Rockne's Roundtable

blueeagles,

Regarding the warp speed offense run at Cincinnati, we asked Chuck Martin about it for our 2012 Preview, and he noted that the overall personnel at Notre Dame, including defense, dictated a more conventional pace for the offense, especially when Rees was at the throttle as a freshman.

"It’s more about managing the game with the personnel that you have, and is it in the best interest of your overall team to be successful," Martin said. "It just depends on how you’re trying to win the game, what the strengths of your team are — and not just the offense.

"The last two years we’ve gone up-tempo some. We still have the ability to go up-tempo if we want, and I think it will be a useful tool. Coach Kelly has never been like Oregon where they just go up-tempo no matter what. If you’ve followed his career, he went up-tempo when it gave his team the best chance to win — like at Cincinnati, where he needed to win shoot-outs — and in other games he didn’t go up-tempo at all.

"The skill set at Oregon really suits what they do. For us, it’s still managing our skill set and our depth. How many guys can you get rolling through there against our schedule? When you go up-tempo, you’re going to need more bodies, and how deep are you at certain positions and how much can your offense handle it mentally, going quickly and executing?

"The more stuff you do, the harder it is to go up-tempo. The less stuff you do, the easier it is to go up-tempo. It’s finding the right balance."

But you are not alone in your sentiments about maybe the play-calling system creating some delay problems.

Very good point Lou. Most of us think we know a lot about football. Some of us do know quite a bit. Some of us think we do. None of us know what a coach, that has honed his coaching skills for 20 + years can know . Especially about his own team. We, and I mean all of us, do not see enough to truly know what goes into the decisions on who gets the nod at a certain position, QB in this case. With a player who has made his mark like Floyd, Martin or Eiffert it becomes obvious. Like you said . The coaching staff has their careers and reputation at stake.Sure they can make a mistake but it will be a mistake made with their best judgement with the information they have at hand.Hours and hours of analyzing practice tape and position meetings. I think I too am humble enough to defer to their professional decision. I do however reserve the right to criticize that decision if it doesn't turn out the way I expect. Wins!

ndin12,

Well said, and especially with ND fans there is always going to be that feeling that someone is being squandered ... like John Huarte would have been had Ara Parseghian not come along, like Montana would have been if Lisch didn't falter and Forystek didn't get injured, or like McDougal would have had Powlus not broken his clavicle the week before the opener.

I hear you and appreciate where you are coming from. At the same time, for every Huarte, Montana or McDougal, we can name about a half-dozen or more who came in with immense accolades and never quite panned out.

Nevertheless, a main point of the article that we can all hope for is that when you least expect it, someone sees his chance and seizes it. Maybe it will be Golson. My hope is that by the bye week (Sept. 29), it has crystallized so the program can move forward.