Let me quickly weigh in on the Brian Kelly hire at Notre Dame since more than one of my readers mentioned a distaste for his not sticking around for the biggest bowl game in Cincinnati history.
Is it unfortunate? Yes. The Bearcats gave him their commitments and have practised and played hard all year. They have kept out of trouble, too. But a lesser coach would not have brought them to a potential no. 2 final ranking. And the pro contracts signed by some of these players may not have materialised.
Is it realistic to expect him to have stayed and either remained quiet about Notre Dame or been a coach of two different schools? Absolutely not. One of the best things Charlie Weis and his staff did was to attract talent, although the majority of the higher rated players played offense. His current class, which was still 7-8 guys short, could have collapsed without a coach in place ASAP. That is just the current situation, especially with the shark-like staffs currently working at USC, Florida and Tennessee, etc. Notre Dame waited for Weis five years ago and paid for it with the seniors who departed last year. Quick, name three.
There is too much money at stake for Kelly not to go immediately. Notre Dame football is a big business and when the school fails to see it that way--like hiring a high school coach--they pay for it. Since he is under increased pressure with the Irish, it is best that he begins working today. Plus, if he stuck it out for a month the rumors and questions would have been a distraction for his team. It is a sad day for Cincinnati football but all will be forgotten with a win over Florida.
Is it unfortunate? Yes. The Bearcats gave him their commitments and have practised and played hard all year. They have kept out of trouble, too. But a lesser coach would not have brought them to a potential no. 2 final ranking. And the pro contracts signed by some of these players may not have materialised.
Is it realistic to expect him to have stayed and either remained quiet about Notre Dame or been a coach of two different schools? Absolutely not. One of the best things Charlie Weis and his staff did was to attract talent, although the majority of the higher rated players played offense. His current class, which was still 7-8 guys short, could have collapsed without a coach in place ASAP. That is just the current situation, especially with the shark-like staffs currently working at USC, Florida and Tennessee, etc. Notre Dame waited for Weis five years ago and paid for it with the seniors who departed last year. Quick, name three.
There is too much money at stake for Kelly not to go immediately. Notre Dame football is a big business and when the school fails to see it that way--like hiring a high school coach--they pay for it. Since he is under increased pressure with the Irish, it is best that he begins working today. Plus, if he stuck it out for a month the rumors and questions would have been a distraction for his team. It is a sad day for Cincinnati football but all will be forgotten with a win over Florida.
Guido, I'm disappointment in your shoulder-shrugging resignation to this selfish move. Two major points: First and foremost, the Cincinnati players deserved better. With all the glamour and celebrity surrounding college football these days it's easy to forget that the players are still kids. They bought into Kelly's program and his promise to achieve great things. And now that they are a step away from that goal, he makes them go the rest of the way alone. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I know college football is all about money and ratings, but I refuse to totally surrender it's original mission of camraderie, leadership and sportsmanship. The rush to name Kelly ND head coach obliterates any pretense ND and Kelly have of educating student athletes. (AND ND is not unique here, by the way.)
There are all kinds of crazy rules that operate to perpetuate the ruse that student athletes are amatures. But how can those rules be taken seriously when schools and coaches do hypocritical things like force a coach to abandon one program for a bigger-name program?
ND and other big schools should show more respect for smaller schools.
Finally, I refuse to believe that three weeks would have made a big difference in the recruiting game. ND already had some big names preps lined up. It's unlikely they will score anymore in the next few weeks to really make a difference.
ND and Kelly are off to bad start. Shame of them.
Have you just arrived from another planet, Scottso? You seem a bit out of touch with reality.
ReplyDeleteYes we all feel bad for the Cincinnati players. But remember, the upperclassmen were recruited by Mark Dantonio, the previous head coach. So they have been through this before. In the three years spent with Kelly, the Bearcats' program was elevated from inconsequential to top five in the country. And many of the Cincinnati players, the majority of whom were second tier prospects coming out of high school, are now on the radar of NFL clubs. So, they should thank Kelly for three great years.
Plus why should they now roll over and die just because Kelly left? West Virginia upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl two years ago just weeks after coach Rich Rodriguez bolted for Michigan. The Bearcats should come out fired up to face Florida to show the college football world that they are bigger than one individual.
As for Notre Dame, why do you single them out when every major program would have done the same thing? And football teams in the 1800s were accused of buying players, so money has always ruled the sport. With the amount of money riding on Notre Dame football they cannot afford to be sentimental to the little guys. Especially when those little guys continue to beat them! When Syracuse, Navy, Connecticut, etc sign a pact to not beat Notre Dame, the Irish will give them a break.
The same goes for recruiting. High school DE Chris Martin dropped Notre Dame in November due to the rumors swirling around the program. He just signed on with the Cal Bears. Should Cal have shown respect to Notre Dame and not pursued the kid? And if Notre Dame waited until January to hire Kelly wouldn't the USCs and Tennessees of the cfb world poached other Notre Dame recruits? Of course they would have.
Finally, I am confused about the knock on Notre Dame's inability to educate their student athletes because they hired a new football coach. One of the reasons Kelly was hired was that he has a good reputation in recruiting kids who go to class and do not get into trouble. He will be expected to graduate his players at the high rate the Irish do every year. If anything, hiring him now allows the players from both schools to concentrate on their studies and, for Cincinnati, their bowl preparations and not have to answer questions from media and fellow students about coaching changes. That would have been a needless distraction for everyone.
It's the hypocrisy that bothers me. And it's not just ND. It's all schools If a player decides he can do better at another school and wants to transfer, he has to sit out a year. In essence, he'd be punished for giving up on his school, which is why players rarely transfer. Don't tell me there aren't a load of players who have buyer's remorse and wish they had gone to a different school. They don't transfer because they feel they've already been burned once and don't want to sacrifice a year of playing time. But, of course, the same rules don't apply to coaches. They're free to come and go as they please.
ReplyDeleteBrian Kelly admitting he might not have taken the ND job had Cincinnati had a shot at the title game only proves my point. It's OK to abandon his players for a lesser bowl game, but not the championship game? Come on. He's showing his true selfish colors.
I understand the intense competition for recruits. Perhaps one way to avoid this problem would be to set the signing period for schools and players sometime after the bowl games. A rule that opens the signing window from, say, February through April would keep coaches from jumping ship prematurely.
Returning to my point about education, I was trying to say that schools ought to become better examples of honoring commitments. In my mind, Kelly should have at least stayed on to coach the Team in the Bowl Game.
I wish coaches honored commitments and that programs would not poach recruits. I also wish rainwater were beer. But it's not. Does anyone know what movie I am quoting?
ReplyDeleteIf your dream job came calling, would you seriously make it wait if you were in the middle of a month-long project?