother is back next year. GA3 has had an ongoing battle with Kelly going back to last season and his father took Kelly to the woodshed in an interview about two weeks ago.
Comparing Rees to Pawlus isn't very fair. One came in the top QB recruit in the country, the other was probably a 3 star at best. Rees seems to be very good at reading defenses and checking into other plays. I can see him as valuable in the film room and an O coordinator candidate. I've heard on a number of occasions that the team really respected and followed him. As to Hendrix, apparently his folks were fed up with BK. They didn't bother to go to the Pinstripe Bowl and Commish may have had their tix. I'm not sure he'll have any better success at a new school than Crist had.
Well it's not fair in terms of expectations coming into the program. But both of them started a lot of games and are now pretty prominent in the record books, but hardly beloved ND QB's in the same breath as Montana, Mirer, Tony Rice, Brady Quinn...and many more. Instead when Powlus left it was thanks for the memories but most were pretty glad he was going, and the same can be said for Tommy Rees, most acknowledge that he's been a good guy, well liked and dare I say a true ND guy. But still overwhelming feeling is thanks but we're glad your time has come. As far as the Atkinson boys, maybe their dad feels that Kelly should've developed running plays for a guy who runs upright and can't really be relied upon to catch a flair pass and who is brought down by a pinkie tackle. The other Atkinson was a DB a position of great need, and yet he never could learn to turn and defend a pass. It's too bad about Andrew Hendrix if he and his family have sour tastes in their mouth with regard to his ND career. But good lord if anybody after watching him play against USC really thought this kid had untapped potential, then I want what they are smoking, drinking, I want their rose colored glasses. George what does Carlo's dad think of Diaco leaving for UConn?
the Weis era was filled with 'woulda coulda shoulda'. If you remember, his first choice was a guy by the name of Al Golden. Weis was sure he'd land Golden, but Golden stayed on 1 more year at Virginia before leaving to become the HC at Temple.. and now he's at Miami. Like all things Weis, he didn't prepare for the backup plan and he forever spent his time chasing. Chuckles ain't the chasing type. I can see Rees being a good or even great coach. He always made the right read on defenses. He knows where the play needs to go. It was the matter of getting the ball there that was problematic. He's a leader and he has moxie. You can't put a price tag on those things. I'm sure he'll be a success at anything he chooses to do in life. I hate the practice of slow playing kids. Select your targets and go after them. Those who want to be there will be there. How many times has so playing ever worked for us, or really anyone? Even if you hit it and land the guy you wanted, they almost always turn out to be a bust. The guys who want to be there and have the ability (hey, you targeted them) should be given first priority. How many guys have gone on to success at BC and schools like that who wound up there because ND slow played them into getting pissed off at the Irish. Now we've got a good kid at another program who actually has a bone to pick with the Irish. Great.. I've been a huge fan of Saban's recruiting. Over signing and tactical roster removals aside, he goes after kids. If kids question about someone else being recruited or playing that position, well, hey.. we're Alabama and either you want to be the best or you don't. I respect that immensely.