Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI view, we were asked how we could rate the coaching matchup "even" with the Sun Devils when Kelly has a 2-1 record against ASU boss Todd Graham. Well, if we're going to get into head- to-head records, I can point out that former Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie (1997-2001) is better than both Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll. Davie was 1-0 against both when they re- ceived their starts at Oklahoma and USC, respectively. Joe Kuharich (1959-62) is the lone Irish head coach to finish with a losing record — but he was 2-0 against Okla- homa's Bud Wilkinson and 2-1 versus USC's John McKay, who combined for seven national titles. We can do the same with apples- to-oranges comparisons of tenures at different schools. Coach A, for example, was 30-26-1 in five seasons at one school, while Coach B was 29-25-3 in five seasons at another school around the same time. Similar coaches? A was Notre Dame's Gerry Faust from 1981-85, while B was Oklahoma State's Jimmy Johnson from 1979-83. Again, Kelly is a better fit at Notre Dame than Graham will be and I be- lieve in the long run the Irish mentor will have the stronger career. Yet at the 2014 stage, both had made notable marks with the talents that they pos- sess. We have immense respect for the job that head coach Pat Fitzgerald has done at Northwestern, Notre Dame's Nov. 15 opponent. It's almost comparable to Ara Parseghian's memorable eight- year tenure (1956-63) at Evanston in which he was 36-35-1. Based on the tal- ents parable, that is just as impressive, if not superior, to his 95-17-4 ledger with the Irish from 1964-74, highlighted by two consensus national titles. However, Fitzgerald and his staff might be hitting a dip after a heart- breaking 2013 and some inconsisten- cies this season, which made us give the coaching edge to Notre Dame. It's the same reason we gave the nod to Kelly and his staff over Michigan this season — even though the em- battled Brady Hoke held at the time a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over Kelly at their two current schools. With Louisville's (Nov. 22) Bobby Petrino, his checkered past off the field would never land him the Notre Dame job, but the man can flat-out coach, having led both the Cardinals and Ar- kansas to top-five finishes within the last decade. Against USC (Nov. 29) rookie head coach Steve Sarkisian, the nod would again have to go to Kelly, mainly be- cause Sarkisian lacked the wow factor at Washington (2009-13) that Kelly had at Cincinnati (2007-09) and Sarkisian is still in the fledgling stage with the Trojans. Three to five years from now, who knows? It's an always evolving or fluid situ- ation based on the parable — and also so often on "what have you done for me lately?" ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com