What coach would we realistically have a shot at replacing BK with from the list?

Campbell, Fitz, and Fickell ( I know he's not on there) are probably the three best options atm. I reckon we're dealing with a change inside the next 5 years.

what your entity exists to produce, the only choice is to replace the CEO or get into another line of business.

Of course, Notre Dame's powers-that-be have only paid lip service to football excellence for many years now. Notre Dame's football program no longer exists to produce excellence.

But you also present a false dichotomy by suggesting that the only way to obtain better coaching would be to hire somebody from that list. While it's a difficult and unpredictable task (in theory, that's why it pays so well), great AD's identify and hire great coaching talent.

Other than the baseball coach, name me one great head coach that Swarbrick has hired in his 12 years on the job. And the baseball coach is only in his second year on the job and the hire came a good five years later than it should have.

It's to create "an experience" and generate revenue. They think that by cultivating the later, it will lead to the former.

he invites a guy like Ara to help him and together they find the right guy at a small timey school like mid-1980's Minnesota.

And I see some guys on the list ahead of Kelly that were position coaches when we had this same conversation a few years ago.