SI Article Ripping Brian Kelly

[05_never_again]

The reputation of their university took a major hit in the 80's with the Jan Kemp revelations and subsequent litigation. They deliberately de-emphasized athletics in the aftermath and therefore, mostly struggled in the 90's.

They have never been dominant, however. You are giving them more respect than their history deserves.

How is saying "UGA should actually be the most dominant SEC program historically, not Alabama" giving UGA too much respect? UGA isn't even the second best SEC program. That honor still goes to Tennessee, although they have considerably closed the gap given we haven't done anything of note in well over a decade. UGA has inherent advantages, especially in the modern era of the game, that should make them better than Alabama, Tennessee, and most other SEC schools yet they have not been a dominant program as you say.

It isn't just UGA football that has underachieved - UGA should also have dominant basketball and baseball programs, at least over the last 20-30 years given their proximity to the talent. Their basketball program is horrendous and has been for a long time, and their baseball program has had very fleeting success.

 

[onevol74]

A few things:

1. It’s a Notre Dame website, so I’m not surprised that the author is critical of Kelly.
2. He had good players and good assistants? I’m completely shocked at this revelation. Here I thought that you could be highly successful with average players and a poor coaching staff.
3. Kelly has been successful everywhere that he has been. Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame. Something tells me that he’s a good coach.
4. I completely disagree that it’s easier to win at ND than it is at Alabama or Clemson. ND has a smaller pool of recruits because of their arcane academic requirements. Also, while ND spends a lot on football, they’re not in the same league as far as Bama or Clemson in that regard.

Nothing arcane about ND academic standards. At least they have some. More than you can say for the SEC schools who have prostituted their institutions to enable educational mediocrity. I think it is funny when you ask some of these SEC recruits what they want to major in and they look at you funny.

 

[Zues1]

Yeah I don't know either. On the surface he seems like a jerk. Perfect for dem tighas.
I hope the NCAA knees that whole program in the gonads.

 

[VolPack22]

Kelly doesn’t seem like a good fit for LSU at all.

Tries way too hard to fit in.

I feel the same way. He also has Saban, Jimbo and Kirby to contend with in recruiting, not to mention Texas and Oklahoma coming soon. I don’t think he finishes any higher than 3rd in the West throughout his tenure there. A&M is about to become a problem in the West.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I feel the same way. He also has Saban, Jimbo and Kirby to contend with in recruiting, not to mention Texas and Oklahoma coming soon. I don’t think he finishes any higher than 3rd in the West throughout his tenure there. A&M is about to become a problem in the West.

Les Miles and Coach O won a title at LSU vs Saban. Venables is an unproven coach at OU and Sark hasn’t proven to be a championship level head coach . I think an argument can be made that Kelly is the second best coach in the West given his level of success at multiple stops and at multiple levels.
That actually should be a good offseason discussion thread :
Ranking the head coaches in the SEC East and West.

 

[Manchester Vol]

I'll go with LSU. Their last three coaches have all won National Championships there and in any given year Louisiana has more players per capita in the NFL. Lock down the Louisiana borders and cherry pick other states when needed (East and Southeast Texas) and a ring is very very possible.

I just “drove through” Louisiana and won a national championship.

 

[VolPack22]

Les Miles and Coach O won a title at LSU vs Saban. Venables is an unproven coach at OU and Sark hasn’t proven to be a championship level head coach . I think an argument can be made that Kelly is the second best coach in the West given his level of success at multiple stops and at multiple levels.
That actually should be a good offseason discussion thread :
Ranking the head coaches in the SEC East and West.

I think he’s 3rd in the West behind Saban and Jimbo

 

[Firebirdparts]

Come on, it's jibber jabber.

What is this crap about "coach doesn't deserve blah blah blah because he has a good staff and best players". That's drivel. You people generating that sort of original content here on VN, hey, get a clue. It's stupid. We all know they have a weak schedule. You wanna get in the playoffs every year? Here's the ticket right here.

If I'm a coach, I'm all about having a good staff and the best players. Hooray for me. And I'll take a weak schedule too, thanks.

You can't blame a guy for trying to win.

 

[beamerman]

This is an interesting article. I have no opinion on its accuracy, but worth a read.

Brian Kelly Didn't Win At Notre Dame Because of Brian Kelly

The TL;DR version of it is that the author faults Brian Kelly for not winning any big games and says most of his success came from having good assistants, good players, and a weak schedule. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Certainly, if a weak schedule was part of the reason for ND's success under Kelly, he's not going to find that at LSU. But again ... I have no idea if this article is accurate or just "butt-hurt" from a Notre Dame fan. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

The one thing, though, that does stick out to me: the idea that Notre Dame can't win national titles (often pushed by Brian Kelly) seems completely bogus. Sure, LSU has the biggest recruiting advantage in the nation, but there's no reason you can't win national titles at Notre Dame. Indeed, it's easier to win at Notre Dame than it is at Clemson and arguably, 'Bama (peoples' sense of Bama's natural strengths are greatly distorted due to Saban being an all-time great coach).

Maybe so. We saw that play out in Tn when some thought Fulmer was the reason for the success only to find out he was along for the ride. Kelly could,be the same. We know Butch followed Kelly and had success until he didn’t follow Kelly at Tn and fail.

 

[VolInNorthCack]

 

[VolFreakJosh]

Cringe

 

[Firebirdparts]

I think he’s 3rd in the West behind Saban and Jimbo

This must be right, and on some level they are set up for a solid battle. LSU might be the "easiest" place to win and maybe he's third. A&M could be an easy place to win, but it never has been in the past, for whatever reason. Competition from Texas and Oklahoma for recruits should be at least a little off and I suppose we do see the results of that already.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

 

[Carp]

ND plays a weak schedule?

I'll give you that they don't typically play 5-6 ranked teams, but they primarily play an all Power 5 schedule. Not exactly their fault when they schedule Florida State, Pitt, VaTech, years ago and those schools have bad years. Every SEC tends to play at least one FBS school and multiple Group of 5 schools. So while they don't play as many top ranked teams, they don't tend to have more than a game or two of pre- scheduled auto wins.

 

[VolPack22]

ND plays a weak schedule?

I'll give you that they don't typically play 5-6 ranked teams, but they primarily play an all Power 5 schedule. Not exactly their fault when they schedule Florida State, Pitt, VaTech, years ago and those schools have bad years. Every SEC tends to play at least one FBS school and multiple Group of 5 schools. So while they don't play as many top ranked teams, they don't tend to have more than a game or two of pre- scheduled auto wins.

ND will be playing their first ever FCS opponent, Tennessee State, in 2023. USC will be the last team remaining to have never played an FCS opponent. USC scheduled UC Davis a couple of years ago but cancelled the game due to fans threatening to boycott.