Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/413403
THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI I n our weekly preview of Notre Dame's opponents, one of the more challenging — and sometimes even irritating — decisions can be on which team has the "coaching advantage." Prior to the Oct. 25 game against Navy, a reader took us to task for hav- ing the audacity to rate Brian Kelly and his staff "even" with Midshipmen boss Ken Niumatalolo and Co. That's understandable because whereas Kelly and his veteran crew have gradually worked themselves into the upper strata of the collegiate ranks, the Navy staff does not possess the marquee value to be courted by the nation's top schools. Our explanation was that we predi- cate coaching matchups a lot on the New Testament's "Parable of The Tal- ents." Everyone is blessed with a certain amount of talents, some with 10, oth- ers with five, some with maybe just one. Ultimately, we are judged by how we maximize (or fail to) what we have been given. In terms of football re- sources, Notre Dame might be consid- ered a 10 perception wise, while Navy would be classified more as a one. Yet 10 of the last 11 years the Mid- shipmen have been able to make a bowl game (after going 12-45 from 1998-2002) while often giving the Irish, and other supposedly superior oppo- sition, all they can handle and more. Thus, it is not an indictment on Notre Dame but more so a tribute to Navy that it is able to be so competi- tive with a roster on which maybe a handful of prospects might be seri- ously recruited by the Irish. Kelly has morphed into a strong fit with the Fighting Irish, one where the program just might be on the threshold of a 1988-93 like run that it experienced under Lou Holtz, so that has to be re- spected as well. Last week in the Arizona State pre- Coaching Matchups Go Far Beyond Records Brady Hoke was 2-1 with the Wolverines versus Brian Kelly entering this season, but that didn't necessarily make him a "better" coach. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA