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Gold Rush

Gold Rush

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I guess I stirred up a little trouble on the Notre Dame football message board on Rivals.
I said basically the guy they should go after is Pat Fitzgerald from Northwestern. I
think Fitzgerald is the best coach in the Big Ten as he does more with less than anyone
there and I like how much improvement his teams show from the beginning of the year
until the end. Personally, I would just to like that guy out of the Big Ten.

Of course all the Notre Dame posters said what a stupid idea that was and they were looking
for Stoops from Oklahoma (lol) or someone of that nature. Not so surprisingly, there were
several Big Ten posters that all agreed and said that was the guy that could get it done there.

I just don't think they get it over there. Although the posters from their message board do not
make their coaching selection, I think their mentality is that they are "too good" for someone
like Fitzgerald. They will probably make another stupid selection like Weiss or Willingham. They
need to realize they need to think out of the box and maybe get a guy they would not have
thought about earlier because they keep taking the wrong guys. I think he would do a great job
over there - I think it would be the perfect fit.
 

I wonder who is going to take the Notre Dame job. There may be some guys who sincerely seek out the position, but my guess is the Notre Dame brass is going to zero in on a number of guys who will likely turn them down. This isn't the choice job it was twenty years ago.

Brian Kelly is probably a solid choice and he's turned Cincinnati into a good program. Whether he can maintain the program would be the question, but given the fact that Bob Thuggins (Oops. Huggins.) pretty much ignored the academic portion of his players' commitment to Cincinnati, Kelly probably isn't hamstrung the way he would be at Notre Dame.

I don't think Stoops wants any part of Notre Dame. He's already in a place where football is treated as a sacrament and while expectations are high in Oklahoma, they aren't in the same ridiculous category as they are with Notre Dame.

GoldRush, I agree that Fitzgerald would be the perfect candidate for Notre Dame. He really loves Northwestern so they probably would have a hard time prying him away from Evanston, but if you want to talk about a coach who has had more than reasonable success in a program with extremely high academic standards, one can argue that the debate starts and ends with Fitzgerald. Plus, Notre Dame had some its greatest success after it brought Ara Parseghian over from Northwestern in the 1960s so the precedent is there.
 

I think you're absolutely correct. Fitzgerald has proven to be a great coach, I'd take him as the Gopher head coach in a heart beat. I think you're also right on the money that ND thinks they're above someone like him and that they will make another poor hire. I disagree with what Lou Holtz said last night about how ND is the best job in college football and that they'll be back to dominance in no time...they are in for a lot more mediocrity without conference affiliation and without a real coach.
 

I cannot believe that a major sports television network actually pays Lou Holtz to babble. The guy has gone beyond the ridiculous.
 

Gold Rush said:
I guess I stirred up a little trouble on the Notre Dame football message board on Rivals.
I said basically the guy they should go after is Pat Fitzgerald from Northwestern. I
think Fitzgerald is the best coach in the Big Ten as he does more with less than anyone
there and I like how much improvement his teams show from the beginning of the year
until the end. Personally, I would just to like that guy out of the Big Ten.

Of course all the Notre Dame posters said what a stupid idea that was and they were looking
for Stoops from Oklahoma (lol) or someone of that nature. Not so surprisingly, there were
several Big Ten posters that all agreed and said that was the guy that could get it done there.

I just don't think they get it over there. Although the posters from their message board do not
make their coaching selection, I think their mentality is that they are "too good" for someone
like Fitzgerald. They will probably make another stupid selection like Weiss or Willingham. They
need to realize they need to think out of the box and maybe get a guy they would not have
thought about earlier because they keep taking the wrong guys. I think he would do a great job
over there - I think it would be the perfect fit.
Click to expand...

I've thought about this from the first time I saw one of your posts, and I've never said anything. Since others have since brought it up, I'll brave the waters now.

You do know that you don't have to use the enter key, correct? Other than to start new paragraphs, that is.

You actually often bring up very good points, but your posts are incredibly difficult to read and displeasing to the eye. I try to read every post in a thread, but I often skim right past yours because it is physically painful to read when your eye is used to the text filling in the entire available space.

As to the content of your post, I think Notre Dame's biggest problem is that they haven't had an established, successful head coach since Lou Holtz. Davie had never been a HC, Willingham was pretty mediocre at Stanford, and Weis had also never been a HC. After all the jokes about Weis' "coaching internship", I think one of their top priorities is "previous success as a head coach." Meyer, Stoops, and Kelly definitely all fit this criteria. (Note that I'm not advocating any of these hires necessarily, just talking about what their hiring gameplan seems to be.) Fitzgerald is a good coach, but I'm not sure he has enough experience as a HC to step into that meat-grinder just yet.
 


I went on the Football Scoop website to see if they had any rumors about the ND HC job and saw a tidbit mentioning our old guy Browning for the Akron gig.
 

I agree that LH just babbles, but I believe ND is a top 5 HC job in college football. ND = Notre Dame not North Dakota
 

What's funny about this is that, although they may perceive themselves to be above hiring a coach from Northwestern, it was a hire from that same school that proved to be one of their greatest hires ever, Ara Parseghian. Since he retired in 1974 with a record of 95–17–4 (an .836 winning percentage), nobody has won at Notre Dame at the same clip or consistancy. (Lou Holtz' winning percentage was .765).

Parseghian, by the way, had a record of 36-35-1 (22-31-1 in Big Ten play) during his time at Northwestern, which falls below the numbers put up by Pat Fitzgerald (27–22 overall, 15–17 in Big Ten play). Apparently, Parseghian was scraping the bottom of the barrel more so than Fitzgerald would be...but don't try and make that argument, because they probably won't listen anyways.
 




It will be very interersting who tries for this job.
 

ND had better focus on making a good choice rather than looking down their noses. ND is running on reputation, and that can only take you so far. If this continues, down the road, NBC might not be so eager to offer the big contract, and if that happens, things could go downtown in a hurry. Playing as an independent is an anachronism.

Holtz retired because if he remained as head coach, he'd have more wins than Knute Rockne. It's great to honor a legendary coach, but that is letting your past hold back your future. Besides, what would it matter? When you think home runs, you think Babe Ruth, not Barry Bonds. When you think consecutive games, you think Lou Gehrig, not Cal Ripkin Jr. Their records have been broken, but they are more legendary than the people who broke their records will ever be. When they have a good coach, it would be a good idea to keep that coach, even if it means breaking Rockne's record.
 

RodentRampage said:
ND had better focus on making a good choice rather than looking down their noses. ND is running on reputation, and that can only take you so far. If this continues, down the road, NBC might not be so eager to offer the big contract, and if that happens, things could go downtown in a hurry. Playing as an independent is an anachronism.
Click to expand...

That's only going to happen if ratings take a hit. ND has a strong national following that will and it will take a serious stretch of mediocre play to bring about the kind of ratings hit that would significantly hurt their NBC deal. However, I completely agree that they should stop being so tied to the big names and start finding the coach who's the right fit.
 




I have heard Brewster is in the running, for Tight Ends Coach.
 

TubbytownUSA said:
I think you're absolutely correct. Fitzgerald has proven to be a great coach, I'd take him as the Gopher head coach in a heart beat. I think you're also right on the money that ND thinks they're above someone like him and that they will make another poor hire. I disagree with what Lou Holtz said last night about how ND is the best job in college football and that they'll be back to dominance in no time...they are in for a lot more mediocrity without conference affiliation and without a real coach.
Click to expand...

I agree. Fitzgerald is a great football coach who gets the most out of his players. As for Holtz, he also picked Notre Dame to play in a BCS bowl game this year and hailed the return of the Irish to the promised land in the preseason. In other words, he hasn't got the faintest idea of what he's talking about.
 

Disqualification

Is losing at home to a Tim Brewster coached team a disqualification for the Northwestern job? Just asking...
 

RodentRampage said:
ND had better focus on making a good choice rather than looking down their noses. ND is running on reputation, and that can only take you so far. If this continues, down the road, NBC might not be so eager to offer the big contract, and if that happens, things could go downtown in a hurry. Playing as an independent is an anachronism.

Holtz retired because if he remained as head coach, he'd have more wins than Knute Rockne. It's great to honor a legendary coach, but that is letting your past hold back your future. Besides, what would it matter? When you think home runs, you think Babe Ruth, not Barry Bonds. When you think consecutive games, you think Lou Gehrig, not Cal Ripkin Jr. Their records have been broken, but they are more legendary than the people who broke their records will ever be. When they have a good coach, it would be a good idea to keep that coach, even if it means breaking Rockne's record.
Click to expand...

ND will and always will have a huge national following, and a rich TV contract. They are high drama, have a national fanbase, and have built in statutes to the BCS. Also, you mention ND running on reputation and that that can only take you so far- Notre Dame has lost more games in the last three years than any time period in history. They have been absolutely mediocre to bad for close to 20 years now, and NBC still rakes in the ratings with ND. No offense, but that NBC contract is going nowhere.

As for being an independent, that is the best thing ND has going for them. They can pick and choose when and where each game on the schedule is. They can space out every difficult game they have and place bye weeks for rest. With their own BCS clause all they have to do is be in the top 14 I believe of the BCS rankings. Why in the world would they want to join a conference? If they joined the B10, they would be fighting for a 3-5th place finish every year, and NEVER make a BCS bowl.
 

MNBadgerGuy said:
ND will and always will have a huge national following, and a rich TV contract. They are high drama, have a national fanbase, and have built in statutes to the BCS. Also, you mention ND running on reputation and that that can only take you so far- Notre Dame has lost more games in the last three years than any time period in history. They have been absolutely mediocre to bad for close to 20 years now, and NBC still rakes in the ratings with ND. No offense, but that NBC contract is going nowhere.

As for being an independent, that is the best thing ND has going for them. They can pick and choose when and where each game on the schedule is. They can space out every difficult game they have and place bye weeks for rest. With their own BCS clause all they have to do is be in the top 14 I believe of the BCS rankings. Why in the world would they want to join a conference? If they joined the B10, they would be fighting for a 3-5th place finish every year, and NEVER make a BCS bowl.
Click to expand...

Life doesn't work that way, nothing is forever. Assuming that Notre Dame will maintain their status no matter what is simply assuming that the future will always be like the present. The Ivy League used to be the top football conference. Hamline once had a nationally ranked BB team. Waldorf used to be a decent football team, way, way back - then they got left behind, and gave up playing the major teams when they began to get beat by 100+ points.

All things can come to an end. It's true, Notre Dame has running on their reputation for far longer than other schools would be able to. But that doesn't mean they will be able to do it forever. Another Weis era could sink all that. Their independent status gives them advantages, but there are pitfalls to it as well. If their reputation fades, then it might be much more difficult to schedule games.
 


RodentRampage said:
Life doesn't work that way, nothing is forever. Assuming that Notre Dame will maintain their status no matter what is simply assuming that the future will always be like the present. The Ivy League used to be the top football conference. Hamline once had a nationally ranked BB team. Waldorf used to be a decent football team, way, way back - then they got left behind, and gave up playing the major teams when they began to get beat by 100+ points.

All things can come to an end. It's true, Notre Dame has running on their reputation for far longer than other schools would be able to. But that doesn't mean they will be able to do it forever. Another Weis era could sink all that. Their independent status gives them advantages, but there are pitfalls to it as well. If their reputation fades, then it might be much more difficult to schedule games.
Click to expand...


I can see your point, but I really don't think it holds too well. There is a reason why Notre Dame has it's own TV station, because they are polarizing and popular. They will never have difficulty scheduling games. The UCONN coach said that his team's win against a .500 ND team was the biggest win in school history. PLaying and beating Notre Dame is and probably always will be a gigantic deal.

All the talk that Notre Dame can't get great players because of their academics absolutely ignores there recruiting classes. They also have a never ending supply of money from alumni, a lucrative TV contract, built in rivalries (Michigan, MSU, USC, BC) that aren't going anywhere. Comparing Notre Dame football to Hamline basketball or the Ivy League football is sort of missing the point. Notre Dame has everything it needs to be to be succesful and they will get back to being good. I don't know if they will ever be like Florida/USC, etc. They don't redshirt and the academics are tough, but they could certainly have a terrific national BCS quality team every few years and be solid the others.

Programs that have the money to get a good coach, have a marketable reputation (which they still do, look at their recruits), their own TV contract don't stay bad for long.
 

In hindsight, it's always is striking to me at how short a time span seemingly forever icons hold the spot light. The fact of the matter is, certain conditions existed that led to the successes, and nothing stays the same. Foundations shift, things crumble. All that is left are glory days, and history.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
I can see your point, but I really don't think it holds too well. There is a reason why Notre Dame has it's own TV station, because they are polarizing and popular. They will never have difficulty scheduling games. The UCONN coach said that his team's win against a .500 ND team was the biggest win in school history. PLaying and beating Notre Dame is and probably always will be a gigantic deal.

All the talk that Notre Dame can't get great players because of their academics absolutely ignores there recruiting classes. They also have a never ending supply of money from alumni, a lucrative TV contract, built in rivalries (Michigan, MSU, USC, BC) that aren't going anywhere. Comparing Notre Dame football to Hamline basketball or the Ivy League football is sort of missing the point. Notre Dame has everything it needs to be to be succesful and they will get back to being good. I don't know if they will ever be like Florida/USC, etc. They don't redshirt and the academics are tough, but they could certainly have a terrific national BCS quality team every few years and be solid the others.

Programs that have the money to get a good coach, have a marketable reputation (which they still do, look at their recruits), their own TV contract don't stay bad for long.
Click to expand...

In 10 years, if Notre Dame hasn't pulled themselves up, I doubt if any coach would call beating a .500 Notre Dame team a big win. The thing about never ending supplies of money is that it tends to end. Their lucrative TV contract would be gone as soon as the average football fan stops being especially interested in watching a Notre Dame football game. If the shine fades off the golden dome, those rivalry games too will end. The glory days of Ivy League football looked as if they would last forever. Hamline could have been a D-I school today.

Some of the shine has definately worn off Notre Dame football. There's still a lot there, I will admit that. But if they make a bad choice with their next coach, that dome could be getting pretty dull. Being an indpendent means they can benefit, but they have no safety net.
 

"In 10 years, if Notre Dame hasn't pulled themselves up, I doubt if any coach would call beating a .500 Notre Dame team a big win."


........ours would!!! It would be a tremendous win and an outstanding effort!! LOL.

I agree with what you say though. They will be begging the Big East or Big Ten to take them if that mega contract gets taken away. Fortunately, they have a very powerful alumni association as well as a lot of people who are willing to watch them all over the country. They haven't been relevant in a long time and it is very important that they make a good hire here.
 

MNBadgerGuy said:
ND will and always will have a huge national following, and a rich TV contract. They are high drama, have a national fanbase, and have built in statutes to the BCS. Also, you mention ND running on reputation and that that can only take you so far- Notre Dame has lost more games in the last three years than any time period in history. They have been absolutely mediocre to bad for close to 20 years now, and NBC still rakes in the ratings with ND. No offense, but that NBC contract is going nowhere.

As for being an independent, that is the best thing ND has going for them. They can pick and choose when and where each game on the schedule is. They can space out every difficult game they have and place bye weeks for rest. With their own BCS clause all they have to do is be in the top 14 I believe of the BCS rankings. Why in the world would they want to join a conference? If they joined the B10, they would be fighting for a 3-5th place finish every year, and NEVER make a BCS bowl.
Click to expand...

The NBC contract actually WENT DOWN in terms of payout to ND when they extended the deal. ND is getting less money from it now than they were ten years ago. In fact, someone in the sports marketing world did an article on how ND would actually MAKE MORE money if they joined the Big Ten because the payout each Big Ten school gets from the BTN is just slightly less than what ND gets from NBC. Plus, the Big Ten schools get ABC/ESPN money and pool their bowl game payouts, etc. As it stands now, ND gets a yearly payout from the BCS that doesn't increase much if they make a BCS bowl game. They chose the steady income approach, so they are not actually raking in all that much more money than a Big Ten team is (from TV, etc.).

In addition to all of that, ratings for ND football on NBC have been DECLINING for a years. The ABC and CBS games on at the same time each normally doubled ratings of the ND games the past few years. On top of that, NBC is in a financial mess, having just sold out to Comcast for marbles. So, while the NBC/ND deal could last beyond the current deal which expires in 2015, it also seems a good chance that it will not.

The other idea of joining a conference that could help ND is the idea that they'd have something to play for besides a BCS bowl game. As it stands right now, whomever is a coach there is in the undesirable position of having to make a BCS bowl game to be considered a success (and even then not totally - as Charlie Weis led them to two such BCS bowl games). If you join a conference, you can contend for a conference title and keep fans content. Your guys have something to play for. You have a pecking order to play for. You have pride to play for. You have an identity. Right now, ND has turned into a nomad with nothing to play for other than a BCS bowl berth. That is hard sledding.
 

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