Coach D met w/ ND Defense in South Bend Thursday night.

[huskymedic]

Douglas Farmer who is a IrishIllustrated.com Staff Writer had an article out tonight detailing the meeting.

Couple of noteworthy excerpts:

• Hours after Connecticut introduced him as its new head football coach, Bob Diaco flew back to South Bend to face his former charges.

• >>To the players, Diaco had received what he deserved -- a chance to lead his own program -- and by the sounds of it, the Thursday night return was part of why they felt such. "I think that showed the kind of guy he is," said junior linebacker Jarrett Grace after Friday night's Notre Dame football awards ceremony, where he received the Rockne Student-Athlete Award. "He's upstanding and has really high character and we appreciated him doing that."<<
  
  
• >>Diaco assured his former players they had nothing to worry about. "He just talked about the progress we made, the men we were, the men we're going to keep becoming," Grace said. "That's not going to change no matter who is in front of us, and we're going to continue to do great things."<<

• >>"Really, just happy that I got the opportunity to be coached by him," said freshman linebacker Jaylon Smith, recipient of the Defensive Newcomer of the Year Award. "He taught me so much and I love him. "It was a new opportunity. I understood 100 percent. That's how it works."<<
  
  
• >>"It was all him," said senior linebacker Dan Fox, holding his Nick Pietrosante for courage, loyalty and teamwork. "That's coach Diaco. He's so energetic, so happy. I think he's just really, really excited, and you could see that in his press conference."

• >>Diaco -- who was the linebackers coach at Notre Dame in addition to his defensive coordinator duties -- instructed Fox, among others, for four years. What word would the fifth-year senior use to describe their relationship? "I would probably say love," Fox said. "That's not necessarily something you hear from a linebacker coach, but his love for his players, the love for the game, the love for his family, his football family, were all things that were just truly tremendous. His character was one of the things that made him so special."<<

 

[metsfan2323]

That's awesome and encouraging. That should be sent to all our recruits.

 

[HuskyBarker]

A Big difference between how Diaco left ND compared to when Edsall left. Someone should email Randy this, as a lesson in True Character.

 

[jackl]

As far as Characters/Personalities go, you win some you lose some and some get rained out. We have seen all 3 possibilities in less than 3 years. Now is the time to rejoice with the right COACH to lead the program out of 2 1/3 seasons of Darkness. Thank You Warde Manuel and Susan Herbst, it took a while but the program looks like there is a Bright Future and most of the fan base has been rejuvenated.

 

[upstater]

• [ ]>>"It was all him," said senior linebacker Dan Fox, holding his Nick Pietrosante for courage, loyalty and teamwork. "That's coach Diaco. He's so energetic, so happy. I think he's just really, really excited, and you could see that in his press conference."

A Connecticut connection right there, Pietrosante is a Notre Dame of West Haven grad.

 

[Excalibur]

Someone made the comparison between Diaco and Greg Schiano and asked why they are different. I think the question has been answered . . .

 

[uconndogs]

This guy has the passion, energy, commitment and by all accounts character to head up a program. We sorely lacked that with the prior boneheads.

That all said, there are administrative and organizational skills that are required to be successful. It's not readily apparent he has that type of experience and time will tell if he has those skills or can develop them. With this type of hire that's just a risk you have to take. I will say, his having spent time in Kelly's system gives me some comfort. Kelly has always struck me as an excellent leader with well disciplined programs.

 

[Skiblets]

As an Edsallista I never understood why he didn't do the right thing with his departure. So much he did for this program was about character and discipline.

That being said, good for Diaco. I could not imagine a better way to assume the reins here. Now let's hope he can actually coach !!!

 

[uconndogs]

As an Edsallista I never understood why he didn't do the right thing with his departure. So much he did for this program was about character and discipline.

That being said, good for Diaco. I could not imagine a better way to assume the reins here. Now let's hope he can actually coach !!!

Agree with this entirely. It's a poor excuse for Edsall, but I do wonder if his relationship with Hathaway was just so poor that he felt it was his opportunity to stick it him......pure speculation.

 

[Stinger92860]

As an Edsallista I never understood why he didn't do the right thing with his departure. So much he did for this program was about character and discipline.

That being said, good for Diaco. I could not imagine a better way to assume the reins here. Now let's hope he can actually coach !!!

I appreciate everything Edsall did for the program, but his exit reeked of so long suckers. Totally opposite of everything he preached. Still wish he was here tho.

 

[ZooCougar]

As an Edsallista I never understood why he didn't do the right thing with his departure. So much he did for this program was about character and discipline.

That being said, good for Diaco. I could not imagine a better way to assume the reins here. Now let's hope he can actually coach !!!

Because Edsall showed his true colors, and so did Diaco. You are what you do after all.