Anzalone to ND

Submitted by jcorqian on

In what might have been one of the most awkward televised commitments...  He puts on probably the weirdest looking and ugliest Notre Dame hat ever but struggles to keep it over his on-air headset and awkwardly figets with it as the announcer is engcouraging him and asking him questions.  Given the OSU situation, I feel a little bad for the kid.  

Would have rather seen him at PSU than ND, obviously.

maizedandconfused

July 8th, 2012 at 9:18 PM ^

Work shmerk. Its ND. And they also have to hold onto their class until signing day..

And if 8 wins are the realistic expectation, Im not sure that will keep Kellys job.

Not to mention, Jaylon is a freak of an athlete and shines without pads. That doesnt necessarily mean he is a better LB than the guys we got. 

Perkis-Size Me

July 9th, 2012 at 5:49 AM ^

I'd be amazed if Kelly wins 8 games and gets fired. There would have to be other issues, like a divided locker room or some kind of scandal. Plus, Notre Dame would be perpetuating the coaching carousel and setting itself back yet another 2-3 years. That only further promotes the instability of the football program and its descent into eternal mediocrity.

I really don't think Kelly is producing an inherently bad product. If it could have just got turnovers under control, they were a 10-win team last season. I know some of you will say that turnovers are the mark of a bad team, and to an extent, I agree. But I think Kelly can really build a solid program

In my opinion, if he gets another 8-win season, give him another year. 8 wins is good considering their schedule. The following year, hand the reins over to your Golden Boy, Kiel. If they regress under Kiel and can't get the job done with him, then it might be time for a change.

dinsdale613

July 8th, 2012 at 8:47 PM ^

Notre Dame is putting together a very impressive class.  It remains to be seen whether Brian kelly will be around to watch this class mature.  My guess, they have 8 wins or less this year,  The Return to glory crowd will start calling for his head

shnweller187

July 8th, 2012 at 8:48 PM ^

He had to be squirming on the inside. I was embarrassed for him. Nice follow up though with Shane Morris and showing Michigan at the top of the rankings

Farnn

July 8th, 2012 at 8:51 PM ^

I used to be worried about good recruits going to ND when I first started following recruiting a few seasons ago.  But after watching them get recruits like Te'o but still lose to Michigan three times during the last four years, I've realized I don't really worry about any recruits they get.  They may finally have a good coach in Kelly, but we'll have to see if they can win enough to keep him around before the fans lose confidence in him.

turtleboy

July 8th, 2012 at 8:54 PM ^

They've had a couple top defensive classes in a row. Their 2 deep, or maybe 3 deep next year will be all high 4-5 star players, but then again, so will Florida States, lol. When Kelly gets fired and they hire a real coach ND is gonna be a good team.

rbgoblue

July 8th, 2012 at 10:26 PM ^

Yes. A perfect fit who couldn't even get a play off in the spring game, forcing Kelly to shut off the play clock. I look forward to seeing a lot more purple face Kelly this fall.

MichiganManOf1961

July 8th, 2012 at 9:09 PM ^

"When Kelly gets fired and they hire a real coach ND is gonna be a good team." 

Yes, that is exactly what has been said by the Notre Dame faithful for the past decade.  A few years ago, Kelly was the hottest commodity in football, now he isn't even a "real coach"?  Such knee-jerk statements don't really hold up under scrutiny. 

I liked when that Cuban man chastised the ESPN commentators a few weeks ago about making such sweeping statements, it is a real problem in our modern society.  Even in political elections, the media chooses to focus more on whether a candidate either put a dog on top of a car or had a meal involving one 30 years ago than their current policies.  Perhaps these media outlets are simply catering to the lowest common denominator or maybe most people really are just.... dumb, but I'd like some substance in the information I receive. 

Please excuse my tangent.

~Herm

turtleboy

July 8th, 2012 at 10:02 PM ^

Hard not to take that personally, especially when I was just making a joke.

Well his team plays very erratically. They lose close games to Michigan and State his first year, then get a few quality wins, then suddenly drop really bad games to Tulsa and Navy, before suddenly winning big in the road at USC.  His sideline antics are pretty juvenile, most coaches only scream at refs and not even like he did, and now he's rotating starting quarterbacks in his second and third years in. His second year at ND was about the same, inconsistant. Staring off with a very poor showing against USF. Then lighting up MSUs good defense for more than Georgia did, then barely escaping teams like Pitt, and Boston College. Not something one would expect from an offensive coach with a high scoring spread option system. I also thought it was tacky the way he left Central and didn't coach their bowl game, and left Cicny and didn't coach their bowl game. The defense has been pretty good, on the whole, though. The recruiting classes they've been pulling and the money the school brings in competes with Alabama, LSU, and USC, but that's where the comparisons end. Honestly a few years ago RR was the exact same hottest commodity in college football, and Alabama was very serious about hiring him, but Saban was leaving the NFL (again) so they hired him instead. 

MichiganManOf1961

July 8th, 2012 at 10:06 PM ^

I didn't say that Kelly was a good coach, I was just stating that one line of your statement was generic and a half-assed assessment.  First of all, Kelly is a "real coach".  And secondly, I don't think you can just say once he is replaced, ND will suddenly become a good team.  That is the exact statement which has been made by every Notre Dame fan with rose-colored glasses.  That is what was said when Davie was replaced, then Willingham, then Weis, and on and on. 

~Herm

turtleboy

July 8th, 2012 at 10:33 PM ^

Once he's replaced with a top coach, who can best utilize the amazing abundance of talent they have. I was trying in a round about way to point out they have an ass load of talent on their roster. I've pointed it out a couple times that their entire 3 deep rotation soon will be all high 4 and 5 star talent. If they can find a coach who's really good at moulding young talent like Hoke (or Mattison who used to coach for them) then they'll be a National Championship contender very quickly. Right now they're not even close. They could very easliy be a 6 loss team this year, but I'm guessing 4 losses, and unranked for the 3rd year running.

brandanomano

July 8th, 2012 at 11:10 PM ^

The exact same thing was said when Weis was the coach just a few years ago though. Notre Dame has always had an exceptionally talented team and they haven't been a serious National Championship contender in decades. Kelly overachieved with the talent he had at all the other schools he coached at, so I don't think that's the problem. I can't explain why the Irish have underachieved for so many years, but at some point some of the blame has to go on the players for not panning out. It's not like they've had Gerg level incompetence all over their coaching staff for 20 years.

NDPhilly

July 8th, 2012 at 8:57 PM ^

I really like our LBs besides Michael Deeb. Yes I know he has a FSU offer but he's just slow. He can hit but he doesn't have near the potential of the other 3. ND will end this LB class with a CAT lb or a rush OLB. Most likely it will be Dejaun Drennon, Alquadin Muhammad, or Jordan Sherit.

mGrowOld

July 8th, 2012 at 9:14 PM ^

Coaching, not recruiting, is a far greater variable to a team's success.  Look at FSU's recruiting class rankings vs their actual performance over the past decade or, if want a more personal example, the performance of our defense under in 2010 vs 2011.

Good for ND that they got Anzalone.  Not terribly worried they'll be able to do much with him on the field though.

Mr.Mario86

July 8th, 2012 at 9:46 PM ^

Core they will have soon.. Anzalone & Smith. Going to be fun games to watch if Kelly gets his teams together. -Stop negging me for no reason.

WMUgoblue

July 8th, 2012 at 10:08 PM ^

You're negged because you just said you're going to have fun watching ND players...it's really not a surprise. 



Provide actual information in your posts, most of them are just of the, "ya he looks good out there" type. I know you're young, but bring more than just rah rah posts to the blog.



Additionally, in your last sentence you broke the first rule of Mgoblog.

GoBlueInNYC

July 8th, 2012 at 11:22 PM ^

People love giving you crap I don't think you deserve. From here on out, you're on my "up-mod on site" list. (Don't get too excited, the last guy who made the list was Dark Blue. Man, I miss that guy.)

jblaze

July 8th, 2012 at 9:52 PM ^

is a pedo that met you at the bar, and subsequently went to jail? Go to a Catholic School where that does not happen. Good for you!

Urban Warfare

July 8th, 2012 at 10:05 PM ^

Hope he does well there and that the Big Lots Buckeyes finally shut up about the whole thing.

Damefan

July 8th, 2012 at 10:17 PM ^

LOL!....too funny!...this is pure comedy!.....Like a bunch of fat chicks hanging out convincing themselves they are hot!....

 

 

markinmsp

July 9th, 2012 at 11:03 AM ^

 Right and you base this on a discussion regarding Alex Anzalone??? 

 The same Anzalone that was scheduled to travel to Ann Arbor, but was notified by the UM coaching staff the week before that they no longer have room for additional linebackers in the 2013 class or desired his services.

 Talk about deluding yourself with sour grapes mentality. Please explain your reasoning, as I just don’t see it.