On December 28th, I declared that “The Gunner Kiel Saga Is Over“.

Let’s just say THE BLARNEY WAS WRONG AGAIN. Kiel turned away from LSU at the lost possible moment before enrolling early and signed in at Notre Dame instead on January 17, 2012 (the first day of spring semester).

His reasons are his and his family’s alone, but Brian Kelly deserves credit for maintaining a great relationship with Kiel throughout the process, to the point where Kiel still feels comfortable enough to go to ND despite spurning them twice. Kelly also deserves a ton credit for his dogged pursuit of elite talent–perhaps the first Notre Dame coach to play by the rules of the game itself (going after the recruits he covets all the way up until NSD, no matter whether that have said they are going elsewhere, or indicated Notre Dame was no longer in the running or had any chance whatsoever for their services) rather than the perhaps the more respectable “Notre Dame way” of laying off of kids verbally committed to another power, or giving up on kids because they “don’t feel the Notre Dame spirit”. Make no mistake, Notre Dame IS special, but Kelly is right in recruiting like it’s not. He sells Notre Dame relentlessly, he doesn’t expect Notre Dame to sell itself. This philosophy has helped him land the 5-star Kiel this year, and of course, 5-star defenders Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt last year, along with 4-star offensive lineman Jordan Prestwood (players who never would have ended up at ND under previous regimes). These days, with all of the skilled salesmen/recruiters out there, even the best schools have to chase the elite recruits without ego as if they were Steve Urkel chasing Laura Winslow.

Because Kelly understands this like no ND coach before, you can never count him out of securing a recruit until they have officially signed an LOI (letter of intent) to another university. I will punish myself for forgetting that fact when I wrote the original Gunner Kiel piece (just imagine the chalkboard):

I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university. I will not count out Brian Kelly to secure an elite recruit until he has signed an LOI/enrolled in classes at another university.

So… you thought the two best teams in the nation couldn’t play a more boring game than their first (9-6) slugfest. Riiiiiight. Instead, THIS game was even worse and caused an allergic reaction deep within my being, stopping me from being able to write a single word about college football for an entire week. I digress…

I watched. And yawned. And ate pizza. And yawned. And shot the shit with my homeboys. And ate more pizza. And shot the shit even more with my homeboys to avert my attention from the game. And occasionally glanced at the tv screen and looked away quickly so as to not be caught watching something so improper (it’s the same way your father should have taught you to look at a really great pair of breasts). And delved into a meaningful discussion about how a generation is losing the ability to communicate face-to-face due to technology with my homeboys to avoid watching anymore of the damn game. In other words, it was really a tough watch.

Here are some thoughts on the BCS Championship:

-Bama is really, really good. They absolutely curbstomped LSU, who absolutely curbstomped…well everyone else this year. The Tide performance left no doubt as to who was the best in the land.

-Nick Saban is really, really good. He just collected his third BCS Championship. Three. Let that sink in. That stacks up with the legends, folks. I think it’s now clear that Urban Meyer didn’t have health problems at the end of 2009, and he wasn’t burned out at Florida in 2009, he just knew he had to get away from coaching against Saban on a regular.

-Apparently, the best way to get ready for a big game is to watch Red Tails. You know, the one that shouts, “To the end…We fight! We fight!” (or possibly any movie with Terrence Howard in it, I’m not real sure). That’s all Saban talked about in the post game moments.

-The size, strength, and speed on the defensive side of the ball in that game was as good as you’ll see in college football. You can only get that way by having true depth. That means getting elite high school players at all three levels (defensive line, linebacker, defensive back)–every single year.

-Les Miles’ team had no clue what to do on offense. The game plan looked about as sound as Haloti Ngata going out in public in a pair of Daisy Dukes. Of course, it’s hard to do anything when Tide defenders are swallowing you up all night.

-Bobby Hebert is still wondering why Les Miles didn’t throw deep (”I mean, c’mon, that’s ridiculous.”). It’s because he has Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee at quarterback. To put that in perspective, they make Tommy Rees look like a Second Team All-America.

-Saban showed the value of changing tendencies (he attacked LSU’s coverage with McCarron and the passing game, nobody had done that all year), and Miles showed that he has to go back to the drawing board as far as an offensive scheme (one that doesn’t just involve having your defense bludgeon a team to death until the running game wears an opponent down).

Paul Hornung, ND’ original “golden boy”, is the namesake for college football’s newest honor: “most versatile player” (a player that can help their team the most in a large variety of ways).

Hornung is one of college football’s all-time greats (think the original Rocket Ismail, plus he could throw, and play defense), the only player special enough to win the Heisman on a losing team, so his name belongs right up there with the Biletnikoffs and Nagurskis.

However, he might have even more fame for the statement “ND must lower admissions to get the black athlete and win”. Technically, he may be right on lowering admissions, he just made the mistake of using the qualifying term “black”. (That’s what we call racial profiling.)

So, occasionally in his honor, the Blarney will bring you Hornung’s Words of Wisdom, or technically true statements that are worded wrong, or perhaps show some type of prejudice/political incorrectness.

Paul Hornung’s Words of Wisdom For 01-06-12:

“It’s high school all-star game weekend. The Under Armour All-America Game on Thursday, and the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday (The Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl was played on Tuesday). Think what you will of the “show” but the nation’s best stars have played in these games in the past (A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Manti Te’o, Andrew Luck, and host of others). No exceptions, if ND wants to be “back”, a larger percentage of players in these all-star games must end up signing with the Irish. Notre Dame gets some ( guys like Tee Shepard, Deontay Greenberry, Jarron Jones, and Ronald Darby) just not in the number that the elite schools are getting. You can say ESPN or the recruiting services have bias, but it is an undeniable fact that these games are an indicator of the strongest programs (half of the players commit to Alabama, for instance). So, if I say that I am disappointed in Notre Dame’s lack or representation at any of these games, know that I am serious. Serious like a heart attack.”