As I have stated repeatedly, I am not on the Fire Brian Kelly bandwagon yet, but I am beginning to lose my patience. I think you give him next year but the team better be in the playoff. Having said that, I do see five key things that need to change and should help. No, I am not going to say start Malik Zaire. Everett Golson has done too many good things and has way too much skill to just abandon. I think Kelly should give an a number of turnovers, say 6 that he is allowed to make. After that he is coming out if he goes over 6. Kelly should stick with Golson but there are areas that need change.
Brian VanGorder Must Go
I know he has only had one season, but this style of defense will never be successful in South Bend. It is an injury prone style. Think about it, are you more likely to get in a car accident if you are driving recklessly or if you are obeying the laws? This style of defense is reckless and probably contributed to all the injuries. On top of that, in order for this defense to work, you need lock down corners to cover the best receiver for the other team. What is more frustrating is that we saw this style defense get torched under John Tenuta a few years ago. Bob Diaco just emphasized good tackling. No fancy schemes. They gave up yards but ultimately kept them out of the endzone. Why the team went back to this kind of defense is beyond me.
Hire Jeff Quinn As Offensive Coordinator
The reason is real simple. This guy was with Kelly pretty much everywhere he went. The only exception was Notre Dame because Quinn took the head coaching job at Buffalo. Well now he is gone from there which makes him available to rejoin Kelly.
Bring Back Tommy Rees In Some Capacity
The best year Tommy Rees had at Notre Dame was his year backing up Golson. He was called in at times and did well. But his most important role was mentoring Golson. Rees wasn't the most talented quarterback ever in South Bend, but he was very knowledgeable. Unlike Golson, Rees made mistakes due to lack of talent and not too many just bonehead plays. Bringing Rees back to help with not just Golson but all the young quarterbacks as well.
Hire a Really Good Special Teams coach
This has been a struggle since Kelly has been at Notre Dame. Notre Dame scares nobody with their return men. This year fans had to hold their breath on extra points. That is not good. I am not sure who is out there but they need somebody.
Be Smart With Scheduling Navy
This is a long standing tradition that honestly does nothing for Notre Dame. It is a big game for Navy though. Every year Notre Dame seems to get more injuries during this game. This year the defense took major hits in that game and most notably was Joe Schmidt. The Irish defense was clearly different after that game. Since taking them off the schedule seems unlikely, Notre Dame should play them on Championship Saturday since neither team has a game that day. That way the team has a little time to recover before the post season. At the very least, make sure a bye follows them.
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