Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2016 5 FAN FORUM JACK BE NIMBLE … I do not know what to think at this point about Jack Swarbrick's state- ment that Brian Kelly will be back in 2017 to lead Notre Dame. Texas just lost so that's another team under .500. A good Notre Dame team would have steamrolled to 7-0 instead of standing at 2-5. Right now, Swarbrick's statement is so unequivocally worded, I have to take him at face value and assume Kelly will be back. Then again, AD statements in October mean nothing, and it could be posturing. Okay, you will have a down year now and then, but this is different. The opponents are terrible, and Notre Dame arguably has more talent than any of them. I oft wonder if Swarbrick watches these other teams. How jealous am I of Michigan and Alabama, two great coaches, great teams, who out-physical everyone at the line of scrimmage. We are as far away from those two teams as college teams are from the NFL. I really don't get how anyone at Notre Dame could think this is ac- ceptable. Notre Dame this year is a horrendously coached football team. If Swarbrick doesn't see that, then this situation is hopeless, and I'll find another hobby. I sure am not paying $150.00 per ticket again. Tom Johnson Philadelphia THE YANKS ARE COMING After watching the Stanford game, one tweet on Twitter in particular struck me: Jimmy Clausen's advice to DeShone Kizer to leave school early for the NFL for trust issues. Brian Kelly's decision to pull Kizer was probably to try to spark to the team. I've seen a Hall of Famer and a fu- ture Hall of Famer in Steve Young and Tom Brady, respectively, get pulled in games for poor play. I didn't read about any advice to demand a trade, but their egos took a hit. Everett Gol- son was pulled in the Pitt game in 2012 for not being on his game. Their seasons changed after those games. They led their team to the Su- per Bowl — and for Golson, a national championship game. If Kizer leaves for the NFL (a pro- jected first-round pick), I hope it is for the fact that he is ready to compete at the pro level and not that he got pulled in a game, because it even hap- pens to the best of them. Frank Sosa Bakersfield, Calif. BOWLED OVER Todd Burlage's "Bowl Eligibility" article reminds me of coach Jim Mo- ra's famous quote when questioned about making the NFL playoffs: "Playoffs?!? Playoffs, are you kid- ding me? I just hope we win another game!" That's a more appropriate view of Notre Dame football. John Carr '64 Via the Internet MILLER TIME I enjoyed the piece about Fred Miller in the Oct. 17 BGI. I did not re- alize that he died at such a young age or that his death occurred as the result of a plane crash. If Fred Miller had lived, I wonder if the Braves would have gotten away with moving to Atlanta after only 13 seasons in Milwaukee. I assume the Miller Brewing fam- ily from Milwaukee is no relation to the family of Creighton Miller, an All- American halfback at Notre Dame shortly before the undefeated streak began in 1946. Creighton Miller be- came one of the organizers of, and the attorney for, the NFL Players As- sociation. I won't comment about the current state of Notre Dame football. John Arado Arlington Heights, Ill. Mr. Arado, Fred Miller was no relation to the other Millers who became the first family of Notre Dame football in the first half of the 20th century. Creighton Miller was the seventh member of his family to play football at Notre Dame. His father, Harry Miller, was the captain of the un‑ beaten 1909 team that defeated Michigan (11‑3) for the first time. His uncle, Don Miller, was one of the Four Horsemen for the 1924 national champs. Creighton's 911 yards rushing in 1943 led another national title team at Notre Dame. Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer struggled mightily against Stanford and was pulled in favor of Malik Zaire in the second half. PHOTO BY RICK KIMBALL FROM THE WEBSITE Notre Dame vice president and director of athletics Jack Swarbrick's statement during the bye week that head coach Brian Kelly will be back to lead the Fighting Irish out of the tunnel in 2017 prompted dozens of reactions. Here's a small sample on BlueandGold.com. PortND: It needs to be said for recruiting purposes as well as for the team to probably hear as well. Now, if things turn even further south, and he feels he needs to make a move, he can just say things took a turn for the worse and a change had to be made. Boston_Irish_Fan: Bad news, but was ex‑ pected basically. Tough to fire a coach after his first losing season, even though Kelly has given little evidence, in my opinion, of being an outstanding coach for Notre Dame. RRHI: When does Jack leave? Ssavon66: Nothing to see here. It's what should be said. Polaris6: 8‑5 next year with Kelly, some will call that an improvement and pat him on the butt. ND football is mired in mediocrity. Domerdad: Kiss of death. Ryno1134: So 2016 is Charlie Weis 2008 in‑ stead of Weis 2009. Sucks for us. 5‑7 to 7‑5 should be really fun next year. Tommy1380: I can't imagine ND keeping him with an 8‑5 season next year. Personally, I think 9‑4 and he's in trouble. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007 Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com