Fighting Irish Gameday » south bend

Utah at Notre Dame Football Tickets | November 13, 2010

Admin — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:37:40 +0000

Utah Utes at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets | November 13, 2010 (11/13/10)

Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010

Admin — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:35:05 +0000

Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010

The Blink Theory: Why Charlie Weis Failed at Notre Dame & Why Brian Kelly Will Succeed

Eric Murtaugh — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:23:19 +0000

As I was finishing the 2005 best-selling book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell, I was struck by how some of his research and stories made sense of what happened to Notre Dame football over the past five years.

In a nut shell, the book looks into various ways our unconscious mind plays a role in our decision making in everything from spotting fake ancient sculptures, taste-testing soft drinks, creating facial expressions, choosing dating partners and catching criminals.

For a nice concise summary of the book, click here.

Gladwell asserts that we form (in the matter of seconds or sometimes milliseconds) intuitive responses unconsciously, or what he terms “the blink” or “thin-slicing”, and that often times this form of thought is powerfully correct.

What does this have to do with Notre Dame football? Well, the book itself dives into many different areas of our unconscious mind, both positive and negative, but there were three key arguments that kept setting off alarm bells for a major reason why Charlie Weis failed in South Bend.

Quite simply, Weis and the teams he led onto the field thought too much. They overcomplicated everything from day one, be it through sophisticated game plans, the continuing hiring and firing of coaching and the switching of personnel.

His players never used “the blink” very often, by making use of the powerful ability to make snap decisions in the heat of the moment, because Weis had his players bogged down with too much information. Instead of picking a simple formula for success, Weis led government-like scouting reports that laid too much chance for success on complicated offensive schemes and blitz packages.

A great example in the book came from a story about a man who came up with a simplified medical chart to help the over-crowded Cook Hospital in Chicago treat its chest pain visitors.

The problem beforehand, was that doctors were using too much information, taking too many tests (which often contradicted each other) and many times ended up giving poor diagnoses.

But with the simplified chart, the doctors were ordered to follow its three-step procedure and base the rest of their decision on their gut-feeling as medical professionals.

The result? The hospital diagnosed patients properly over 90 percent of the time with the simplified process, compared to roughly 50 percent before.

If diagnosing heart attacks were like trying to win football games, Charlie Weis would be the doctor too caught up in a mountain of data and test results to bring about victory.

The second example is the story of Paul Van Riper, a heavily decorated retired Marine officer who was brought in by the Pentagon to be part of a 21st Century war game.

Van Riper’s assignment was to be the leader of a rogue nation in the Middle East that would be battling U.S. forces in a multi-million dollar simulated war inside the halls of a cavernous northern Virginia government complex.

The disparity between the two forces before the war could not have been any greater. The Americans (Team Blue) had an overwhelming amount of power in troops, ships, artillery and planes to go with nearly unlimited technology and surveillance. It was expected that Team Blue would win the conflict swiftly and with ease.

However, Van Riper’s Team Red ended up defeating the Blue side almost as quickly as the Blue’s thought they would win the war.

The main reason was that Van Riper was decisive and gave his commanders a lot of power to react to situations in the moment to gain advantages wherever possible. On the other side, Team Blue held long meetings and briefings, poured over enormous amounts of data, acted slowly and found themselves dead in the water in a matter of days of simulated time.

The final example from the book details the outcome of the Battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War.

On the Union side there was General Joseph Hooker and over 130,000 troops against the Confederacy’s Robert E. Lee and roughly 60,000 men. Before the battle, the Union held nearly every conceivable advantage including an impressive maneuver to encircle Lee’s army and pin them against the Rappahannock River.

However, the battle was not won by the Union and Lee dealt a serious blow to the Union’s chances of winning the war in one of the greatest victories and upsets in military history.

Why? It was because even with more troops, artillery, spies and information, Hooker became indecisive and was unable to coordinate his army during the heat of the moment. In contrast, Robert E. Lee was boldly decisive and took the initiative with less information and less power to use.

I can’t help but think that Charlie Weis was to Notre Dame what Joseph Hooker was to the Union Army.

In both the war game and Chancellorsville, Team Blue and General Hooker were overly satisfied with their advantages and superiority. Just like Weis, they believed a major “schematic advantage” would win the day.

Often times Weis would lead the Irish on to the field against a weaker opponent only to find himself licking his wounds after a Notre Dame loss. Against teams like Syracuse, UConn and Navy, Weis’ teams had a monopoly of talent, yet they did not win. A schematic advantage was not enough.

The Irish teams from 2005-09 suffered from major “analysis paralysis” that hindered the team’s ability to perform at the highest level. Instead of picking one offense, Weis made his teams learn a multitude of differing packages, often switching game plans in the middle of a contest.

Meanwhile, while opponents were busy making adjustments in real time, Weis continually sought out too much information, consulting his atlas sized play sheet for a different formation to send to the huddle. In effect, Weis was merely guessing his way through games as coach of Notre Dame.

It’s not so much that Weis used such a thick playbook and tried to use his “schematic advantage” to beat teams, but that his entire system of operation was bogged down in paralysis because this “schematic advantage” permeated through every player.

Just think about Harrison Smith looking lost at the line of scrimmage and leaving a receiver wide open for a big play. Does that look like someone who was thinking without thinking? Or did it look like someone too confused by the plethora of coverages to know what he was doing?

If Weis had run a power running game similar to Alabama, concentrated on performing that system to perfection, and then used some of his offensive genius to make big plays, perhaps things would have worked out.

Instead, Notre Dame ran the ball 50 times one game, switched to a pro-style offense the next game, switched to shotgun Texas Tech ball the next, switched to West Coast style the next and everything in between. And the biggest problem was that these moves were made during games and sometimes from series to series.

And most of all, this attention to schematic advantage lessened the influence of crucial qualities which college football players need such as motivation, development and conditioning.

In short, Weis was not a very good leader. In the above examples of the Chicago heart chart, Pentagon war game and the battle of Chancellorsville, each problem was solved by someone with incredible intelligence. While it certainly takes a lot of studying and experience to be able to find solutions to the most difficult of problems, knowledge alone is not enough.

No one can deny that Charlie Weis was a smart man, but he never figured out that you can’t treat players like professionals and that scouting and clever formations alone wouldn’t win football games.

Almost immediately, Notre Dame fans have been struck with how different of an approach Brian Kelly is taking in South Bend.

Because of Kelly’s intelligence and experience, he knows what it takes to succeed. We’ve already heard him speak about how important it is to get players to develop and push themselves, to buy into the system, to learn it through and through and to be able to perform at the highest of levels without even thinking about it. It’s something Kelly calls, “unconscious competence.”

As Kelly said, “You can move them to a level that they can’t get to by themselves. That’s player development. That’s at the core of what I mean, to get people to do things that they normally wouldn’t do on their own. ”

In other words, Kelly wants Notre Dame football players to have “the blink” when it comes time to step on the field. He wants them to have confidence in their abilities as players and build a team that can think without thinking. That’s how you take a bunch of two and three star recruits to an undefeated season in the Big East.

Player development, strength and conditioning and fundamentals are three major areas that Kelly has stressed throughout his entire career and it is obvious that his players have been able think without thinking because of their preparation under this system.

When the entire coaching philosophy trickles down the program from a schematic advantage viewpoint, players cannot be developed very well. Without player development there is no harnessing of the potential of the unconscious mind and the ability to think without thinking is slowly stifled.

And the ironic part of is, the team that stresses schematic advantage usually ends up being out-schemed on the field because its players are not adequately prepared for a team that has confidence to think without thinking.

Do not think I believe that the solution to all of Notre Dame’s problems comes from “the blink” factor. There are too many aspects to coaching and winning football games to break it down to something that simple.

However, it is an interesting topic that showcases how successful people, organizations, company’s and teams can harness the ability to act decisively with the proper training in order to gain an edge on the competition.

In a lot of ways, Charlie Weis’ coaching staff was a lot like the U.S. Government during the Pentagon war games. Weis hired some of the best coordinators and recruiters in the country, just like the government brings together the best talent from different federal agencies.

The problem is, without an effective leader laying down a plan for everyone to follow, the odds of success are severely diminished.

Weis hired two defensive coordinators, each of whom had different coaching philosophies. Corwin Brown thought his way would work best, but John Tenuta believed his would work even better.

This is no different than the CIA or FBI trying to work together when both agencies are working in opposite directions.

The result is major dysfunction and a total lack of comprehension during the most critical times of battle during war and on the football field.

As Gladwell points out in the end of the book, “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding.”

Both Weis and Kelly have the knowledge. But so far, Weis has proven he did not understand college football.

So far, Brian Kelly has shown through his coaching hires, speeches and football past, that he is the type of coach who knows how to lead and set a foundation for success.

2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Season Tickets

Admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:26:12 +0000

2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets – Season Package (Includes Tickets for all Home Games)

Order Now

Stanford at Notre Dame Football Tickets | September 25, 2010

Admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:13:27 +0000

Stanford at Notre Dame Football Tickets September 25, 2010

Notre Dame Stadium | South Bend, Indiana | 9/25/10

Order Now

Pittsburgh at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 9, 2010

Admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:57:40 +0000

Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets October 9, 2010

Notre Dame Stadium | South Bend, Indiana | 10/9/10

Order Now

Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | September 11, 2010

Admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:14:23 +0000

Buy Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Michigan Wolverines Football Tickets

Notre Dame Stadium | September 11, 2010

ORDER NOW

Order Now

Michael Oher Would Never Get a Chance at Notre Dame

Erin McLaughlin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:52:11 +0000

If ever there were a player who is worth rooting for no matter what team he is on, Michael Oher is that guy. If not for the movie The Blind Side, most of us may never know his incredible story.

Here is a guy who was born to a mother addicted to crack. He had many siblings from many fathers. He didn’t even know who his father was for most of his childhood. Many of the things most of us take for granted as kids (stable home, loving parents, food on the table, own bedroom, etc.) were not there for Oher.

His whole childhood he had to persevere and overcome the hand that was dealt him. It was not until he was in high school that the Tuohy family abopted him. The Tuohys deserve a lot of credit for that. Just being real, they had a lot more to lose than they had to gain.

Sure they saw his potential as a great football player, but it is not like they needed money. The Tuohys were a rich white Republican family. They lived in a part of Tennessee that was very set in their ways as was their circle of friends.

Needless to say, adopting a big black kid from the other side of town was not something folks in that part of the country were lining up to do.

As you might expect, Oher was never the best student in keeping up his grades. The Tuohys had to hire a private tutor who would follow him all the way to Ole Miss and remain his tutor until the Baltimore Ravens drafted him.

If that is not a great story I don’t know what is. He goes from being homeless for part of his childhood to being an NFL lineman.

Oher was such a great prospect out of high school, that every major college in the south offered him a scholarship. Watching the movie, there were so many recruits that came to his home that you couldn’t count.

The part I found sad was that Notre Dame was not one of the schools that tried to recruit him. Do you think Jimmy Clausen would have liked to have Oher in front of him for a good part of his career?

Notre Dame has always made it a point to maintain there high academic standards and still try to build a competitive football team. While I have always commended that, I am beginning to wonder if it is the right thing to do.

The reality is that Notre Dame hasn’t seriously contended for a National title since 1993. That is 17 years. The Irish also haven’t won a National Title since 1988. That is 22 years. If you ask me, it is time for Notre Dame to really look at how they do things and think about if it is really the right way to go.

The fact is that a player like Michael Oher would have never gotten a chance in South Bend. That really makes me scratch my head. Not every kid comes from an ubringing that would foster a kid to be great academically. Does that mean they are horrible kids?

Would it really be that horrible for Notre Dame to bend a little for a player with a background similar to Oher’s? Does it really go against what Notre Dame stands for?

I sure hope not. There are certain players that are worth taking a chance on and Michael Oher proved to be one of them. The reality was that he was going to Ole Miss even if Notre Dame had tried to recruit him. That is where is family went to school and where he wanted to go.

However, that does not mean that there is not another Micheal Oher out there. I would certainly love to see Notre Dame take a chance on one. After all, isn’t that what colleges are supposed to do? Aren’t they supposed to put young adults in a position to be successful?

One thing Brian Kelly Won’t Have in South Bend

Erin McLaughlin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:21:45 +0000

As I watched the Sugar Bowl last night, I was paying close attention to the style of offense being run by Cincinnati since that will be the offense run in South Bend next fall.

One thing I learned is a bit of a concern as the Brian Kelly era begins. Before the game, I assumed that Interim Head Coach Jeff Quinn would join Brian Kelly at Notre Dame after the game. Apparently that is not the case at all. Quinn will be heading to the University of Buffalo to take over as Head Coach.

Why is this a concern?

Quinn has been an assistant coach for 26 years. 21 of them have been along side Brian Kelly. That means that Quinn was right there with Kelly through his success at Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati. Quinn was Kelly’s offensive coordinator for many of those great offenses.

To say that Quinn was a huge part of Kelly’s success is a major understatement.

So how will Kelly do without Quinn?

There have been a couple of coaches I can think of that constantly lose coordinators and still do fine. Those guys are Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll. I know Charlie Weis and and Romeo Crennel were with Belichick a long time before they left. I am not sure how long Norm Chow and Steve Sarkesian were with Carroll before they left.

Another coach is Jimmy Johnson. He had Norv Turner and Dave Wannstedt at the University of Miami and they followed him to the Dallas Cowboys.

Then when Johnson took over the Miami Dolphins, Turner and Wannstedt had both moved on to head coaching jobs. Johnson was clearly not the same coach without them and was nowhere near as successful.

I don’t want to make a mountain out of a mole hill here. But when you are a successful coach and one of your top assistants who was with you for 21 years is no longer with you, that is a huge loss. Hopefully, Kelly has somebody that can be as successful as Quinn was.

Notre Dame Has Lowered It’s Athletic Standards to Accomodate Academics

Erin McLaughlin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:11:28 +0000

As this Notre Dame fan is enjoying the bowl season, I think I speak for all domers when I say it just isn’t the same without Notre Dame. That is the case for the second time in three years. In that time the only bowl, the Irish played in was the Hawaii Bowl. The image above is the only trophy Notre Dame has hoisted in 16 years.

Looking at realistically, Notre Dame has not been a serious contender for a National Championship at all during that time.

Is it because Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and Charlie Weis have all been that bad of coaches? Many may say yes, but if you remember Lou Holtz’s final years they weren’t anything special either. Holtz wasn’t really forced out. He resigned on his own terms. Did he know something deep down.

Holtz was allowed to bring in certain players that didn’t meet academic standards for a good portion of his tenure. However, the new athletic director stopped allowing that toward the end of the Holtz era.

On one hand, it is very admirable of Notre Dame to expect more of there players. That is the reason I have always rooted for Notre Dame. They hold their athletes to a higher standard. It is rare to hear about a Notre Dame player in the news for something bad. It is not acceptable to be a thug in South Bend.

On the other hand, does not being good at physics make you a thug? If so I am a thug. Does not being a good writer make you a thug? If so, about half of the members on Bleacher Report are thugs.

The point is that certain people are just not good at academics but are great athletes. Are we really misrepresenting what Notre Dame stands for by allowing kids like this in?

I remember a quote from Rudy. Rudy’s dad was trying to convince him to stay and work at the plant. He said, “Notre Dame is a place for smart kids and great athletes. It is not for us.” The “great athletes” part seems to be less important than the “smart kids” part in 2009.

Is it commendable for Notre Dame to take a position like that? In a way it is. At the same time, athletics is supposed to have high standards too. The football team is supposed to be among the nation’s best. It hasn’t been for almost two decades now and yet the administration hasn’t lowered it’s academic standards for football players.

I am not convinced that is a good thing though. The purpose of a college is to educate students in an institution of higher learning to best prepare them for a career that best suits them.

Along those premises, if a player is a really good football player but not really good at academics, what career choice best suits him? Last I checked college football is a form of higher learning that prepares the kids for a career.

That doesn’t mean the NFL although that is an option. There are other league’s like the CFL where players can make a good living. Also, doesn’t football teach kids how to work as a team and do your role well. I don’t know what career doesn’t require those skills.

Notre Dame wants it’s athletes to be held to the same standards as anybody else. That makes me scratch my head. The way I see athletes have higher standards. To be an All American at Notre Dame, you also have to be a good student in the classroom.

While that may sound good to most people, let me ask do you have to play a sport in order to graduate with honors at Notre Dame? We know the answer to that. Isn’t that a double standard?

I am not saying I want Notre Dame to get away from what it represents. I am saying I want it to get back to what it represents. That is the “smart kids” and “great athletes” part. Right now there are loads of “smart kids.” Unfortunately there aren’t as many “great athletes” as there used to be.

I in no way want to start putting “morally questionable” kids on the football team. I just think it is time for the university to understand that being a “great athlete” but not a “smart kid” doesn’t make a player a criminal.

Notre Dame has always maintained it’s high academic standards and that is great. At the same time, Athletics (especially the football team) is supposed to have high standards too.

Fighting Irish Gameday » south bend

Utah at Notre Dame Football Tickets | November 13, 2010

Utah Utes at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets | November 13, 2010 (11/13/10)

Related posts

Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010

Western Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 16, 2010

Related posts

The Blink Theory: Why Charlie Weis Failed at Notre Dame & Why Brian Kelly Will Succeed

Related posts

2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Season Tickets

2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets – Season Package (Includes Tickets for all Home Games)

Order Now

Related posts

Stanford at Notre Dame Football Tickets | September 25, 2010

Stanford at Notre Dame Football Tickets September 25, 2010

Notre Dame Stadium | South Bend, Indiana | 9/25/10

Order Now

Related posts

Pittsburgh at Notre Dame Football Tickets | October 9, 2010

Pittsburgh Panthers at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets October 9, 2010

Notre Dame Stadium | South Bend, Indiana | 10/9/10

Order Now

Related posts

Michigan at Notre Dame Football Tickets | September 11, 2010

Buy Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Michigan Wolverines Football Tickets

Notre Dame Stadium | September 11, 2010

ORDER NOW

Order Now

Related posts

Michael Oher Would Never Get a Chance at Notre Dame

Related posts

One thing Brian Kelly Won’t Have in South Bend

Related posts

Notre Dame Has Lowered It’s Athletic Standards to Accomodate Academics

Related posts