Does Brian Kelly take a shot at D-Rob here?

Submitted by M.I.Sicks on

I've listened to this soundbite a few times and I believe Kelly is taking a shot at D-Rob in this presser. Starting at the 1:48 mark a reporter asks Brian Kelly "How do you rattle a QB making his first road start, do you concern yourself with that?" Kelly responds "Not in the offense that they run, Their offense is obviously set to run the football." Then he basically says well he'll (Denard) throw the football 5 or 10 yards. Calls them "containable throws". Also says "If you fall asleep on him he can put the ball over your head". Then he goes on to say "the point I'm making is he's a Running Back"

 

Am I reaching here? Or is this guy trashing our QB?

Marvin

September 9th, 2010 at 9:23 PM ^

Where's the dis? Because he called D-Rob a "running back"? I guess that might be considered offensive. It would be great to see the boys light it up through the air, but I might also add that Denard is blue lightening on the ground. To call him a mere running back is narrow minded at best.

Captain

September 9th, 2010 at 9:27 PM ^

I cannot review the clip while at work, and have absolutely no context, but the phrase "the point I'm making is he's a Running Back" could be taken as a (mild) slight for any mobile quarterback. 

That said, I really wish it were something pronounced like "Denard is a sissy boy with a noodle arm and we're going to make him look like Dakota Fanning except worse at football."

That would make me even more happy come Saturday evening.

Irish

September 9th, 2010 at 9:25 PM ^

uh yeah

In actual news the hat Kelly is wearing is what you can expect to see on your coaching staff this weekend for the commemoration games.  The letter(s) are a little different though

Blue boy johnson

September 9th, 2010 at 9:26 PM ^

Coach Edsall of UConn got it right; Denard is going to make alot of defenses look bad.
Kelly knows what needs to be done, all he is saying is that his D has to execute, which against Denard's speed, is easier said than done.

friendlyNeighb…

September 9th, 2010 at 10:17 PM ^

denard may eventually be pat white. he may even turn into a better passer than pat white. but, he's a long way from throwing for 300 yards against a remotely credible defense. he played one mistake-free game, but at this point, you can't entirely write off the fact that 1/4 of his passes ended up in the other team's hands last year. nd's defense may not be credible, but its probably remotely credible...so, i don't see 300 yards.

he'll run for 200 before he throws for 300. 

BigBlue02

September 9th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^

First off, did pat white ever throw for 300 yards? Second, apparently completing 19 of 22 passes against a good Uconn team can be completely written off but all of his interceptions last year cannot. Third, do you mind telling me the difference between a credible defense and a remotely credible defense, as I am pretty sure if denard would have needed to throw for 300 yards last week he could have, but I guess that means Uconn doesn't have a remotely credible defense?

friendlyNeighb…

September 10th, 2010 at 7:12 AM ^

the denard hyperbole is getting a little silly. he's an all-world athlete. he's demonstrated this year and last that he's an excellent running quarterback. he's probably going to be a very good college qb, maybe even great. but, the evidence that he's going to be a great (or even good) passer is pretty limited. he was atrocious throwing the football during his appearances last season. he had one very good game where he mostly made short throws and mostly went to his first reads against a team that didn't generate a pass rush, has a very green secondary and didn't have a chance to see any meaningful game film. at best, you can say that he has a reasonable arm, delivery and mechanics - which is a nice start, but so does t. pryor and he may finally be evolving into a good passer in his 3rd year as a starter. 

we know that he's a good running qb. even if he never turns into a more than adequate passer, he'll be ridiculous. we're a long way from seeing him demonstrate that he's a  good passer, though. 

the cognitive dissonance part is this: if everybody actually believed what they're avidly defending about denard - that he's a better runner than pat white and that he's a better passer today than pat white ever was - then, it would be rational be believe a set of things that nobody is ready to believe. so, for example, if those assumptions were true, why wouldn't you be penciling denard in for the heisman this year? and next? pat white got a ton of heisman votes in consecutive seasons, and denard is clearly better...the only thing that would be keeping this team from winning every game with such an unstoppable force at qb would be the defense. so, it would be realistic to think that any time you can get a couple stops on d, denard would be so indefensible that you'll outscore the other team. that would make an undefeated season seem pretty realistic, right? 

my conclusion is that people don't yet believe that denard is quite as good as they project. he's certainly good, but the things that are being said about him imply that he is the the best college qb in a couple decades. deep down, people know that right now they're basing their hyperbole on a single game and that is a very different thing to do it week in and week out. we have the rest of the season to see if he can do that. 

Dan86

September 9th, 2010 at 9:37 PM ^

It sounds like Kelly doesn't expect him to do so, but because he doesn't know for sure, he can't bring the safeties too close to the line.  And by not doing so, he leaves space for Denard Robinson's shorter passes (and runs).  This is the beauty of Michigan's offensive system.

bklein09

September 9th, 2010 at 9:51 PM ^

Wait, so Kelly thinks that Denard is a running back who can throw short passes well and can put it over the top if its open?

That sounds more like a compliment than a dis, no?

He basically said that Denard can do everything. Sounds about right to me.

Blue_Bull_Run

September 9th, 2010 at 9:52 PM ^

Kelly's point is you need to stop the run, keep the passes in front of you, and avoid falling asleep or you'll get one put over your head.

Uhh...that's exactly what we did vs. UConn, isn't it? In fact, I don't think we even tried to go deep, did we?

This is just Kelly saying it like it is.

kalamazoo

September 10th, 2010 at 10:00 AM ^

I think Kelly knows the task is difficult, but if you avoid one thing, it would be double-teaming the deep wideouts to put more in the box or in the 2nd level to stop the run and short passes.

Against UConn, the longest in-air pass was the pass to Terrance Robinson.  With the time Denard had, he could do something similar but go even deeper a few times to keep ND honest.

Then again, Denard was effective enough as it was with more in the box.  The closer the defense is to the line, the quicker Denard can run past it.  Gotta hope for a good O-line performance though to continue to get Denard into open space.

phork

September 9th, 2010 at 10:03 PM ^

Kelly's spread is different from your spread, so no, I don't think he would want Denard over Crist.  The more interesting quote in that video was where he said the best thing to do against option teams is to get up on them early and force them into things they don't want to do.

I'll guarantee an ND victory if UM is forced to pass the ball.

OSUMC Wolverine

September 9th, 2010 at 10:15 PM ^

Lets for a second assume that NDs defense is even close to as good as UConn's which I doubt there are too many ppl in this country outside of ND fans that would even have toyed with this idea 2 weeks ago.  Why would Michigan be forced to pass consistently at any point in the game?  We did not have to against a much more experienced and statistically superior front seven in UConn based on last year.  That being said, I'll take as much passing as we want to sprinkle in with a near 90% completion percentage like last week.

WolverineEagle

September 9th, 2010 at 10:12 PM ^

In case you have forgotton, Forcier is still on the team. So assuming that DR struggles to pass and ND does get up on UM, UM still has the guy who torched ND THROUGH the air last year.

Now, if UM implodes again like they did two years ago, you then could guarantee a ND victory. But simply stuffing the run is not a guarantee. Not with a spread attack team tha has alot of offensive talent and a ND defense that is not overly athletic.

UMich87

September 9th, 2010 at 10:31 PM ^

I've been reading that board during Notre Dame week.  You seemed pretty reasonable over there, but I have to say that you have some delusional posters on that board.  Many of them aren't taking Michigan seriously, and I think that is a mistake.  If I understand the current thinking among the Irish faithful, their saving grace on defense and the way to stop Robinson is the linebacking corps.  There were many pundits saying that UConn's linebackers as a group are among the best in the country, and they couldn't contain Robinson.  All seniors, and one named to both the Bednarik and Nagurski watch lists, and Robinson breezed by them.  Given ND's defensive line and Michigan's O-line, I don't think Robinson will be throwing the deep ball much.

ND Sux

September 10th, 2010 at 8:38 AM ^

if UM is forced to pass the ball."

Now I'm curious...exactly what about our passing game (19 if 22, IIRC) made you think UM can't pass?  Be careful what you wish for.  If we DO throw and have any success at all, the run game will boil over. 

Crist has a huge target on his jersey for tomorrow. 

Clarence Beeks

September 10th, 2010 at 9:29 AM ^

The more interesting quote in that video was where he said the best thing to do against option teams is to get up on them early and force them into things they don't want to do.

The interesting part about that quote is that it isn't correct.  It's not getting up on them early that forces them into things they don't want to do, it's being up on them when it's getting late that forces them into things they don't want to do.

Tater

September 9th, 2010 at 10:09 PM ^

He didn't give Denard or RR any locker room material here.  I am guessing that RR and Kelly have a mutual respect that will add a lot of class to this rivalry for the next ten years or so.  After Weis, seeing any class on the ND sideline will be a bit of a culture shock for me.