Kelly brings a new energy and excitement to South Bend, IMO he has been saying and doing all the right things. His introduction is a far cry to when ND hired Charlie Weis, there's been no "nasty football team" or "schematic advantage" promises. Instead, Coach Kelly has focused on developing his RKG's (right kind of guys) and trying to get the best out of every player he has. I expect ND to take the field this year sky high and fired up, which hasn't been the case in the last five years. The man grasps what ND is all about and isn't afraid to acknowledge that being in the upper echelon of CFB's elite is what his job and mission is all about.

RECRUITING:
IMO, Kelly did a fine job of securing the verbals he had from Weis and adding several good football players to this years class. The defections are going to happen when a coaching change is made but with only two months time to work with, fans have to be pleased with this class as Kelly took care of a couple of needed spots on the depth chart. Only time will tell if Kelly can be a dominant recruiter on a national basis and not neglect certain positions on the defensive side of the ball like Weis did. Recruiting looks promising but the jury is still out in this area.

OFFENSE:
I can honestly say that I have no worries about the offense. Kelly has proven that his offense can score at will and with the talent ND has coming back there's no reason to believe they will not be a force this year too. ND shouldn't miss a beat in this area and the future looks very bright.

DEFENSE:
The million dollar question........will ND have a decent defense? New DC Diaco will switch them back to a 3-4 which should play in to ND's depth at linebacker. It's going to be a challenege for Coach Kelly, he doesn't exactly have all the pieces in place, especially on the defensive line. The one bright spot is the linebacking corp which is stacked: Te'o, Smith, Filer, Fleming, Posluszny, McDonald and company return to lead the defense. The dbacks are good but the achilles heal is the dline. Hopefully, Louis Nix comes in and establishes himself as a force from day one to anchor that line and finally get some disruptive play in that area. My sleeper coming in from this year's recruiting class is linebacker Prince Shembo.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
This is another area where Coach Kelly is solid. Going to be tough to replace Golden Tate but Theo Riddick could be a good one. IMO, ND's place kicking and punting could and should be better. Kick coverage should be better too.

I'm optimistic about where the Irish are headed but I was optimistic with Weis too. With the returning players at his disposal, another manageable schedule and a new lease on football life for ND, there's no reason to not think this team can't win eight games this year. Kelly is going to have to get it done on the field if he wanst to restore the glory and shut the nay sayers up! Hopefully he delivers on his promise of development and passion.

2010 Notre Dame Football Schedule:
S04 PURDUE 3:30pm NBC
S11 MICHIGAN 3:30pm NBC
S18 @ Michigan St. TBA
S25 STANFORD 3:30pm NBC
O02 @ Boston College TBA
O09 PITTSBURGH 3:30pm NBC
O16 WESTERN MICHIGAN 2:30pm NBC
O23 @ Navy (NJ) TBA
O30 TULSA 2:30pm NBC
N13 UTAH 2:30pm NBC
N20 ARMY (Yankee Stadium) 7pm NBC
N27 @ Southern Cal TBA

rock_knutne wrote: OFFENSE:
I can honestly say that I have no worries about the offense. Kelly has proven that his offense can score at will and with the talent ND has coming back there's no reason to believe they will not be a force this year too. ND shouldn't miss a beat in this area and the future looks very bright.

Sure, he's proven he can score at will...in the Big East (and even that can be debatable, check out a few iffy games for the Bearcat offense against Big East teams, just in 2008: Rutgers 13 points, UCONN 16 points, and only 17 points against MAC school Akron), but what's really worrisome is his team's offensive production against big time programs.

26 points against Oklahoma in 2008...included a kickoff return and a TD with 0 seconds remaining on the clock in the 4th quarter.
7 points against Virginia Tech in 2008...embarrrassed.
24 points against Florida...was 37-3 at one point before UF decided to make it respectable.

That type of resume' will suffice @ Cincinnati, but at Notre Dame...

Good breakdown rock, as it's hard not to be a little optimistic with the new coaching staff along with the returning players ND has on roster. I also think 8 wins is not out of the question, but I'm afraid the defense will be similar to what we've been seeing the past few years, and it will cost ND a couple of games. I can't even remember the last time ND has had a good, respectable defense.

All and all, it is exciting to see Kelly bring in a good recruitng class, but I'm more excited to see what he can do with the talent already on the roster. This is supposedly his specialty - development, and there are a ton of talented kids on the roster. If ND can get the defense and special teams turned around, 2010 will be quite successful, imo.

SportsAndLady wrote:Sure, he's proven he can score at will...in the Big East (and even that can be debatable, check out a few iffy games for the Bearcat offense against Big East teams, just in 2008: Rutgers 13 points, UCONN 16 points, and only 17 points against MAC school Akron), but what's really worrisome is his team's offensive production against big time programs.

26 points against Oklahoma in 2008...included a kickoff return and a TD with 0 seconds remaining on the clock in the 4th quarter.
7 points against Virginia Tech in 2008...embarrrassed.
24 points against Florida...was 37-3 at one point before UF decided to make it respectable.

That type of resume' will suffice @ Cincinnati, but at Notre Dame...

I would like to think that Kelly will attract better athletes at ND than what he had at UC. If Weis recruited well there's no reason to think Kelly won't either, their personalities are night and day. I also believe that Kelly inherits a boat load of talent on offense. By all indications, Dayne Crist will be a full go in spring practice and he's no slouch.

One other thing that's encouraging, at least to me is the fact that Kelly's system has been potent where ever he's been. The progression of better athletes from Grand Valley State to Cincy is a no brainer.

Looking at that schedule and knowing how we lost games we ought to win we could go 7-8 wins or we could get 4-5 wins. His recruiting was good, though the failure to land a good safety is troubling, especially the one that went to Boise. I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll see at least an attacking offense instead of Weis making sure Robert Hughes got his 14th draw of the game.

Defense I don't expect much out of and I think alot of our wins will be shootouts. Until he shows me in 1-2 years that he's the real deal and can coach on a big stage I'm going to give him a slight benefit of the doubt. I like his chances of better recruiting class with a 8-9 win season including a bowl though.

Offensively I would worry about the transition to the spread and how long it takes for the current players to feel comfortable having run pro-style for so long. Big hurdle IMO.

Obviously D has been an issue, and look for it to continue at least short term.

On the outside looking in, I would imagine there will be a learning curve that will cause the faithful with little patience to have fits. I would be CAUTIOUSLY optimistic, but I would draw the line there.

ytownfootball wrote: Offensively I would worry about the transition to the spread and how long it takes for the current players to feel comfortable having run pro-style for so long. Big hurdle IMO.

That's a good point but Kelly inherits a QB that ran the same style of offense in high school. We all know the QB is the most important player in any offense but none more so than the spread. I would also like to think that ND's current players are pretty smart and should handle the transition with ease.

Okay, now for reality:

6-6 with a bowl loss at best

Ignore sleeper people, he probably hasn't taken his meds yet. I'm bound and determined not to let him ruin another good discussion.

Who will be the starter at QB for ND? Stats?

Crist will be the starter. His stats aren't worth mentioning since our outgoing QB is going to be a 1st rounder. He didn't get much PT.

Legend, he played a bit in the Purdue game and the Washington State game before he got hurt. He's a big QB, very strong arm, and pretty mobile. A comment during a Notre Dame game the sideline reporter said something to the effect of how the players were surprised how hard Crist could throw the ball.

It will be a harder transiton then some may think for the offense imo. We saw the same thing at Michigan when RR came in (although ND has far more talent on O then UM did). Im sure the O will look promising at times but I don't expect them to just light it up in year 1. I do think that they will finaly start to turn it around though under Brian Kelly, just not in year 1. Im going to say they go 7-5

PURDUE-W
MICHIGAN-L
@ Michigan St.-L
STANFORD-W
@ Boston College-W
PITTSBURGH-L
WESTERN MICHIGAN-W
@ Navy (NJ)-W
TULSA-W
UTAH-L
ARMY(Yankee Stadium)-W
@ Southern Cal-L

I'm interested to see what Kelly can do at ND. This is the time for him to prove whether he is a big time coach or if he just took advantage of playing in the Big East. He'll be much more challenged at ND.

As someone who follows a Kelly coached team, let me offer some perspective. His first UC squad in 2007 was a bunch of guys fit to run a pro style offense. In his first season, running the spread, the team averaged about 40 pts a game. In his second season, these guys did the same. It was not until this past season, that he finally had his RKG's in place (with some hold overs from the pro offense days converted to other positions). The squad this season broke all of UC's offensive records. Kelly will get it done. The man is a master motivator and an excellent x's and o's guy. He will frustrate you at times because he will take some serious gambles (In the Oklahoma game, with UC down 28-20 in the 3rd quarter, he went for it on 4th and 10 down on the Oklahoma 20 yard line). At the same time you will love him because he takes those risks.

S&L, as far as commenting he did it against weak BE teams, keep in mind that ND is 0-3 against the BE the past two seasons. In addition, UC beat the snot out of Oregon State twice, some very good WVU teams and Pitt Squads. Also, UC managed to put up more points against a B10 team (Illinois) than they have allowed all season (49). Looking at their schedule, I expect ND to win 7-8 games next year (and I am not a ND fan).

They also gave a crap load of points up to Illinois.

If I was a Notre Dame fan, I would be worried more about the defensive side of the ball than the offensive.

ccrunner609 wrote: Aaahhh a few things:

The "ND recruiting".....love that stuff.

OP, what offense do they have? Didnt they lose about 80% of their yards? Clausen, Floyd and that other kid was all they had.

New D and New O.......see Michigan.

You gotta love when "PPrunner" joins the discussion, we love reading the same garbage from you over and over again. I love how you have ND losing to all three Big 10 teams, LMAO..........what a homer!

FYI, ND is loaded with skill on offense. Dayne Crist was the #1 QB in the country coming out of high school. Mike Floyd returns who is arguably the best WR in the country. RB Armando Allen should thrive in Kelly's system and Kyle Rudolph returns at TE. Yeah, 80% of the offense left with Clausen and Tate.:rolleyes:

Pick6 wrote:If I was a Notre Dame fan, I would be worried more about the defensive side of the ball than the offensive.

That's the big question mark, the defense. IMO, they have no where to go but up.

^^^^^You're worthless "PP", you post the same garbage over and over! Again, if those mythical recruiting classes are so hyped then why did most of those kids receive offers from just about every CFB power in the country.........including OSU on some of them? It's funny that you can NEVER answer that question when I pose it to you.

BTW, Dayne Crist is not injury prone, he tore an ACL (can happen to anyone) and is ahead of schedule in rehad. From the little action he saw backing up Clausen, he looks to be another fine QB.

ccrunner609 wrote: I post worthless garbage because you cant handle the truth. ND recruiting classes have been a bust for 20 years......you get a "top" recruiting class every year because that is what the nutchasers are telling you. THen they dont do anything. Just like all the 10-11 win projections last year. ND can shut me and my truths up if they win. But that wont happen next season.

^^^^If that isnt teh truth then let me know.

LMAO.......the truth? You wouldn't know the truth if it slapped you in the face! The truth is under Charlie Weis they landed some great athletes, unrortunately he couldn't develop them. BTW, your 20 year comment is another one of your made up pieces of bullshit. Holtz was landing great recruiting classes which showed on the field.

I'm still waiting for the answer to my question but I won't hold my breath for the response.

ccrunner609 wrote:In the last 12-13 years ND has been a 55-58% winner. That is average at best. How is that not the truth? Top players dont go .500 over that amount of time. Tell me that you arent that drunk?

I dont want to hear the BS about the coaching. Everytime ND hires someone they are talked up as the greatest.

Again, you're fucking clueless! Under Holtz, ND was a recruiting machine, when Davie took over, recruiting went south as it did under Willingham too. Ty had one top 10 class and if my memory serves me correctly, many of them did not finished their careers out at ND. Enter Weis, who starts recruting studs again but couldn't develop them. ND's recruitng was way down after Holtz and was revitalized under Weis. Is that too much information for your little brain to process?

Still waiting to here why those terrible ND recruits received offers from other top football schools. As usuaul you avoid the question and post more garbage.

BTW, I'm not drunk but you're definitely retarded.

You're determined to not Sleeper ruin the thread but you'll let the guy who can run really far ruin it?

^^^^^What's wrong with what I posted? Just putting to rest some of the ridiculous comments he put out there. He want's to say I can't handle the truth when he doesn't even know what the truth is. He actually TRIED to add something new to his already laughable posts, which as always, 90% of it is false.

Sometimes its better just to ignore the ones who get more enjoyment out of pushing your buttons instead of having honest discussions.

Sigh... too bad we can never have a ND football discussion on this board without people coming in and ruining it by saying "You Suck" or whatever and then people responding in kind.

(this coming from someone who is not a ND fan).