Notre Dame

[Bearcat Chris]

Somewhat reliable sources tell me that BK is the top candidate for the ND job. Their program is in shambles, and they need a winner to take over.

We all are glad BK is here, but when he bolts, we want to get somebody who will stay like Rick M., not leave the first chance they get..... Somebody with great Cincinnati connections, who has a pipeline to the best h.s. players.

Let's enjoy the top 25 ranking.

Still no vibes on the San Diego game..... no even the slightest. This concerns me.

B.C.

[Nerf]

I don't think Charlie Weiss is going anywhere. The ND faithful are still busy blaming Tyrone Willingham for their problems. :rolleyes:

[jkwuc89]

OK Chris...I have to ask. Why do you think BK is going to leave? First, it was Michigan. Now, it's ND. I will state right now that:

Brian Kelly WILL be UC's coach next season!

[AeroCat]

Lonnie Wheeler seems to think that BK will be staying:

http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/lonniewheeler/

Most recent entry, 18th comment from the top.

[Bearcat Cafe]

I heard BK is leaving because we never should have left C-USA.:D

[Bearcat Fan Since 1958]

I don't think Charlie Weiss is going anywhere. The ND faithful are still busy blaming Tyrone Willingham for their problems. :rolleyes:

You'll see a similar reaction 75 miles south over the next few years.

[Irishbearcat]

ND is not in shambles, and there are no calls for Weis to step down. He is not on any hotseat whatsover. He won more games his first two years than any other Irish coach. This year was expected to be a rebuilding year, it just happened to be more building than expected.
The strength of the team lies in its freshmen and sophomores (Weis's guys) and the current recruiting class is currently number 1.
This year is ugly, next year will be vastly improved, and '09 is going to be sick.

I hope UC is on par with them in two years! By the looks of things, my two favorite teams have a bright future.

[Bearcat_DF]

OK Chris...I have to ask. Why do you think BK is going to leave? First, it was Michigan. Now, it's ND. I will state right now that:

Brian Kelly WILL be UC's coach next season!

Bearcat Chris is still promoting Kerry Coombs to be UC's coach. His sources, vibe, and vision (UC shouldn't leave C-USA) should never be doubted.

Go Cats!
DF

[bobestes]

Weis won't get fired, but he could theoretically leave ND for the NY Giants job when Coughlin gets canned.

BK has a pretty stiff buyout, but I can't imagine that would stop someone from hiring him, if they really wanted.

I've never been too concerned about losing Dantonio or BK, if top-tier programs are hiring away our coaches, then good things are obviously happening. You wish them luck, then go and hire the best and brightest to come and run the ship. It's not going to stop being a desirable job. Dantonio left, and look at where we are. One day, BK will leave.

UC will always always be down the food chain from the Ohio States, Michigans and Notre Dames of the world. They just have too much cash, and always will.

A good comparison is Xavier basketball (yuck). They lose coaches every few years, and make good hires each time. They're a strong program for a school of their size for doing so.

[colucat]

Somewhat reliable sources tell me that BK is the top candidate for the ND job. Their program is in shambles, and they need a winner to take over.

We all are glad BK is here, but when he bolts, we want to get somebody who will stay like Rick M., not leave the first chance they get..... Somebody with great Cincinnati connections, who has a pipeline to the best h.s. players.

Let's enjoy the top 25 ranking.

Still no vibes on the San Diego game..... no even the slightest. This concerns me.

B.C.

It is Rick Minter on the list at ND. They like his C-usa experience and his defense was better than this year. :)

[Deaf_Bearcat]

BK on ND's top candidate list? No way! I remember on the day when BK was hired as the new UC football head coach, he said "UC is not a stepping stone...". He better mean it.

[jkwuc89]

Despite media hints to the contrary, Coach Weis is not going anywhere. ND has made a HUGE financial commitment to him. Those really close to ND's program knew this would be a rebuilding year. Following two BCS bowl trips, I suspect ND is willing to Coach Weis a mulligan for this season.

[bcatwilly]

No offense Chris, but even if your "sources" are right about rumors of any interest in Coach Kelly can't we just enjoy the Bearcats run right now without immediately jumping to this stuff?

If and when that truly becomes an issue then we can all push panic buttons and consume message board chatter with it. Of course anything is possible, but I do believe that there is a very large buyout already in place if Coach Kelly would try to bolt after a single season. Yeah these are schools that would scoff at that kind of money even, BUT they also could have their pick of pretty much any coach out there that they want too.

And assuming worst case at least the Bearcats would be coming off of a season where they FINISHED in the Top 25 (which is exactly what it would take for Coach Kelly to end up a serious final candidate for either of those jobs IMO) and be holding a bag of cash for another coach (and yes searching would suck because Kelly is clearly special) Let the AD handle anything related to this and for now GO BEARCATS!

[Jose_Jalapeno_on_a_Stick]

If you want find a culprit for ND's awful start, look at the schedule. It's significantly tougher than last year's, and the team, as has been pointed out, is rebuilding. That combination is a recipe for disaster.

Weiss has recruited too well for ND to write him off after one bad season. It is Michigan I'm more concerned with, but even then, all signs point to Miles.

As far as the UC program, I'm going to kick back and enjoy the AP #24 ranking, and especially its conference affiliation! :D

[nachoman91]

I'd be more worried if other teams weren't looking to hire UC's coach.

If your coach is not being sought after then either.....
A. He stinks
B. Your school is one of the premier coaching gigs in America

[shaunsimpson]

Notre Dame might have a ton of money, but to pay a head coach 20M to not be there sounds like it might even be out of their boundaries. Also, like many in today's college football world recruiting rankings are like winning football games in some's minds. ND is winning the rankings this year - of course when your line can't block you have some bigger issues.

[Irishbearcat]

People that follow ND know that there is virtually no production out of the junior and senior classes. The best players (aside from Trevor Laws) has been underclassmen.
CW gets a huge pass this year. Any talk of him leaving is foolish.

BTW-I wish ND had the Bearcat defense. I catch alot of flack on the ND board because I brag about how UC is doing! Nice to see us crack the top 25.

[Bearcat Cafe]

Why should he get a pass? Lots of those juniors are his players.

[Irishbearcat]

No, they aren't. He did almost no recruiting his first year because he had zero relationships with recruits. He decided instead to keep the scholies for next year and came away with a pretty good (what we all consider) first class.

I like Minter, have liked him before he ever came to UC, but Corwin Brown can recruit a whole lot better than Minter ever did. So does Weis.
Ty Willingham was lazy and a horrible recruiter. The only reason Quinn came to ND was mostly due to Ndukewe. The seniors and juniors right now.....(read my lips) awful!

[Bearcat85]

Just because WE think Kelly is doing a great job, doesn't mean every top program out there with a potential need also sees him as that. We've beaten 4 pretty mediocre teams, so let's not be shoving the man out the door before he actually is getting pulled.

I've been involved in plenty of situations where I know the true, behind the scenes scoop, and some "sources" around town spread some pretty hilarious stuff.

I'd like to see us have a self-imposed moratorium on "BK is going to leave" threads until there is actually some acknowledgement from him or the admin that he's actually talking to someone. I guess the fact that I work in a profession where I actually have to keep my mouth shut about things I know taints my view of all this. It ****es me off that I can't enjoy something I've waited my whole adult life for, for 2 minutes before someone's trying to hang a dark cloud over it!

[richard k.]

Just disregard all that stuff - I've been waiting over a half century for this and I'll be damned if I'm going to let Chris or anyone else screw it up, aside from the team itself. I started the season dreaming about meeting W. VA with both teams unbeaten (I know how unlikely that is, but like I said - it's MY dream) and I'll stick with it until they lose. So there!

[General Woundwort]

Agreed. Bearcat Chris has a huge man-crush on Kerry Coombs (and who can blame him? Kerry is teh hawt!!!), and so he has a vested interest in believing any nonsense story he comes across about BK bolting. I learned a long time ago to disregard most "inside scoop", as it is 99.96% pure BS. The Michigan rumors have a tinge of reality (in that Carr will likely retire soon), but the ND one is just laughable. To paraphrase Edwin Edwards, the only way Weis is fired is if they find him in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.

The funny thing is, I know an "outside source", someone with absolutely no connection to the UC program (other than being an alumnus of the school), who correctly predicted each of the Bearcats' last two football coaching hires (Dantonio and Kelly) before either name had entered the conversation. In both cases, they were the first names he came up with, the day he heard about the opening. (I chalked the Dantonio one up to his living in Columbus, but he kind of freaked me out with Kelly).

He was able to do this because he is smart, he pays attention, and he doesn't get caught up on his "dream choice", but rather looks at the situation logically (Unlike me. I would close my eyes at night and try to wish Urban Meyer or Dan Hawkins to arrive in the morning. It never worked).

[bobestes]

Dan Hawkins? I live in Boulder, and I'd like to report that guy is a mess...

[Bearcat Chris]

Agreed. Bearcat Chris has a huge man-crush on Kerry Coombs (and who can blame him? Kerry is teh hawt!!!), and so he has a vested interest in believing any nonsense story he comes across about BK bolting. I learned a long time ago to disregard most "inside scoop", as it is 99.96% pure BS. The Michigan rumors have a tinge of reality (in that Carr will likely retire soon), but the ND one is just laughable. To paraphrase Edwin Edwards, the only way Weis is fired is if they find him in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.

The funny thing is, I know an "outside source", someone with absolutely no connection to the UC program (other than being an alumnus of the school), who correctly predicted each of the Bearcats' last two football coaching hires (Dantonio and Kelly) before either name had entered the conversation. In both cases, they were the first names he came up with, the day he heard about the opening. (I chalked the Dantonio one up to his living in Columbus, but he kind of freaked me out with Kelly).

He was able to do this because he is smart, he pays attention, and he doesn't get caught up on his "dream choice", but rather looks at the situation logically (Unlike me. I would close my eyes at night and try to wish Urban Meyer or Dan Hawkins to arrive in the morning. It never worked).

----------------
Cute about the crush on Kerry!:eek:

Let me tell you this. I was the President of the Northwest Local Board of Education (my final term ends on December 31st.... am not running again) while Kerry was our Coach at Colerain. Colerain is the school that dismantles everybody. Last week, 42-0 over Middletown 2 minutes into the 2nd quarter.

Let me tell you about my "crush" on KC......

Kerry has a gift of motivating young players, has a speaking ability second perhaps to no other coach in Ohio (on any level), is a solid citizen, and WILL NOT LEAVE THE BEARCATS..... REPEAT..... THIS MAN GREW UP HERE, HIS WIFE WORKS HERE, HIS PARENTS AND IN-LAWS LIVE HERE.... HE WILL NOT BOLT. If he doesn't win the BE for UC, he will die trying.

So perhaps because of this, in the event BK does leave (I hope he doesn't), but if and when he does, I am tired of the "merry-go-round" we have had here since Tony Mason days. The only reason Rick Minter stayed so long is that no other school wanted him, due to his inability to keep assistant coaches (among other issues, I suspect).

I have missed one game since 1977. I have seen us go through coaches that literally have been on the phone to other schools, after coaching just one game here (Watson Brown after the Penn State upset).

Continuity is the key. KC may not have the experience, but I know a lot of people are glad he is at UC, and I hope that Miami doesn't grab him when Shane Montgomery gets the boot in November. Kerry's son plays for MU.

None the less folks, "my intentions, like yours, are honorable"..... for UC to become a consistent winner, and the key to that is not loosing your head coach just prior to a bowl game!

B.C.
CCM '78
P.S. I am beginning to get some "vibes" on SDSU. Hopefully will have some sort of vision by Sat. on this game.

[subflea]

You would rather have a coach who isn't qualified for the job, just because he will stick around? Sorry, but I can't agree with that. You said "If he doesn't win the BE, he will die trying", and that is what I would be afraid of.
Coaches move from school to school and to the NFL all the time. All you can do is hope they pick the right guy to replace him.
Miami (FL) has not had a coach stay for more than 5 years in the last 30 years. In that time they have won 5 NC's. Those 5 were won by 4 different coaches. A program can be successful even with coaching turnover.

[Irishbearcat]

Article by Mike Farrell on ND's problems It is a free Rivals story
http://notredame.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=722276

Some highlights for those who aren't sure why ND is struggling this year, or tired of hearing about it from the espn types.


Willingham left the cupboard bare at many key positions.The linebackers were a step too slow, the offensive line lacked any sort of depth and Notre Dame was too slow at key skill positions. Weis inherited a good quarterback, some leadership at certain positions and a few key playmakers. But what he didn't inherit was a deep football team.

Here is a look at the average star rating and rank nationally of Notre Dame's recent recruiting classes (numbers for 2008 reflect current commitments):
Year Avg. Stars Nat. Rank Signees On Roster
2004 2.83 32 16 9
2005 3.00 40 15 14
2006 3.46 8 28 25
2007 3.72 8 18 18
2008 3.84 1 19 -

for the most part, Willingham recruited at Notre Dame as if he were still at Stanford. From 2003 to 2005, Notre Dame finished outside of the national top 25 twice.


In 2005, the year Weis took over late in the recruiting season, the Irish finished 40th in the nation in recruiting. That's simply unheard of.


Some of the more puzzling recruits signed during Willingham's tenure include linebacker Nick Borseti, cornerback Leo Ferrine, quarterback Darrin Bragg, linebacker Abdel Banda and cornerback Tregg Duerson. Notre Dame beat out the following programs for these recruits – Syracuse, Virginia, Indiana, Wake Forest, Rutgers, Utah and Duke. That's recruiting like you're at Stanford.

In 2003 and '04, the Irish signed seven two-star players. In Weis' first two full recruiting years the Irish signed two such players, both of them kickers.