Irish Round Table

The Notre Dame Marching Band, The Band of the Fighting Irish, is featured in this kickass video by OK Go. Check it out:

ht:my dad

It is laughable and embarrassing to hear some Notre Dame fans call the coaching search a failure since ND did not secure one of the big three(Saban, Stoops, and Meyer.) Fans that feel the Kelly hire is a “disaster” or “failure” are idiotic. If you want to see a failure, watch how USC conducts its coaching search to replace Carroll.

Meyer’s health issues show that the average message board fan knows about 5% of what they need to know about assessing a coaching hire. Regardless, Kelly at $2.5mil a year is a much better hire than Stoops at $5mil and concessions.

We normally like NdNation.com but they can get it wrong often. The Crow of Truth calls them out on the IRT shoutbox on the assertion that Notre Dame failed by “settling” for Kelly and not getting one of the big three. Here is the Crow’s rant in full. Read it from the bottom up:

IRT SHOUT BOX
Last Message
9 minutes
ago
o crowoftruth : End of rant.
o crowoftruth : And hopefully some ND fans will be slightly smaller D-bags in the future.
o crowoftruth : ND is great, has many special things, and can play pretty good football again on a consistent basis with the right coach. Hopefully Kelly is that guy.
o crowoftruth : Then, they puss out and just delete any thread that points out that they were f’ing stupid and arrogant to think that we had a God given right to get him.
o crowoftruth : But the people that really think we have a God given right to get him, and that failure to get him was a failure of the University is f’ing stupid.
o crowoftruth : Summary: I wanted Stoops. I was excited when it looked like that may be a possibility (mostly because it would be such an unprecedented coups).
o crowoftruth : You can’t beat my at my own game, so I’m quiting and taking my ball home.
o crowoftruth : But what a bunch of pussies.
o crowoftruth : I know it is their website so they can control whatever is said on it. I’m all for private property and I have no right to complain about what they do with their private property.
o crowoftruth : And they don’t even have the integrity or balls to listen to someone raise a valid question about their view about how things should go.
o crowoftruth : They have a completely unrealistic and self inflated view of the program.
o crowoftruth : That is why people hate Notre Dame fans.
o crowoftruth : So what does ND Nation do? Promptly take that shit down.
o crowoftruth : Again, assuming no sanctions, USC is an objectively better place to coach in just about every facet that I can think of. And they certainly are serious about doing whatever it takes to win football games (like paying players).
o crowoftruth : So someone astutely asked, assuming nothing major comes from the NCAA, why USC shouldn’t expect to hire one of the big three?
o crowoftruth : They pissed and moaned that Kelly was “2nd Tier” and “small-timey” and that if ND did get one of the big 3 it wasn’t serious about winning football games.
o crowoftruth : As I assume many IRT readers are also ND Nation readers, I assume you saw the extensive “If we don’t get Stoops, Meyer or Saban, ND has failed and should quit playing football” shit spouted by the powers that be there.
o crowoftruth : I’m squarely in the wait and see camp on Kelly.
o crowoftruth : So I’m going to go on a rant against ND Nation here because if I do it there, they’ll just delete it.

Pete Carroll is heading to Seattle in one of the most baffling hires of our generation. Petey is getting out of Troy while the getting is good. It is only a matter of time before the NCAA drops the hammer on the cheating Trojans.

First, the Seahawks have made a terrible hire. Pete was “successful” at USC only by breaking the rules. And was he really that successful? The supposed domination of the Trojans brought USC only one National Title in all of those years. Yeah, they owned ND during his time there, but, again, when you are breaking the rules and cheating at every turn, it isn’t quite a level playing field.

Second, you would have to be a fool to go play for USC right now. The NCAA is breathing down their neck and any ill-gotten payoffs(see Bush, Mayo, and McKnight) are surely not going to go unnoticed. Any recruit that is considering USC better take another long, hard look at the situation.

Third, who in their right mind would go coach at USC right now? Sanctions. Unrealistic expectations. Terrible campus. USC is going to get stuck with a grade C coach. Another reason recruits and current players should rethink their situations.

Fourth, Notre Dame needs to take USC off the schedule until they get their act together. Under Petey’s reign they have become the “U” of the 2000s. With a rap sheet like the one Pete’s thugs have compiled, USC doesn’t deserve the privilege of playing Notre Dame every year.

USC is Doomed

The L. A. Times is finally realizing what we’ve been saying for years: “USC football is dirty, crumbling or has lost its focus”

It’s funny how people around the country are just now waking up to the fact that USC is corrupt.

Reggie Bush getting paid to play is a fact. USC owning the police is a fact. Joe McKnight receiving a car from a booster is a fact.

All these facts along with many others add up to a program that has spun out of control under Pete Carroll’s watch.

USC needs to clean house. Pete Carroll and the AD should be let go immediately. The NCAA should step in finally and do what it should have done years ago. Until USC cleans up its mess, Notre Dame should cease playing the Trojans.

Merry Christmas.

USC is the Tiger Woods of college football. How many more ways can they cheat?

This is getting old and silly at the same time.

Joe McKnight has been getting illegal benefits while at USC. Wow. Shocking.

USC is the Ohio Stat of the West. Here’s another feather in Pete Carroll’s out-of-control program.

When is Notre Dame gonna stop playing the crooked Trojans?

USC tailback Joe McKnight has been driving a 2006 Land Rover owned by a Santa Monica, Calif., businessman, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.

USC is investigating McKnight’s use of the vehicle to find out if it is in violation NCAA rules. It is against NCAA rules for athletes to accept benefits from agents or marketing representatives, or to accept “extra benefits” based on their ability.

I’ll bet anyone a pair of diamond earrings the NCAA looks the other way.

In his first half-week as Notre Dame football coach, Brian Kelly has been striking the right cords with the Irish faithful. He’s mentioned scheduling the best teams. He’s points out that Notre Dame is “special” and “different.” He’s glad the pressure is on. He wants to win right away.

Brian Kelly has done his homework. He knows what to say and how to say it.

The two biggest complaints about Weis were his inability to motivate and his inability to develop the talent at ND. Kelly knows this. So he plugs player development and motivation whenever he gets a chance.

He says “develop” or “development” 12 times in his opening presser. He mentions “passion” or “passionate” 5 times.

Reading the presser introducing Kelly as head coach of Cincinnati he does not say any of those words once.

Kelly did his homework on the deficiencies at ND and is now saying the right things. Let’s hope he can deliver.

Brian Hamilton:

Brian Kelly’s new Notre Dame staff reportedly will be without one of the best recruiters from the previous regime.

Corwin Brown — the ex-Julian High School star who was the Irish’s defensive coordinator in 2007 and 2008 — won’t be retained by Kelly, Brown told Irish Illustrated today. Brown was an effective recruiter, but the spiral of the Irish defense over the past three seasons likely meant the end for his stay in South Bend.

“I’m just cleaning out my office,” Brown told Irish Illustrated. “I had a good time here. I’ve got a lot of good memories. It was a true learning experience.”

Notre Dame could release the names of the assistants retained by Kelly later today.

This makes sense. The defense has plenty of talent and underperformed all year. Good luck to Corwin Brown. He represented the University well.

I read the following from Coach Kelly and couldn’t help but get excited. From ESPN:

Looking forward, Kelly mentioned the Longhorns as a possible future opponent for the Irish.

“When you look at the teams that carry the same mission [as Notre Dame], Texas does that obviously,” he said. “Those kinds of schools really are attractive to me.

“[Athletic director] Jack Swarbrick and I will sit down and look at our schedule as we move forward. I want to be around the best, because we’re asked to be the best. And that’s the kind of schedule I want.”

The biggest question if ND ever plays Texas: Who will Hammer and Fivestar root for?

After a weekend’s worth of reading, I am amazed at the positive press Brian Kelly has been receiving. I don’t remember Weis getting this much positive spin. Here’s one example that stood out:

Listen to what ESPN radio personality Eric Kuselias had to say after meeting Kelly:

“Folks, we get a lot of people that come through the ESPN campus. We get Kobe, Jordan, Stoops, Meyer, etc. You name it….. we get it. I can say maybe the most impressive person to come through here is Brian Kelly. Folks, from the people in the cafeteria, to the people in the executive suits…. the guy nailed it. He was awesome, as gracious as anyone to EVER come through here. Stud. Star. Gracious, confident, professional, everything.”

Maybe they are just setting him up to hammer him later. Or maybe the national media is tired and bored of hammering the Irish.

Or maybe they actually like Kelly.