Baldy

I guess he wasn’t a substantially better candidate then, right? And they couldn’t wait for Fickel, because there were recruits saying on Twitter they would re-open their recruitment and look at other schools if Freeman was not named head coach.

It looks like it’s official now. Yes!!!! https://theathletic.com/news/notre-dame-elevating-defensive-coordinator-marcus-freeman-to-head-coach-source/yvD92S75vuLd/

Well guess what, it’s not the 80s anymore, so we need to ditch that old way of thinking. What Notre Dame needs is a young and up and coming coach, who is loved by all and can recruit! Freeman is that guy. Besides, we won’t know until he is given the job and actually does it. And there is risk with any coach, proven or not, so I say the hell with it and give Freeman a chance. #FreemanEra

I’m also seeing multiple reports on Twitter that Rees has agreed to a significant contract extension to stay on as OC, and Mike Elston will be the new DC. Man, hearing all of this news has me so excited about the future!! Yes!!!!!

Oh, and thanks to Mike, or whomever, put the tiger head on the poo emoji.

Hmm, you think?

I’m seeing from multiple credible sources on Twitter as well that it will be Freeman! I’m so pumped!

So well said, Rocket. And I couldn’t agree more!

Once the news broke, the first thing I thought of was Notre Dame getting with Marcus Freeman and start working on a contract to name him head coach. I know Freeman has zero head coaching experience, but here’s a thought. If he is named head coach, an ideal situation would be to hire former college football head coaches as his defensive and offensive coordinators. The first name I can think of is Tom Herman. Honestly, I would love for Freeman to be the next head coach. Just in some of his tweets I have seen this morning is showing me he is committed to Notre Dame and a true leader. And let’s be serious, in order to save the recruiting class, and possibly a chance at a national championship if Notre Dame gets into the playoffs, Freeman needs to be named head coach. We just can’t wait for Fickel. He won’t leave until the end of the season. Oh, and I just read on Twitter that Jack Swarbrick is calling a meeting at 10:00 am EST, so we shall see.

I’m so pissed off about this, especially now that he is the all time winningest Notre Dame head coach. I think since he kept everyone in the dark at Notre Dame, they tell him he can no longer come on campus and they’ll clean out his office for him. Then leave all of his crap outside of the university on the sidewalk for him to pick up. Note in the box has a on it. I mostly feel bad for the coaches, players, and recruits. I know when someone moves on, the right thing to say is, “I wish him luck.” But screw that! I hope he fails miserably at LSU and do not wish him luck in the future.

Yeah, this is not what you want to do for style points and trying to get into the CFP.

Prevent defense! Argh!

Too true, on both accounts.

Not really. Again, you don’t keep your starting QB, RB, and star WR in the game if you’re trying to take your foot off the gas. I don’t think we’re giving Notre Dame enough credit, but oh well. It doesn’t matter.

Sure, but it doesn’t change the fact it was the closest game. I’m not either, but when has Saban and Alabama been known for taking their foot off the gas. I think it was just a good job by Clark Lea to adjust after halftime and slow them down. I mean, you don’t normally continue to pass the ball around and keep your starters in when you’re taking your foot off the gas, which is exactly what Alabama did. I know I’m mincing hairs here, but Alabama was really good last year, and it showed after that total beat down on tOSU.

I was thinking that too. Yikes! Cincinnati losing still worries me, even if Notre Dame is always a big draw. Last season, Notre Dame vs Alabama was the closest CFP game. It was a 17 point loss for Notre Dame, but that bull crap illegal motion call on Chris Tyree took a TD off the board. It really should have only been a 10 point loss. But anyway, I do agree that a two loss Alabama would not get in over Notre Dame. I would hope so at least, but Alabama always seems to get the benefit of the doubt. I just don’t know and we can’t trust the committee.

I really do believe that Cincinnati losing only hurts Notre Dame, so I don’t know why you were cheering for ECU. I also think that if Cincinnati loses, it would allow Alabama to sneak in, even with a loss to Georgia. This is of course assuming they beat Auburn, which I feel will happen because Auburn is not good. I’m also worried about Georgia losing to Alabama, because you know two SEC teams would be in…probably no matter what. Man, let’s hope not! But the only way I see Notre Dame getting into the CFP is Notre Dame beating Stanford, Georgia beating Alabama, Ohio State beating Michigan, and Baylor winning the Big 12. These last two weekends should be very interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving!! 🍽

This is exactly how I see it working out.

Well, I already gave you the info I felt I needed to provide to explain better and deeper conferences. Statistically, the SEC is better by record, but mainly due to three teams. Deeper would be all the other P5 conferences, since they are a bit more even, but mostly the B1G and PAC-12. The reason I say this is due to what happened with Texas A&M, Missouri, and Nebraska leaving the Big 12 for the SEC and B1G, respectively. Texas A&M was almost immediately a contender and in the conversation for the SEC west, and Missouri won the east two years in a row; 2013 and 2014. I know Missouri is terrible now, but Texas A&M is in contention. I blame Missouri’s downfall more on coaching and recruiting. I think it started when Gary Pinkel left in 2015. Meanwhile, Nebraska has done nothing. I always thought that Nebraska would own the B1G and Texas A&M and Missouri would get owned in the SEC, yet it was the other way around. You could also say the same for Utah and Colorado, which have been up and down, so I feel it makes the PAC-12 deep too. I honestly feel the B1G is the deepest conference. They play smash mouth, run it down your throat football with strong defenses. I don’t even want to hear that in the SEC. They have zero defense, with tons of points scored every game by both teams. Well, for that reason, and being top heavy. You hardly ever see that in B1G ten games. Overall, the B1G and PAC-12 are pretty even, with different teams in contention each year for the most part. Whereas in the SEC, it’s mainly been Alabama for the last 11 years. The last 11 years: B1G - 5 different teams in the championship, with OSU winning 5 of the last 11. SEC - 4 different teams in the championship, with Alabama winning 7 of the last 11. PAC-12 - 6 different teams in the championship, with Oregon winning 5 out of the last 11. I know it might not seem like it, but I’m enjoying the conversation because I love discussing college football.

All I wanted to hear is that you agreed the SEC is top heavy. I find it laughable you said the rest of the teams in the SEC have winning records against power five, which is not true in the data I found. Speaking of, I did provide data. Did you not see the link I gave you? I also said the Big East doesn’t exist anymore, but the teams I listed do, and all have winning records against the SEC. Same as Notre Dame. The ACC, B1G, and Big 12 are not even as close to top heavy as the SEC. Seeing as how it’s been Alabama the last 12 years pretty much, besides LSU and Auburn in there a couple times. Alabama also has one of the weakest schedules in the nation that hardly ever cross the Mason Dixon line. And stop basing it off of just NCs. If you look at each conference, it is always a dog fight and close each year. tOSU and Michigan are favorites, so if one team has a loss besides tOSU, tOSU will get the higher ranking due to bias. Same can be said for every team in the SEC because of ESPN and people like you propping the entire SEC up because of this past image of dominance, which is total bull. You can think I’m being ridiculous, but I can tell I’m getting you spun up. All I’ll agree with is that Alabama has been a force for a very long time, but you can’t say the SEC is the best conference in the nation based off of three teams. I don’t care what your data says. Look at what I provided for OOC against power five, and it not as good as you think for the whole SEC. Well, I wouldn’t call it dominant. Good, but not dominant. At least not like it used to be back in the day.

I was just looking at similar data, and again, you’re not looking close enough. It’s top heavy, with Alabama, LSU, and Georgia as the most dominant. As I said before, this is where the bias comes into play, since everyone wants to say the SEC is dominant as a whole, and again, it’s really just three teams. The entire SEC, and ESPN, ride the coattails of those teams and use it to boost the rest of the conference which is just ridiculous! What I found really funny was the Big East, which isn’t a football conference anymore, had a winning record over the SEC. It included teams like Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Louisville, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Rutgers. There we’re a few other teams in the SEC with winning records OOC, but it was only one or two wins above five hundred, so I wouldn’t consider that domination. https://topdan.com/college-football-conference-records/index.html

And you’re just going to keep talking about bowl wins, which I keep saying that isn’t all that matters. Along with the fact it’s mostly just Alabama. I looked at the past 11 seasons too, and as I have said, it’s only three teams that have done well. So, I’m not basing it off of opinion either. As long as it’s just Alabama that keeps winning NCs, you can’t say it’s the SEC.

That handoff that led to a turnover is a bit worrisome. Thank goodness VA is not very good and ND is up big.