Tag: Notre Dame (Page 6 of 12)

      Did Kelly meet with Notre Dame before the Pittsburgh game?

      December 9, 2009 /

      According to the Chicago Tribune, Brian Kelly didn’t interview with Notre Dame officials yesterday because he had already interview with them last week before Cincinnati’s game against Pittsburgh.

      Kelly had a meeting last week about the opening with representatives of Notre Dame before Cincinnati’s Big East championship game against Pittsburgh, the Tribune has learned.

      Talks progressed well enough that the official announcement Kelly will be Charlie Weis’ replacement could come as early as Friday — any time after Cincinnati’s football banquet Thursday night.

      It also was important to Kelly to delay any possible announcement until after he had a chance to talk to his Bearcats in person at Thursday’s season-ending banquet. He informed his players at a team meeting Monday before leaving for New York that he planned to speak with Notre Dame.

      None of this should surprise anyone given how college coaches (Bobby Petrino, Rich Rodriguez, Nick Saban, etc.) are always looking for the next big job/payday. Kelly himself ditched Central Michigan right before its bowl game a couple years ago to coach at Cincinnati.

      Was it immoral for Kelly to talk to Notre Dame days before Cincinnati’s biggest game of the season? I’ll leave that up to you to decide. Personally, I’m so numb to the way college coaches job hop that I could care less at this point. There’s no loyalty anymore and it doesn’t appear that things are going to change anytime soon.

      We’ll just have to wait and see if the Tribune’s report is right that Kelly is bound for South Bend. But all signs point to him being Notre Dame’s next head coach.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen to turn pro

      December 7, 2009 /

      ESPN.com reports that Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen has decided to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft.

      “After the season, in talking to my parents and obviously Coach Weis, I just feel it’s the right time,” Clausen told ESPN.com on Monday before a scheduled 2 p.m. ET news conference in South Bend. “Coach Weis told me whether he was going to be here or not be here, it was time for me to go. He thought I’ve improved so much since I came to Notre Dame. So, I’m taking his advice, and I’m going to head out.”

      “It’ll probably be just like going from high school to college, but a lot faster than college is. Obviously, being under Coach Weis, being in a pro-style offense, knowing the terminologies, will help me. But the biggest thing will probably be just getting in the playbook and mentally preparing myself to do everything I can to get on the field as quick as I can and help whichever team I go to win.”

      Mel Kiper has Clausen rated as the top quarterback on his big board and the fourth best prospect overall.

      He’ll unfairly be compared to Brady Quinn because they played in the same offense at Notre Dame, but at least in my opinion, Clausen is a more polished prospect now than Quinn was when he entered the draft. In terms of raw talent and upside, Clausen beats Quinn but that obviously doesn’t mean that he’ll be a better pro.

      With Sam Bradford, Jake Locker, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow set to join Clausen in April, the 2010 NFL Draft will have plenty of intrigue surrounding the quarterback class.

      College Football, NFL, NFL Draft

      Weis says Carroll living with grad student in Malibu

      December 6, 2009 /

      Check out this nugget of information from SPORTSbyBROOKS.com:

      In an interview yesterday with Tim Prister of IRISH ILLUSTRATED, Charlie Weis made the following statement:

      Let me ask you this question: You guys know about things that go on in different places. Was I living with a grad student in Malibu, or was I living with my wife in my house? You could bet that if I were living with a grad student here in South Bend, it would be national news. He’s doing it in Malibu and it’s not national news. What’s the difference? I don’t understand. Why is it okay for one guy to do things like that, but for me, I’m scrutinized when I swear. I’m sorry for swearing; absolve my sins.

      Carroll also told the Times he talked to Weis and, “He apologized profusely for being represented wrongly. I’m not commenting anymore.”

      Weis apologized with, “In no way do I have any idea what’s going on in anyone’s life other than the fact that rumors on the Internet can affect coaches’ lives in a very, very negative fashion“.

      As part of his initial statement that the married Carroll was living with a grad student Weis said, “He’s doing it in Malibu.”

      I’m confused. Weis’ original statement made it sound like Carroll was definitely living with a grad student in Malibu, yet then he claims that he was misrepresented. So either he was lying when he made the claim about Carroll or lying about being misrepresented. And one would think that if he were just using Carroll as an example, that he would have said, “But that’s just an example” or “Of course I’m just using the Malibu situation as a hypothetical.”

      Weis should just keep his mouth shut before it costs him an opportunity at another job.

      College Football

      Report: Brian Kelly to entertain Notre Dame opportunity

      December 5, 2009 /

      ESPN.com is reporting that Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly would entertain the idea of talking to Notre Dame next week about the school’s open coaching position.

      Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly told ESPN this week that he promised fans he would focus on the Pitt game and that speculation he is a candidate for the Notre Dame opening wouldn’t be a distraction.

      Kelly still maintains that it hasn’t been, adding that he was staying away from it until after the game, but if Notre Dame wanted to speak with him next week, he would “entertain” their request.

      Kelly told a local radio station in Cincinnati that he’s happy at Cincy and wants to stay there long term. But that means nothing, especially coming from a man that ditched Central Michigan in 2006 before its bowl game in order to take the vacant position in Cincinnati.

      Kelly has successfully climbed the latter from D-III head coach at Grand Valley State, to MAC coach at CMU to Big East coach at Cincinnati. If Notre Dame calls, there is little doubt that he won’t at least entertain the offer. And chances are, Cincinnati won’t come up with the money it’ll take to retain Kelly’s services and he’ll move on.

      Regular readers know that I think Kelly would be a perfect fit for the Irish, even though I would think it would be admirable if he stayed at Cincinnati and continued to grow that program. We’ll see what happens.

      College Football

      Did Notre Dame bail on bowl game for fear of getting embarrassed?

      December 5, 2009 /

      Hey, I get it – it’s been a rough year in South Bend. The team was yet again a disappointment, expectations weren’t met and the head coach was fired after months/years of speculation that he would eventually be kicked to the curb.

      But if you’re Notre Dame, why not accept a bid to go to a bowl game this year?

      On Friday, ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick said that the school has decided against going to a bowl game with a 6-6 record, citing that without a head coach and offensive coordinator, the school wouldn’t have an experienced play caller for the game. Swarbrick also pointed out that the school would likely have lost money because their only option would have been a minor bowl.

      The offensive coordinator excuse is logical, but the bit about losing money holds little water given how much loot Notre Dame just threw at Charlie Weis to get the hell out of town.

      That said, one would think that the Irish seniors would want to strap it up for one last game together and try to go out as winners. If it were up to the players, I would have to assume that they would want to play – especially players like Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate, both of whom might be heading for the NFL draft in April.

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      College Football

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