January 12th, 2013 at 5:43 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 7:30 PM ^
in 19 months all nd posts will be OT .... can't wait!
Go Blue!
January 12th, 2013 at 7:32 PM ^
Whether or not there are those two letters at the beginning of a post, when ND's program goes through a transition, it will always have repercussions for us. They will always be a major recruiting rival.
January 12th, 2013 at 5:47 PM ^
I expected this to happen. Still, his flirtation with the pros gives his opponents some recruiting ammunition: if he's this close to jumping ship right after an appearance in the national title game, what's going to stop him after a year that might not go so perfectly, where the fanbase isn't as strongly behind him?
January 12th, 2013 at 5:45 PM ^
Fine by me. They might get somebody good if he moved on. (And I like watching the purple explosions on tv every fall weekend.)
January 12th, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^
Odds are they aren't going to get a better coach then Kelly since he is really pretty good.
January 12th, 2013 at 9:05 PM ^
he's won everywhere he's been and he took Notre Dame to the title game (caveats, etc) when no one else has for 20+ years. If anything, our coach is the more likely target for 'not a good coach' jokes given his record prior to coming here
January 12th, 2013 at 11:03 PM ^
Neither one should be mocked in that regard. Hoke has three Coach of the Year awards from three different conferences.
January 12th, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^
1) Say you have interest in another job
2) Use this as leverage, stay at current job
3) ???
4) Profit
January 12th, 2013 at 5:50 PM ^
Every single time a coach decides to stay put. It's a win/win situation; they get a pay raise regardless of which future strikes their fancy.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:32 PM ^
Financially, yes, but it can damage the coach's relationship with his AD and fanbase. If Kelly still wins big, this will be forgotten, but if he starts to falter, fans will not forget this. When a coach is struggling, fans seize on anything to make their case against him.
Minnesota fans worshipped Glen Mason until he openly flirted with the Ohio job. He got a new contract at Minnesota, but he became tainted goods in Gopher fans' eyes after that. They never really forgave him and ultimately ran him out of town despite being easily Minnesota's best coach in the last 30 years.
January 12th, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^
So, Chip Kelly stays are Oregon and Brian Kelly stays at ND. I have a feeling that both were told they weren't going to be allowed to "experiment with the college offense in the NFL." When it comes to change, especially on the offensive side of the ball, they are definitely the "Non-Fluid League."
January 12th, 2013 at 8:44 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 8:56 PM ^
The unknown truth is that Mason was let go because Jerry Kill looks more like a real gopher.
January 12th, 2013 at 9:36 PM ^
Would love to upvote this.
January 12th, 2013 at 5:52 PM ^
I think you can skip Step 3. The first two should be sufficient.
January 12th, 2013 at 5:54 PM ^
I don't think you're using that right. There's a natural progression from 2 to 4
January 12th, 2013 at 5:57 PM ^
By all accounts Kelly was already in line for a nice little raise for him and his assistants. This was a real flirtation with the NFL and not a ploy to get more money from what I gather.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:10 PM ^
Source says Brian Kelly and Notre Dame working toward extension and raise though "still some work to do."
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 12, 2013
January 12th, 2013 at 6:10 PM ^
But didn't the ND athletic director state before the bowl game, in effect, that he'd give Kelly whatever he wanted? There doesn't seem to have been any need for Kelly to find leverage. I think he genuinely did consider the NFL offer.
January 12th, 2013 at 5:56 PM ^
In other news Hoke to stay at Michigan!!
January 12th, 2013 at 5:59 PM ^
You cannot unring the bell. Every team competing against ND can point to Kelly's wondering eye. If the Cowboys or Jets come calling in a years time this will all start again. Kelly's statement that he is staying because of his love for ND is a lie. He's staying for the money and when a better offer comes up he'll be gone.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:15 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 7:44 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^
double post
January 12th, 2013 at 6:10 PM ^
For him, it's just a job. And for a school like Notre Dame, that's hard to swallow. When Hoke said, "We would have walked here," it was authentic and that's exactly what we wanted and needed to hear. Now, the Domers deep down can't trust Kelly because they know this is just a job.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:54 PM ^
And we should appreciate Brady Hoke's exceptionalism. How many of us would leverage opportunity like this in our own careers? Bo did (Texas A&M). I love my work and organization, but I think I would. This may seem really cheesey, but Hoke's combination of competence and loyalty is inspiring to me.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
I don't think it's fair to say that Bo used the TAMU offer as leverage. They offered him a gigantic pay raise and I think he genuinely considered it for awhile. There is no reason to believe he was cynically doing it to shake Canham down. In any case, it was the only time in his 21 years that he was linked to another job.
January 12th, 2013 at 8:52 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 9:01 PM ^
January 13th, 2013 at 1:17 PM ^
Bo got a raise from UM. I want to say 20% or so, all the way up to around $200,000 a year, I think. So yeah, he was underpaid.
Tom Monaghan was so happy that Bo turned down A and M that he gave Bo the profits from a corporate-owned Dominos in Columbus (!). That was entirely apart from the school; absolutely no collusion. Ill-fated as well given what Tom did to him later with the Tigers.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:19 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 6:20 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 7:24 PM ^
I'd agree that no NFL job is really great with the way the league is set up (small rosters, hard salary cap, etc.). I'd also argue that who the coach is doesn't make a whole lot of difference to team success. If you swapped the coaches on the best teams with the coaches on the worst I doubt the standings would turn out much differently.
At the same time though, people seem to realize this or at a minimum failing in a pro job does nothing to hurt your chances of getting another big time college job at the end of the day. Petrino, Spurrier, and Saban all had lousy stints in the NFL, and they all got great jobs and had tremendous success in college afterwards. Calipari did the same thing in basketball. Pitino did it twice and was rewarded with the Kentucky and Louisville jobs.
If I was Kelly and had not particular emotional attachment to ND, leaving makes a lot of sense right now. If he goes 2-14 with the Eagles for a couple years, he's still a hot commodity in the college ranks and probably gets a very high end job for a lot of dough. If he goes 8-5 the next two years at ND, how hot of a seat is he on? And how quickly do these NFL offers disappear?
January 12th, 2013 at 9:04 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 6:23 PM ^
My whole problem with this was it was announced that a raise and extension was in the works before the NCG. Lots of people suggested this was the usual leverage ploy for profit. I totally feel like this was more than that. Because of that I have to look at him in a more critical light.
The rumour for the long hold out, however, was more money for assistants (Have to pay your assistants, you guys know that), possible admissions loosening and provisions for possible oversignings.
Of course none of this will come to light as ND is a private institution. Expect the usual drivel of Pay Raise, Assist Pay Raises and "facility improvements".
January 12th, 2013 at 6:27 PM ^
Bruce Feldman's write-up - (LINK)
Not too much information aside from a quote from Kelly himself:
"Like every kid who has ever put on a pair of football cleats, I have had thoughts about being a part of the NFL. However after much reflection and conversation with those closest to me, I have decided to remain at Notre Dame. This decision was motivated purely by my love for Notre Dame and the entire Fighting Irish community."
It's interesting considering that there were reports a few days ago that there was supposed to be a second interview. He did reach out to a lot of people who have worked in the pros, so even though he isn't leaving now, he seems to be giving signals that it hasn't left his mind completely as an option later. The one thing I wondered about, and I couldn't find the article I remember (but here is a mention of it in a very pointed Chicago Tribune blog entry), is this - did Jack Swarbrick not guarantee Kelly another contract extension and a raise before for the peak of the NFL talk? I think he probably did genuinely consider this move.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:29 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 6:33 PM ^
It's simple: instability in our rival programs benefits us.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^
You do realize that was almost you last year?
January 12th, 2013 at 7:15 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 7:30 PM ^
I don't think anyone really doubts that our 2011 team massively overachieved. Given the paper-thin depth of the roster, it had to. 2012 ND, which had a roster stocked with years of outstanding recruiting classes, is not a great comparison. A team with that much talent shouldn't have found itself in so many dogfights against weaker opponents.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:33 PM ^
This won't last. The ND fans are already furious over the fact Kelly would ever consider a lateral move to the NFL (at least that his how the dopes at NDNation see it). When Kelly failed to act as if Notre Dame was a destination job, it pissed off a major segement of the fan base. So when he goes 8-5 again or whatever, South Bend Torch and Pitchfork will have its shelves swept clean and the fanbase will come for him.
Also I think he's only back because the Eagles didn't give him what he wanted or else refused to hire him. I think Kelly seriousily was ready to leave, but couldn't get the job offer.
January 13th, 2013 at 12:38 AM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 6:38 PM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 6:52 PM ^
Literally or figuratively?
January 13th, 2013 at 6:48 AM ^
January 12th, 2013 at 6:52 PM ^
They'll forgive him in that scenario. If he doesn't, and loses to USC more often than not, then it won't matter whether he had a brief flirtation with the pros.
January 12th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
I'm sure the recruits/players will love the fact that they were kept in the dark about this whole thing.