ND and the AP Poll

[eric_navy]

stats are a bit goofy... CW was 22-15 through 3 years.

Yeah, he won the last two games of 2007 (against Stanford and Duke) to get to 22-15 and end a truly brutal stretch for ND football.

He really did have a crazy career at ND. Won 19 of his first 23 and generally looked good doing it. Then lost 11 of the next 12 and looked really bad doing it. Then basically played .500 football for the last 2 years with some decent stretches and some not-so-good ones.

[jerseyborn1971]

If had a halfway decent defense in 08 and 09, he'd still be the coach at ND. He'd probably be on the hotseat right now though because Dayne would still be our QB and our defense would not be what it is today.

[LOVEMYIRISH]

Yeah, he won the last two games of 2007 (against Stanford and Duke) to get to 22-15 and end a truly brutal stretch for ND football.

He really did have a crazy career at ND. Won 19 of his first 23 and generally looked good doing it. Then lost 11 of the next 12 and looked really bad doing it. Then basically played .500 football for the last 2 years with some decent stretches and some not-so-good ones.

The 11 of 12 thing is a bit cherry picking since its split across 2 years.

There was not much crazy about it. Looking back, it all makes sense.

Weis took a bunch of guys who were more or less NFL material (to at least get drafted or picked up as a Free Agent). He won 19 of 25 games with them.

The 3rd year he had a bunch of guys who had seen little action and were not draft material (since Ty left two shitty classes in a row to Weis). Weis then proceeded to underachieve since he was not a good College coach. Those two issues compounded one another.

Then, in years four/five (or year 2/e of HIS new team) he was mediocre. That reflected him well. He was simply not the right guy to coach guys who needed the fundamentals. He was ready to take a bunch of Seniors and Juniors who were good and kick ass with them by teaching them the NFL game early. He just did not appreciate that you need to walk before you run.

[eric_navy]

you need to walk before you run.

Words to live by.

[eric_navy]

In all the excitement about Manti for Heisman and the big win over Stanford on Saturday I forgot about this thread.

This week, ND is ranked in the top 5 in the AP for the first time since September 2006. This is the fourth consecutive week that the Irish have been in the AP top ten, so Brian Kelly has officially spent as much time in the top ten as Bob Davie did in his career, though Davie never ranked higher than #9.

Kelly still has a long way to go to catch up with Ty, who was in the top ten for 10 straight weeks in 2002. However, Ty only got into the top 5 once - a peak ranking of #4 with a single first place vote after beating Florida State in Tallahassee. It's not at all unlikely that Florida (vs. S. Carolina) or KSU (@WVU) will lose this week, and Oregon is @ASU, who is top 20 in scoring offense and defense, so if the Irish beat BYU, they could meet or exceed that #4 ranking. First place votes will be hard to come by, though, unless/until Alabama and Oregon both lay an egg. Outstanding performances in wins over BYU and OU could change that, but I'm not going to count my chickens just yet.

Before the wheels fell off the bus, Charlie spent 18 weeks in the top ten in 2005/2006, including 4 weeks in the top 5. His best ranking was #2 with 10 #1 votes in the 2006 preseason poll (and #2 with 3 #1 votes 2 weeks later). I think this team would likely have to be 12-0 AND get a little help to match that. Of course, those #1 votes in 2006 were symptoms of irrational exuberance (guilty - I got SOOO drunk on that Kool-Aid) and the 2006 team (with the exception of the PSU game) was ultimately more style than substance. At 12-0 against this schedule, a #1/#2 ranking would be richly deserved. Not only am I not going to count those chickens, I'm afraid to even look at the eggs yet.

[eric_navy]

After an unbelievably satisfying win over the Sooners, ND has advanced to #4 in the AP. This is the 6th straight week that the Irish have been in the top ten, and the third straight week in the top 5. If the lads can find a way to beat Pittsburgh next week, BK will match Charlie Weis's career total of four weeks in the AP top 5. If they can carry that momentum to a win over Boston College, he will tie Gerry Faust's total of 5 (his first three weeks as coach in 1981 and the first two polls of 1983).

ND's ranking of #4 is it's highest since the Irish were briefly considered championship contenders in early 2006 and ties the highest career ranking of Ty Willingham, his only top 5 ranking. However, Ty did get 1 first place vote that week, something BK has yet to do at ND. In reality, ND probably won't get any #1 votes unless/until Alabama loses, although that may not be entirely out of our hands at this point...

[eric_navy]

In reality, ND probably won't get any #1 votes unless/until Alabama loses

With Alabama's loss last week, ND moved up to #3 in the AP poll, their highest ranking since September 2006 (#2). Ty's highest ranking was #4 in his first season, so Brian Kelly has bested him in this category. The Irish also received one first place vote, their first under BK, so Bob Davie remains the only non-interim Irish coach to never receive a #1 vote in the poll.

With 5 straight weeks in the top five, Brian Kelly has passed Charlie Weis (4) and tied Gerry Faust in career top five rankings. It will take a while to climb the ladder any further in this category, as next up will be Dan Devine (17) and Terry Brennan (19). The other remaining coaches are Ara, Leahy, and Lou, and we'll leave them out of the conversation for now.

If they win this week, ND will be in the top ten for the 9th straight week, tying Ty Willingham's top ten streak from 2002, and putting Kelly halfway to Charlie Weis's 18 top ten rankings.

Also, this is not related to the AP poll, but if ND pulls off a win tomorrow, it will be the first time since 1998 that the Irish have held serve at home.

[irishman43]

USA today coaches poll....Three coaches don't vote ND #1 My bet is sabin, spurrier, and richt

Any way of finding out?

I just read where one coach voted them fourth. My bet is Spurrier!

[eric_navy]

Notre Dame is #1.

Let that sink in for a minute.

It has been so long since that has happened that many of us barely even remember the time when it was expected. The last time ND was #1 was November 20, 1993. Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weis all had good seasons and top ten rankings, but none reached the top of the mountain for even a single day. Prior to 1997, every non-interim ND coach except Joe Kuharich was #1 at least once.

-Lou Holtz was #1 26 times (19 in 1988-1989), or roughly 14% of all polls during his tenure.
-Gerry Faust was #1 for one week early in his first season (finished 5-6).
-Dan Devine was in the top ten 42 times, almost half of all polls, but only reached #1 twice, including the final poll of 1977.
-Ara was #1 20 times, or roughly 13% of all polls while he was the coach. (He was in the top ten 130 of 153 weeks.)
-ND was never #1 during the Kuharich/Devore era from 1959-1963, but did receive #1 votes in two of those years.
-Terry Brennan was in the top five 19 times, at least once a year from 1954-1958, but was only#1 twice, both in 1954.
-Frank Leahy was #1 38 times, about 36% of all polls while he was head coach, and almost every week from 1946-1949.

If the Irish can keep this ball rolling for one more game, BK will pass Gerry Faust and tie Terry Brennan and CFB HOF'er Dan Devine with two #1 rankings. Also, since ND will be idle during the last week of the season, the Irish would presumably get that #1 for free, as it were. This would give BK three #1 rankings, leaving him behind only the legendary trio of Leahy, Ara, and Lou. He has a long way to go if he is going to catch up with them, but I'm looking forward to the chase.

[ACamp1900]

Crazy that Devine only hit it twice, one being a final poll