Saban then went 12-2 in year 2 with wins over Nos. 13-14 UGA and Ole Miss, having only signed one full new class. (I don’t know if his hiring made an impact in February 2007, but usually late hires only affect the margins of the existing class.)

Yes, elite coaches tend to bring in elite recruits. But they also show a clear trajectory toward elite performances well before they have a roster packed with elite talent.

But my point is one needs truly elite talent and good coaching to win a title. Going 12-2 is something Brian Kelly can do.

Great coaches don't need 3-4 top ranked classes to win a title. But yes, based on Kelly's good but not great coaching, he will need to improve recruiting to win a title. (And there is certainly room for improvement.)

I forget where I read it, but since the modern era of recruiting, Clemson was the first team ever to win a title that didn’t have at least one top 5 recruiting class. And Clemson had Deshaun Watson and some stellar front 7 talent that performed well above their rankings in high school.

Even the best coaches have to have some elite classes on their roster to win it all.

And two Top 5 classes out of every 4 (with the others top 10) is certainly attainable at ND.

on Cartier Field. He was doing years ending in 1 - 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981.

I was really hoping he would do 1991, because that was my class, and also because there's an impression that it was a class that Holtz really struggled recruiting-wise.

According to most here, Saban actually went 2-5 his first season. It doesn’t matter what actually happened on the field.

First, he's talking about the fact that Alabama went 7-6, but that 5 victories were later vacated.

Second, he's mocking those of us who believe ND should stop ignoring the NCAA ruling handed down while promoting Brian Kelly as the "winningest" coach in program history.

In other words, he's kind of being an a-hole. As usual.