ND Coach Wins Bobby Dodd Award

[AlabamaBuzz]

He outcoached Kirby all night. CPJ outcoached him too.

When pundits say Kirby is one of the best coaches in football I always wonder what their criteria is. He certainly has the money to buy the best assistants and the best players. He certainly seems to have organizational skill, though he does have a problem with keeping his players from getting arrested or getting tickets for traffic violations. If it’s just his winning record and national championships, no small thing, I wonder how successful he would have been at a school like Kentucky or Vanderbilt. I know it might be arrogant of me to say but when you consistently have a top recruiting class in the nation you don’t have to be particularly innovative with your schemes, particularly smart with your in game decision making, or be a scholar of Xs and Os. Last night the announcers were initially talking about how Georgia was going to wear down Notre Dame because they outweighed them on the line by 60 pounds a player. Yet ND held uga to 10 points. That took me back to Bear Bryant, a truly great coach, who was know to whip the tar out of teams that outweighed him team by 60 pounds.

Saban even knew this about himself - he told Mal Moore on the plane to Tuscaloosa, and I paraphrase, but this is the gist of what he said:

"you think you got a brilliant head coach, don't you? Well, you didn't, but you did get a person who will outwork and out recruit everyone else." Saban, as Kirby, tries to win by being the biggest, fastest bully on the field.

Kirby is a great recruiter, like Saban, but his game time coaching as well as Bobo's is mediocre at best. We hit them in the mouth for about 40 minutes, and we were dominating the bully, but we ran out of gas and players.

I know I shouldn't say this, but I don't think our HC is much better during games with his decision making, but I do believe this year he had a great staff working for him, and as you can see with Dabo, the HC doesn't have to be the smartest guy in the room if he has bright assistants and empowers/trusts them to make the decisions. I almost wish Key would give the timeout decisions to someone other than himself.

 

[GTRambler]

That play last night where he ran all of the offense back on the field after initially sending the punt team out was BRILLIANT.

It was done to make the defense have to frantically get their players back on the field, and it resulted in EXACTLY what they hoped - a DL jumped offsides. There was never any intention of running a play, but they stole a possession that basically ended the game.

Marcus Freeman is a great leader of men, and his coaching staff thinks outside of the box.

Actually, Coach Freeman was hoping Coach Smart would call a timeout. Make UGA spend a precious timeout.

In the postgame interview, Coach Freeman said that was the intent.

But … the way it turned out … UGA jumped offsides.

 

[MWBATL]

He earned the GTJackets Coaching Award tonight with the fourth down full swap call that allowed them to effectively put the game away. All Kirby could do in response was complain "You can't do that." I'm just not sure what "that" was that he was complaining about. Was it that he was caught off-guard?

He was supposedly told earlier by SEC officials that you cannot swap all 11 players like that. Said he tried to do it against Tennessee

 

[UgaBlows]

Freeman won the Dodd award, and I would say he won the game the Bobby Dodd way.

Limit Mistakes--Play good defense---Good special teams play--A little Razzle Dazzle with the formation switch on the 4th down play--Anticipate an offensive mistake by the opponent.

Very impressive how dominant ND’s defense was all season, and especially last night without their best D-lineman

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

Actually, Coach Freeman was hoping Coach Smart would call a timeout. Make UGA spend a precious timeout.

In the postgame interview, Coach Freeman said that was the intent.

But … the way it turned out … UGA jumped offsides.

Either way, he would outsmart Smart, so to me, it was still brilliant. His center had to be coached up to hike the ball when he saw someone in the neutral zone.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Saban even knew this about himself - he told Mal Moore on the plane to Tuscaloosa, and I paraphrase, but this is the gist of what he said:

"you think you got a brilliant head coach, don't you? Well, you didn't, but you did get a person who will outwork and out recruit everyone else." Saban, as Kirby, tries to win by being the biggest, fastest bully on the field.

Kirby is a great recruiter, like Saban, but his game time coaching as well as Bobo's is mediocre at best.

I know I shouldn't say this, but I don't think our HC is much better during games with his decision making, but I do believe this year he had a great staff working for him, and as you can see with Dabo, the HC doesn't have to be the smartest guy in the room if he has bright assistants and empowers/trusts them to make the decisions. I almost wish Key would give the timeout decisions to someone other than himself.

I think Key’s game decisions come down to trying to coach around areas where he knows his team has a personnel disadvantage. CPJ did the same thing and I thought he was pretty brilliant during games. Key will get better and this will be complimented by better personnel.

 

[MWBATL]

Either way, he would outsmart Smart, so to me, it was still brilliant. His center had to be coached up to hike the ball when he saw someone in the neutral zone.

I think most P4 centers are coached up to do that all the time...

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I think Key’s game decisions come down to trying to coach around areas where he knows his team has a personnel disadvantage. CPJ did the same thing and I thought he was pretty brilliant during games. Key will get better and this will be complimented by better personnel.

I agree about the personnel, and I pray you are right about "he will get better". I like the man, but I don't see brilliance in him. And, when he didn't even know the overtime rules in the 2nd overtime against UGA, it did not give me more confidence that I was wrong.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

I think most P4 centers are coached up to do that all the time...

I hope so, but I see many of them not snap the ball when the D jumps, so not sure how "coached up" they are.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I agree about the personnel, and I pray you are right about "he will get better". I like the man, but I don't see brilliance in him. And, when he didn't even know the overtime rules in the 2nd overtime against UGA, it did not give me more confidence that I was wrong.

The rule changes for overtime caught a lot of people off guard. I’m sure there were coaches who said, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

The rule changes for overtime caught a lot of people off guard. I’m sure there were coaches who said, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

I should not know more about OT rules than our HC. Just sayin'. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he was overcome with emotion and "forgot". Happy New Year to you, Stinger!

 

[GTRambler]

All coaches are human beings — they make mistakes.

Just like all of us do.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Actually, Coach Freeman was hoping Coach Smart would call a timeout. Make UGA spend a precious timeout.

In the postgame interview, Coach Freeman said that was the intent.

But … the way it turned out … UGA jumped offsides.

I was struck by the similarity of two game decisions and how the different teams reacted.

Freeman, at the last minute, trots his offense back on the field in a fourth down punting situation and Georgia coaches and players freak out. And Notre Dame retains possession.

Earlier in the game, Georgia punts on fourth down but Notre Dame gets a flag and Georgia is now facing fourth and 2. Kirby dramatically waves his arm, encouraging the crowd, as he now sends his whole offensive team back on the field. Notre Dame calmly stuffs the play and gets the turnover on downs.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Does anyone on here follow a Notre Dame site? Are there any that you don’t have to join to comment on? Probably not.

Just wish there was some way to congratulate Notre Dame fans on their coach, their excellent victory, and how much we enjoy seeing them shut up those barking dwags.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Got my answer. Kirby was complaining because he didn't understand the rule so he blamed someone else. "Our SEC Head of Officials lied to me."

I guess Kirby has the Head of officials on speed dial. Anybody surprised?

 

[FlatsLander]

The rule changes for overtime caught a lot of people off guard. I’m sure there were coaches who said, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

Maybe he should have been watching the broadcast so he could see the rules written out and explained by the PBP team.
It's a pretty easy mistake to make considering he had never coached in a 2nd OT and the chaos of the situation.

 

[yeti92]

Got my answer. Kirby was complaining because he didn't understand the rule so he blamed someone else. "Our SEC Head of Officials lied to me."

Complaining about officials in the postgame is a fine right?

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

The ASU coach probably deserved it more. They were picked to finish last in their Conference and nearly win the Quarterfinal CFP game.

I agree. Both men did an admiral job. I guess this year killed the ND to a conference rumor mill forever.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

That play last night where he ran all of the offense back on the field after initially sending the punt team out was BRILLIANT.

It was done to make the defense have to frantically get their players back on the field, and it resulted in EXACTLY what they hoped - a DL jumped offsides. There was never any intention of running a play, but they stole a possession that basically ended the game.

Marcus Freeman is a great leader of men, and his coaching staff thinks outside of the box.

The counter to that is that the defense at first sends ten players out, Then, after the first ten players get on the field, send out the last player. The refs will allow the multiple replacements and force the offense to wait until the last player gets on the field. No way, ND gets the play off in time if Kirby does that. However, since he did not know the rule, he never would have done this.

There was also no reason for Kirby to rush his team on the field. They ran onto the field as if they were the ones who needed to get the play off in time.

 

[TromboneJacket]

Maybe he should have been watching the broadcast so he could see the rules written out and explained by the PBP team.
It's a pretty easy mistake to make considering he had never coached in a 2nd OT and the chaos of the situation.

Agreed. He has only been involved in overtime games twice since taking over the team, and the first one only went to a single overtime.

He’s been rebuilding this team after years of coaching malpractice has decimated it. There are only so many hours in the day. If I were in his place, the rules regarding double/triple/etc overtime would be pretty low on my list of priorities too.

Heck, with the ball bouncing differently a few times, COFH would have been a victory in regulation, and we would live in a timeline where multiple overtimes have never been relevant to Brent Key as a head coach.