Irish

It's coaches that recruit the players that can't put the puck in open nets.

Without specifics these numbers are meaningless - there is a big difference between a desperation 4th and 17 as the last play of a half and a 4th and 1 or 2 at the 50 or closer - especially one that gives you a chance to win the game. Of those who were watching the games, many disagreed with Bubba's calls - looks like the players did too. In addition, poor teams make fewer first downs on second and third down placing them in more 4th down situations than good teams. They also tend to have many more desperation situations than teams that usually have the lead. Many teams would go for a 4th down situation if they were behind and needed a score but not go for it if they were up by 20 points.

You sound like you're in the know more than me - another question then - how much does Bubba manage his staff - Is the offense Rudy, Bubba, or a combo of both. Does Bubba get involved when things go off the rails or just let the coaches do their thing. It's hard to know who is responsible for what, but in my book it comes down to Bubba -

I have no doubt that Bubba wants to win and is very loyal to UND. That, however, does not make him a good coach. I am really frustrated with his stubborn lack of change and the fact he kept everyone after last year. Apparently he has to be forced to change anything and then looks in-house. Bubba is a career .500 coach and has 5 years here to prove himself. I think Bubba is so hard-wired he is almost constitutionally incapable of change. If not we would perhaps have made a half-time adjustment or two.

Undecided, but not the coaching change I was looking for.

I guess I am just really frustrated with the Football situation right now. Bubba knew what was on the line at this time last year and made zero changes and was not held to account. Now here we are, hiring from within and Bubba will certainly be Bubba again next year. When you stack on the Bubba years to the Muss years we have been floundering for a long time and seem allergic to changing much. How long do we have to be a .500 program before the light goes on somewhere?

This statistic is meaningless unless you factor in the game situation - there is a big difference between a desperation 4th and 17 at the end of the game or one last shot right before half and, for example, the 4th and 1 on the Washington 40 yard line when we are still in the game and driving. I think most fans and even football experts would agree that he's turtled multiple times when he should have gone for it. My comment was in reply to someone who said "be aggressive. Go for a program changing win". In my opinion, that's so not Bubba. I am not saying go for it on every 4th down, but your statistic doesn't even come close to painting the correct picture.

It did one game ago.

You understand that the AD decided to keep Mr. Play It Safe and never go for it as Head Coach, don't you? His career is littered with missed chances because, well, "the punt is a good play".

Freund said all the right things and I think he will be a big improvement. My concern is with Bubba's approach - quick interview with 2 people already on staff and then hire one. No need to open it to any "outsiders" - wouldn't want any "foreign" ideas sneaking in. I feel like he is making these "changes" as changeless as possible. I'm beginning to think that Bubba will never change or spend any time on introspection. Left to his own devices, I think Bubba would be content re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Ok - rant over - go get em Freund. Don't give in to Bubba.

Thanks for reminding me -

Here's some quotes from an article about Brian Kelly rebuilding Notre Dame after a disastrous season. I hope Bubba is just as open to change and does the same “A lot of things had to change, including me,” Kelly said. ” … We didn’t reinvent the wheel here. Behind the scenes, we made some tweaks.” Truth is, those “tweaks” were titanic. There were new coordinators across the board: offense, defense, special teams, strength coach. A re-examination of practice structure. Changes to offseason programs. Even the head coach’s attitude and occasionally volcanic demeanor were open to re-evaluation. Guess what? Change can be good. Kelly didn’t just survive the bad times, he’s thrived. Since that low point in LA on Nov. 26, 2016, Notre Dame has gone 22-3. But even from the bounce-back 10-3 record of ’17 to the breakthrough 12-0 of ’18, there were additional changes that had to be made. Star defensive coordinator Mike Elko was swiped by Texas A&M. And the guy who was supposed to be the starting quarterback, Brandon Wimbush, needed to be replaced three games in. Saturday night, former backup Ian Book again got the job done at QB and first-year coordinator Clark Lea’s halftime defensive adjustments shut down the Trojans. (boldface mine) https://sports.yahoo.com/brian-kelly-reinvented-notre-dame-reclaim-national-relevance-071912337.html

I agree it is a tough situation all the way around. A balancing act - if it was purely a hockey decision it would be pretty easy to know what to do. As another poster mentioned, how long does this Junior Class clog up our offense? After last year and almost half of this year it is painfully obvious we need more firepower.

I can't and am not sure how to research it since it was years ago - I seem to remember him pulling scholarships on a couple of occasions though - anyone with a better memory that can confirm or deny this?

With the possibility of missing the tourney for the second year in a row it isn't too hard to look at our roster and see where the dead wood is. This isn't so much a "figure it out" problem" as a "do what needs to be done" problem. I seem to remember Blais cleaning house on occasion. We are a top tier hockey program, not some friendly beer league. You should need to produce to stay here.

But we have 3 Junior grinders we need to make sure there is room for. Time for Berry to earn his paycheck.

Easily debunked by stats? -Here's a link to an analysis geared to college ball : https://blog.minitab.com/blog/the-statistics-game/going-for-it-on-4th-down-do-the-statistics-say-its-a-gamble - Using this analysis it's not even a close call. The bottom line is that Bubba's way to conservative approach to the game cost our team in terms of score, wins, and moral.

So you think it was a great decision in the first game against Washington - we're playing a ranked FBS school, down only 10-0 and we're moving the ball and decide to punt on their 40. Or the last game punting on 4th down behind by 8 and never getting the ball back. I stand by my criticism. I am certainly not the only one here who thinks those decisions were wrong on many levels including team confidence - I may be among the most frustrated though. And those "statistics" are meaningless unless you factor in the game situation. Saban doesn't find himself in desperation having to go for a last minute 4th down Hail Mary very often - certainly not as often as we do. Pulling out numbers without game situations attached is meaningless.

True, but he had a long history of turtling practice that lead to this final big game performance. I really wish we had a media person with guts enough to question him hard on this continued behavior.

The head coach is the guy who decides to turtle on every 4th and 1 situation though.

Then strap on a pair and go for it for once and put your team in position to win. In my opinion Mr. "The Punt is a Good Play" is the most gutless coach in DI.

But not enough to go for it on the opponents 40 yard line like we saw this year.

We're not asking for a DOT line - at this point we would settle for top lines like Duluth and St. Clown. Absolutely no reason we don't have any scorers here.

We specialize in Pusses who won't go for it.

So true - we've seen Backslapping Bubba, Rah Rah Bubba, and Sincere Bubba, but have not had a sighting of Take Charge of the Game Bubba or Flexible Bubba. With him in charge we will always be the guys who won't go for it on 4th to give our team a chance to win. The only changes he will make are the ones he is forced to make.