Who Will be the Next Coach at Notre Dame

How is Harbaugh a great hire?

 

I'd want to see how Harbaugh handles adversity before I hired him. He's done a great job at Stanford, but he is in no way prepared to handle the slings and arrows of South Bend. I'd go with Mike Bellotti or Tuberville before I went with Harbaugh. You've got to have a guy who has shown he can take a punch and come back. I'd be surprised if they hire someone who hasn't coached in a BCS game yet.

 

Harbaugh inherited a team from Wlat Harris that went 1-11 in 2006. One year later they upset USC in the Coliseum. How much moe adversity do you need?

 

It always comes around to Wlat with you, doesn't it?

 

If Harbaugh turned in a season like Stanford's this year at the Dome - a win against USC, losses to Cal, Arizona, Wake Forest and Oregon State - and a trip to the Gator, people would be grumbling.

 

Harbaugh is one of the rarest of souls who is a very good fit for the Raiders. He's coached in Oakland, he's in the area, he loves Al and Al loves him.

 

That would be interesting. I just don't think Harbaugh would pick up the phone when Al wants a deep pass.
I don't doubt that he's a good coach and will continue to be one, but he doesn't seem to be the type who will take kindly to people who say "but we've always done it THIS way." I mean how many former QBs would craft an offense featuring an unbalanced O line and a mack truck at running back? In the Pac-10 no less?

 

As well they should.

And I think the Paul Johnson love on here has gone way, way, way too far at this point.

It sounds like people think that Notre Dame should hire him because the school needs to acknowledge that it's just a little engine that could. With the resources Notre Dame throws into football and its institutional advantages, that is what is "absurd." He's not even on any lists I've seen since this all got serious.

 

Kind of like the folks who said Alabama should just accept that it's not an elite program anymore and hire Jim Grobe. Then they went out and hired Nick Saban.

Notre Dame can make the same level of hire if it's patient enough. Punt this recruiting class. Wait on Urban Meyer (or whomever else might become available after the NFL season).

 

What's his upside, though? I don't know the answer. I'm curious about what people think.