JTennant

Not even close y’all! He’s our resident Bill Polian. Talent scout aficionado. Viola.

Okay, so.. that's why I said I'm not going to put too much stock in how the OL does against Clemson because of their talent level. You have a way of trying to debate me and then agreeing with my point? I don't know what you're doing here.. I'm confused. It's important for coaches to get their teams to overachieve from time to time but that's not going to hold the most weight in a coach's grade. I'm not going to grill this coaching staff for taking a top 10-15 roster and getting beat by a top 5 roster especially given how misleading class rankings can be. I said Clemson has a lot of NFL guys..

I based my initial hatred of HH based on what I saw against inferior teams not just what they couldn’t do in the big games. The fact that they’re communicating well and playing fast albeit against bad power 5 is all I need to know to back off my shit talking for now. I’m not going to blast HH if he can’t crease Clemson for 5 YPC and 200 yards I got it bud you’re a stats junky ND averaged X YPC and YPG in whatever season.. that’s not what I’m talking about.

I agree with your agreement hah. What you said is something that was suggested to me by someone on this board years ago that the soft OL play was likely a product of BKs soft offense and I’ve been on the fence about that notion ever since. If that wasn’t you then whoever said it was likely right. Time will tell but these guys look like they’re communicating well and know where to go and they’re playing fast and mean.

Tommy was always the guy IMO he was just hamstrung by a really bad QB and underperforming OL play. When I saw what he did debuting as a play caller against Iowa State I was in the camp that he was a yes man OC under BK and we wouldn’t see his true colors until he could stand alone. It wasn’t just the stats in the Iowa State game it was how the team looked. They looked different than the regular season, and also the next season the offense looked mostly like BKs other offenses so it was clear those weren’t his schemes.

I’m not going to put too much stock in the results vs Clemson. They have lots of NFL guys. What I saw from HH during his first tenure here was an inability to run when it mattered against lesser competition. They compiled stats when they were wearing teams out in 4 minute. If they keep dominating lesser competition like this and do enough to keep the elite teams honest I’ll back off my criticism of HH.

VT Sucks and is over-rated once again. Don't we all..

Yes sir. That was 98% my fault.

The fact you're de-facto advocating for Buchner as the starting QB tells me everything I need to know about your "football acumen" QB was a big part of the problem against Marshall. QB was the reason they played keep away from Ohio State. O Line was also poor. I've been a huge detractor from HH and the OL play. That's not a secret. Nice try kiddo, but sit the f*(k down and shut the f*(k up. Edit because I saw your add-on. I didn't try to attack you personally just that it was a bad "take" so I didn't take the "flame" overboard.

I only wanted Pyne because I saw enough of Buchner last year to know he wasn't going to be the guy I'd argue the money wasn't the driving factor.. If it was, BK would have leveraged other teams vs ND or at the very least went to ND to leverage a pay raise at the next stop. He wanted to go to a program that would let him recruit 5* players and offer everyone on the top 150, and not hamstring it's football players with school and the like.. He lamented the national recruiting grind at ND and is happy to be in a program where you can drive to meet almost every one of your recruits.

I hated that 0-3 moniker. That was a technicality.. Not even in the sense of changing the definition of recession or definition of definition type technicality.. The bowl game doesn't count for all intents and purposes. No other coach with an 0-x start first game was a bowl game amidst a coaching change without some of its players.. So he's 1-2 to start. If ND played Ohio State to open last year then Toledo, ND would have been one play away from also opening 1-2. Granted the ground is much shakier this season, but that's to be expected. Jury's out but I think he has a better than 30% chance getting this thing turned around. He's got a lot to learn so plenty of things to improve upon. The hour glass has now been turned over coach, hopefully you can figure it out before times up or it's onto the next candidate..

Yes. You're correct. They weren't getting push and pass-pro was turning guys loose on almost every series. In zone run blocking, communication can be the culprit from lack of push. if you're not trusting where you're supposed to go you're gonna play hesitant and get slapped around and both turning guys loose in pass pro if you don't know where the pressure is coming from. Many teams get those calls from the QB and or Center and some might even be from the booth. In HH first tenure they failed to get good push against really week teams and that really comes down to trusting the call, trusting your teaching and communication with the other guys on the line. The zone run can be the most effective run play because lineman adjust the blocking assignments based on the front and what side the ball is going to. Power is blocked to a gap mostly regardless of alignment.

Completely agree on culture, development and I'll even argue BK gets the nod for depth in terms of what he left MF. My point was based on personnel the cupboards were surprisingly full for BK and surprisingly barren for MF The reality is MF inherited a fringe playoff caliber team and BK inherited a team that was near it's lowest point in 20 years. I truly believe that BK knew he wasn't going to be coaching ND this season and that's why it's reported his representatives reached out to UF before making contact with LSU. I think that showed itself in recruiting and why they're going to need to go into the portal to plug some holes for next season.

Shit dude, I love these uni's. IMHO should be the full time gear for ND. Away should be all whites and should have some alternate pant combos gold/green etc

Yeah I agree, but I thought he would bolt for the NFL. The day he left for LSU I thought he was gonna leave for Oklahoma just in a gut feeling there was too much shuffling around. It was reported that his representatives actually reached out to Florida so that was another level of being one foot out the door IMO.