John C

I believe that Kelly still needs and OC. I wonder if Kelly and Reese ever discussed the opportunity? Lots of things could be going on there.

I respectfully disagree from the standpoint that Greathouse looks to be the best non slot receiver, and I don't see Faison as an every down player given his size. Further, you can't really say that incoming freshman will be better than Tyree. You are saying that he made the most receptions while having the third most snaps. Yes, they have replacements for Tyree but I believe Tyree would have been the best option at slot next year. I wonder if Stuckey had an impact in the decision. Stuckey was under a great deal of pressure last year, and he may have dumped on the receiver group too often.

Tyree was the most, if not the only, reliable receiver this season. He will be replaced by youth and inexperience. I wonder why he is leaving?

Evans has been the best and most reliable pass catcher on the team this year. Steas is good but the reciever corp needs to step up even more now.

Rees should be blamed for not considering the probability of Buchner getting injured, for thinking that Pyne could do the job, and starting Angelli on the scout team. However, Rees should also get credit for developing Pyne. Yes, I know Pyne still not where we want and need him to be. Nevertheless, Pyne's progress from his first game to yesterday's game has been quite noteworthy. If Pyne continues to progress at the same rate, he will become a potentially quality backup for the next year or two. If I were a quality high school qb or qb transfer prospect, I would say to myself, "if Rees can do that for Pyne, think what he could do for me."

I can't remember ND running that well against a quality defense since the Holtz era. Congratulations! Drew Pyne doesn't belong as a starter on a top 20 team. All season long the ND DBs have been unable to shed a block and make a tackle on plays like an outside bubble screen. Those type of plays seem to be Clemson's bread and butter. A big key to ND's success on D last night was their transformation in this area. The DB's did a great job shedding blocks and making the tackle. In general, open field tackling was also much improved.

Notre Dame could not run for a first down on third and short with Harrry's lines.

It seems to me that the elephant in the room is that Kelley may have concluded that he could never win a championship at ND due to the factors that we're all aware of, academic requirements at the top of the list. We've been wondering, hoping that, if Kelly hired better recruiters, he could get the recruits. Well he hired Freeman, and he sees his top commitments wavering to Ohio State and USC. Let's continue to hope Kelly is wrong but let's not fault him for wanting to compete for a championship on a level playing field with the Alabamas.