Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/259072
FAN FORUM an up-tempo spread offense when you want to if you have no ability to run the QB option. So while Golson may not be ex- pected to put up Heisman-type sta- tistics, his ability to run will allow Notre Dame to go back to running a complete spread offense with all of the complexity it can throw at a de- fense. That will make the spread of- fense much more effective than it has been for most of Kelly's career at Notre Dame, and so Golson will actually be the "savior of the [spread] offense." Scott Buchanan '79 Newtown, Conn. FROM THE WEBSITE Notre Dame signed its third top-10 recruiting class in the past three seasons under head coach Brian Kelly. It's also been classified as a "solid class" because it possibly lacks a game-changing figure at the skill spots, a five-star linebacker such as Manti Te'o or Jaylon Smith, and an elite lineman like Stephon Tuitt. The word "solid" is sometimes interpreted like the proverbial blind date with the "nice personality." So we asked on BlueandGold.com what "solid" meant to them. Here were a small sample of responses. Sleepyscrapiron: 9-3, or in the old days, 8-2. Edd1066: We need to do better, just my opinion. Wjasonp: This is Kelly's team now. His players, three QBs on the roster that he exclusively recruited. This offense must be a Top 25 offense. It must be dynamic — I mean 41-17 against Rice dynamic. No more QB, scheme or recruiting excuses. Illestdomer 2005: I don't think in terms of wins. "Solid" generally means most but not all of a) met area(s) of need, b) balanced roster on offense and defense, c) impact players/star power. Generally, the evaluation of star power is the delineation between solid and stellar. And if you're reviewing a class in hindsight, you might use its average record, record as a senior class, or more than likely the number of first-round picks. JollyO: We play a couple of teams every year who push us to the limit, or worse, with talent that never even attempted to recruit. That is coaching. 65too: I look at classes back to back. A "solid" class complements a previous class. A great class provides depth and stars. You rarely get back-to-back great classes, but you must follow a great class with a solid class. Dave83nd: A solid maybe complementary class is 9-3. But talent in the right positions — especially QB — and you get an extra win or two. Jimbo Makovici: Solid classes for Notre Dame should lead to beating the teams we are supposed to beat: BC, Pitt, Michigan State, Purdue, Navy, etc. 9-3 should be worst-case scenario. Coaching and kids like Tony Rice and Rocket Ismail put you in title games. ATX ND: If Michigan State, Oregon or Stanford can win with lower-rated classes, then ND can win with "solid" classes such as this one. Sacredwaters: Manti Te'o is the perfect example of the impact one player can have on an entire team. I knew he was special his senior year, but I did not appreciate the impact of his presence on our team until the first few games of this past season, when I was dumbfounded by how much worse our defense seemed to be in his absence.