Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/102697
fan forum alumni and fans who very much look forward to watching great games on Saturday afternoons in the fall. It is time for Notre Dame to join a conference. Unfortunately, we joined the wrong one. Tom Derengoski, '70 Lansing, Mich. Mr. Derengoski, in fairness and with due respect, Boston College did defeat Notre Dame six straight from 2001‑08, Syracuse won the most recent meeting (2008) between the two schools and Pitt defeated the Fighting Irish in 2008‑09, while also taking them to the wall each of the past three years. Pitt has been a good longtime rival of Notre Dame. This affiliation was naturally going to lead to some mixed emotions, but it's not just an "eastern" flavor in the ACC but also a southern one with schools such as Florida State, Miami, Clemson and Geor‑ gia Tech, all fertile recruiting areas for Notre Dame. From that perspective, that's a positive. Now, if those southern schools bolt else‑ where, then it would make the move to the ACC less appealing. Had Notre Dame joined the Big Ten, there might have been complaints that more provincial games against the likes of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota might have been blasé. There was going to be some give and take here either way. Ultimately, the willingness of the ACC to allow Notre Dame to maintain its foot‑ ball independence is what helped make it the "best fit," not necessarily the geogra‑ phy. ✦ From The WebSite One of the inevitable stories that occur after a superb Notre Dame football season is the head coach's name often gets linked with NFL vacancies. On New Year's Day, ESPN's John Clayton indicated lightly that Brian Kelly could be a future candidate. Zephler: I can see a big pay raise in the future. HamonWry22: A couple of thoughts. One, anything is possible. Two, the sports reporting game is now so much about garnering attention that when coaching vacancies are announced, names will be thrown about indiscriminately, based on any threadbare rumor. Frankly, he's built all the leverage he needs for contract renegotiation. Todd42: There will be a Kelly coaching in the NFL next year, but it certainly won't be Brian. Don't listen to the nonsense. [Editor's Note: Oregon's Chip Kelly opted to remain as a college head coach.] hemy: I remember that beginning in 1988, we were saddled with literally years of rumors and innuendo that Lou Holtz was going back to the NFL to "prove himself." Notre Dame is the most magical name in all of sports, so if I am a commentator that needs to fill the endless hours of broadcasting, of course I am going to throw Brian Kelly's name out there. However, Brian is one guy who does not bow at the NFL altar — he would much rather be a coach at ND than at some lowly NFL city such as Buffalo. NDMizzoufan: Kelly is a great coach in my eyes but is nowhere near the top of the totem poll for coaches the NFL front office have been salivating over (Chip Kelly, Saban, etc.). It's not to say he doesn't deserve to be, especially after this season and it being ND, but I feel like there has been a list of guys the NFL has wanted for a few years that still appear to be ahead of him.