Welcome Back To South Bend, Brian VanGorder
You all remember Brian VanGorder? Right?
He was only the worst assistant that Brian Kelly has hired while he’s been at Notre Dame. He was a defensive coordinator for two seasons in South Bend. That includes the first four games disastrous 2016 season. The Irish allowed 33.5 points in those four games, and only beat Nevada.
Things weren’t working out, and he was fired after a loss to Duke.
For VanGorder, things haven’t improved in the years since then. He spent the rest of 2016 as a defensive analyst for Georgia, then took the same position at Oklahoma State in 2017. The analyst role is a position that coordinators and head coaches disappear to for a few seasons, after they’ve failed. It gives them a chance to rebrand themselves, and lets people forget their failures.
It worked, and in 2018 VanGorder got another shot at a Power 5 defensive coordinator job. He packed his bags, and headed to Louisville. In Louisville, he produced one of the worst defenses in the nation. VanGorder’s Cardinals let up 44 points per game last season. They allowed more than 50 points in seven different games.
That’s terrible, but you already knew that.
To give credit where it is due, BVG is only giving up 22 points in the 2nd half against FBS teams. He just also gives up 28 points on average in the 1st half.
— Ryan Palmeri (@rdpalmeri) September 30, 2019
Consistency is key.
Surely, Brian VanGorder’s new team (because there was no way he’d keep that job) is playing better. There’s no way he’d be running the same, poor defense that opposing coordinators have had figured out for years now.
Well, Notre Dame fans will get to see VanGorder’s progress in person this weekend. His new team, the Bowling Green Falcons, come to South Bend.
Bowling Green isn’t good, not even for a MAC team. Plenty of people would say that they’re the worst team in the country, if it wasn’t for Akron. No one would say they’re better than 5th worst. Outside of Bowling Green’s FCS win, they’re allowing 49.6 points per game. The three games taken into account for that number of 49.6? Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, and Kent State.
Those aren’t exactly world beaters.
It’s tough to feel bad for Brian VanGorder. I know that I don’t lose sleep over his failures. Still, it’s exciting to see just how bad his defense is going to be. It’s exciting to know that the offense should have a chance to get right this Saturday.
The Irish should use playing Brian VanGorder’s Bowling Green defense as a chance to get Ian Book more comfortable in the pocket, work on receivers getting separation, and getting push from the offensive line. They should regain some confidence. Then, Notre Dame should get the backups some time in a live action situation.
Next. Boykin scores again. dark
No matter what, Notre Dame should welcome back Brian VanGorder by dropping a 50 burger on his head.