Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FAN FORUM (4.8 percent) who have a national title to their name. Two of them, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops (2000) and LSU's Les Miles (2006), are often ridiculed for not winning more (like Holtz used to be), and Miles won it with two losses. Meanwhile, Larry Coker (2001 at Miami) is now at Texas- San Antonio after inheriting a juggernaut that slipped. You express an opinion, or frustration, we often hear among many Notre Dame followers: Brian Kelly is good enough not to fire, but probably not good enough to win a national title. It would be classi- fied as "no man's land" or caught in the middle. But he has taken Notre Dame to a na- tional title game, something many ana- lysts had thought was no longer realistic with the changing landscape in college football. That is not to say Notre Dame still can't be a contender on occasion to win it all, but the dynamics are not what they were 50 years ago, or even 30. You always have to ask who else could be better here who would want deal with the academic restrictions, disciplinary measures, etc., combined with the im- mense expectations, and, oh yeah, also has a relatively clean background (such as an NCAA show-cause penalty, like the Philadelphia Eagles' Chip Kelly, who already has been "rumored" for the Texas and USC posts — as was Brian Kelly for USC). In the past 10 years at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, Kelly has the sev- enth-best winning percentage (.756, 93- 30) as of Oct. 16. He and Urban Meyer are the only two current coaches who have finished a regular season 12-0 at two different schools. Good luck trying to find someone bet- ter who would want to coach here under stricter parameters and recruit nation- ally. ✦ FROM THE WEBSITE Michigan posting three consecutive shutouts from Sept. 26 through Oct. 10 (a first in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 1995) under new head coach Jim Harbaugh elicited some intrigue, if not ire, from many Notre Dame faithful on BlueandGold.com. Mslade: In less than a year, Michigan's coaching staff has put together a solid defense with talent that staff did not recruit. Is that adjusting to talent? Is it putting the best 11 on the field? Is it not overcom- plicating the schemes? We are halfway through a second year with this defense, and we are still talking about getting players lined up correctly. WillyBeamin7: We have outstanding athletes like Nyles Morgan sitting on the bench just wasting years of eligibility. Next year we will have to read about how he's having trouble learning the defense. That's on the coaches, in my opinion. IrishRunt: Last year at this time we had an all-world defense. It turned out the teams we played had horrific offenses. Checking Michigan's opponents in total offense: Utah (70th), Oregon State (119th), Maryland (109th), BYU (63rd), UNLV (86th), Northwestern (98th). I'm not saying they aren't good … but they haven't exactly been playing offensive-minded teams. MMcCormick: There's a reason that Jim Harbaugh, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are considered the three best coaches in college football. They do stuff other coaches can't do.