2025-2026 College Football Thread

[rebfandan]

Originally Posted by b0bby

i don't understand why a big school like ND would hire Kelly. he may turn out to be great but seriously, before the last few years, did anyone know who Kelly was? imo, they should of thrown record breaking money at meyer/stoops. they might have and it still failed but i can't see Kelly attracting recruits because he's coach Kelly. they would only come for ND. while a coach like stoops/meyer would pull in recruits just based on their resume of winning and developing pro players.

You make a really good point. ND needs all the help they can get in recruiting, and big names would help more than anything. It's hard to attract the nation's best recruits away from sunny and warm SoCal, Texas, and Florida to South Bend, IN.

Mike Greenberg from "Mike & Mike" on ESPN Radio made an interesting observation this morning. One second was placed back on the clock at the end of the Big XII title game. Had time run out and the game been ruled over, Brian Kelly would probably not be ND's new head coach. He'd probably (have to say "probably" because we can't say with absolute certainty if Cincy or TCU would've bumped up to #2, although most likely Cincy) be preparing for the NC game and staying at Cincy for a while longer. One second made all the difference in ND getting Kelly.

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by b0bby

i don't understand why a big school like ND would hire Kelly. he may turn out to be great but seriously, before the last few years, did anyone know who Kelly was? imo, they should of thrown record breaking money at meyer/stoops. they might have and it still failed but i can't see Kelly attracting recruits because he's coach Kelly. they would only come for ND. while a coach like stoops/meyer would pull in recruits just based on their resume of winning and developing pro players.

They tried everything they could to get Meyer or Stoops. Meyer shut them down from the start and wouldn't even listen to a pitch. When Meyer took the Florida job he said a big reason he chose it over Notre Dame was because at Florida he can spend most of his time recruiting in Florida and the south, so he could spend more time with his kids, all of whom were in grade school at the time (his oldest daughter is now in college). At Notre Dame you have to recruit nationwide because the recruiting base in the Midwest is pretty poor. I could see him considering the job in 4 or 5 years if Kelly fails and his kids are older. Stoops may have listened but he chose to stay. There's nothing Notre Dame could offer Stoops or Meyer to convince them to come. They are already among the highest paid coaches so they can't get them based on money. They refused to lower their admissions standards for football players so they could never get all the best players. It was obvious Kelly was their third choice, but he was the best they could get.

[supersix4]

Brian Kelly interview is going on right now on espn.

Kinda weird he's asking each one of his kids to stand up

Man he's got a rough season coming up, USC won't stay down forever, Stanford is getting even better, Michigan if the trend continues they will be better, Navy is decent

[Headspace]

I really hope Cincy plays incredibly inspired in the Sugar Bowl. Kelly put them on the map, which will help getting good coaching after he's gone, but he they way he handled leaving, especially his communication to his players was terrible.

[Beta Man]

I love the fact that the players didn't take the "High Road" and wish him luck and all of that other nonsense........ what he did was busch-league..........

His interview on PTI was offensive to me.......

Notre Dame can kiss my Catholic Arse........



Pike to Mardy..... Pike to Armand..... Pike to Guiduli

Let's Run Florida back home to the SEC, and REALLY put the Nasty-Nati on the map!!!!!!!

[Marquoz]

Complete dick move on Kelly's part. I'll be amused if ND doesn't make it anywhere close to the success he had at Cincinatti. Hopefully players realize that the next big offer he gets, he's gone and don't go to ND just because of him.

[Beta Man]

Cincy couldn't compete with what ND offered.... (in terms of $$$$$) not many can...... with their deal with NBC, the "Incentive" portion of the contract (above and beyond say the $4M per year Fat-boy-Weiss was making) makes it pretty hard to beat.....

Plus.... Brian Kelly now has the opportunity to turn ND into a winning team.... and we aren't talking NAT'L Champions here..... just a winning team....... and he'll be fast-tracked to the NFL if that's what he wants.

ND's coaching position is pretty highly regarded..... they have a built-in fan base, and their donors pour so much money into the university that they can afford to spend ridiculous amounts of cash on their football program (which is why any sub-.500 season can and will get you canned)

Over the past 2 season UC and ND faced 5 common opponents...... ND defeated 2 of those 5, and UC defeated ALL FIVE of them.......

Brian Kelly doesn't think he has a "Better chance" at a Nat'l championship at ND.... because their team is in need of SERIOUS HELP....... he'll be able to recruit better sure....... but in the end, ND is falling apart, and a good 5-10 years away from being highly competitive.....

It's all about the money...... he should have just said up-front "hey.... ND knocks.... you answer the door" but he chose a Chicken-crap way of going about it, and UC has a HELL of a lot better talent coming back next season than ND does.....

Utah faired pretty well when their coach bailed for "Glory" and I bet UC will do the same.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

It's all about the money...... he should have just said up-front "hey.... ND knocks.... you answer the door" but he chose a Chicken-crap way of going about it, and UC has a HELL of a lot better talent coming back next season than ND does.....

I don't know what he made at cinci, but I think if you have a chance to secure you're family for a generation or more then you've almost got to do it. Which goes without saying its A MAJOR MAJOR classless act that ND couldn't wait a few weeks to let him coach, and it shows even less of him that he just up and left his team going into a huge game against the defending national champions and a chance to put himself and nati on the map(unless he thought it would hurt him if Florida gave them a beatdown).

He doesn't have an easy road especially if Navy keeps getting better under their coach (or even if they just stay solid), Michigan seems to be on the rise if that progress continues like I think it will, and USC (come on they had tons and TONS of first time starts out there) they wont be down for long, probably not even next year.

And if he really can't recruit players (I don't think he went higher then 60 from the years I looked at rivals, might have just been he didn't have the school name power no offense beta ) hes in for a long couple seasons.

[STARSCREAM]

Originally Posted by Headspace

I really hope Cincy plays incredibly inspired in the Sugar Bowl. Kelly put them on the map, which will help getting good coaching after he's gone, but he they way he handled leaving, especially his communication to his players was terrible.

+1! I loved the interviews the players gave, especially Gilyard. I hope Cincy plays the game of their lives in the Sugar Bowl.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

+1! I loved the interviews the players gave, especially Gilyard. I hope Cincy plays the game of their lives in the Sugar Bowl.

don't tell beta but my 10 year old Florida sweatshirt is being cleaned for the game .

[Headspace]

Cincinnati's going to look at Temple's coach and Houston's Sumlin. Sumlin would be perfect, he runs a more efficient spread than Kelly did. There's also rumors of them looking at Skip Holtz, which are all good choices in my opinion.

[ShockWave]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Let's Run Florida back home to the SEC, and REALLY put the Nasty-Nati on the map!!!!!!!

If that sparks a playoff system, do it please! At top eight playoff system would be great!

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by ShockWave

If that sparks a playoff system, do it please! At top eight playoff system would be great!

I say make it a 16 team playoff system and here's how you could do it....

First you mandate a conference title game for each conference that doesn't already have one. The conference winner of each D-1 conference would get an automatic bid (12 total I think). Then you go by ranking to fill the remaining 4 spots. The teams would be seeded, just like in b-ball. You would have the top 8 seeds play the bottom 8 in the first round, top 8 gets home field advantage. Then you would take the winners of each of those games and you would pair them up in the major bowls (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose). The winners of those bowls would then play in the "final 4" which would be held at a designated location. Or you could add a 5th major bowl like maybe the Cotton Bowl. That way they could rotate each year who would host the final 4 tournament.

The teams who don't get into the playoffs could still qualify for the other mid-level to lower tier bowls. This way bowls remain in existence and we still could have our playoff system!!

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by ShockWave

If that sparks a playoff system, do it please! At top eight playoff system would be great!

Si had an article and a little bracket with the top15 or 16 and I really liked what it looked like. you could even keep the bowl game names just attach them to the games. The first games are least expensive and then more towards the NC.

[Meeklo]

Any guess who will win the Heisman tomorrow? I'm guessing Colt McCoy, regardless of the fact that I live in Austin, he's shown the most spirit and drive. Plus he holds the record as the most winning-est college quarterback.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Meeklo

Any guess who will win the Heisman tomorrow? I'm guessing Colt McCoy, regardless of the fact that I live in Austin, he's shown the most spirit and drive. Plus he holds the record as the most winning-est college quarterback.

I think it will be Colt. Though I have to admit, I'm getting tired of seeing a QB win it every year. Would love to see Ingram sneak up and win it, even though I hate 'Bama!!

[Headspace]

Anyone but McCoy and Tebow deserve in their own way. Gerhart had better stats, but Ingram did his most work against top 5 defenses. Suh was an absolute beast. McCoy wasn't really in the equation until the A&M game and giving it to him because he's has the most wins isn't what the heisman is. It's not a lifetime achievement award.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by Headspace

Anyone but McCoy and Tebow deserve in their own way. Gerhart had better stats, but Ingram did his most work against top 5 defenses. Suh was an absolute beast. McCoy wasn't really in the equation until the A&M game and giving it to him because he's has the most wins isn't what the heisman is. It's not a lifetime achievement award.

Agreed I want it to be Ingram but if its Gerhart I'll be very happy too, anyone else and it just shows the bias. Tebow as much as I wanted to see him have an amazing year and go out with another NC and Heisman, he doesnt deserve it.

What I think and would like to see:

1. Ingram
2. Gerhart
3. Suh
4.McCoy
5.Tebow

McCoy didn't show me enough to deserve it this year.

[STARSCREAM]

Originally Posted by Headspace

Anyone but McCoy and Tebow deserve in their own way. Gerhart had better stats, but Ingram did his most work against top 5 defenses. Suh was an absolute beast. McCoy wasn't really in the equation until the A&M game and giving it to him because he's has the most wins isn't what the heisman is. It's not a lifetime achievement award.

+1! Suh should win it.

[ShockWave]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I say make it a 16 team playoff system and here's how you could do it....

First you mandate a conference title game for each conference that doesn't already have one. The conference winner of each D-1 conference would get an automatic bid (12 total I think). Then you go by ranking to fill the remaining 4 spots. The teams would be seeded, just like in b-ball. You would have the top 8 seeds play the bottom 8 in the first round, top 8 gets home field advantage. Then you would take the winners of each of those games and you would pair them up in the major bowls (Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose). The winners of those bowls would then play in the "final 4" which would be held at a designated location. Or you could add a 5th major bowl like maybe the Cotton Bowl. That way they could rotate each year who would host the final 4 tournament.

The teams who don't get into the playoffs could still qualify for the other mid-level to lower tier bowls. This way bowls remain in existence and we still could have our playoff system!!

How many extra games would this be, three? But really only two extra considering there is already one bowl game. Seems like a good idea, I just don't like 16 teams, to me it's to many. The talent drops off considerably after the top eight in my opinion. And mandating a conference title game is a good idea. I believe if you don't have one you should not be allowed to be in the National title hunt. Something needs to be done, which ever way it is chosen.