tenure with ND, it would be a nice gesture for someone to post it on an LSU message board. We should be grateful they took him off our hands so the least we could do is give them a starting point.
I think that's a lot of calories burned for no purpose.
It's college football, weird shit happens, and upsets give the game it's flavor... and even elite coaches (or good coaches with elite staffs) get bitten by it once in a while:
Ara: Missouri ('72), Purdue ('74)
Devine: Georgia Tech ('76 & '80 tie), Mississippi ('77), Missouri ('78)
Lou: Stanford ('90), Northwestern ('95 - eventual B1G champ, but shocking at the time)
What I can't live with is seeing ND get run out of the stadium every goddamned time they play an elite team.
Why? Part of it is because he has purposefully mitigated the importance of some games. Toledo = Michigan in his mind. It's crap. Big games are big games. I hate when a BK team comes out flat in a rivalry or big game. Hate it. I think MF will recognize that playing tOSU is a big f'ing deal - and we won't come out disinterested next September.
The downside of this, we will suffer through some "trap games". Coming off an emotional high, coming out flat vs. say ... Iowa in Michigan's case. I'm sure under MF we will see more of these kinds of games.
I, like you, willing to take that trade off. Let's challenge and beat the best ... at the risk of losing a game we shouldn't later on down the line.
ND's last loss to an unranked opponent, based on gametime rankings, was Virginia Tech in 2016. ND's last loss to an unranked opponent, based on final rankings, was Navy in 2016. Of course, ND finished 4-8 in 2016, so those games hardly count as "upset" losses.
get in a better offensive system?
I was in the stadium for that game and was beside myself when the offense came out for the two-pointer. Most people around me seemed oblivious but I just couldn’t believe a guy with Kelly’s experience could make such a blunder.
The blunder would’ve been bad enough in isolation, but it *literally led to us losing the game.* I honestly do worry about Freeman’s lack of experience but it would be difficult for him to be more of a bonehead in critical situations.
benefit of the doubt from a specifically "football" point of view. Those benefits expired that day.
Of course, as a coach, I could not imagine going back to work and denying any responsibility for the previous day on Oct. 28, 2010.
I got text last night from someone questioning Freeman's potential inexperience when it comes to in-game management.
That's exactly what I told him - Brian Kelly was no sideline scholar - let's not forget that. I cited your examples and then some.
Also, lest we forget, Brian Kelly racked up 43 regular season victories since 2018 because his AD packed his schedule with weak ACC teams & tomato cans, Stanford fell into the abyss, Clay Helton was a chump and Trevor Lawrence got Covid.
Remember at the beginning of Rocky III when Rocky learns after beating Apollo Creed that Mickey was taking care of him - getting him only a series of fights he knew Rocky could win? Swarbrick is Mickey. Brian Kelly is Rocky. The SEC is about to be Clubber Lang.
“But they weren’t killin’ machines like Lang! He’ll moidah you to death in three rounds!”
Rocky: I've had ten title defenses.
Mickey: That was easy. They was handpicked.
Rocky: You mean they was setups?
Mickey: No, they was good fighters. But they wasn't killers. This guy'll knock you to tomorrow. (Emphasis added.)
Not sure the ND opponents in question were "good fighters."
(Note: Verb tense usage intentional. It's been awhile since I saw Rocky III, but I believe that's how they spoke in that scene.)
Had dinner with a former SEC head coach about 8-9 years ago. He was talking about 1st-time head coaches that come from the defensive side of the ball and was saying how they tend to struggle early and often in their tenure with game situations and decisions, more so than 1st-timers that come from the offensive side of the ball.
His stance was that the offensive guys had experience at least with 2-minute drill, using timeouts, going for it on 4th down, sending in packages/players on and off the field, and perhaps one or two other nuances I have since forgotten. Basically, initiating the action with their decisions. On the other side of the coin, the defensive guys as DCs are more reactive to the action on the field instead of initiating it.
... for exactly that reason. Perhaps a guy like Cutcliffe who can just be there - in his ear to help him manage the game when things are going a thousand miles an hour.
It would help immensely.
SB prosecutor's office and police conducted an investigation. No charges were pressed.
By teammates of the alleged assailant. It was a shameful episode.
Definitely different from other Southern states.