Shakey Jake

December 23rd, 2012 at 3:44 PM ^

When ND beats Alabama in the title bowl? Or what if Saban leaves prior to the bowl game and Alabama then offers Brian Kelly the job and he takes it prior to the bowl game?

Now that's some drama i'd like to see!

Farnn

December 23rd, 2012 at 3:48 PM ^

The drama I want is Meyer to the NFL.  So he has one season at OSU, goes undefeated but the team isn't bowl eligible and then bails for the NFL.  Would be great to see the OSU fans go from hating him at Florida to forgiving everything and loving him at OSU to hating him for abandoning them.  I doubt it would happen due to the comfy situation he has at OSU and the stress of the NFL, but the drama would be awesome.

Louie C

December 23rd, 2012 at 4:20 PM ^

I think the Meyer to anywhere drama would be nice, because I don't see him staying the entire duration of his contract, let alone being a lifer there. Someone that had an escape clause in their contract to coach here, ND, or OSU; all bitter rivals no less, doesn't strike me as the loyal type.

Tater

December 24th, 2012 at 2:18 AM ^

Sadly, Meyer is in a great position.  He has a job where nobody will meddle, ala the Brantleys at Florida, as long as he wins.  He will be worshipped throughout his home state for the rest of his life if he stays.  He is at the wheel of a world-class cheating factory that pumps out elite players faster than Chelsea pumps out Jiffy Mix.   

Meyer has no reason to leave.  Ohio is one of the top five jobs in the country if you win.  Meyer is a great coach, and it's going to be really difficult for him to lose with the kind of personnel he and his boosters can attract to Columbus.  

When you google "Urban Meyer," google suggestions puts the word "affair" next.  For those who are jaded or cynical in nature, the best thing to hope for is a repeat, resulting in another "health crisis" that magically disappears as soon as he leaves town.  Otherwise, it could be a very, very long ten or fifteen years.

 

Benoit Balls

December 24th, 2012 at 9:29 AM ^

I'm eating one of their corn muffins right now, getting ready for my drive to Grand Blanc today. It's going to be nice to ge out of the Columbus area for a while.

And there is no way Saban is coming to the Browns. Joe Banner has decided he wants to have final roster control.  He wants to hire a GM who reports to him for football operations (so they are essentially a glorified Pro Personnel director). I would think Saban would want more power than that.

Also, it seems Mike Lombardi (yes, the guy who drafted JaMarcus Russell) is DESPERATE to get back into the NFL. He worked for Banner in Philly in the 90's, and would be willing to take the GM role in the reduced capacity that Banner seems to want out of his GM. There have been tons of rumors, and my guess is Lombardi is the one floating lots of those rumors through his media pals to try and position himself for the job. 

One rumor stated that "hiring Lombardi would give the Browns the inside track to Saban", the reasoning being Saban and Lombardi both worked on Belichick's staff in Cleveland in the 90's.  I have read in multiple other places that rumor is not true in any way, shape or form. Also, I've read that Saban doesn't care about Lombardi's involvement one way or the other.

I was hoping the sale of the Browns meant the end of cronyism and that maybe the new braintrust would actually put effort into the interview process and hire the best man for the open jobs (GM, Coach). If this happens, it will signal the fact that nothing has changed and Browns fans just have to hope that the bosses' friends are up to the task.

Maybe I should become a Lions fan. At least you have Calvin.

M-Wolverine

December 23rd, 2012 at 5:55 PM ^

Here there's a Tenessee booster trying to hire Saban away from their rival.

At least William Clay Ford could have been hiring away Meyer and Tressel. Couldn't do any ores as coaches and would have helped the state. The Yankees did it to Michigan all the time.

TWSWBC

December 23rd, 2012 at 3:51 PM ^

My dislike for those coaches aside, I would like to see this happen. If they do go, I hope they stay for 3+ years and see what happens. They can always go back to college and pick up where they left off if the NFL doesn't work out.

CRex

December 23rd, 2012 at 4:09 PM ^

I'm exciting to see Chip Kelly go pro.  He's really the coach who will provide a definitive answer on if the spread can work in the pros or not.  His style of it seems the best suited for the NFL.  

Perkis-Size Me

December 23rd, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^

I think ND has a shot, but only because they've gotten so lucky this year, its not insane to think that luck would carry over to the NC game.



I can easily see a game where Alabama thoroughly outplays ND, but somehow manages to lose 3-4 fumbles in their own territory. Or AJ McCarron will somehow fall down a flight of stairs and break his arm the night before the game.



Notre Dame, if they win, will squeak out a 13-10 kind of win, and it will only be because Alabama would beat itself. Notre Dame is talented, but Alabama is on another level.

ForeverVoyaging

December 23rd, 2012 at 7:09 PM ^

Well, he made the Rose Bowl when USC was an utter mess due to sanctions, lost miserably in one of his Rose Bowls, and will only win this year because the best team in the B1G is ineligible.

His team was pretty well beat by an Auburn team composed of Nick Fairley, Cam Newton, and a bunch of guys who only won 8 games the next year.

Under his tenure, the Ducks have made a habit of dropping marquee games, like LSU and USC last year and Stanford this year.

Yeah, I'd say that doesn't cut it.

Lionsfan

December 23rd, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^

Wait....what? He didn't lose miserably to Ohio State, he lost by 9. Second, the years he made the Rose Bowl, USC was 9-4 and 10-2. Third, he's not going to the Rose Bowl this year, Stanford is.

Next, the original point wasn't about whether Chip Kelly was a great coach, Phork said the spread hasn't worked in college football, and everyone here called him an idiot.

Finally, as UM fans we really shouldn't be harping on coaches who have poor bowl records and drop marquee games, you know pot calling the kettle black and whatnot

M-Wolverine

December 23rd, 2012 at 10:32 PM ^

And almost everyone to a man around here predicted them to slaughter the Buckeyes it was pretty miserable.

But the funny thing about Phork bashing the spread is that the same Notre Dame team he's saying are world beaters have a spread coach.

phork

December 23rd, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^

Right, but in the big game against better defense they don't win.  See Stanford (2012), LSU (2011), USC (2011),  Auburn (2011), BoiseSt (2009) & tOSU (2009).

He'll be successful against the Detroits, Oaklands and Jacksonvilles, but get crushed against the better league defences.  He'll be back in college in 5 years or less.

NOLA Wolverine

December 24th, 2012 at 12:55 AM ^

What's your argument? That there is a magical offense that makes your players better than the other team and that discredits what Kelly has done? You said it your self before, football is blocking and tackling. Oregon went toe-to-toe with those closely matched teams (really, a great argument could be made the Oregon was over matched in some of those) and lost close ones. Kelly makes his money by how well his offensive line performs, which can be said about any succesful offensive coach. 

M-Wolverine

December 23rd, 2012 at 6:00 PM ^

I'm not sure it's that radical to what some of the teams run now. Or at least the run and shoot. Might look a lot like the old Oilers, and they were fairly successful.

Having a full time offense with a QB like Pat White might be suicide with a NFL defensive line and linebackers. But throwing a lot could work.

Ziff72

December 23rd, 2012 at 8:21 PM ^

Has no one watched the Washington Redskins this year?      RG3 as a rookie has his team on the verge of the playoffs running a spread option.  He is closing in on almost 1000yds rushing and SF is doing the same thing with Kaepernick.

If you stil lthink the spread won't work anywhere you are Gary Danielson or uh I don't know you must be Gary Danielson.

M-Wolverine

December 23rd, 2012 at 10:33 PM ^

To close on 1000 rushing yards. But he's also thrown close to 3000 passing yards with a 104 QB rating. If a run first QB like White could do that he'd still be in the League.

if you think running QB spread = any spread = not working anywhere = not working in the NFL you must spend too much time trying to defend any slight to your belief system. And RGIII is an interesting example to pick when he's already missed games due to injury.

CRex

December 23rd, 2012 at 4:24 PM ^

Kelly likes more passing in his spread than Vick is capable of though.  If say Logan Thomas was a bit more mobile he'd seem idea for Kelly in the pros.  Or perhaps Gardner.  Kelly really only has the QB run when the QB has a line to get some yards without taking a hit.  Otherwise it is about fast tempo via a passing game and a power running game.  He spreads out out with four wide, then punches you in the face with the running back (literally sometimes).  

I can't see Vick having the passing mechanics to run Kelly's offense.  Vick also might not have the physical conditioning at his age (and thanks to his injury history) to run the system for an entire season.  I'd say the real challenge for Kelly is fielding an offensive line where he can keep 3 or 4 WRs in all times and still keep the NFL front seven from mauling the QB/RB. If D-Coords can force him to bring in TEs or backs for blitz pickup they take away a lot of options for Kelly's style of play.  

stephenrjking

December 23rd, 2012 at 5:11 PM ^

Not exactly. Kelly's passers have been fairly mediocre since Dennis Dixon left, but they've been accurate enough to run his relatively vanilla passing schemes. Chip uses tempo and he uses very good tailbacks, neither of which are affected by Vick.

What you are correct about is that the quarterback run is not an essential part of his offense; the quarterback only needs to be quick enough to force a defender to cover him instead of going after the running back, freeing up blockers to outnumber the defense at the point of attack. Pretty run-of-the-mill spread stuff by design. Where Vick helps here is that he is a greater running threat and thus the defense won't be able to cheat--and those times when he does run he'll have a lot of space.

I actually think Vick would pass quite well in Kelly's offense.

Benoit Balls

December 24th, 2012 at 9:36 AM ^

now have 2 excellent running backs. LeSean McCoy is a known quanitity, of course. You've probably at least heard of Bryce Brown by now.  Kid looks like he's going to be pretty good as well (obvious caveat about a few games does not a career make apply).

Dpes that mean Gruden goes to Oregon? Because I heard he bought a house in Philly. I'm so confused.

Bo Knows

December 23rd, 2012 at 4:14 PM ^

If Kelly can win with the spread in the pros I will:

a) sit in the corner of my room and hug myself while I cry because it will bring us even closer to the end of MANBALL

b) proclaim him the best coach of his generation.. yes, better than saban and even.. GULP... the hoodie