Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1220706
6 APRIL 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FAN FORUM SHOCK TREATMENT I am shocked by the letters you published in the most recent issue. First, the criticism of the hiring of Tom Rees as the offensive coordina- tor from Mr. Bruce Vaio. Brian Kelly has revamped his staff and continues to do so on the fly as coaches move throughout the coun- try. I respect his choice of a new and upcoming OC as opposed to a re- tread, as I think he learned with de- fensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. Second, regarding the message from Mr. Jack Schneider, who seems very anti-Ian Book. Mr. Schneider, do you realize that Ian Book led Notre Dame to a 12-0 season in 2018? How often does that happen in college football, especially among Power Five teams? Do you actually want to "move on" from such a quarterback? You state he did a "good job." Seriously? I wish we could have such a "good job" every couple of years or so with a 12-0 regular season being deemed a "good job." Michael Chmell Via the Internet Mr. Chmell, in fairness, Mr. Vaio did not actually criticize the hiring of Rees, but more so outlined the process involved and reasonably stated that "time will tell" whether it was the right move. THOU SHALT NOT OVEREXPOSE I never had the benefit of meeting Gene Corrigan, but by all accounts he seems to have been a most pleas- ant gentleman. Still, to compare the man to Moses seems entirely inap- propriate. Moses realized that changing con- ditions gave his people the opportu- nity to leave Egypt for the Promised Land. At a time when colleges were regaining control of the broadcast rights to their home football games, Corrigan announced that he was con- cerned about overexposure. He entered into an agreement with Penn State, Boston College and other eastern schools that limited New York and other East Coast cities to viewing no more than two Notre Dame home games per year. Fortunately, Corrigan's successor (Dick Rosenthal, 1987-95) reversed that policy by allowing NBC to broadcast all home games nation- wide. After almost 30 years, there's still no sign of overexposure. While Moses didn't enter the Promised Land, he did lead his peo- ple in the right direction. The more appropriate histori- cal comparison for Gene Corrigan would be his namesake, the aviator Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan. Robert Metz '68 Via the Internet Mr. Metz, you raise a fair counter- point. Still, when you hire the caliber of coaches Corrigan did from 1981-87 that resurrected or guided Notre Dame to the Promised Land in athletics, we would consider that leading one to the right di- rection after wandering the NCAA wil- derness quite a bit in the 1980s. RECRUITING STAR POWER It was very disappointing to hear about the situation with former 2020 recruit Landon Bartleson, and sad to see someone throw away a great opportunity. Notre Dame has to make sure it thoroughly checks out these recruits going forward. He may never have this good of an opportunity going forward unless he gets his life to- gether. I have recently seen some polls about top assistant (current) football coaches rankings as recruiters. Notre Dame does not have one current as- sistant in the top 50. The name of the game is recruiting, as well as coaching. Autry Denson was considered a good coach but not a great recruiter. It is essential. Pat Bales Chicago NOT GOOD ENOUGH After seeing Muffet McGraw break down by crying in postgame after the NC State game (a 90-56 loss Jan. 12), she said "I gotta do better." This year 's team was young and real short on talent. To think this team would be .500 was unrealistic. When she needed to do better was last year when they played Baylor for the national title. Baylor was a real good team, but Notre Dame should have never lost. No one questioned her game plan of driving to the basket and forcing things down low when their two best players were 6-7 Kalani Brown and 6-4 Lauren Cox. They affected many shots and caused turnovers and be- fore you knew it, Notre Dame was down 17 in the second quarter. The unfortunate injury to Cox opened things up to get back in the game, but lack of discipline down the stretch prevented the complete comeback. Notre Dame's most tal- ented team ever should not have lost. Coach McGraw needed to do better but didn't. Since Skylar Diggins in 2009, only UConn has had more talent. Notre Dame should have at least four na- tional titles not one, and the 2016 and 2017 teams, which lost to Stanford, should have been in the Final Four. For Notre Dame to have only one title since 2009 would be like Nick Saban to have two titles at Alabama. The appointment of Tommy Rees as the new Irish offensive coordinator continues to drive the off- season conversation among fans. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com