2021 College Football

[fathom 10,436]

2 hours ago, Brian said:

It finally happened guys. 〽️

Congrats 

[Heads22 2,602]

Lincoln Riley might just kill it at SC

[Chisoxfn 1,495]

1 hour ago, Heads22 said:

Lincoln Riley might just kill it at SC

Yeah - this seems like a stellar hire for USC. Was it money that made Riley leave or more of like an ego thing so he can go build his own program vs inheriting Stoops? 

[CentralChamps21 1,732]

8 hours ago, Chisoxfn said:

Yeah - this seems like a stellar hire for USC. Was it money that made Riley leave or more of like an ego thing so he can go build his own program vs inheriting Stoops? 

Oklahoma will no longer be a top tier program within 5 years of joining the SEC. Riley's path to a championship is far, far easier at USC than it will be at Oklahoma.

[Harry Chappas 735]

10 hours ago, Chisoxfn said:

Yeah - this seems like a stellar hire for USC. Was it money that made Riley leave or more of like an ego thing so he can go build his own program vs inheriting Stoops? 

This is lateral move or a downgrade but it sounds like he was not a fan of the OU move to the SEC and he can now compete with about as much competition as the Big 12 had.

[Heads22 2,602]

Brian Kelly to LSU. Wow.

[fathom 10,436]

2 minutes ago, Heads22 said:

Brian Kelly to LSU. Wow.

Hope it doesn’t get too windy in Louisiana

[Heads22 2,602]

Wonder if the search goes beyond Fickell/Freeman?

 

I obviously hope it doesn't. 

[fathom 10,436]

1 minute ago, Heads22 said:

Wonder if the search goes beyond Fickell/Freeman?

 

I obviously hope it doesn't. 

Yeah Campbell is lurking I’m sure. Freeman goes to Cincy if Fickell gets it.

[CentralChamps21 1,732]

First of all, I'm completely shocked that Brian Kelly would leave Notre Dame for another college at age 60.

Secondly, Luke Fickell is an amazing game coach, but recruiting at Cincinnati and recruiting at Notre Dame are two entirely different animals. I don't know how involved in recruiting Fickell was at Ohio State.

Freeman isn't ready yet. I don't know if Urban Meyer would agree to leave the NFL for Notre Dame or even if ND would be willing to pay that kind of buyout, but Meyer agreeing to a 4-5 year deal with the understanding that Freeman takes over at that point would be the ideal plan.

My mom has a brother who went to ND and two cousins who work there and she went from spending the day smack talking my dad about tonight's basketball game to being locked in a room by herself. She's pretty upset.

[southsider2k5 10,934]

Brian Kelly is human garbage.  Hopefully he gets run out of LSU like he should have been at ND after the unnecessary death of a student on his watch.

[Chisoxfn 1,495]

1 hour ago, Heads22 said:

Brian Kelly to LSU. Wow.

Shocked.  I know people hated on Kelly but he has done a really good job at ND. They haven't won that big game but they have been very very good during his tenure.  Will be curious to see what they can pull and kind of surprised he would have went to SEC. He had built such a great situation at ND - fanbase even I think had come to accept they weren't the perennial NC contender they thought of to point where everyone was happy with the every few year playoff loss, etc, knowing they are basically a lock to be top 10 every single year.  

For Kelly - he is jumping to a much more difficult situation in SEC.  

[CentralChamps21 1,732]

49 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Brian Kelly is human garbage.  Hopefully he gets run out of LSU like he should have been at ND after the unnecessary death of a student on his watch.

What I hear from family members is that BK was a huge asshole and really not a terribly effective coach for most of his tenure, but something mellowed him quite a bit and he actually evolved into a much better human being and coach over the past 3-4 years. A lot of people who 100% wanted him gone actually came around on him.

Not saying he shouldn't have been fired after the deadly accident and other stuff, but that it seemed to be behind him.

Still, I think he left ND in a fantastic position. If they can keep from losing more than a handful of the current recruiting class, they're a Top 5 team next year.

[fathom 10,436]

3 minutes ago, CentralChamps21 said:

What I hear from family members is that BK was a huge asshole and really not a terribly effective coach for most of his tenure, but something mellowed him quite a bit and he actually evolved into a much better human being and coach over the past 3-4 years. A lot of people who 100% wanted him gone actually came around on him.

Not saying he shouldn't have been fired after the deadly accident and other stuff, but that it seemed to be behind him.

Still, I think he left ND in a fantastic position. If they can keep from losing more than a handful of the current recruiting class, they're a Top 5 team next year.

USC and Stanford falling off a cliff has made Kelly look like a much better coach. 

[CentralChamps21 1,732]

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

USC and Stanford falling off a cliff has made Kelly look like a much better coach. 

I don't think anybody is crying over losing him, just noting that the sentiment about wanting him gone had softened quite a bit.

Wonder if Lincoln Riley has bought a house in LA yet? It would be 100% straight gangster for ND to rip him away from USC in his first week there.

[fathom 10,436]

1 minute ago, CentralChamps21 said:

I don't think anybody is crying over losing him, just noting that the sentiment about wanting him gone had softened quite a bit.

Wonder if Lincoln Riley has bought a house in LA yet? It would be 100% straight gangster for ND to rip him away from USC in his first week there.

USC bought him a 5 or 6 million dollar house already

[southsider2k5 10,934]

It didn't take long for the knives to come out.

 

[Joshua Strong 358]

Kelly leaving ND SHOCKED Me. 

LSU is a worse job but he's getting paid and I'll never be mad at someone for chasing the money.

Freeman would be a cool story and a good hire but ND is easily the #1 job on the market, they should explore every option.

[Dick Allen 5,371]

When the news broke Kelly was leaving, he was on a recruiting trip for ND. WTF? Then he had to apologize to his players for finding out on social media and the internet, like that would never happen. He is a shady guy.

[CentralChamps21 1,732]

17 hours ago, Joshua Strong said:

Kelly leaving ND SHOCKED Me. 

LSU is a worse job but he's getting paid and I'll never be mad at someone for chasing the money.

Freeman would be a cool story and a good hire but ND is easily the #1 job on the market, they should explore every option.

In 11 years before Marcus Freeman joined his staff, Brian Kelly had zero top 5 recruiting classes. As it stands right now, both the '22 and '23 classes are top 5. That's why Freeman needs to be the coach. He's the only guy who's been able to thread the needle of ND's standards and the talent required to compete with Alabama/Clemson/Ohio State. You can't let a once in a lifetime recruiting beast get away.

[Kyyle23 4,322]

17 hours ago, Joshua Strong said:

Kelly leaving ND SHOCKED Me. 

LSU is a worse job but he's getting paid and I'll never be mad at someone for chasing the money.

Freeman would be a cool story and a good hire but ND is easily the #1 job on the market, they should explore every option.

LSU is a better job better money better conference and a better shot at a championship.  Notre Dame isn't the destination that they believe themselves to be 

[CentralChamps21 1,732]

24 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

LSU is a better job better money better conference and a better shot at a championship.  Notre Dame isn't the destination that they believe themselves to be 

Notre Dame has long since ditched the perception of itself that the masses still believe it has.

[Kyyle23 4,322]

1 minute ago, CentralChamps21 said:

Notre Dame has long since ditched the perception of itself that the masses still believe it has.

Have they?  I dunno man, it never seemed that way with Kelly.  

[CentralChamps21 1,732]

1 minute ago, Kyyle23 said:

Have they?  I dunno man, it never seemed that way with Kelly.  

He had a 3-year stretch of going 22-16, ending with a 4-8 season. The old ND never keeps a coach on after that. The old ND believes they can get someone better to replace him at the drop of a hat.

[caulfield12 3,729]

6 hours ago, CentralChamps21 said:

In 11 years before Marcus Freeman joined his staff, Brian Kelly had zero top 5 recruiting classes. As it stands right now, both the '22 and '23 classes are top 5. That's why Freeman needs to be the coach. He's the only guy who's been able to thread the needle of ND's standards and the talent required to compete with Alabama/Clemson/Ohio State. You can't let a once in a lifetime recruiting beast get away.

Sounds like a good hire for OU.   Riley already took the defensive coordinator with him to USC, without a contract signed.

They have to fix their recruiting issues QUICKLY, with a flood of de-commitments.

Will be interesting to see what Caleb Williams does.

33% OU, 33% NFL, 33% (USC or another univ).

 

The craziest outcome would be Ratliffe being the starting QB at OU next fall.

Venables would be one name to watch for a return.  Stoops as caretaker for one season, although that makes a mess of recruiting.   Fickell?   Kingsbury is just using OU to get a better deal from the Cardinals, where he's in the bottom 33% of NFL salaries.   The bloom is off Matt Campbell at least a little bit.