When Brian Kelly named Dayne Crist the starting quarterback for the 2011 season, he said that he expected Crist to start all 13 games. Well, heading into game number two, Kelly has already made the change to Tommy Rees after the sophomore came off the bench last weekend and nearly rallied the Irish from a 16 point deficit.
UHND.com will have more later on Kelly’s decision and how it affects the Irish this weekend against Michigan.
How about this angle: I am giving you a $250,000 education and a chance to be a member of the best football program in the country. So if I feel the need to MF you, or question your manhood, by all means I’m going to.
BK is paid to win games and graduate students. If he doesn’t do it he will be gone. I coached and if a player made a physical error it happens, but if they made a mental error on something I drilled in practice that drove me insane. I had ten pounds of their ass when they got over to the sidelines. That is just being lazy and not self disciplined. After my players left me and went to the Varsity program, they didn’t get that feed back and became lazy and made those stupid mistakes. They told me they knew if they were not paying attention to details all the time they would not only let their team down but also let me down as a coach. They looked at us as a family and they missed that when they left me. They wanted me to be all over them. At the same time as a coach you need to read the player and also pick them up when they are at rock bottom. I think BK knows what he is doing and will be able to push the right buttons to get what he needs to out of the player.
Did anyone happen to read the Buddy Thomas article under the “Latest Notre Dame Stories” section on the right side of the page. I wanted to leave a long reply to it but didn’t bother with signing up and receiving the eventual spam it would leave in my inbox. It is a terrible article, talking about ND relevancy and then trying to compare recent win-loss records with Boise State. What a joke. Boise wins the big games and I will give them credit, but you can’t compare records of the two teams when Boise is playing the likes of Idaho and we are playing USC, Stanford, Michigan, etc.
Yeah I read it. I like how he nitpicks the “lesser” opponents like Navy and Tulsa, but conveniently leaves out the types of teams you mentioned, such as USC, Michigan, USC, Stanford, Michigan State. Not to mention pretty much any schedule rankings poll ranks ND’s current schedule between about 5th and 14th in difficulty. I wonder where Boise State’s ranks.
Oh and don’t forget USC! (making fun of myself and my error in the original post) :)
I doubt that Kelly’s rants were any surprise to his players. He demands a lot from his players, certainly more than he got last Saturday.
I don’t know about you guys, but I would rather see Kelly blowing his stack on the sidelines, then watching us get worked by 35 points while Willingham just stood stoic on the sideline. That drove me crazy!!
Keep it up Kelly. This anin’t knitting class boys, it is big boy pant football.
Notre Dame football record, 0-1. Coach Kelly’s emotional response record–oh yeah, that is something not rated by the BCS, AP. Let’s worry about what counts, end of story.
These comments about Coach Kelly and his sideline antics are getting a bit ridiculous. “We are ND and need him to act classier.” “He shouldn’t be yelling at his players like this.” “Coach Kelly is B-Class and always will be.” These are just a few that I have heard over the past few days. As a former division-1 player I can tell you that this is NOT a big deal. Sure, it might not look good to familys watching TV on Saturday, but THIS IS DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL! Is he supposed to pat them on the back and say, “That’s OK, we’re Notre Dame. Everyone expects us to not live up to expectations. We have been doing it the last 15 years so let’s keep everything the same.” At least Kelly showed some fire and passion. We know he cares. Some players might not respons as well to a a coach yelling at them like he was, but MAN UP and go make a play. Look at Bobby Knight. He was insane, but will be one of the top 5 greatest basketball coaches of all-time. We don’t need a coach who is going to sit there and hold these guys hands and to make them feel better after having a football bounce off their helmet, or drop multiple passes and muff punts, we need someone to ignight a fire under them and watch them respond like a Champion. If they can’t handle Coach Kelly yelling at them, how are they going to handle Michigan fans, who are hammered after a day of tailgating and going crazy? I agree with joey D in that NBC shouldn’t show him as much on the sidelines, but if you think him yelling at players in college football is too much, you are also someone who will probably be satisfied with another 8-5 season. I for one want to see this team move forward. Brian Kelly is the guy to do this so come back to the real world and realize an f-bomb will be dropped every now and then and yelling will be done. Does this make him a bad man? I don’t think so. Find something else to complain about because he had every right to do what he did last Saturday with his players performance. And people who think he “Didn’t have them prepared.” are out of their mind too. A coach can coach technique, blocking, tackling and schemes, but they can’t coach catching a ball or fielding a punt or kicking a field goal when it matters. Do you not think Ruffer has kicked 1,000 field goals in practice? Theo Riddick was catching punts with another ball in his opposite hand and had no problem…until the lights at the stadium came on. Receivers run routes and catch passes every day. The opportunities were there, and Kelly’s offensive and defensive gameplan worked but you can’t catch a football with your helmet….
Kip,
Right on! AMEN!
As my 82 year old mother said, “that guy is going to bust a blood vessel and doesn’t seem like he’ll be around for the long term.” Not everyone can pitch for the Yankees and not everyone can coach ND. I hope I am wrong, but this ain’t no Grand Valley State.
I agree with the move to Rees. I think Crist is a good player and really a team guy. Although he could not like losing his starting job, I still think he will work hard for the team.
As far as Kelly getting on the men…
Keep it up coach. He displays a passion for perfection. Although animated it is his desire for his team to be the best. WE have not had this since Lou was in town. I remember Coach Holtz pulling a player off the field my his facemask all the while explaining to him what he did wrong… It’s part of coaching. I’m sure Coach Kelly has a good enough relationship with his players. They know they screwed up – true. They also know whats coming next!
I also feel bad for Crist but we gotta make the switch. Maybe it is the fact that he was a 5 star kid coming out of hs. Either way it’s nit his style of offense to run and it shows. I just hope he doesn’t split the locker room up and I doubt it will as long as these guys drill Michigan I think everybody will be on the same page.
GO IRISH!!!
Saturday’s meltdown was a serious problem and this from a team with great expectations. Were the expectations too great? Were they reasonable? Too much pressure from the coaching staff esppecially in light of last year’s start? With the pressure on, this team played tight which considering the overall talent level is not only surprising but disappointing. Fortunately there are plenty of opportunities to correct these issues and Coach Kelly will bring these young men to the place needed to compete at a higher level. There may be one or two more losses but this is only year two – next year is the year typically where the play is for all the marbles.
Two things…..First, I feel bad for Crist. If Jonas doesn’t fumble at the 1, we go up 7-0, and I am sure we roll all day long. Crist is the starter and we move on. Dayne….you a class act, I feel sorry for you after all the work you put in.
Second, I think Tommy is a great choice. He has an even keel about him and no matter how much Kelly yells or screams, he keeps the same attitude. The kid grew up in a NFL family, and while he has some work to do, the kid is a gamer. I think we are in good hands, and hopefully this move won’t divide the locker room. I know Dayne says that he and Tommy are close, but that might change.
Irish didn’t get beat by USF, Irish got beat by the Irish. 5 turnovers and we lost by 3. I think we’re gonna be fine boys…..but we will know the real answer this Saturday night.
Thank you. coach kelly can yell at them all he wants for all I care. these guys are adults. if they cant take it, then get off the field. football is NOT for the faint of heart. pretty sure he reamed them when they were on all those weather delays….seemed to help. people need to get off kellys butt. I was not old enough to remember this, but have been told lou would grab players facemasks and yell at them. bet nobody thought twice about that or were upset about it. people that are upset about yelling at a player are the reason teams are not afraid of Notre Dame and our fans, because we are perceived as nice no matter what
Keep getting in their asses Coach Kelly! I LOVE IT!!!!!!
It’s a VIOLENT game. Why do people think it wrong for a coach to yell at a FOOTBALL PLAYER IN DIVISION ONE FOOTBALL??? These MEN aren’t playing soccer at the park district where everyone gets a trophy! Quite being so f’n sensitive and get some thicker skin!!!
Maybe ND needs to tell NBC not to show Kelly getting mad on the sidelines during the game. Would that make it better for everyone?
I couldn’t agree more, yelling at kids like that makes them gun shy, silence would be more affective in my opinion. These kids know when they mess up, Kelly looks like a Nintendo game character from Mike Tyson’s Punchout when he freaks out like that. I have never felt good about Crist, he is like Charlie Weis in that I like him and you want him to be the guy, but he’s just not. Rees has a 4-0 record and you have to ride the hot hand and Kelly didn’t do that. I like Coach Kelly and he will make ND good again but he needs to accept responsibility for this team. Even if it’s not his fault, it’s his fault because he’s the head coach.
C,
Should BK hug them and have cookies and milk when the screw up. Here is the deal TJ Jones made a mental error, Crist made a mental error and that is unacceptable. As a player they practice non stop to not make these mistakes. That game as a mess. It had nothing to do with the coach it had to do with players buying into media bullshit. They needed to have a foot put up their ass. This isn’t midget football it is big time college football and the University is investing about 150,000 per player between education, equipment and other things. Mental errors are unacceptable. I hated it when Willingham would sit there in the sidelines with that stupid look on his face.
Brian Kelly’s histrionics, vulgarities and harranging and belittling of his players is going to cost him his job. If I were a Notre Dame alumnus I would feel be humilited to have my university representated by such a coach.
Shut up!
There is not one ND fan that watched the game that wasn’t screaming at their television on Saturday. I’m sure, even you Giuseppe, was yelling “WTF” when the ball bounced off Jones’ head or Crist threw that horrible pass in the endzone.
Get real! Or go watch a the food network!!
Right on Joey D! Maybe Giuseppe should take up knitting. There’s no cussing in knitting.
Waaa waaa! Stop being weak!
But your not an alumnus…..so be quiet. Kelly is a great coach, and the team will win games….one giant F-bomb at a time.
GO IRISH!
Totally agree with this move but I do feel bad for Dayne Crist. Sometimes you have to make moves like this to go from a good team to a nationally ranked team. My only complaint with Brian Kelly is to chill the f*** out on the sidelines. Millions of people watch ND games and to see him berate a kid like that on the sideline is disturbing. He looked like he was going to have a heart attack last Saturday. Anyway I think this is the right move and Notre Dame is coming out strong the rest of the season. In the words of Bart Scott “Can’t Wait!”
Totally disagree.Enough of the coddling!! These ‘men'(b/c thats what they are) deserved everything that Coach Kelly sent their way for that performance.The QB decision was a no brainer. Rees is a gamer and until he loses a game he starts, he should be the starter.
SgtK, so you are saying that if Rees doesn’t win a game as a starter he shouldn’t be the starter anymore?
NO, that came out wrong. I meant he should have had the job from the start because of his record as a starter.Go Irish!!
Obviously you never saw Lou Holtz coach at Notre Dame.
my post was in response to Sal’s post.
Brian Kelly needs to be like that on sideline when his team or players’ make a mistake. Lou would have grabbed the player by the facemask and laid into him. Finally, a coach since Lou with balls!