Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1438218
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2022 13 UNDER THE DOME THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "One thing the captains emphasized is we wanted someone in-house to take over. We had built something special here. The one thing we didn't want was somebody to come in and change that culture, bring in their own principles and lay it on us before the bowl game." — Notre Dame graduate assistant defensive end and team captain MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA on the players' wishes regarding a new head coach "It's not that I don't want to play. If we're in the playoff right now — I've told you guys, I've told all the coaches — if we're in the playoff, I'm going to go. I want to go win a national championship. I'm going to suit up. I'm going to play. "… It's a business decision at this point. My body is my business. Literally, hopefully for a long time it will be what I'm earning an income off of." — Notre Dame junior safety Kyle Hamilton on his decision to opt of playing in the Fiesta Bowl and declare for the NFL Draft during his podcast "Inside The Garage" "Conversely, multiple people at Notre Dame sim- ply cannot believe that Kelly — who engineered Notre Dame's rebuild, who has this year's team at 11-1, who literally just built a house that is one block from campus — would burn his legacy with a move like this. Be it sour grapes, genuine befuddle- ment or perhaps the full truth coming to light, a common theme emerged Tuesday from those inside the Gug: You saw who Brian Kelly truly is." — Matt Fortuna and Pete Sampson on former Irish head coach Brian Kelly in a story for The Athletic "For those who say you can't blame Kelly for ac- cepting a contract from LSU that is expected to be well north of $10 million per year, that's bollocks. There is nobody to blame but Kelly for a classless, gutless exit before the kids he recruited to Notre Dame even know whether they'll have the privi- lege of playing for a national championship. "By making this move now, Kelly should be a pariah in his profession, never thought of the same way again. He doesn't care at all about those players, and whatever respect he had earned for his stewardship of the Notre Dame program over the last dozen years has been flushed down the toilet. He should forever be known as little more than a snake and a merce- nary." — Dan Wolken of USA Today "I normally wouldn't give such a high grade for an internal promotion, especially a first-time head coach who has been at Notre Dame for less than a year. Although similar promotions have worked out well for other major programs — Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Oklahoma's Lincoln Riley, Ohio State's Ryan Day — those coaches had been in place a bit longer than Freeman at Notre Dame. Also, Notre Dame hasn't had a great history with first-time head coaches (Charlie Weis, Bob Davie). But Freeman has made an incredible, immediate impact at Notre Dame since his arrival in January, galvanizing the program's recruiting efforts and forging strong relationships with players, staff and others. He would have become a Power 5 coach in the very near future, and he could become the game's next young coaching superstar. So why would Notre Dame let him get away?" — ESPN's Adam Rittenberg on giving Notre Dame's hire of Marcus Freeman an A- grade "To be a great program, you have to start at the top. I saw it for the last 11 months that he's somebody that is going to raise the level of recruit- ing at Notre Dame. When it starts there, it has a natural effect to trickle through the entire staff. As competitors, you don't want to be the black sheep. You don't want to be the one who's not carrying your weight." — Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees on new head coach Marcus Freeman and his ability to recruit "If they're not grad transfers, it's still a challenge for Notre Dame to send a young person's transcript over to admissions. It's not like it's an open door. It's not free agency for Notre Dame. Maybe it is for a lot of other schools that don't have the academic requirements we have." — Notre Dame recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach Mike Elston on the possibility of the Irish filling holes on their roster with players from the transfer portal PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER OF THE MONTH ➤ "Congrats @AaronTaylorCFB on being inducted into the @cfbhall! Your Notre Dame family is proud of you. Josh Hawkins/@NFFNetwork #GoIrish — Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) Dec. 8