is while all three have huge ego's, as do all coaches, fat arse is unwilling to hire the best possible coaches because he does not want to share the spotlight or headlines. While Saban and Smart realize hiring the best possible assistant coaches will make them look even better when their teams win, year in year out. And, nobody questions who is in charge at Alabama or Georgia.
IMHP Sticking too long with flagrantly underperforming assistant coaches.
One where he can feel comfortable wearing hair curlers and stretch pants.
There has been some negative comments about Coach Freeman after UNC. I fully understand the concern with the current defense. I would hope we can be patient with Freeman as I am very excited about his recruiting and I hope it pushes Kelly and the offensive coaches to keep up. If Weis could get a #1 class there is no reason our current group could not match that if they work at it. I'm hoping Freeman is that difference maker,
...he didn't recruit. Let's see what he looks like in two or three years. If he is still here.
Lea had an elite defense with those same players Freeman didn’t recruit. Never give a pass to any coach for failure to properly coach the players they currently have. History has shown no coach in ND history has been worth keeping that needed to have their own players. In fact, few have ever won a title with their own players - Holtz included.
"If you don't recruit, no coach is going to outcoach recruiting/talent." It may not be possible for ND to replicate what Saban has done, but Kelly and Swarbrick sure as hell have could have done more in the last 11 years to pursue that goal - recruiting being one of the areas where Kelly (and his staff) has not done enough.
Forget who the messenger is for a moment and just take the facts for what they are. ND will not be elite until it recruits consistently as such.
Guys,” Smart said before a brief pause. “If you don’t recruit, there’s no coach out there who can out-coach recruiting. I don’t care who you are. The best coach to ever (coach) the game better be a good recruiter because no coaching is going to out-coach players. Anyone will tell you our defense is good because we’ve got good players.
I think that shitty coaching can make a talented team play like crap, but I agree with smart, you cant take a bunch of average players and turn them into a great team.
I think it came up during the debate if an NFL or NCAA job is more attractive to a top coach, with the NFL jobs allowing them to focus on coaching vs. pitching the school to 17-18 year olds, the various rules (pre-NIL), no booster groups, etc. Saban mentioned something to the effect that at Miami he would get 1 first round pick a year and that was inversely correlated to the team's success, but in college, he could get the equivalent (4-5 stars) of 15-20 a year if he did his job well and that winning would in turn lead to further recruiting success. Fit and money are of course major issues too, and it is likely easier for a Belicheck to succeed in the NFL and Mack Brown in college, but just the playoff era alone seems to show the concentration of talent, especially with OSU and OU having first time coaches yet thriving.
As for ND, Saban casts a giant shadow that no one is matching, and the roster situation is something other schools have mentioned both with 5 stars backing up 5 stars, practices being as tough as most games, and the scholarship competition, but I also don't think we are that far off from everyone else (hopefully UGA is more like LSU than Alabama, but I fear they'll stay...). IMO, if our QBs (recruiting, development and scheme are a different thread altogether!) move from good to elite, we get the Hamiltons/JOKs on defense and Williams/Tyrees on offense at least every other year, and keep our traditional OL/TE strengths, we should be right there, although I'd still of course like to see us move more toward the top 5 rather than top 15 range.
I wonder how much longer Saban will stay as his retirement alone should help with recruiting parity, and of the rest:
-Alabama itself: no idea who they'd hire, but would assume recruiting would still be elite, even if anyone else will be a step down
-UGA: They look primed to potentially go on a Clemson-type run, especially building the sort of depth where a great QB could elevate them even more. Smart seems to be cleaning up in a talent-laden state and then picking up top guys elsewhere, that defense is monstrous, and at the very least they're in the OSU/Clemson grouping.
- Clemson had comparable aggregate classes to us when they went on their run, but also had elite QBs with Watson/Lawrence and at least 2-3 elite playmakers on both sides of the ball, and Swinney seems like a natural recruiter who will keep it going
-OSU has recruited lights out and if I recall Day kept a very good staff even if he's young
-A&M could be an intriguing one with Fisher, local talent + a weakened UT, unlimited money, and a statement win like Alabama where recruits may want to be part of the class that takes the next step
-OU's offense will sell itself under Riley, and curious to see if he might try the NFL route + how they'll recruit in the SEC
-UF, PSU & UM are hard to get a read on, but seems like they'll be in that 5-15 range with us
-USC, Texas, and LSU (FSU and Miami to a lesser extent given the in-state competition) should never have a bad class with their advantages, but all seem to be in various states of disarray
-Oregon is a major wildcard, as Cristobal seems like a charismatic guy who's building a good program, they should be able to capitalize on USC's stumbles (I think they were still pulling some good players out of L.A. even during Carroll's run), and Nike as a major NIL factor
has only appeared in 3 games.
Consider that there are consequences ro receiving shitless coaching in a shitless system. Call it stagnation, call it atrophy. Plus he seems
to have spent a lot of time in Kelly's dpghouse.
and Will Fuller must have been truly amazing to survive such coaching without being five stars. Hell, Ben Skowronek and Javon McKinley are in the league as well.
Stagnation? Jordan didn't spend his year at ND on the injured list or in bed.
A lot of people like to point out that Golson, etc didn’t fly at their new programs.
This ignores the fact that they lost out on 2-4 years of development at ND that can’t be made up for in a single off-season at a new program.
And that a new program is only going to invest so much into a grad transfer with limited eligibility
Player 1-85 would be on the next bus out of town.
Johnson only had 1 year at ND. I think its more likely that he isnt currently able to play WR in college at a high level
I mean its hard for a shiftless coach to screw up surpassing wide receiver talent.
Its also very possible, Occam would argue very likely, that he's just not very good and or disciplined (traits).
Yes, it appears the for whatever reasonhe was in Kelly's dog house. It appears he's in Malzahn's dog house as well.