Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/871976
54 SEPT. 18, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED O ne of the favorite pastimes among many college football fan bases, or even coaches, is "former coach bashing." Whenever a new head coach, coor- dinator or strength and conditioning instructor is hired, two themes often ensue. One, the new guy is an up- grade. Two, the guy he replaced left a mess, or had it all wrong, and gets vilified (sometimes merited). For example, maybe no one in the Notre Dame athletic department in 2017 has been more revered for his work/impact than first-year strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis, who was hired from Connecticut. Over in Connecticut, though, new Huskies head coach Randy Edsall noted this spring how, "I saw some things I knew we'd have to get a lot better at and one of those areas was strength and conditioning." That's human nature and the way of the world. As the former defensive coordina- tor at Notre Dame from 2010-13, Bob Diaco was named the Frank Broyles Assistant Coach of the Year in 2012 when his troops were the heart and soul of a 12-0 regular season. Yet when Diaco left the program, his defenses were deemed vanilla and predictable — unlike replace- ment Brian VanGorder, whose mad- scientist scheming would elevate the Irish to "the next level." How did that work out? And, of course, nothing is more popular to a new regime after an in- auspicious start than for the coach or fan base to imply tacitly or overtly, "he needs to get his own guys, or recruits." Most recently, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer called out his former assistant Tom Herman, who opened his career at Texas as a 19-point favorite over Maryland but lost at home, 51-41, and then seemed to suggest that a broken culture at Texas was a culprit in the outcome. Meyer told CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd that it drives him "insane" when coaches blame players they in- herited from a previous regime. "I've advised my coaches when they take new positions [to] always be extremely complimentary," he ex- plained. "Never talk as if those play- ers aren't your players." At Notre Dame, the track record is remarkable on how new head coaches often fare better with "the leftovers." • Brian Kelly, who unfortunately used the "my guys" routine in 2011, had his best season in year three when the mainstays were Charlie Weis re- cruits such as linebacker Manti Te'o, tight end Tyler Eifert, offensive line- men Zack Martin and Chris Watt, safety Zeke Motta, defensive line- man Kapron Lewis-Moore, running backs Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood, and even nose tackle Louis Nix (who committed when the Irish didn't even have a coach), among others. • Weis' top success occurred his first two seasons (19-6) with Tyrone Willingham/Bob Davie recruits: quar- terback Brady Quinn, wide receivers Jeff Samardzija, Rhema McKnight and Maurice Stovall, tight end Anthony Fasano, running back Darius Walker, offensive linemen Ryan Harris and John Sullivan, safety Tom Zbikowski, defensive linemen Victor Abiamiri, Trevor Laws and Derek Landri, etc. To be fair, Weis inherited awful 2004-05 classes during the 3-9 season in 2007, but after going 19-6 his first two years, he was 13-12 his last two with primarily his recruits. • Willingham's 8-0 and 10-1 start in 2002 was facilitated by Davie's top-five recruiting classes in 1998 and 1999. • Davie's best winning streak (eight) and lone 9-1 start at Notre Dame came his second year with primarily the re- cruits assembled during the Lou Holtz era, of which he was part. During the 5-7 meltdown in 1999, Davie implored to give it time until his fifth season when all the recruits were hand-picked by his staff. In year five, Notre Dame finished 5-6. • The lion's share of the lineup un- der Lou Holtz during the 23-game winning streak in 1988-89 were signed by his staff, but predecessor Gerry Faust left some valued leaders such as offensive tackle Andy Heck, running back Mark Green, and linebackers Frank Stams, Wes Pritchett and Ned Bolcar, among others. It was Holtz who molded them into champions. • During the summer of 1982, I kept hearing Faust apologists repeat "he needs his own recruits" after de- buting with a 5-6 mark in 1981. Why, when you have 19 starters back from a team that had just played No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl? Guess what? Faust would finish 5-6 in 1985, too. • Dan Devine was seldom given credit for the 1977 national title be- cause "they were Ara Parseghian re- cruits." So what? The job got done. • In 1964, Parseghian took an op- eration that had not had a winning season in five years (and was 2-7 the year before his arrival) and in his first three years won a consensus national title and shared another. To his credit, Parseghian thanked his predecessors for leaving him plenty of talent. All they needed was direction and motivation. Then with all "Parseghian guys" in 1967-69, Notre Dame never defeated either top rivals Purdue or USC. Leftovers sometimes can comprise a better meal. ✦ Getting 'Own Guys' Isn't Always Better THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com Charlie Weis' best success at Notre Dame came with players from the Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie eras. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND