OT: Brian Kelly Overrated?
I was listening to the Michigan Insider podcast, and Sam Webb had an interesting question as to whether Brian Kelly was a bit overrated. I hate Notre Dame as much as the next fan, but I also recognize Notre Dame as being one of the toughest college football jobs. Plus, I'm looking forward to seeing him turn purple in a couple years.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
teams seem to be kind of "soft." I know that is an overrated expression and sometimes without a clear meaning. But that is the first word that comes to my mind about ND teams under Kelly. Soft. I typically have thought that they scheme well on offense until this year. This year has been a train wreck for ND.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
seems legit
September 26th, 2016 at 1:49 PM ^
so I'm gonna....spell it out for ya...
S. A. W. F. T....saaaawwwwwwfffft!!!
September 26th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^
And you can't teach that!
September 26th, 2016 at 12:11 PM ^
ND is one of the toughest jobs in football? It's not like it used to be, but come on, it's not Kansas.
Also, I just don't hear him talked about as one of the top coaches in America, so it's hard to say if he's overrated.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:12 PM ^
is talking about managing expectations as a coach. Notre Dame is its own football brand. It comes with incredible pressure to perform. Put it this way, ND went 10-3 last year and the NC game 3 years ago and there is no question that Kelly's seat is already pretty warm.
September 26th, 2016 at 7:46 PM ^
didn't mince words after the game saying the problem was not coaching. Throw the players under the bus.
September 27th, 2016 at 10:08 AM ^
There is no margin of error. One "bad" season (i.e. like a whopping 4 losses) and they want your head.
You can't survive multiple 4 loss seasons like Lloyd did in the 90s while you hit your stride.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:10 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^
Thier scedule is not that bad.. Texas isnt that good, State is/was overrated, and they dont have to play any of the heavy hitters in the ACC ( Florida State, Louisville, Clemson). Brian Kelly never takes blame and likes to pass it off to his coaches and players. Cant stand the man.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:39 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 12:49 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 12:38 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^
That's not entirely fair. They play Stanford and USC every year, who are consistently solid if not elite. Even if they're dodging the meat of the ACC this year, there are some decent teams there. Yeah, they get overhyped for playing big names in down years, but they pretty consistently have a strong SOS by most objective metrics.
I think the bigger issue for "toughness of job" isn't the schedule so much as managing expectations. The fan base and boosters at ND seem to believe that they should be gifted a national title every year, and should get it while only recruiting choir boys. Dealing with that while also dealing with the heightened admission requirements and recruiting limitations of ND (which are a thing, same as at Stanford) makes it, to me, a tough job. I'm not sure notably tougher than other elite blue blood schools, but it's among the more demanding jobs in college football.
September 26th, 2016 at 10:26 PM ^
It is not entirely fair as well to complement them by playing Stanford every year since Stanford was barely a speed bump before Harbaugh turned it around.
September 26th, 2016 at 1:38 PM ^
Michigan is playing one Art Briles would gush over.
September 26th, 2016 at 2:45 PM ^
If Colorado continues to play the way they are, Michigan could have one of the conferences best non-conference wins. Michigan's schedule would have been tougher this year if Notre Dame hadn't backed out at the last minute and Michigan had more time to get a better schedule.
September 26th, 2016 at 2:52 PM ^
Their schedule, on average, is no tougher than anyone else's. Also, when you regularly lose to the not-so-tough teams on your supposedly tough schedule, your excuses about having to play a supposedly tough schedule ring hollow.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:17 PM ^
is a difficult job. Think about their rivalries alone. They play Stanford, USC and Michigan or Michigan State every year and now will play two of Clemson, FSU, and YTM pretty much every year. That is pretty brutal.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:43 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^
is a very good thing for him, because those would be ugly games this year.
September 26th, 2016 at 1:08 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 1:13 PM ^
man, you are pretty much spot on here now that I look at it. Their schedule is garbage next year too. The USC/Stanford/M or MSU thing still stands, that is a tough batch of rivalry games to play almost every year. But the "ACC portion" of their schedule is really weak this year and next.
September 26th, 2016 at 10:30 PM ^
"The USC/Stanford/M or MSU thing still stands"
One of these teams is not like the other...
September 26th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^
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September 26th, 2016 at 1:41 PM ^
NDs teams in 2012 and last year were top 5 squads.
September 26th, 2016 at 5:53 PM ^
Disagrees and before you go there nobody here is saying we were top 5 last year.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^
Perhaps screaming at your players until turning purple is not enough to be a great football coach.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:22 PM ^
Or having to be restrained from punching one of your assistant coaches.
September 27th, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^
Hey, he has a punchable face.
September 26th, 2016 at 1:22 PM ^
coach would disagree
September 26th, 2016 at 12:14 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:17 PM ^
Brian Kelly is not overrated, ND is overrated.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:19 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:21 PM ^
I actually looked at his record coming into this season and wondered how he wasn't on the hot seat. He's been mediocre all but 1or 2 years and that 12-1 year was one of the luckiest teams I can remember. I guess after Weis and Willingham, expectations are much lower in South Bend.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:24 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:26 PM ^
You could have left off the question mark and left it at that.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:31 PM ^
looked like he lost them completely against MSU. They did not show at all.
September 26th, 2016 at 12:48 PM ^
...Kelly over Harbaugh. Harbaugh laughed when Speight threw his interception against Hawi'i. Kelly, as we all know, would have yelled in his face and nearly had a stroke.
September 26th, 2016 at 3:45 PM ^
He threw his players under the bus after the game. Then he said they aren't having fun or playing with passion. How is that not a coaching issue? In public, he's making statements that are all over the place. He can't be a steadying force in private.
September 26th, 2016 at 4:51 PM ^
On the other hand, he defended the defense and canned the DC the next day--maybe it's better to have BK complain about you? In seriousness, I thing you're absolutely right that this must impact his players--he seems very ready to criticize players and other coaches publicly, but I've never heard him say anything non-positive about himself (though I can't say I listen to him much).
September 27th, 2016 at 10:15 AM ^
I don't know why in the world an elite recruit with lots of quality options would ever want to play for him.
September 27th, 2016 at 11:47 AM ^
September 26th, 2016 at 12:27 PM ^
That's pretty solid. Yes, his non Manti Te'o defenses have been a bit leaky, but I think his coaching job last year was pretty good.
If you look at their recruiting averages from 2012-2015 according to 247, they are on par with Texas, UCLA, Tennessee, Clemson and Texas A&M. So his coaching job seems to have produced results better than most of those programs with similar talent.
(LINK)
September 26th, 2016 at 12:40 PM ^
BCS title game that ND was picked to play in and a Fiesta Bowl which they lost.