It was just a year ago when people were calling for Brian Polian's head. "He's no good!" "He's never coached before!" "What's he doing here?" Heck, it had actually started the year before that. Lots of hate for a young coach in a relatively obscure role.
To me, it was ludicrous. Yes, Polian was a new coach and learning (like some other guys on the staff). But he's always been a hell of a recruiter. He's been our lead West Coast guy for some time, and no one can argue with his success. Clausen a few years back, now Wood, Evans and the jewel of this class Te'o - all brought in by Polian.
The dude flew to Hawaii EVERY SINGLE WEEK during the past season to lock up Manti, and that shows a lot of dedication, a lot of heart, and a lot of determination.
"I'd like to take this chance to thank the crew of United flight 81," Polian said with a smile. "I got to know them well, because I took the same flight every Wednesday from LAX to Honolulu."
Polian, Notre Dame's special teams coordinator and lead West Coast recruiter, made that journey 10 times in the last 14 months -- including three trips in December and three more in January -- just to visit linebacker Manti Te'o, one of the highest-rated prospects in the country.
Polian's also coming around as a coach, credited with helping fix Walker's kicking woes, and most definitely shoring up ND's ST's this year, pulling in a top-ranked kickoff return and punt return unit.
Still feel the same way hater-ers? Didn't think so.
Well done Coach Polian. Glad to have you on board. Play on playa.
By san diego irish February 6, 2009 - 12:48 pm
Is he the head recruiter–recruiting coordinator, whatever it’s called? If not, he should be. Let him focus on doing what he does best. I don’t care if he can’t coach a lick, keep bringing in the Manti’s of the world and that’s good enough.
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By The Biscuit February 6, 2009 - 12:52 pm
SD, Ianello is Recruiting Coordinator and he’s amazing at it. Polian’s a great recruiter, but he won’t have that job any time soon.
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By san diego irish February 6, 2009 - 1:04 pm
Thanks. BTW, big ups for the Silky Johnson reference.
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By The Biscuit February 6, 2009 - 2:48 pm
man i miss that show.
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By san diego irish February 6, 2009 - 5:54 pm
I’ve watched the episode where eddie murphy’s brother played basketball with prince about 50 times and still laugh as hard as the first time I saw it.
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By Mr. Wednesday February 6, 2009 - 7:54 pm
If I may quibble, we were only top ranked in one special teams category: kickoff return defense. We were middle-of-the-pack in kickoff returns, punt returns, punt return defense, and net punting.
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By Tracer Bullet February 7, 2009 - 10:14 pm
Credit where credit is due, of course, but it’s not like dude was flying to Plantar’s Wart, Ark. on the regular. “Oh, please Coach Weis. Please don’t make me go to a tropical island paradise again. I just can’t take anymore fresh pineapple or pristine white beaches or half-naked bronzed nymphettes cavorting half-nakedly. But I know how much we need Te’o so (deep sigh) I’ll go again. Oh, before I go, can you approve this petty cash request for $150? They raised the price of cocoa butter at my favorite surf shop.”
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By The Biscuit February 8, 2009 - 3:17 am
Mr. Wed, good quibble. I shouldn’t over-state on the results on ST. Just noting that he’s clearly had some results. Tracer, an awesome comment in terms of entertainment value, but not all that accurate. I am pretty certain that Polian’s typical itinerary involved landing, grabbing a bite, seeing a Punahou practice/game, then crashing in a random Sheraton, and flying back. I PRAY he had a chance to sit by a pool and sip a fruity iced drink, but I am pretty sure it didn’t happen often. I am just hoping ND let him keep the miles.
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By peter connolly February 8, 2009 - 10:51 am
Good little article on Polian but if I can make one small criticism. Why do you refer to people who may have a legitimate complaint with ST’s and Mr. Polian’s coaching ability as haters? Mr. Polian has proven his worth as a recruiter but the special teams have not been all that special.
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By tednict February 8, 2009 - 11:32 am
The negative people will not go away. Peter and Mr. Wednesday, perhaps you don’t think of yourselves as Polian haters, but there were many who wanted him fired. Were you among those? I would consider those individuals misinformed to say the least.
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By The Biscuit February 9, 2009 - 12:34 am
i called them haters for 2 reasons. 1, it’s a fun word to use. 2, i call it hating when people spew negative things with nothing to back it up. i am fine with legit criticism – most of the people i’m characterizing as haters had little/nothing to stand on. they just didnt like Polian bc we were 3-9 and he was an easy target. for those relatively few that had logical reasons for concern about him, i’m not talking to them. but they’re definitely the minority among those that have called for his head for 2+ years.
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By Bad Kermit February 9, 2009 - 11:43 am
The poor guy had to leave South Bend to fly to Hawaii EVERY SINGLE WEEK in December/January? What a sacrifice.
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By Mr. Wednesday February 9, 2009 - 12:13 pm
I’m anything but a Polian hater. Considering his recruiting acumen, I think our special teams performance was adequate. I’d like to see our FG kicking finish the season as well as it started, and I’d like to see some improvement from the kicking part of punting, but I see no reason why that should not be attainable with the current staff.
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By Mr. Wednesday February 9, 2009 - 12:13 pm
Er, I’d like to see FG kicking next season perform as well as it finished this season. That sentence came out garbled from the way it was in my head.
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By domer.mq February 9, 2009 - 12:35 pm
BK,
In fairness, can you imagine going to Hawaii from SB every week (which is a long-ass flight, BTW), only to spend 8 or 9 hours there and fly back to SB and SB weather?
Frankly that sounds like hell to me.
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By The Biscuit February 9, 2009 - 3:06 pm
you can tell BK has never been a Consultant. you should get into Recruiting at a consulting firm Kermit. you can make it sound all glamorous to constantly wait in line, go through security, wait in line, sit for 8 hours on a plane, wait in line, get your Hertz rental car, sleep 2 hours at a crappy hotel, do your work for 8 hours and then do it all again on the way back. every week. yep, it’s great!!!
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By Bad Kermit February 9, 2009 - 4:07 pm
You guys are sissies.
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By Mark February 9, 2009 - 6:20 pm
I’m with domer.mq Did you ever catch Lewis Black talking about having to fly to New Zeland? I believe the quote was “Take a metal rod, and shove it up your ass, then sit that way for 20 hours. And if you’re in coach… just go ahead and kill yourself.” Brian Polian is not a 100 pound Asian woman it’s not like those seats are custom fit. 16 hours on coach every two weeks? I don’t care where he’s flying, that blows.
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By trey February 10, 2009 - 12:17 am
Agreed with domer and the others about the flight hours. I remember a 26 hour flight to Santiago, Chile and I just wanted to gouge my eyes out about 10 minutes from landing. I can only imagine what its like going from SB to Honolulu and back. And trust me, guys, for those of you who’ve never been to the Islands, those pictures they take of the beautiful beaches and glorious sunsets…those aren’t on OAHU. To accurately picture Honolulu, take a still frame of Chicago, IL and put water around it. THAT’S what Polian got to see every week. Not some tropical paradise that everyone is assessing here. I cant imagine a worse vacation in my life than having to stay on that island for a week…and I did that.
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By Jim February 10, 2009 - 11:21 am
Anyone who has had to do extensive travel for a job would know there is in glamour in it. The people who think it is exciting to go to Hawaii in Jan. have no clue hoe much drudgery it is. I had to fly to London and Paris monthly for 2 years. I never want to see the inside of an airplane again. Makes me laugh at the ignorance of people who think that effort was a junket.
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By Bad Kermit February 10, 2009 - 1:11 pm
Jesus Christ. Calm down, everyone. I was just making a joke.
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By domer.mq February 10, 2009 - 1:40 pm
May that be the last joke ever made about Notre Dame Football.
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By Mark February 10, 2009 - 4:19 pm
JOKE… FAIL
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By Mr. Wednesday February 10, 2009 - 5:06 pm
I would think that Polian would have qualified for elite status a few times over by the end of recruiting season. Depending on the airline, he may not have been spending all that much time in coach.
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By The Biscuit February 10, 2009 - 5:22 pm
ha. BK got a fail from Mark.
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By Bad Kermit February 10, 2009 - 5:45 pm
I wonder why everyone else in America thinks ND fans take themselves too seriously.
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By brendan February 10, 2009 - 8:07 pm
“To accurately picture Honolulu, take a still frame of Chicago, IL and put water around it.”
Hey Trey, Chicago DOES have water around it…
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