Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 1, 2018 5 FAN FORUM AROUND THE CLOCK I enjoyed the "Letdowns" column in the Sept. 24 edition. I was on the bench for the Nov. 13, 1993 Florida State game and pre- dicted to Lou Holtz after the game in the joyous locker room that either the plane returning me home to New Jersey was going to crash or that we would lose to Boston College the fol- lowing week. When I arrived safely at home later that evening, our defeat the follow- ing week was "secured." Regarding this current season, I am now sure that we will never see the playoffs as long as Brian Kelly is there. While the overall program is on solid ground, the facilities and the recruiting on the rise, etc., once the game starts, most opponents have a decided game-coaching advantage — and a definitive coaching advan- tage once the second half starts. I truly believe that Kelly and/or staff are or are very close to being the worst clock managers in Division I. His wastage of timeouts, when to go for "2" versus when not to, running plays with over 10 seconds left on the play clock late in the fourth quarter and even not knowing how to ef- fectively kill off a game like against Vanderbilt — without risking a fum- ble and then foolishly losing 10 yards on third-and-four from his 37 when a simple QB sneak into the line would have been just as effective in taking valuable seconds off the clock. We lost the Northwestern game in 2014 on the play calls when we were in clock-killing mode. Finally, can you explain to me the rationale behind the three-ring circus that Kelly initiates once we get inside the 10-yard line? Gary Marzolla Via the Internet Mr. Marzolla, we have no explana- tion for using junior Ian Book instead of Brandon Wimbush in those situations, but he did offer some reasons in our quar- terback feature on pages 16-19. • 3 Bedroom • 2½ Baths • 2900 Fin Sqft • 2 Car Garage • 2 Blocks to Eddy St Commons • 3 Blocks to Campus Walk to Notre Dame from W a l k t o N o tre Da m e from you r N ew H o m e IN 574-293-1010 MI 269-663-8585 Cell 574-339-9534 Karin Buda Michigan Real Estate Northern Indiana Real Estate BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HomeServices FROM THE WEBSITE Following the Vanderbilt game, one of our subscribers on BlueandGold.com shared some nuggets from the tickets he had at the "Ask Jack" session with Notre Dame director of ath- letics Jack Swarbrick. Irish Rower: Jack went over how in recruit- ing when we hear ND is looking for "fits," he means the athlete is told the following: A) You will be a student and attend classes. B) The school is serious about setting you up for life after football. C) ND is a family, and you'll be expected to be an integrated part of that family. D) If you have the ability, ND is serious about getting you to the NFL. E) ND expects to be in the hunt for CFP play- offs and national championships regularly. If you don't like A through C, you're not going to fit here, so let's not waste each other's time. • Notre Dame has been a leader in providing student-athletes opportunities for condensed experiences abroad (since they can't study abroad for a semester) and providing "mini- internships," because student-athletes can't allocate a whole summer. Other schools like these ideas and are trying to do the same. He also said ND has a "max missed class" regimen enforced by its academic council (the number is three). • On the Michigan rivalry beyond next year's game at Ann Arbor, both sides would like to find a way for another home and home, but scheduling is very tough. He said the most likely near-term outcome will be a single game at a neutral site. • On the scheduling question he said it's hard to accomplish all they want, all the time. He was not in favor of playing Navy on the West Coast, but Navy gets to pick their site as part of the contract. He did say the ACC has been great to work with and accommodates "changes in ND plans" as best as possible. Also on scheduling, he said playing in pro stadiums is a big deal in recruiting. ND is way out in front on this topic. Send your letters to: Blue & Gold Illustrated / Letters P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick (right) discussed the football pro- gram at an "Ask Jack" session. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL