The Missing Link

Brian Kelly's recent speech on how to win, from the baseball 'opening night' (which can be found in video on ISD here), is a great example of how he's different from Weis. And I think this difference is the missing link for ND football.

I won't go into the quotes and all that - but essentially, Kelly starts from the ground up with kids. He expects that they don't know how to do things, that they need guidance. If you can't do X in your sleep, then you'll never do Y, because you're just getting in your own way. And forget about Z if you can't do Y.

Weis, somewhat famously, operated like an NFL coach: he assumed that you had the basics together, and built from there. The lack of development of some players/positions is well-documented with this approach. HS kids are, not-shockingly, very different from NFL players. While I think Weis was adjusting over time, he never quite got fully there on this.

Kelly is the exact opposite. He knows that players dont know what they dont know, and he needs to take steps to get them there. Step 1: Learn how to Organize Your Locker. Literally, that was one of the first things that Kelly emphasized to his players. Because if you have a sloppy locker, you dont know where things are, which slows you down, and may make it more difficult to do Step #2.

It's extremely basic, and Step 1 should be done in a matter of minutes. But it allows Step 2 to be achieved, then that allows Step 3, etc. In time these basics become automatic, and provide a foundation for further growth and education.

ND has talent. They have the resources. The players need development, and it seems pretty clear that Kelly has a clear, strict method to get there.