Recruiting, Stars and RKGs

See also: Recruiting Video Review

(The Rock Report) - The bottom line on this recruiting class, as new head Coach Brian Kelly readily acknowledges, is that it's not good enough for Notre Dame and coming after last year's disappointing class, Kelly has his work cut out for him in 2011. At the same time, it's a class that's similar to other top program's classes signed in a coaching transition.

Kelly seems aware that there's a lot of work to do, "We've got to have time. I mean, two months is not enough time to get the kind of guy that I want at the University of Notre Dame. You need time to build a relationship."

Do Stars Matter?

No team has won the BCS title without having its freshmen through senior classes rate at least 3.6 stars on average and when this class matriculates it will move Notre Dame below that line. Just as recruiting is worthless without development, development will only get you so far without the right talent. Championship coaches do both well. Some fans seem to focus on one or the other, but the bottom line is that you need both to compete at the very top level.

Just in case you had a question about how much recruiting can improve your odds, consider the 2008 draft as documented by Athlon. 12 of the players drafted in the first three rounds were 5-star prospects. On average there are 27 5-stars per class. That's a 44% hit rate. Now it's ballpark because of early entries and 5th years, but even adjusting the numbers substantially, 5-stars have a much, much greater chance of being drafted in the first three rounds. On average there are 300 4-star players each year, but only 30 were drafted in the top three rounds in 2008 or 10%. For 3-stars the average is just under 4% and 2-stars average exactly 1%.

Even using these as just ballpark indicators, the difference in probability of being drafted in the first three rounds (a decent barometer of very good college performance) is stark:

5-Star = 44%
4-Star = 10%
3-Star = 4%
2-Star = 1%

One way to look at this is that there's ample room for smart bottom fishing if you've got a great eye for development, but where would you place your bets? Exactly.

Development matters, but it's a hell of a lot easier if you're working with top athletes and Kelly's going to be competing against coaches who (unlike Weis) can recruit, coach and develop.

Listen to Urban Meyer (no slouch at developing players) who prides himself on being able to recruit, motivate and develop top players, "If you know me, you know I think any offense can work if you have the right personnel back. Offenses are overrated. People are not... Again, it's based on people. I keep going back to that, but if you have really good players, it's really easy. If you don't, it's really hard. Is the West Coast offense easy to teach? If Joe Montana is throwing to Jerry Rice, yeah, Daffy Duck can teach it. I don't want to de-value teaching. It's absolutely critical, but I'm still going to go back to personnel."

When a well coached team with exceptionally developed lower level recruits meets a well coached team with exceptionally developed higher level recruits the result looks like this:

Florida 51
Total Yards: 659

Cincinnati 24
Total Yards: 246


And it wasn't even close to that close, the score was 37-3 at one point.

How Did Kelly Do Compared to Saban, Meyer and Stoops?

While this class is certainly in the "not good enough" category, it comes with an asterisk. This is a transitional class for Brian Kelly and in the end, it came in about on par with the transitional classes of top coaches who took over after the previous coach was fired. I used Rivals for consistency (for example Saban's first class at Alabama was ranked 22nd in Scout and 10th by Rivals) and Phil Steele's and others for classes that predated Rivals. For the record, Kelly's transitional class was ranked 14th by Rivals and 19th by Scout.

• Kiffin (UT): 10th*
  
• Saban (Bama): 10th*
  
• Kelly: 14*
  
• Meyer: 15th*
• Holtz: 15-20***/14th***
• Saban (LSU): 24th**
  
• Stoops: 36th**
  

*Rivals **Phil Steele aggregate rankings. ***Joe Terranova/Tom Lemming

Here's what the breakdown of Rivals 5-star, 4-star and 3-star recruits looks like compared to recent coaches who have taken over after the previous coach was fired.

Kiffin 2-09-12
Neuheisal 0-12-11
Kelly 0-10-12
Saban 0-10-12
Chizek 0-09-16
Meyer 0-08-09
Spurrier 0-06-15

So not a great start, but certainly right in the pack when compared to the benchmark coaches Kelly is competing against (both current and historical.) As I wrote before, about all you can make of this class is that there were no major red flags and. as Mike Coffey pointed out, no green flags either. Next year will tell us what we need to know about Kelly and his staff's recruiting prowess.

Kelly, leveraging Weis holdover Dave Peloquin, dual tracked recruiting, "I think we've got our system in place in terms of our recruiting system. That is absolutely crucial. And now our coaches know their geographical areas. And I think now it's not a scramble. We have clearly identified prospects for 2011 that we have had conversations today with a number of juniors. And recreated the signing day, essentially for them with those phone calls today, and offering scholarships to the University of Notre Dame. Really getting them to think, hey, the culmination of this in the next 365 days is going to be you signing your national letter of intent to come to the University of Notre Dame. So that is really the most important thing."

From the "holy crap that was really bad file" the ten four-star recruits in this class (which equals last year's total) are eight more than Weis recruited in his first class and twice as many as ND signed in 2004 and 2005 combined.

By manor98's count on Rock's House, Notre Dame is slightly ahead of last year's pace as far as getting offers out early and 69% of those offers have gone to four or five star players. How does that compare with Saban, Meyer and Kiffin? 86% of Alabama's offers are to four or five star players, 67% of Meyer's offers are to four or five star players and 92% of Kiffin's offers are to four or five star players.

What The Hell is All This RKG Talk?

One big question many fans have about Kelly and recruiting is exactly what he means when he uses the acronym RKG (right kind of guys.) I, like many, feared RKG was code for taking low hanging fruit and shying away from star athletes who might have attitudes or need more social development (the kind of players who often win championships and turn out well in the end.)

Championship coaches don't take on head cases, but they also don't shy away from taking on the development challenge of bringing in the very best athletes. Good coaches find a way to mold (scared you with that word didn't I?) the best players. For example without Mardy Gilyard, Cincinatti wouldn't have been undefeated this past year, yet Gilyard was hardly a stellar citizen when he was recruited (and not by Kelly, btw.) Great coaches win championships with great players. USC wouldn't have won the National Championship without Bush. Texas wouldn't have won their title without Vince Young. Tressell may yet win it again with Terrell Pryor (whom many thought was a problem player.)

So is it code or is it something else? As with every thing else about Kelly ( he appears to be an organizational freak,) he's clearly defined what an RKG is so we don't have to guess.

Here's Kelly's definition of an RKG:

1. They've got to make profile
   
2. They've got to have the academics.
3. We have to clear their medical history.
   
4. They've got to be socially a young man that we trust.
5. They've got to have the right character.
6. They have to have a passion for the game.
   

So there's the RKG demystified. It still doesn't answer the question about whether Kelly values, is willing to fight for and can land the top players, but at least it's not mutually exclusive of 5-star athletes. The other important question is if RKGs include players like Chris Zorich.

What Does he Mean by Profiling?

For example, Kelly wants defensive ends that have long arms and are in the 6'4" range; he also wants 6'6" offensive tackles. If a player doesn't make the profile, he has to have a compelling factor or intangibles that override the profile. One poster mentioned that Parcells used profiling as well, regardless, I think we've seen the end of the "smurf" cornerback. Little guys need not apply.

As he told told Irish Sports Daily, "I recruit power, big skill and skill. Those are the three categories, those are the only three categories I operate out of. Power, big skill and skill."

Kelly also places a premium on those "big skill" kids, of which he recruited more than a few in this class, "big skill is profiling out, if I could take 20 guys who are tough gentlemen who fit the profile at Notre Dame academically and were 6-foot-4, 215 or 220 pounds, you’d never be able to track whose playing where."

Kelly nabbed a couple of kids who were low rated quarterbacks, but have size and excellent athleticism for other positions. This was a smart route to go late in the game and is an underutilized recruiting stream.

Okay, that's a big download.

What's The Summary of All This by Position?

QB - Good numbers to work with, but no sure fire studs. We really needed a QB last year.
RB - One decent back. Not a great need.
WR - Numbers, but only one top recruit in Jones.
TE - Good, but not a gamechanger. Tough kid.
OL - Good. The development of Nichols will be interesting to watch. James and Lombard are very good. I'll bet Heggie ends up here.
NG - Very good get in Nix.
DE - Weak. Two projects and only one is a likely future DE. Warning: We have one real DE recruit in two years.
LB - Good, not great, but decent numbers if you include Spond and/or Roback.
CB - Okay. Wood and Boyd are good not great gets. Warning: We have three CB recruits in two years.
S - Okay, not great. Collinsworth could end up here. Warning: We have one S recruit in two years.

It's a decent glue/transition class, but Kelly needs to bring in the stars next year.

Kelly and Leadership, Part II: Coaching the Coaches

• See also: Kelly and Leadership, Part I: Developing Players from the Inside-out
• See also: Will Kelly's Offense Work at ND?
• See also: Brian Kelly and the Secret Sauce

(The Rock Report) - When Brian Kelly announced his assistants he said he was looking for “great teachers, great educators, great communicators," but he also highlighted what he didn't want, "in putting together what I look for in terms of a staff, I stay away from dysfunction. And those are guys that are not bought into a shared philosophy, number one; number two, think they know it all."

After closely observing the last coaching staff, it wasn't hard to spot dysfunction in action. Whether it was the mismatch between Latina's style with the offensive line and Weis's offense, assistant coaches with recruiting skill, but lacking in coaching skill, or having two defensive coordinators with two different philosophies, continuous team dysfunction seemed to be the norm under Weis.

In a passage from The Five Dysfunctions of Team, Patrick Lencioni writes that a founder of a billion dollar company once told him, "if you could get all the people in an organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time," but he added, “Like so many other aspects of life, teamwork comes down to mastering a set of behaviors that are at once theoretically uncomplicated, but extremely difficult to put into practice…”

What's intriguing from a leadership perspective about Kelly's background is that he has been able to create a structure that enables those behaviors. He follows a "coach the coaches" philosophy that creates a coaching roster that can clearly communicate a consistent vision, set a high bar and drive accountability.

He's done it by avoiding the five dysfunctions on his staff. The "five dysfunctions" Lencioni describes are:

1. Absence of trust
2. Fear of conflict
3. Lack of commitment
4. Avoidance of accountability
5. Inattention to results

Turning those around, an effective team has to have trust, collaboration, commitment, accountability and be driven toward results. As Kelly put it, "if you don't have the right people in place, really it doesn't matter who you recruit."

Kelly's "coach the coaches" model demands that he has complete confidence in his coaches so that he can enable the teamwork and behaviors that have made him successful. Before hiring each candidate Kelly asked, "is there a dysfunction within that wouldn't allow this person to be a part of the staff?"

Another way to think about dysfunction is the way Kelly phrased the challenge in an interview right after he was hired, "coaches will mess it up way before the players will, so you gotta keep those guys on the straight and make sure they're focused. I coach the coaches every day."

To understand Kelly's leadership structure, it helps to understand what he's ultimately after from his players. His goal is high level execution, where players execute without thinking or as Kelly calls it, "unconscious competence." Unconscious competence is the highest rung on the competence ladder, which looks like this:

* Level 1 - Unconscious Incompetence - (You Don't Know that You Don't Know)
* Level 2 - Conscious Incompetence - (You Know that You Don't Know)
* Level 3 - Conscious Competence - (You Know that You Know)
* Level 4 - Unconscious Competence - (You Don't Know that You Know)

At the highest level, you're performing without conscious thought. If you can get your team to this level, they'll perform under pressure much like Cincinnati did against Pittsburgh in their comeback win last year.

That's a lofty goal for a college coach, and when you think about the time constraints in college, you're not going to get there if you have coaches and players that you have to spend extra time baby sitting or ones you worry could cause team disruptions.

And since Kelly has to get 85 kids moving in the same direction at the same time, he accomplishes this through his coaches and by structuring his program to facilitate development. In order for his system to work, it's imperative for him to have a staff that can execute with minimal noise in the system.

He needs coaches that can carry out his vision every day. Notice how defensive line coach Mike Elston parrots Kelly's philosophy (via Lou) of trust commitment and caring, "I’m really concerned about building a relationship with them so that when I speak to them and I ask them to do something that is very difficult, they trust that I care about them,” said Elston.

Kelly's after high level teamwork. He focuses on removing the barriers to teamwork (dysfunctions) so that he can get every coach "rowing in the same direction." This approach aligns with the philosophy that he preaches to players, that you can't start winning until you stop losing, "what I look for is a shared philosophy. Not just hey, I'm the wide receiver coach and I only care about how many catches we get and how many yards we get and yards after catch. I want our coaches to have a shared vision of success across the board. This isn't about hanging pelts on your wall, or you won't be on this staff. This is about "we" collectively."

From a structural perspective, Kelly's first leadership layer is made up of two coordinators and strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo. It's unique, but elevating Longo's status in the hierarchy gives power to the coach who interacts with the players the most and the one that can give him information that cuts across offensive and defensive silos. Some players under Weis didn't even know their counterparts on the other side of the ball. What this does in practice is create vertical and horizontal leadership streams. Each coordinator leads from above (top down or vertical,) but Longo's involvement cuts across both offense and defense (sideways or horizontal) creating an environment where behaviors and goals are constantly reinforced from above and below.

Here's how Kelly thinks about strength and conditioning, "Paul joins our offensive and defensive coordinators as leaders of this program. He cuts across the traditional strength and conditioning coach mold because he builds relationships with all players and coaches and serves as a leader, not just in the weight room, but throughout the program. Paul is a critical addition to our program because, arguably, no coach will have more contact with our players throughout the whole year than our strength and conditioning coach."

Longo knows he has a unique role, "I take a special leadership role in our football players' development. Under Coach Kelly's direction, they see me right next to the offensive and defensive coordinators on our program's totem pole. What does this really mean? On a daily basis, it means I'm not just a guy in the weight room who tells them how to lift. I follow the football team closely and build personal relationships with the players, so I fully understand the team dynamics and the buttons to push to get individual players motivated. I know who the team leaders are, and the players know that I communicate regularly with the coaching staff about their performance during our strength and conditioning sessions."

So Kelly has three leaders, Longo and his two coordinators and he coaches through them. Kelly said he wants coordinators with head coaching attributes, "I expect a lot from my coordinators. Because they will direct the position coaches and our players, the coordinators need to be effective leaders, clear communicators and self-starters."

Kelly has created a system that pushes performance by giving his assistants latitude, but one that holds them accountable. When a player screws up, Kelly may lay into the player, but ultimately he's going to hold that player's position coach and coordinator responsible. Here's how Elston described Kelly's style, "he gives you opportunities to grow in different areas. He gives you responsibilities and he holds you accountable for them."

Defensive backs coach Chuck Martin has a similar take, "the biggest thing is he sets the bar as high as I want the bar to be set so I welcome the expectations he is going to set for the coaches and players. That excites me. You know where the bar will be set and you know his expectations. He's not a micro-manager, he lets you do your job. You understand you better produce, and to me that's always the type of guy I'd want to work for."

When Kelly's assistants say consistently that Kelly has a plan, they're not talking in abstract terms. Kelly has clearly defined his Seven Steps of Leadership as he outlined for the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association. Notice how they align against the five dysfunctions:

1. Character
* You better walk the walk when you are a coach
* Coaches need high character because players need someone to follow when things get tough
* A person of high character models the right decisions and eliminates uncertainty
* Demand good character from the youngest to the eldest in your program

2. Create Collaborative Cohesion
* Everyone on staff has input and give your players the opportunity to express input on the program
* Coaches must have a plan to create a buy-in of the vision by players and coaches
* During teaching moments (practice, film meetings, position group meetings, staff meetings, etc.), seek to stimulate, create, and excite those individuals
* When every player and coach understands and more importantly takes pride in their role in the program, success will follow
* No talk in front of players about who's starting next season
* Head Coaches must remember that everyone is seeking self validation for their work

3. Morale
* Ask yourself, what are you selling (body language, verbal and non verbal communication)?
* Unexpected and appreciated changes can boost morale (short practice, t-shirts, food, cards, phone calls/text messages saying good job today).
* Understand and promote that fact that you must be able to delegate to others to get things done

4. Know what you are good at
* All leaders have similar goals, but reach them based on their own personal strengths
* Know what your staff’s strengths are and then delegate to them (i.e. Assistant Coach Smith is very technology smart and you trust him to handle video responsibilities for the team)

5. Have a change-ready mentality
* Good football teams have the ability to adapt to sudden change
* Good head coaches are willing to change the way things are done (no more “but that’s how we always did it”)

6. The Head Coach
* Leaders are no longer commanders, but maestros and visionaries
* Head coaches are the people who puts all the pieces together to create a team
* Coach up your staffs (in private) to improve the overall coaching ability of your staff

7. Creative Thinker
* A head coach must be willing to challenge the status quo
* Whether you are a head coach or coordinator, you should not be afraid of being innovative
* Creativity separates great coaches from good coaches

Kelly's approach creates a structure and culture that allows him to lead from the top while ensuring his directives are being carried out with minimal loss in translation as they are communicated down to the players. Watching Weis try to make a cohesive unit out of 85 players and nine assistants was an exercise in frustration. Kelly's goal is to enable unconscious competence at the player level, by running simplified offensive and defensive systems geared toward execution and carefully structuring and staffing his leadership team to ensure that the entire team is focused on winning.

The open question is whether this strategy will be more effective than hiring a "name" staff. How for example, will Charlie Molnar will fair against a Monte Kiffin (whom Kelly wouldn't have hired given this model) will be determined on the field.


Scott Engler works as an executive advisor in strategy and leadership development focusing on Chief Financial Officers and Heads of Human Resources at mid-sized companies.

A Short Tale of Redemption

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The Invincible Invisibles?

Coach Kelly is certainly following through on his stated recruiting strategy of going after big skill players who can play a number of positions. Here's what Kelly told Irish Eyes:

"Big skill is profiling out, if I could take 20 guys who are tough gentlemen who fit the profile at Notre Dame academically and were 6-foot-4, 215 or 220 pounds, you’d never be able to track whose playing where. ‘I don’t know, he just takes a bunch of those guys and some play defensive end, some play tight end, some are safeties, big skill."

But some of these big skill guys Kelly's contacted are so under the radar, they have Irish fans scratching their collective heads. Used to chasing 4-star recruits, Kelly's bringing in a Toledo quarterback commitment, a Stanford running back commitment, a Colorado former quarterback/linebacker commitment and two players out of Hawaii, one a former Teo teammate and the other a BYU defensive end commitment.

Here's some video of the Invincible Invisibles (or Invisible Invincibles) and a hodgepodge of notes (not mine.)

Brandon Bourbon
"Brandon finished last year with 2420 yards on 248 carries and 29 touchdowns. Here's a little on Bourbon from a Nike Combine - "Bourbon wowed in all four testing categories, clocking 4.54 seconds in the 40 and 4.08 in the short shuttle, jumping 34.3 inches in the vertical and launching the power ball 45 feet. He finished first in the power ball, second in the 40 and third in the shuttle, which is really amazing considering there were 825 participants Sunday."

Kona Schwenke
"He is a true speed rusher off the edge who can get to the outside before the offensive tackle can set back and anchor down. Active with his hands, Schwenke would often chop the outside hand of the pass blocker as he accelerated upfield practically untouched. He also proved he could mix it up by setting the offensive blocker up to the outside with his first two steps then slant back underneath by using the short swim technique. Schwenke comes out of his stance a little high and needs to improve his overall strength, but he has the athleticism, size and quickness that has attracted over half-a-dozen offers."



Danny Spond

Jeremy Ioane

Derek Roback
"The QB MVP went to Derek Roback of Waverly High School in Ohio. Roback, 6-foot-1 1/2 and 194-pounds, was fantastic with his leadership and decision making while leading the ?White Team? to the 7-on-7 championship. He also had a 4.65 40, 29.5-inch vertical, 8?7 1/2? broad, 4.48 shuttle, and 20 reps on 135-pounds." "Roback has excellent size already at 6 feet 2 and 200 pounds. In 2006 he was a national finalist in the Pepsi Punt, Pass and Kick competition and is an outstanding athlete ? he runs better than 4.8 in the 40-yard dash. He was the quarterback MVP at the NationalUnderclassmen.com Ultimate 100 in June."

Kelly and Leadership Part I: Developing Players from the Inside Out

• See also: Will Kelly's Offense Work at ND?
• See also: Brian Kelly and the Secret Sauce

(The Rock Report) - One of the key building blocks behind Brian Kelly's success (despite not having a recruiting class finish in the top 50 in the country at Cincinnati ) is his emphasis and structured approach to developing players physically and mentally. It's a philosophy that goes back to his days at Grand Valley State where he not only coached offense and defense at different stages, but oversaw the Strength and Conditioning program.

When you're starting out with less raw material than other teams, you have to be better than your competition at developing the players you do have and Cincinnati had less talent than all but two teams on their schedule this past year.

Think about all of the talent on USC's defense, but the Bearcats played better defense against Oregon State than USC did. You can only do that through effective player development, but Kelly's focus, taking a page from Holtz, is on developing the mind as well as the body. When I was evaluating Kelly as a candidate, the thing that stood out (besides his success on the field) was his ability to develop and motivate players to push beyond their limits.

Said Kelly, "You can move them to a level that they can't get to by themselves. That's player development. That's at the core of what I mean, to get people to do things that they normally wouldn't do on their own. "

And that’s exactly where ND has failed recently. Only Michigan, among traditional powers, has done less with the talent they’ve had. If you look at where Notre Dame’s talent level was (and this is based on stars so it’s just a relative assessment), Notre Dame had more recruited talent than Michigan this year and even more than Florida did when they won the national championship (Florida is that orange line on the left, ND is the blue line.)

What was missing was player development. Kelly spoke at the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association clinic last February and outlined his holistic approach to development, of mind, body and skill. Kelly’s philosophy is to develop players along five parameters:

* Intellectual Development
* Spiritual Development
* Social Development
* Skill Development
* Physical Development

Does anyone think Weis even had a philosophy for developing players? Kelly has put together a systematic approach that Kelly describes as going far beyond what fans normally think of as development. "It's not just about being bigger, faster, stronger, it's getting your players to trust. It's getting your players to be accountable on a day to day basis. It's developing them as young men, and you have to do that through relationships...”

Kelly’s philosophy centers around the coaches getting to know his players intimately and transforming them across all five development areas. When people say he sounds like Lou, it’s because Kelly’s literally taken a page out of Lou’s book. In “Winning Every Day”, Lou states that he every player needs to know the answers to three questions about his coaches and his peers: 1. Can I trust you? 2. Are you committed to excellence? 3. Do you care about me?

That’s Lou, here’s Kelly describing his success (see a parallel?), "We did it by working on winning every single day. If I wait till Saturday to work on winning we'd win as many as we lose. The very first day we worked on winning... and what do you now know about winning you can't start winning until you stop losing (getting rid of bad habits) and you can build that every single day… our kids cared about each other, they trusted each other, they were committed."

Trust, commitment to excellence and caring. The reason people see a lot of Holtz in Kelly, is because they share not only the same philosophy, but the same words to describe it.

Here’s Kelly describing his philosophy in a little more depth, "I want those that understand how important it is to be committed, how important it is to trust how important it is to respect others... and if those sound like traditional values they are... and they can be espoused on a day to day basis... and working on winning every day allows you to do that and it creates the atmosphere that you're not just punching the clock. When you start caring about each... and I'm not saying you have to sing Kumbaya at 5 o'clock before you go home or have campfires together. But ya got to care about each other, that you're all in it for the same reason. that you all want to work on winning every single day... and guess what happens, one of the greatest things starts to rise to the top... it's called pride in what you do."

Here are the two coaches talking about their philosophies:

They also share two other attributes in their styles, attention to detail and a focus on accountability. When Holtz first walked into the Notre Dame locker room, he kicked a player's feet off a chair and sent the entire team a clear message that things would be different. Kelly walked into the locker room and immediately noticed what a mess the lockers were in. He thought that sent a terrible signal to the team about attention to detail and respect and gave every player a diagram showing them how their lockers should look. That’s signal value. Now, every day when a player arrives for practice his locker will remind him about attention to detail.

In his press conference, Kelly talked about what attention to detail and being purposeful means on a practical level:

"Eating at Burger King at 3:00 in the morning is not going to make you the best for your 8:00 workouts. Not being on time, not paying attention to detail, not being purposeful in what you do on a day to day basis. Attention to detail is absolutely crucial in this process of winning, and so when I talk about working on winning, I mean you do that from the first day you step on this campus if you want to win. You don't win on Saturdays with Xs and Os. You win on Saturdays because you've been working on it all week, and so it's that attention to detail. It's morale, it's camaraderie, it's one voice. "

The final thing they both focus on is accountability. As Lou says, "you can't have ten people be outstanding and have one person foul up." Kelly says, "you can't do it unless everyone in the organization understands they're an important piece of the puzzle."

What impresses me about both coaches is their ability to motivate their players to play above their own expectations. Former Grand Valley State player Spencer Calhoun described it this way,"He really challenges you to perform... he encourages you enough, but at the same time, he's challenging you to step your game up to the level that he sees the potential at, and the coaching staff saw the potential in you to play. I think I was (a better player), and I think more importantly, I was a much better person... I think he really helped complete me as a man, with being a tough-minded individual. That's one thing he always talked about, was mental toughness and being able to see things and not get down after one little mistake or one bad play.”

Kelly believes in mental development, but he’s also put a premium on physical development and has given Strength and Conditioning coach Paul Longo coordinator level influence. Longo is intimately involved in player development, which he calls half art and half science, but you can’t practice the art if you don’t constantly evaluate players, and not just watching them in the gym, but watching them them practice and play. From many accounts Notre Dame's players were allowed to cakewalk through workouts under Weis. That won't be the case with Longo. It’s a philosophy Kelly developed years ago, “At Grand Valley State I understood the absolute necessity to be involved as the head coach with strength training and conditioning. So I did it. It was part of my hat that I wore.”

I read Lou Somogyi's recent column, Conditioned to Hear the Same Rhetoric, on how we hear the same thing every coaching change, but I think Lou's missing the fact that Kelly has a fundamentally different approach to Strength and Conditioning that has been tested over years. This isn't "words" (rhetoric,) but deeds. (I do think Lou is the best writer covering ND football and has been for a long time.)

Here’s how Kelly thinks of Strength and Conditioning from a development perspective, “ The third leadership position I want to talk about is our strength and conditioning coach, Paul Longo. And is absolutely crucial to the development of our student athletes here. I think we all have heard the need for student development and player development. Paul has already hit the ground running. We began our workouts yesterday and we are in the process now of implementing our off-season conditioning program, which is absolutely crucial to our success. Though it's not just about offense and defense and special teams, it's about developing your players. And those are three key leadership positions within the program. Paul Longo has been an integral part of the success we've experienced over the last six seasons... He has done an incredible job of not only developing our players and getting them ready to play championship football in our program, but also helping prepare them for the NFL. Paul joins our offensive and defensive coordinators as leaders of this program. He cuts across the traditional strength and conditioning coach mold because he builds relationships with all players and coaches and serves as a leader, not just in the weight room, but throughout the program. Paul is a critical addition to our program because, arguably, no coach will have more contact with our players throughout the whole year than our strength and conditioning coach. Based on his track record and what I have personally witnessed, I can't wait to see how he'll make our team better moving forward."

Here’s how Longo describes their unique player development model:

”I believe the biggest key has been Coach Kelly's philosophy for how I fit into the program. I call it the third coordinator model. Too often, the strength coach is seen as a member of the support staff -- an athletic department employee like the sports information director or equipment manager. But in reality, every strength coach knows we actually play a much larger role than that. Football player development, especially at the NCAA Division I level, is a year-round process, and the football coaching staff has only limited access to the players in the off-season. Strength coaches spend far more hours with the football team than anyone else throughout the year. I take a special leadership role in our football players' development. Under Coach Kelly's direction, they see me right next to the offensive and defensive coordinators on our program's totem pole. What does this really mean? On a daily basis, it means I'm not just a guy in the weight room who tells them how to lift. I follow the football team closely and build personal relationships with the players, so I fully understand the team dynamics and the buttons to push to get individual players motivated. I know who the team leaders are, and the players know that I communicate regularly with the coaching staff about their performance during our strength and conditioning sessions. For instance, if a second stringer works his tail off in the weight room because he wants to challenge for a starting spot, he knows he's not toiling in obscurity. And if a player is slacking off, he knows I have the authority to hold him accountable. I see who our hardest workers are, and my input to Coach Kelly and his assistants is reflected in playing time decisions. Everything we do in our football strength program is colored by that approach. Because the players see me as a leader and not just a lifting coach, they buy into every activity I put them through and understand that my primary goal is the same as theirs: to win football games. Coach Kelly's third coordinator model gives me the credibility I need, and our success on the field speaks for itself.”

One of Longo’s success stories is Joe Staley, a first round pick. “NFL scouts said he gave the best workout of any offensive tackle they had ever seen. He went from 235 his first year to 265 his second year to 285 as a junior to 305 last year. It didn’t happen over night, but he developed in the program. Ross Verba was just like that at Iowa. He was a 235 pound average, slow tight end that liked to catch balls, but he ended up having a good career in the pros after we moved him to tackle. He’s the only rookie left tackle to start in the Super Bowl.”

In the end, Longo says it’s about developing every player on the team.

“We want to raise the average not just the guys that end up being drafted into the NFL. You have to develop the rank and file, and the way they get better is through my department. I think Coach Kelly and this staff have a great feel for where a kid can develop.”

All of this focus on development of the mind and the body is about winning, but winning in a Kelly program depends on a program commitment to developing every player on the team. Ultimately, all of that work came down a simple equation to Kelly, "we played harder and longer than every team we played."

The open question for Notre Dame fans is whether Kelly will recruit enough raw material to beat the best teams in the country. Development is key, but if Florida is successfully developing five-stars and Kelly is successfully developing three-stars, who would you put your money on?

In Meyer's mind it ultimately it comes down to the Jimmy and the Joes, "If you know me, you know I think any offense can work if you have the right personnel back. Offenses are overrated. People are not... Again, it's based on people. I keep going back to that, but if you have really good players, it's really easy. If you don't, it's really hard. Is the West Coast offense easy to teach? If Joe Montana is throwing to Jerry Rice, yeah, Daffy Duck can teach it. I don't want to de-value teaching. It's absolutely critical, but I'm still going to go back to personnel."

In part II, I’m going to focus on Kelly’s unique approach to building a coaching staff to support this development. As Kelly said, he’s looking for, “ great teachers, great educators, great communicators. So I think I put a premium on that first and foremost."

A Short Tale of Redemption

""I read this book when it first came out and it had a very powerful impact on me. Recently my daughter was going through a rough time and I thought this book would be just the ticket to help her and guess what? She called and thanked me after she read it and passed it to her sister who also got a lot out of it and she just gave it to her husband to read. It can have a pretty powerful impact on the young and the not so young."

""As a son, a father and now a grandfather I found ten secrets a truly inspiring book. I read it cover to cover within an hour. My only regret is that the book was much too short.":

""This book is one of the best that I have read. It is simple, meaningful and life changing. It was recommended to me by a priest as one of the best books that he has read. Not a religious book- but many positive, powerful thoughts."

Will Kelly's Spread Offense Work at Notre Dame?

• See also: Brian Kelly and the Secret Sauce
  
• See also: Kelly and Leadership, Part I: Developing Players from the Inside Out

(The Rock Report) - There has been a "lively" debate over whether a pass-first spread offense can work at Notre Dame, but one thing that became clear during the debate is that very few people knew much more than the term "spread" and that Kelly passes a lot. I've long held to the Holtz theory that the lines dictate the outcome of the game and I'm certainly biased toward the running game and controlling the line of scrimmage. While I like the Kelly hire, his offense is my biggest concern about his ability to be successful at Notre Dame. But I also know that football is constantly evolving and that three of the last four teams in the BCS Championship game ran a version of the spread.

So I asked Chris Brown of Smart Football to help explain Kelly's offense and how it compares to other successful spread offenses such as Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon and Georgia Tech. Chris writes football analysis, strategy, and, at times, philosophy for his own website as well as Yahoo!/Rivals and The New York Times' The Fifth Down.

Here's Chris's take:

Can you explain Kelly’s offense to us?

Kelly's offense is a traditional spread, developed in the late 90s and early 2000s, with some additional focus on the run game. Unlike, say a Rich Rodriguez or Mike Leach, he didn't have specialized players to push his offense too far in either direction. With Crist it'll probably be similar to what he did with Tony Pike.

The Run Game: The run game is interesting but, without a big running QB, fairly straightforward. A lot of zone and "dart"-- an iso play where the backside tackle pulls and acts like a fullback would as lead blocker.

The Pass Game: For passing game the precepts have a lot in common with the run and shoot: the receivers release vertically or do a "switch release"--ie criss-cross--and then release vertically. The basic theory is to threaten the defense vertically and to make all the pass plays look the same, at least from the start.

This is designed to combat the "pattern reading" coverages made so popular by coaches like Alabama's Nick Saban -- it's impossible to "pattern read" if all the routes begin the same way.

The first option is to hit the fade or seam routes, but, if they can't get open on their initial moves, the receivers then have freedom to settle or curl/hook back to the QB in the open areas. On these routes,

Kelly also uses a wider variety spread of formations than most spread teams do. One common example is his use of quads (four receivers to side).

The goal is to isolate a guy like Floyd one-on-one on the backside, and either throw it to him against single coverage or, if the defense rotates defenders to his side, work a good pass combination against fewer defenders (because they have rotated to Floyd backside) to the four receiver side.

One thing Kelly uses a lot -- though I like this aspect of his passing game the least, in execution if not also in theory -- are his sprint out passes.

For example, the Oklahoma and Texas pass games are fairly different than Kelly's, especially Texas’s which uses limited formations and focuses almost exclusively on underneath routes.

Kelly instead focuses on routes that at least begin by attacking vertically, even if the eventual throw isn't always an over the top one.

Compare this to Weis' pass game which focused on trying to constrict the defense with runs and screens to set up the big bomb to the outside or deep post to the middle; Weis always wanted to throw over the top of you. This is one reason why Weis's offense, despite several years of a lot of success, could be so inconsistent: there was a big learning curve, its reliance on big plays required great talent with great experience (Quinn/ Samardzija and Clausen/Tate/Floyd); and the big plays resulted in a high variance rate for the offense -- if they weren't being hit the offense could stagnate for long periods of time. Kelly, by contrast, focuses on spreading you out to find the open and consistent passing and running lanes, with the goal being to consistently chew up 5-15 yard gains.

How does Kelly’s running game in the spread compare to Texas ’s and Oklahoma's?

Well they all use the exact same plays: inside zone, outside zone, counter (backside guard and tackle pull, one traps one leads), and power (backside guard or tackle pulls and leads). See my article, Defending the Zone Read.

The only real difference is Oklahoma will use a Fullback (somewhat) more, and Texas uses a tight end a lot. Otherwise they’re the same running plays every NFL and college team runs.

Does the relative lack of a fullback or tight end affect Kelly's run game?

Well, Kelly (typically) isn't trying to overpower defenses, but rather his run game relies on on space and angles, which is also something Texas and OU do.

Is the question whether Kelly's run game will be "tough enough." There are a lot of answers to this question. One, I feel like the idea that you have to line up with fullbacks and tight-ends to run the ball and be "tough" is overrated. The best rushing team in the NCAA last year (other than Nevada) was Georgia Tech, whose flexbone offense focuses on space and angles as well. On the other hand, no, Kelly's is not going to be a "smash mouth" offense. It's fine if you want to be smash mouth, but it seems like a square peg in a round hole to want Kelly to be that way; he was hired because he's won everywhere he's been running his style of spread offense. I don't think he needs to change because he's at Notre Dame and not Cincinnati; players are players.

A couple comments on what kind of success I expect his run game to have. First, will he run it 45 times a game? No. Will he have some big rushing games? Yes. I fully expect his team to average more yards per carry and per game than Weis's teams. Indeed, Kelly's Cincinnati team -- even if you exclude Zach Calloros, the mobile quarterback who filled in for an injured Tony Pike -- had more than 300 more yards rushing than Notre Dame and averaged more than a full yard per carry more.

But how do you do that without all those big guys blocking? Remember, a running back who gets 120 yards on 20 carries simply plays in a better offense than one that gets 130 on 35 carries. Everything in the game breaks down to math and physics. How many defenders are where, and where can they get to. When Mr. Smashmouth himself Lou Holtz went to South Carolina and went 1-11, he let his son Skip Holtz install a spread and they went 8-5 and beat Ohio State in a bowl game.

An even better example of not getting confused by whether a team is powerful if it is spread is to think of Florida. Florida is the biggest "power running" team in the country. Yes they line up in the shotgun and use the spread, but it's all power runs, veer option, and straight ahead plays. They expect their line to overpower yours.

But again, is this the only way to run the ball? Back in the day when Holtz had multiple all-americans at the offensive line, he could just run the ball over anyone he wanted. You didn't need to be a strategic genius to figure out if my guy is four inches taller, weighs 50 pounds more and bench presses 200 pounds more then I can run the ball pretty well. But in modern college football it's hard for one team to stockpile so much talent that scheme is irrelevant. It's no shock that the recent National Champions have been Florida and Alabama, two teams with (a) lots of talent, and (b) very precise, very disciplined and very smart coaches.

Indeed, you can run the ball effectively in lots of different ways. Contrast Florida's rushing offense with two of the other best in the land last year, Oregon and Georgia Tech, whose offenses both relied heavily on leverage, angles, and getting numbers to the point of attack.

I hear Notre Dame fans about wanting a "power team," but would they want Jim Tressel's offense (especially without Terrelle Pryor or Troy Smith)? A lot of fullbacks and tight-ends and "power runs" without a ton of success.

Everything requires a balance.

All I mean is that people should keep an open mind: spread doesn't always mean finesse; "balance" is not just running and passing the same amount, it requires a bit more of "game theory" and the bottom line is that Kelly has won everywhere he's been, and I would not get wrapped up in the idea that a team like Texas or Oklahoma -- which succeeds largely because it has so much more talent than its opponents -- has a better scheme than what Kelly does. Schemes are adaptable to players, and they often percolate up from smaller schools where there is room to experiment.

That said, no one can predict how successful he'll be, and I'm not saying I think his offense is perfect. It's quite basic, which is a good thing in that he'll be able to teach it quickly but there isn't a ton of variation within it. And I would like to see Kelly incorporate an H-back or tight end/fullback type who aligns where a tight end would but off the line of scrimmage. Alabama and Florida, to use just two examples, used those types of players to great effect the last couple of years, and they fit well within the spread construct for both run plays and pass protection.

In the end, Kelly believes in his offense, has won everywhere he's been, and I would be surprised if it didn't work at Notre Dame. He's a spread offense pass first guy, and that's who was hired. Did Saban stop coaching his defense when he was hired? Did Urban Meyer junk his O? Both have adapted over time (which Weis did not), but he was hired to do what he knows how to do.

Can Kelly’s offense work as well against talented teams, like USC, as it has against the less talented teams Cincinnati has played?

The biggest question to ask for a pass first spread when they face a talented team like USC is, “By spreading out and isolating receivers, are they generating match-ups they can't win?” Stated another way, “If I go five wide and the defense has five good cover men who can all guard them, have I done myself any favors?”

For example think about a frequent ND opponent, Purdue. Joe Tiller and Drew Brees had a lot of success against some of those Bob Davie teams, but as teams recruited better skill players and used better schemes against the spread Purdue became easier to defend. Purdue changed their offense later under Tiller. I'm not saying Kelly runs the Joe Tiller offense, but just using Purdue as an example.

The concern with this approach is that if you play teams with top talent that you won't win any of the one-on-one match-ups. Teams have to decide whether they have a better chance of winning one of many one-on-one match-ups or if they can recruit the right players to win the big battle at the line of scrimmage? Kelly’s chooses to use formations and match-ups to spring one guy and he's won a lot of games as have many top spread teams.

Now think about the converse. If you do have stud players who can win the one-on-one match-ups, then spreading out the defense can work amazingly well. How many teams can guard them effectively? The answer is not many and this is why the schools who can recruit a lot of talent like Florida, OU and Texas adopted the spread; they have so much talent the balance of match-ups favor them. That's why I think the spread is now more of an "amplifier" of talent than it is an equalizer offense (as it was in the early 2000s).

The idea of "controlling the LOS" assumes that you have the players to basically out-physical a defense. Again, think of Holtz at South Carolina. He didn't have SEC quality linemen so suddenly his run you over offense (which had begun to stagnate at Notre Dame too) no longer was relevant. The point is not to aspire to South Carolina levels, but instead to realize that merely "controlling the line of scrimmage" is not an end of itself, and in any event there is more than one way to go about it.

Indeed, while recruiting is a huge part of being a successful coach, you really can't rely on simply outrecruiting your opponents every year and then just running them over. Stanford had a boss at running back this year, but we'll see how it works in the future when he's gone. It's more important to have a structure in place; when you can do that, you employ the power concepts, but otherwise you focus on putting your kids in position to win, not prove a point about anyone's toughness. And again, using a few super talented teams is not a good example because, by definition, they can overpower their opponents.

As mentioned above, Kelly doesn't really care about what phase is moving the ball; it's just about moving it. On a yards per play/game theory basis, passing is more efficient than running, though running is by no means obsolete. They complement each other, but it isn't about just running as much as you pass or for as many yards. It's about keeping the defense off balance and making them uncomfortable.

What’s the bottom line?

Will Kelly's offense will work? Structurally and schematically it's fine. He's not an offensive genius, but (a) who really is? and (b) didn't you guys just go through that "decided schematic advantage" business with Charlie Weis? (Beware of coaches claiming genius.) He knows his offense, and by that I mean more than he schemes well; he knows how to coach his offense, down to the little fundamentals of receiver releases versus press coverage, quarterback reads and ball faking, line technique, and the like. Kelly also gameplans well even if the offense itself is pretty straightforward other than being a true four or five wide spread. And, ultimately it will be about playmakers making plays. He should give them opportunities to do that.

In the end, I can basically guarantee that the run game will improve from Kelly and, also, that there won't be as much reliance on a few big bomb plays or the receiver needing to make an acrobatic catch. Whether that results in a better offense -- and more importantly team -- remains to be seen.

A Short Tale of Redemption

""I read this book when it first came out and it had a very powerful impact on me. Recently my daughter was going through a rough time and I thought this book would be just the ticket to help her and guess what? She called and thanked me after she read it and passed it to her sister who also got a lot out of it and she just gave it to her husband to read. It can have a pretty powerful impact on the young and the not so young."

""As a son, a father and now a grandfather I found ten secrets a truly inspiring book. I read it cover to cover within an hour. My only regret is that the book was much too short.":

""This book is one of the best that I have read. It is simple, meaningful and life changing. It was recommended to me by a priest as one of the best books that he has read. Not a religious book- but many positive, powerful thoughts."

Brian Kelly and the Secret Sauce

• See also: Will Kelly's Offense Work at ND
• See also: Kelly and Leadership Part I: Developing Players from the Inside Out

(The Rock Report ) -

“Every victory is won before the game is played.” ~ Lou Holtz

I was out having some drinks and ran into a player on the 1988 team who recounted the back story that led to the Irish’s inspirational thumping of Rodney Peete and the Trojans that year (pardon any lack of clarity here, we were a few pints deep.) A game that, to this day, remains one of my favorite Irish victories because the Irish simply beat the crap out of the Trojans.

To set the scene, USC was number two in the country, but still a favorite over the number one ranked Irish. Before the game Holtz asked the team to assemble, waited until the entire team had joined and then walked in. He announced that Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks had been continually late to meetings and that he could suspend them, but that it was up to the players to decide what to do with them (to suspend them or let them play.) Holtz walked out and put the decision in their hands.

A debate ensued and one of the players stood up and said that this was the game that would define their lifetimes, that they couldn’t let the opportunity slip away and that they should let Watters and Brooks play. But as the debate continued and while players agreed that it was too important an opportunity to lose… they also started thinking that if they believed enough, they didn’t need Watters and Brooks, that they could win without them.

They voted to leave them behind (Holtz later admitted he had made the decision already.)*

The result was a physical ass kicking of the Trojans that was the last real hurdle to the 1988 championship. Holtz found a way to turn a negative into a positive just as he had done when he led Arkansas to their memorable Orange Bowl demolition of the Sooners.

“Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated” ~ Lou Holtz

Every good coach has specific strengths, but the one thing all great coaches have is the ability to lead other coaches and players… and make them believe. Schematics are important. Recruiting is vitally important. Player management at the college level is critical. Coaching management at the highest level is equally critical.

What makes great coaches successful is not the just the ability to sell an idea but to lead their organizations through the tough times to get there. It's easy to forget that the criticism of Holtz was ear-splitting at times during his career, yet Holtz led through adversity and won.

“As a leader your attitude has a powerful impact on others. You have an obligation to develop a positive attitude, one that inspires the people around you to achieve the impossible” – Lou Holtz

What struck me about Brian Kelly at Cincinnati is that he had a horrible QB situation, actually worse than Notre Dame had in 2007, and he was able to work through it, make the players believe and turn in a very impressive BCS season for Cincinnati.

Was the quarterback situation a real and dire problem? They played five different quarterbacks during the season, of course it was real.

Just like talent was a real problem and coaching changes are problems. But Kelly was able to not just sell the idea that success was probable/inevitable, but lead them through the tough times. Kelly said,

"We lied and lied and lied… we tried to tell them everything was OK, and we'll be fine, but obviously, we were quite nervous because we didn't know how it was going to play out. A lot if it was just making certain the coaches showed a good front.”

Bearcat QB Tony Pike wasn’t even on the depth chart to start the season, but he said that Kelly made him believe he could and would win. His replacement at Grand Valley State described him this way:

"He's a salesman, is what he is," says Grand Valley State coach Chuck Martin, who was Kelly's defensive coordinator at the school. "Whether it's Grand Valley State or Central Michigan or Cincinnati, he has kids believing they can move mountains. His No. 1 strength is offense. His No. 2 strength is how good he is politically at getting people to believe in his program. He sells it door to door, which not a lot of coaches will do. "I remember at Central Michigan, somebody asked him how long the rebuilding cycle would be. He said, 'About 10 seconds.'"

What many are forgetting about Cincinnati is that this was supposed to be down year for the Bearcats. They lost 10 defensive starters. For comparison, Pete Carroll lost nine defensive starters and USC stumbled to their worst season since Carroll's first.

Here's the story line on the two defenses:

USC 12 20.4 342.8 vs. Cincinnati 12 20.8 350.3

Not only did Cincinnati lose 10 defensive starters, Tony Pike, the Bearcats starting quarterback went down again this year. When Oklahoma lost Bradford, the Sooners went into their worst tailspin since Stoops' first year. Kelly plugged Zach Collaros in and he recorded a passing efficiency rating of 195 (for comparison Clausen finished with passing efficiency rating of 161.)

Only an idiot would argue that Kelly has is a better coach than Carroll or Stoops at this point, but facing some of the same challenges, Kelly improved his team's relative position from a predicted 3rd in the Big East and out of the Top 25 to first in the Big East and number 3 in the country. This comes against a much easier schedule. Still, the Bearcats own three victories over top 20 teams and their defense performed much better against Oregon State than did USC's.

“Yes, I know that you feel you are not strong enough. That's what the enemy thinks too. But we're gonna fool them.” – Knute Rockne

Urban Meyer is an asshole. Some of his players hated him even at Notre Dame, but he gets them to play at a high level. Charlie can be an asshole too, but his secret sauce didn’t worked with either his assistants or the players. In 2006, his second year, we had players dogging it on the field in what was supposed to be a possible National Championship run.

One of our posters talked to a former CMU player about Kelly, who seems more Meyer than Weis:

"Kelly was demanding beyond belief, obsessive about winning, and extremely hard on both players and assistants. He grew up a die-hard Michigan fan and remains one. He hates Notre Dame. He told me this news was his "worst nightmare." He is convinced Kelly will win a national title at Notre Dame. He said Kelly is a "winning is everything" type of coach, and he'd do what it takes -- from adjusting schemes to treating players like shit -- to win.] He thinks Kelly will recruit very well at ND. He said Kelly is a politician, not afraid of anyone, and tireless."

That, to me, sums up many of the major building blocks of success of college coaches. Looking at Kelly's own playing career, you have to like that he was an undersized, less talented player who became a two-time captain. That’s work ethic and a little Holtz, IMO.

“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.” ~ Lou Holtz

To be successful, you have be able to make everyone around you believe and that’s not a trait normally found in nature. A top level college coach needs that leadership intangible. Some guys are brought up that way in their families, others have an intuitive sense and pick it up, some have mentors and still others work at it and eventually get it or are thrust into circumstances that somehow draw it out of them. Charlie had a mentor in Bill Belichick, but I’m not sure Belichick would win in college and Charlie doesn’t have that innate ability. Kelly, by all accounts to date, does.

Here’s a clip of Kelly on motivation (ignore the sleeping guy.)

He’s also a perfectionist. Here's how one poster who's followed Kelly described him:

”He puts his players in a position to succeed every single play, every single game, every single season, on both sides of the ball.Now his methods of doing so are very tough on his players, as he uses fear to motivate. If you have a single mis-step in practice, he'll basically tell you that you're the worst player who ever played the game, in no uncertain terms. And if you do it again, you'll hear it again. He's a tyrant, but what he does is make practice a mental grind, but it serves to make everyone a believer in him, and the games on Saturday are a piece of cake compared to practice."

Here's another player:

“I think he would win a National Title. I played for him at GVSU and he was a tough, demanding, no excuses kind of guy that gets the most out of his players and coaches or they are out.’

Micah Staley played for two years under Kelly and told eTruth this:

"He was a great coach and I really liked him, but he scares the piss out of you, that's for sure," Staley said, adding, "You played just so you didn't get yelled at. It was a good thing, because everyone would step up to the level that he expected because of his expectations… I was walking back to the locker room and he passed me and he grabs me by the shirt and kind of pulls me up to him so we were eye to eye, and he said, 'Staley, I want you to remember one thing.' He goes, 'You have four touchdowns. You could have 10 if I wanted you to.' And then he walked away. "I was like, 'What the heck?' He wanted to make sure that every player knew he was in control. That's really what it comes down to. And everybody knew that and everybody had respect for him and he was a phenomenal coach."

Now, like at a funeral, everyone says nice things about you at this point, but the difference between Kelly and Weis is obvious when you listen to Demetrius Jones, a bit of a problem player at ND. Kelly told Jones he had a simple choice, you can move to linebacker or play another sport. Jones bought into it:

“You can definitely tell that he’s a politician...It’s a no-brainer. He’s like a motivational speaker.”

Here’s another story from USA Today as recounted by his offensive coordinator, Jeff Quinn:

In Cincinnati’s final practice before Christmas break, Kelly stopped a scrimmage on a fourth-and-3 play. He screamed for Terrill Byrd, the 290-pound nose guard, to switch to the offensive side of the ball.

“I want you to run the inside zone,” Kelly screamed at Byrd, essentially giving a play designed for a shifty tailback to a lumbering lineman.

“Guess what?” said Jeff Quinn, the team’s offensive coordinator. “He got the first down. The team was just going bonkers. It was awesome. Those are the things you want to do with a team. The kids loved it.”

Kelly ended practice on that emotional high, and Quinn said the moment epitomized his magnetism.

“He’s a special person,” Quinn said. “That’s why there’s only so many that walk this beautiful earth that have the ability to do the things that we’ve been able to do over the last few years, like winning a couple of national championships.

“People always ask me, ‘How did you do it?’ Well, you do it every day. You work on winning every day. But that’s the thing Brian does best, get those kids ready.”

Brandon Underwood, a Packers defensive back who played for Kelly at Cincinnati said he had a close relationship with Tressel, whom he characterized as a players’ coach. But he said he marveled at Kelly’s ability to connect.

"He's a great politician. He could sell you water when it's raining. It could be a monsoon out there, but he could make you believe this water that he's selling, you have to have it."

After his USA Today article, Underwood had a polite request.

“Could you mention that I’d like to thank Coach Kelly for giving me the opportunity to be part of the team?” Underwood said. “I’m very grateful. I’ve been blessed to be put in this situation. I just want to say thank you. He made a believer out of me.”

Former Concord running back Spencer Calhoun, who arrived at Grand Valley in 1991 -- the same year Kelly did -- agreed.

"You want him to be up front and honest with you, no matter what the circumstances are," Calhoun said. "You'll appreciate that when it's all said and done, regardless of whatever happens, because you know you can count on someone always telling you the truth whether you like to hear it or not."

"He really challenges you to perform," Calhoun added. "He encourages you enough, but at the same time, he's challenging you to step your game up to the level that he sees the potential at, and the coaching staff saw the potential in you to play."

"I think I was (a better player), and I think more importantly, I was a much better person," Calhoun said.

"I think he really helped complete me as a man, with being a tough-minded individual. That's one thing he always talked about, was mental toughness and being able to see things and not get down after one little mistake or one bad play, anything like that.

"You could always tell, deep down in his veins, that he was going to turn out to be a good coach -- or a great coach, which is what he's turning out to be."

Central Michigan athletic director Dave Heeke on Kelly turning around a moribund Chippewas program:

"He did that with some magic dust and with some smoke and mirrors, and some good coaching as well."

Jeff Genyk, former head coach at Eastern Michigan:

"Here's Brian's secret: He gets his players able to execute at a high level in Tuesday and Wednesday practice, and in their mind, it's just like the fourth quarter of the game. He gets his teams to be unconsciously competent. What that means, to me, is to be able to execute at a high level when pressure and adversity comes."

Grand Valley State athletic director Tim Selgo:

"You're going to get a highly intelligent head coach who is great at dealing with people. When you have that, along with someone who has proven he can win football games and get his players to compete at a high level, it's a pretty good mix. A friend of mine commented a couple of weeks ago while the regular season was going on that Brian's players play like they're on fire. They're going at a fast, high level. That's something you can expect out of his teams… Brian has a great personality. I think that would serve him very well. The last three head coaches they've had since Lou Holtz have not exactly been charismatic personalities. In my humble opinion, I think they need that now for recruiting purposes."

One of the most persuasive arguments for Kelly’s success, outside of his motivational ability, is his philosophy of execution over schemes. Here’s what Dr. Saturday said about him:

“Ultimately, this is basic stuff -- the Bearcats have added plenty of rollouts and play-action looks for the shorter, nimbler Collaros -- and the focus on Kelly (as with just about all other coaches) shouldn't be on whether he's a genius who has a chalkboard answer for everything you draw up, but instead on whether he gets the most from their players. Just about every guy who has lined up for Kelly in recent years has had success, and his teams have won consistently... and while he's a bright guy when it comes to Xs and Os, it has more to do with his ability to coach players and prepare teams in the details.”

Kelly, at least, has the building blocks for success:

• He focuses on motivating the kids.
• He focuses on execution.
• He focuses on out-working the opponent.
• He focuses on getting kids to play above their perceptions.
• He focuses on getting everyone to buy in.
• He focuses on putting kids in the right positions.
• He focuses on playing harder/longer (the viagra theory)
• He wins.

When we were evaluating coaches... seemed those are the things that all great coaches focus on. I realize Kelly has significant risk.

The key questions about Kelly are:

• Will he emphasize controlling the line of scrimmage?
• Will his pass first offense fly against a higher level of competition?
• Can he handle the pressure cooker of Notre Dame without turning defensive?
• Will his assistants be up to the task?
• Can he recruit?
• Will he be able to motivate prima donnas?
• Can he have as much success when he’s the target every week?

It is the greatest and hardest job in sports.

I’m not guaranteeing Kelly will take a seat in the pantheon of great Irish coaches, I do feel we’ve taken a big step beyond Charlie and Davieham. I doubt you will see teams dogging it on the field or in the weight room.

The building blocks are there… greatness has been thrust upon Kelly.

Irish faithful will watch closely to see if he’s up to the challenge.

** I was a few pints deep into the evening... the historical recounting of the USC game likely reflects that.

A Short Tale of Redemption

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