Coach O didn’t stop there though. He said Texas pulled the same stunt on Louisiana Tech. In fact, he called them to scout the conditions and brought extra blower fans to combat the under-handed tactic.

Problem is that Skip Holtz, head coach of Louisiana Tech, said that Coach O never called him and he had no recollection that Texas attempted to stoop so low.

Texas of course denied all the allegations and athletic director, Chris Del Conte, launched–and I can’t believe I’m about to write this–an internal investigation on their HVAC functionality. The report came back stating the A/C was working just fine and–I also can’t believe I’m about to write this–those records were FOIA’d:

But don’t worry, y’all, we can get dumber. Because our Austin correspondent and fellow degenerate game picker, NDEddieMac, received third-party confirmation from…*checks notes*…a BBQ vendor:

Friendly reminder, LSU won this game.

For some reason though, Coach O decided to go down this fabricated rabbit hole. Why? I honestly have no clue. It was originally triggered by questions about his players cramping on the field, which, you know happens in upper-90-degree Texas heat. He didn’t even have to mention this insanity at all.

But nope, here we are, complete with spreadsheets and BBQ joints calling bullshit.

Never change, college football. Ever.

The Roundup

Note: Some links are from The Athletic and require a subscription to read. These are denoted with ($). If you are considering a subscription, please use our discount!

Friendly reminder if you are looking for ND/SC tickets: HLS is doing a charity silent auction for a pair. Details are here.

Winning is hard, but losing is harder. And losing so badly that it’s clear the season is done after just a couple of weeks? That’s a whole other level ($).

California passed a bill that would allow players to profit of their image and likeness. So, naturally, the NCAA responded to this first domino of the Olympic model falling by calling the thing unconstitutional and threatening to kick all California schools out of the NCAA. Makes sense.

Tennessee finally got a win. In response to the news that a Florida boy found himself bullied because he made his own Tennessee shirt since he had none, Tennessee not only sent him a care package of swag, but are now selling the very shirt the boy designed to benefit anti-bullying groups. They are selling like hotcakes with over 16,000 sold as of Tuesday.

Mark Richt has lost control of giving a single, solitary fuck:

Want to read a story entirely about an epic punting performance? You know you do ($).

RIP, T. Boone Pickens. While many know him for his contributions to Oklahoma State, it’s well worth reading more about one hell of a full life that includes him going to the grave with a promise that 90% of his wealth will go to charity.

Opponent Watch

Regardless if he’s on the sidelines or not, this weekend is about Bob Davie. While his tenure at Notre Dame absolutely went south, the coaching staff that he had here was nothing short of incredible ($) and all the more maddening that it never worked. While I’m happy to hear he’s recovering from his undisclosed health issues, it is worth bringing up his rather rocky legacy that includes unceremoniously firing Joe Moore and orchestrating a spying operation.

And always remember, now and forever, the hot dog machine incident.

The post Friday Roundup: The HVAC Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

During our Hot Dog Bye Week podcast, this Loyal Reader revealed that he would spend his bye week Ubering around Ann Arbor during Army/Michigan weekend. Here’s his playlist:

For those keeping score at home, that’s Army’s Fight Song, The Irish Tenors, “Here Come the Irish”, and the Rudy soundtrack. There’s trolling Michigan and then there’s this next-level, real-man-of-genius moment.

I can only imagine the stream of reactions from Michigan fans as they climb into his car and slowly realize the personal hell they have entered. May his Uber rating rest in peace.

As someone who steers this entire site straight into not just the silliness of college football, but also the pettiness and trolling opportunities it offers, I respect the hell out of this effort. Further, I hope his final Uber ride is given to a group of Army fans still buzzing over an upset over the damned Skunkbears.

The Roundup

The misery index is always a fun read, but typically you don’t see “how is this school a festering corpse?!” in week 2, but I guess Tennessee was just willing to jump on that grenade.

Another fun weekly read is the “top whatever” column. However, I think we can keep the absurdity of Hugh Freeze coaching from a hospital bed at #1 forever. It’s all downhill from here–UPDATE: maybe this dumb ride will keep going.

The silly season of the coaching carousel is always a wild ride. But Tom Herman/Coach O saga a couple of years ago at LSU was a damn rollercoaster.

Ian Book is a unicorn. Maybe not the thing you expected to hear from anyone after his performance against Louisville, but he’s a part of a ever-shrinking percentage of college QBs that actually bide their time before they win the starting job.

Notre Dame did take a hit in one poll. Anxiously awaiting a certain subset of fans that trash #sportsmath to now point to the SP+ as the one true poll that actually reflected ND on the eye test.

Bill C had some other non-stat stuff that you should read. This piece is basically a national primer to some of the biggest storylines for various teams around college football and how week 1 affected them.

I think I have a Beaver correspondent now. Had another line dropped about Oregon State’s next game against Hawaii. It will be aired on Facebook Live; however, no one is quite sure exactly where on Facebook it will be. Regardless, my bet is the answer is “in more homes than the Pac 12 network.”

Offer this kid a scholarship immediately. The all-name champion is here and I don’t know how you top this.

Get me back in school. Notre Dame is offering a course discussing The Good Place. Can I take this online? Please?!

#snacktalk has reached epic proportions. Little did I realize our silly podcast would set off a seismic event of a Rudy parody done by KFC, featuring both actual Rudy (meh) and Sean Astin (YAY!). Not only does this fever dream exist, IT’S AMAZING.

Opponent Watch

Number of former ND coaches to roam the opposing sideline: still zero.

If you’ve ever wondered how Southern Cal has ended up in their current state, you should absolutely read this fascinating piece about the booster that is likely responsible.

The post Friday Roundup: The Trolling Michigan via Uber Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Credit: Soobum Im / USA TODAY Sports

For every coach in the post-Lou Holtz era of Notre Dame football, the ending of a coach’s tenure came well before the final game.

As a fan you can almost sense it, that point when you finally realize the program is not going to be truly great with that coach at the helm. For Bob Davie, it came in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl when the Irish got humiliated and manhandled by Oregon State 41-9. In the Tyrone Willingham era it was year two. With a road trip to Syracuse and a minor bowl bid on the line, the Irish were absolutely pasted by an average Syracuse team that would finish just 6-6 by a score of 38-12.

For Charlie Weis, it was the start of the 2007 season when the Irish were humiliated at home by a Georgia Tech team that finished 7-6 by the score of 33-3. Yes, those coaches all continued to coach after that. But they were, in essence, done.

I believe the end of the Brian Kelly era began Sunday night in Texas at the hands of the Longhorns. Before everyone in cyberland gets crazy, Kelly is an excellent football coach. He has won football games at every place he coached. He is by far the best football coach that Notre Dame has had since Holtz.

Unfortunately, the elusive national championship seems further away than ever. Another high profile game in front of a national audience and the Irish failed to deliver. When was the last time they did? The decision to rotate quarterbacks in a road game with a hostile environment will be questioned forever – especially given the disparity between DeShone Kizer’s performance and that of Malik Zaire. In a game that came down to one possession, the Irish managed to waste three by continuing to go back to a clearly ineffective Zaire.

Does anyone remember Bob Diaco? Some criticized his defenses as “vanilla”; others felt the pro-pedigree and exotic blitzes that Brian VanGorder would bring would be the key to the Irish getting to that “next level.” Right about now I’d like an extra scoop of vanilla please.

In the Bob Diaco era, the Irish had a total of two games where they gave up over 40 points. In just two years and one game, this is the sixth game under VanGorder where the Irish have given up over 40 points. If last night is any indication of what’s to come, we will likely see more of these games. Brian Kelly has been stubborn in his defense of VanGorder. Maybe stubbornness will be the most defining characteristic of his career at Notre Dame.

The post Texas Loss Marks Beginning of Kelly’s End At ND appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Here’s the criteria I used:

• First, the game has to be against a quality opponent.
• Second, that team has to be from a major conference.
• Third, I cannot pick all the openers against Michigan.
• Fourth, it has to be a win.
• Fifth, the game has to be played after 1964, which I consider the start of the modern era.

#5 Northwestern Sept. 3, 1994 (Soldier Field, Chicago)

I was a junior in College, at tiny Beloit College (WI). After playing in our football intrasquad scrimmage early in the day, some teammates and I headed south to Chicago. This would be the second Notre Dame game in my life that I would attend in person. The Irish were ranked #3 and the long awaited start of the Ron Powlus era was set to begin in a game nationally televised by ABC. It could not have gone better. Powlus was 18-24 for 291 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Irish dismantled Northwestern, 42-15. The two Heismans appeared to be in the bag and every Saturday would look like this, although the rest of the story didn’t quite turn out this way. Nevertheless, on a day that provided so much optimism, it will always stick out to me.

#4 Maryland Aug. 31, 2002 (Meadowlands, NJ)

The start of the Tyrone Willingham era and other nationally televised game that I was in the stands for. Maryland would actually finish the season at 11-3 and destroy Tennessee in the Peach Bowl on their way to a Top 20 final ranking. On this day, the Irish used a smothering defense, five field goals from Nick Setta, a 76 yard punt return for a touchdown by Vontez Duff, and three interceptions from Shane Walton to handily dispatch the Terps. Notre Dame would ride this momentum to eight straight wins before their meltdown versus Boston College. Though the Irish would finish 10-3, it did little to convince the masses that Willingham was the guy.

#3 Michigan Sept. 5, 1998 (Notre Dame Stadium)

Michigan was coming off a national championship (Well…a share of one) and would finish the season 10-3. As I mentioned in a previous article, this was likely the signature win of the Bob Davie era. Notre Dame trailed 13-6 at the end of the first half, but would outscore Michigan 30-7 in the second half to win going away. In my mind this was Davie’s best team, but an injury to quarterback Jarious Jackson in Week 10 staggered the Irish to a 9-3 finish. It was the typical inconsistency that would plague the Davie era.

#2 Texas Sept. 5, 2015 (Notre Dame Stadium)

Some people…especially Notre Dame haters will chuckle at this one. Texas isn’t good anymore….blah, blah, blah. Texas is Texas! A hugely anticipated game as I felt the previous season Notre Dame had greatly underachieved given the talent they had. Brian Kelly helped feed the hype by suggesting the players go kick “Texas’s ass” on Showtime. This was a Saturday Night contest on NBC and the Irish did not disappoint. Malik Zaire lived up the hype as he hit on 19-22 for 313 yards and three touchdowns. The Irish defense also looked much improved and you couldn’t help but come away from this game thinking the Irish would make a serious run at the playoffs.

#1 Michigan Sept. 10, 1988 (Notre Dame Stadium)

Notre Dame was coming off a 1987 season that featured three losses to close the season. The last two versus Miami and Texas A&M were largely blowouts. Though the Irish appeared to be trending upward, the experts still predicted they were a “year away” from contending for a national championship. In a game that typified “What though the Odds,” the Irish used four field goals from walk-on kicker Reggie Ho, excellent defense, and a punt return touchdown from Ricky Watters to knock off the Wolverines. The game, which kicked off the last national championship at Notre Dame, was not decided until Michigan kicker Mike Gillette missed a 48-yard field goal with 3 seconds remaining.

The post Five Great Opening Games for ND Football appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

We don’t have to rehash fight songs, their standing in winning percentage, the legend of Michigan students teaching football to Notre Dame to understand the magnitude of this series.

I’ll be honest: When it ended in 2014, I was so elated with Notre Dame’s 31-0 pasting of the Wolverines that I didn’t give it much thought.

Now as time passed and Michigan has rebounded under Jim Harbaugh, I feel a sense of loss as a fan that we may be missing out on some classic matchups with the series on hiatus. I would love to see the series return, though not as a part of the Shamrock Series. I want some of those games at home and not at a neutral site.

Recently, Brian Kelly suggested that Notre Dame may not need a conference alignment in order to be worthy of a playoff spot. Kelly remarked that he would put his 12 up against a conference winner’s 11 due to some of the FCS teams that they play. One of the things I think Kelly is banking on is wins over marquee teams like Michigan. Think about a year where a one-loss Notre Dame has wins over some of the conference champions. It would make for a hefty resume for the Irish.

As a result, the return of Michigan not only makes sense from the standpoint of history but also from the potential impact Michigan could have for future Irish playoff resumes. We, also from the fan perspective, get games like the three from the series that stick out the most in my lifetime. Though I was born, I don’t count Harry Oliver’s field goal as one of them as I was simply to young to remember it.

Here are my three:

1989: Notre Dame 24, Michigan 19

Rocket returns two kickoffs for touchdowns. Michigan was ranked #1 and I still smile every time I watch the late Rodney Culver waving Ismail to the end zone.

1998: Notre Dame 36, Michigan 20

If there was a signature win of the Bob Davie era this was clearly it. Michigan was the defending National Champions and led by a touchdown at the half. The Irish outscored Michigan 30-7 in the second half.

2012: Notre Dame 13, Michigan 6

After watching Denard Robinson eat Notre Dame alive for two years, the Notre Dame defense throttled him by forcing 6 turnovers on their way to a 12-1 season.

I seriously hope this rivalry renews as many have speculated that it will. Perhaps Jim Harbaugh is the next coming of Nick Saban, nevertheless I want Brian Kelly and the Irish to have a shot at matching up with Michigan.

The post Let’s Renew Our Rivalry With Michigan appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Let that little factoid wash over you.

Steph Curry, Rihanna, Adele, Haley Joel Osment, Emma Stone, and Michael Cera were all born the year the Irish last hoisted the crystal football, or whatever they hoisted back then. It was probably a rough-hewn marble tablet or something. Something sepia toned, and in the newsreels everyone moved too fast, and all the men wore hats.

Vietnam is known as “The 10,000 Day War.” Only in retrospect, through the lens of history, can we now plot way-points, such that Dien Bien Phu is the sort of beginning and the Fall of Saigon the sort of end. With Notre Dame, we’re not able to do that, yet. We don’t even know if we have another 10,000 days ahead of us. HOLY ISH BALLS WE MIGHT GO ANOTHER 10,000 DAYS?!?!??!??!?

In that same amount of time, other Irish sports have amassed 16 national championships. And we call ourselves a football school.

The 1988 Fighting Irish ran the table to win the national championship in the Fiesta Bowl, defeating West Virginia 34-21. In victory, Coach Holtz channeled his inner-Morrissey and remarked that, “[t]his team will go down as a great football team because nobody proved otherwise.”

In 2013, Alabama proved the Irish to be other-than-great, despite going undefeated in the regular season. Had the Irish won, I’m sure that some of you would still be debating Brian Kelly’s membership in the pantheon of Notre Dame head football coaches, but no one would be debating that squad’s “greatness.” But this post isn’t about “greatness,” it’s about championships.

It’s also about the uncertainties of the pre-playoff era, a time when chain-smoking sports-reporters and coaches gathered together in a transparent elections-system to which today’s presidential campaign can only pretend. The Irish had a case to argue in 1989, when they went 12-1. Their only loss came against The U, the season’s eventual champions.

Same again in 1993, but this time it’s personal. I was there, a senior, to watch the implausible Kevin McDougal vanquish Charlie Ward’s Seminoles. It was a battle of #1 versus #2, and the first foray of College GameDay outside the friendly confines of Bristol, Conn. It was the first “Game of the Century.” Since then, we’ve had – what? – 50 of them? The Irish won, 31-24, and then lost the next weekend to Boston College, 41-39. HOLY ISH BALLS WE LOST TO A TEAM WE BEAT BY 47 POINTS THE SEASON BEFORE?!??!?!???!??!??!

Since then, since that precise moment, Notre Dame didn’t so much as sniff the beer- and sweat-scented air of the Natty until 2012. The closest Dame-fan could get was a deep-inhale in the Dirty Thirty until that got shut down when the U.S. signed off on the Fourteenth Hague Convention.

And let’s face it, the air itself came out of the program when Holtz left. The Davie years, 1997-2001, were essentially the Reader’s Digest version of the Book of Exodus. Tyrone Willingham, 2002-2004, was so ineffective that then-Athletic Director Kevin White terminated his five-year contract after just three years. But hey, at least he got to improve his short-game.

Charlie Weis coaches the Notre Dame football team during a September 2009 game. (Courtesy of Flickr user Larry)

Speaking of air, Charlie Weis blew into the Gug in 2005, bringing with him some Super Bowl rings, a decided schematic advantage, and dozens of pairs of Sansabelt pants. His high-water mark, which ironically saw its denouement play out in post-Katrina New Orleans, came in 2006. That 10-3 season was the “best,” and now even language seems awful to me, until 2012.

Call me a “Kelly apologist,” but I think we’re closer to being out of the desert than at any time since 1993. I don’t think it will be another 10,000 days. The program, in the last six seasons, has been punched in the nose by awful luck and circumstance and still, a championship was played for and double-digit seasons were achieved. We were in the playoff-mix last year, too, if you can remember back that far.

Maybe in 365 days, we’ll be talking about the chances of a repeat.

The post 10,000 Days: Fighting… For Another Championship appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Coach Lou Holtz [Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Allsport]

I was a child of the Lou Holtz years, when Notre Dame was in the hunt for a national title almost every season. That has not been the case at any point since Holtz left.

In this article, I’m going to look at some of the stated “hurdles” and determine if they’re relevant. Then, I’m going to answer: What is a reasonable expectation for Notre Dame football on an annual basis?

Schedule

“We won nine games two years out of the five. I think the difficulty is sustaining that year after year with the schedule that you play. Particularly the early season schedule is difficult.” – Bob Davie, on the day of his firing in 2001.

If you examine the Sagarin strength of schedule (SOS) over the last five years, the information is somewhat telling.

2015

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2014

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2013

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2012

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2011

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Notre Dame schedules, with the exception of last year, have fallen outside of the top 20 during the past five years. This would seem to indicate that a difficult schedule has not and should not be a barrier to being competitive, simply because the schedules have not been that difficult in relation to other top programs.

Graduation Rate

“But what matters most is excellence. Notre Dame stands for doing things the right way, and in this age of college football factories exhausting players’ eligibility with 50 percent graduation rates, questionable degrees, and long rap sheets, the ND way has never been needed more as a beacon for the rest of the sport.” – Jim Lefebvre

For years, admission standards have been bandied about as an obstacle to Notre Dame competing year in and year out – in that limits who the Irish can actually recruit.

A look at graduation success rate for football players over the last four years seems to indicate schools with top graduation rates do not typically factor into the national championship mix on a year in and year out basis.

2011-12

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2012-13

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2013-14

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2014-15

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Recruiting

“So I put those out to you because there are a lot of components that go into the recruiting today. And here at the University of Notre Dame, we clearly have our vision as to the kind of player that we’re going to recruit at the University of Notre Dame.” – Brian Kelly, 2010

Many of the top analysts have suggested that Notre Dame cannot recruit the “top players” on a regular basis as compared to some of the top football powers. While I’m not a fan of looking at recruiting rankings, we can at least look at how 247 Sports has ranked each year’s class to gauge how effective Notre Dame is recruiting as compared to top programs.

2011

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2012

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2013

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2014

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A couple of items come to mind here when I examine recruiting. First, a highly rated class doesn’t get you anything. I could throw a list of people together in my head who were high profile recruits at many schools (including ND) but never really panned out. Secondly, from 2011-2014, Notre Dame posted two top 10 classes – not exactly indicative of school that can “no longer recruit.”

Conclusion

Simon Chun

So what can we expect or what should we expect from Notre Dame football teams in light of this? Are there obstacles or hurdles for Notre Dame?

In the way of scheduling and recruiting I might argue they are well-overplayed. Notre Dame continues to recruit in the top 20 consistently. The schedule argument, as I mentioned earlier, also seems exaggerated. The graduation rate is there and is a real figure. I do agree with the anecdotal aspects that suggest there are certain players that Notre Dame cannot and will not recruit. They should be applauded for this.

Given this information, I think it is likely we will not see Notre Dame in the hunt year and year out.

Now before I get blown up here and in the other forms of social media, that does not mean they will not be in the hunt regularly. In 2012, they went to the national championship game. In 2013, they took a step back. I would argue only injuries and some sloppy play (2014) and a couple of soul-crushing road losses (2015) kept them out of the hunt in those years.

Add it up and you get a team that has been on the cusp of breaking through a couple of times in the last four years. That is what I believe is a likely norm in this age of Notre Dame football. As such, a reasonable expectation should be Notre Dame teams that frequently play in big bowl games and make a runs at the title, combined with the occasional team that experiences a drop off year. This will become the norm given Notre Dame and the cyclical nature of modern college football.

The post What Should The Yearly Expectations Be For ND Football? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Courtesy of ESPN

This entry is part of Her Loyal Sons’ continuing Fiesta Bowl preview series: Defensive preview, Ezekiel Elliott accident, Costume Gameday, offensive preview, Injured Irish returning, comprehensive bowl overview. Today, we examine the coaches.

By almost all metrics, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer has had a more successful career recently than Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly. Let’s compare:

HEAD-TO-HEAD (ON THE FIELD)

Kelly and Meyer have never faced each other. The pair were on a collision course to the 2010 Sugar Bowl, with Kelly’s Cincinnati squad emerging as a undefeated Group of 5 powerhouse and Meyer’s team blemished only by a loss to #2 Alabama in the SEC title game. Kelly scuttled those plans, however, when he left the university to accept the job at Notre Dame. Meyer’s Florida squad dismantled the Bearcats, 51-24. Jeff Quinn, now an offensive analyst for Notre Dame, replaced Kelly as Cincinnati’s coach that day.

CURIOUS CONNECTIONS

@CoachBrianKelly/Twitter

Meyer announced an indefinite hiatus from coaching before the Sugar Bowl, citing health and family reasons. (Kelly reached out to the departing coach after he was hospitalized.) During that break – and under the auspices of Kelly at Notre Dame – Meyer was the featured presenter at the university’s football coaches clinic.

Meyer had strong ties to the university, having once served as an assistant under both former Irish coaches Lou Holtz and Bob Davie. Then-athletic director Kevin White had a meeting with Meyer to discuss the Irish’s head coaching vacancy after Ty Willingham’s dismissal, but Meyer had already made up his mind to coach at Florida for “family reasons.”

As recently as 2008, Meyer still considered being Notre Dame’s head coach to be his “dream job.” Although never officially confirmed, Meyer allegedly asked Notre Dame to consider relaxing academic requirements so that he could recruit better players.

Meyer also holds strong ties to Cincinnati, where Kelly coached before Notre Dame. It’s his alma mater. It’s his father’s alma mater. He met his wife there. His sister, Gigi Escoe, is vice president of undergraduate affairs. Meyer even attended practices at Cincinnati while Kelly was coaching there.

Four of Meyer’s current coaching staff have worked previously for Kelly.

Kelly knows that he coaches in the shadow of Meyer, as some Irish fans wonder what could have been. He even joked about it, in a press conference soon after the bowl pairing was announced:

We’re going to wrestle, arm wrestle before the game, and whoever wins gets the Notre Dame job. No, I mean, I think that’s just great talk for the fans, and Urban is a great coach. Who knows; I’m not going to be here forever. Maybe he’ll get a chance one day to coach at Notre Dame if that’s what he wants.

JUST WIN, BABY

Here’s a welcome coincidence for comparison purposes: Urban Meyer and Brian Kelly have coached 77 games against FBS-level opponents in their last six years of coaching. For Kelly, this encompasses his entire tenure at Notre Dame. For Meyer, it’s his last two seasons at Florida and his first four at Ohio State.

Urban Meyer is a more successful coach than Brian Kelly in that 77 game stretch.

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Urban Meyer teams scored more points than Brian Kelly teams in that period.

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Urban Meyer teams won more games against ranked opponents than Brian Kelly teams in that time.

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Urban Meyer teams won more big games than Brian Kelly teams.

Ranked vs. Opp Ranked
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Vs. Teams Over .500
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Via ESPN

But as Lou Holtz is fond of saying, “You don’t have to be the best team in the country. But we do have to be the best team in the stadium today.”

Kelly does have one statistical advantage. He’s 12-3 in games played on neutral sites, while Meyer is just 8-3. That’s a bit misleading. Kelly’s neutral site games were mostly against Navy and underwhelming competition in the Shamrock Series. Meyer’s teams were playing for conference titles, big bowl wins and national championships.

HEAD-TO-HEAD (OFF FIELD)

(Photo via @NDfootball)

Brian Kelly’s student-athletes are more successful in the classroom than Urban Meyer’s, although Meyer has been trending up.

In the early 2000s, the NCAA created the Graduation Success Rate for Division I colleges. Here’s a quick explanation before we get to the numbers:

The GSR holds colleges accountable for those student-athletes who transfer into their school. Second, the GSR does not penalize colleges whose student-athletes transfer in good academic standing.  Essentially, those student-athletes are moved into another college’s cohort.

Meyer’s Florida team from 2009-10 scored a 67, while his 2010-11 team scored a 76. At Ohio State, he’s logged GSRs of 75, 78 and 81.

Kelly’s team remains among the standard bearers for successful student-athletes. Since 2010-11, Kelly’s teams have scored 97, 97, 93, 94 and 93.

***

Since Meyer joined Ohio State on Nov. 28, 2011, he and Kelly have battled repeatedly for prized midwest recruits.

In total, 77 student-athletes held offers from both Ohio State & Notre Dame and ultimately chose one of those two schools. (My data is collected from Scout.com.)

Urban Meyer and his recruiting team have won 43 head-to-head battles, while Brian Kelly and his staff have prevailed in 34 contests. Winning a national championship has certainly helped: Meyer has landed 13 commits who also held a Notre Dame offer since taking the trophy; Kelly has landed 8 in the same time period.

Meyer’s big splash in his return to coaching also convinced many high schoolers to sign on the dotted line. Ohio State won 9 consecutive recruits against Notre Dame between December 2011 and February 2012. (The player to break that streak – Davonte’ Neal – is no longer with the Irish.)

Notre Dame’s best run against Ohio State was 5, which occurred between April 2012 (Mike Heuerman) and January 2013 (Max Redfield). It’s likely no coincidence that this was also the time the Irish made its bid for the championship.

Ohio State has done an excellent job of keeping talent in state, landing 20 commits that also held competing offers from Notre Dame. Notre Dame has just six commits from Ohio who also had Buckeye scholarship offers.

Notre Dame and Ohio State have each grabbed five recruits from Florida, Meyer’s old stomping grounds and three each from Michigan, which borders both universities’ homes. Notre Dame has dominated Illinois, picking up four recruits to Ohio State’s one. The Irish also lead in their home state of Indiana, two recruits (Jaylon Smith & Josh Barajas) to one (Austin Mack).

Ohio State has grabbed five 5-star talents to Notre Dame’s 2. The Buckeyes also attract more 4-star talent: 38 commits with competing Notre Dame offers to the Irish’s 29.

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The post Urban Meyer Better Than Brian Kelly In Most Ways appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Here are your headlines:

FROM OUR SITE

• BK era: Scoring offense and defense

RECRUITING

• One Foot Down: OFD opinions: 2016 recruiting top target (Joejuan Williams, Josh King and Rashan Gary)
• 247 Sports: Six earn invite to The Opening at LA regional (Matt Fink)
• AL.com: Auburn in good position with RB Elijah Holyfield; yes, he’s Evander’s son
• TigerNet.com: Clemson offers 4-star DE after Junior Day visit (Julian Okwara, younger brother of Romeo Okwara)

COACHING

• Blue & Gold Illustrated: Autry Denson & his coaching ministry

CURRENT TEAM

• ND Insider: Football notebook: ND offense might already be up to speed (Brian Kelly, Mike Sanford, Everett Golson, Malik Zaire, Mike Denbrock, Bob Davie, Bob Diaco, Autry Denson, Lou Holtz, Jay Hayes, Aaron Taylor, John Foley)
• CSN Sportsnet Chicago: Notre Dame spring preview: Everett Golson, Malik Zaire & the QBs

IRISH IN THE NFL

• Bleacher Report: Maxx Williams is the only first-round talent in underwhelming TE draft class (Ben Koyack)

MISC.

• Post Standard: The Rev. Ted Hesburgh of Notre Dame: One quiet Syracuse life he changed forever
• Sidney Daily News: ‘Rudy’ to speak in Fort Loramie
• Eleven Warriors: 11W community interview: IMG Academy offensive lineman Mirko Jurkovic Jr.

The post Morning Roundup: March 9, 2015 appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

VIDEO

• Irish Illustrated: NFL Combine interview: DaVaris Daniels (5:23)
• Scout: Scout spotlight: Bo Wallace (00:54)
• Irish Illustrated: NFL Combine interview: Ben Koyack (5:10)

RECRUITING

• Scout: The No. 1 center in Florida will visit Auburn (Brett Heggie, brother of Bruce Heggie)
• Scout: Noah Davis finding recruiting surreal (Notre Dame has not offered)
• Irish Sports Daily: Recruiting week in review (Chauncey Gardner & Tre Nixon)
• Fox Sports: Miami football: Hurricanes are absolutely crushing with their 2016 recruiting class (ND is currently #40)
• Washington Post: Freedom-Woodbridge’s Kyree Campbell makes up for lost time
• NJ.com: Jordan Fuller, N.J.’s top athlete, on Rutgers: “They’re pretty high for me.”
• Scout: Kraemer flattered by attention being shown

COACHING

• Slap the Sign: Autry Denson is a slam-dunk hire for Notre Dame
• 247 Sports: Getherall: “Irish lucky to have Denson”
• 247 Sports: Bob Davie: Denson would be a home run hire
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bucs hire Duke Preston as director of PD
• Tampa Bay Times: Bucs hire Preston as new director of player development (Duke Preston)
• Athlon Sports: Ranking the ACC’s football-basketball coaching tandems (Kelly-Brey are #3)

CURRENT TEAM

• Inside the Irish: Spring solutions: Tight ends
• Irish Illustrated: Spring questions: Wide receivers
• Irish Illustrated: Regan seizes walk-on opportunity
• One Foot Down: May the Road Rise Up to Meet You: Elijah Shumate
• News-Sentinel: Notre Dame adds defensive depth with Pac-12 transfer
• UHND: The growing game of Corey Robinson

IRISH IN THE NFL

• UND.com: Three former Irish players invited to NFL Combine
• CSN Chicago: DaVaris Daniels not bitter about how Notre Dame career ended
• Chicago Tribune: DaVaris Daniels seeks to explain Notre Dame departure
• Chicago Sun-Times: After Notre Dame suspension, DaVaris Daniels seeks NFL job
• ESPN: Receiver DaVaris Daniels eager to move on from Notre Dame ordeal
• CBS Sports: 2015 NFL Combine 5 things to know: DGB passes the eye test (DaVaris Daniels)
• Chicago Tribune: Finishing kick boosts Kyle Brindza
• ESPN: Five things learned at the Combine: Falcons (Prince Shembo)

MISC.

• Philadelphia Inquirer: Temple’s football schedule released (Oct. 31 vs. Notre Dame)
• Navy Sports: American Athletic Conference releases 2015 football schedule (Oct. 10 vs. Notre Dame)
• Chicago Tribune: Customer gets grandfather’s Green Bay Packers pic he spotted at a Grafton, Wisc. Rosati’s (Fred “Ojay” Larson)
• Go Game Cocks: Georgia to play North Carolina in Atlanta in 2016
• Athens Banner Herald: Georgia football will play North Carolina in Atlanta in 2016 season
• Naples Daily News: College football: Lou Holtz thinks Jameis Winston can succeed with right team

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