STILL A QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY
No matter what Tommy Rees does or may do, nor how often Brian Kelly may sing the praises of his evolving sophomore signal caller, that won't change the perception that continues to linger about the Notre Dame program like a funky smell that just won't dissipate.
Kelly can choose to ignore it all he wants. He can continue to practice the art of self-denial at which the Irish coach has proven to be quite adept. Kelly can also spin things so as to conveniently fit his own agenda or narrative.
But none of those manipulations will change one undeniable fact. Even 11 games deep into the current season, and whether Kelly likes it or not, he's still dealing with a quarterback controversy.
Oh sure, it's no longer a raging issue. Thanks to Kelly's obvious bias towards Rees, the subject has been greatly muted and tamped down. Nowadays, this controversy couldn't even be considered to be on the front burner. Instead, it's been reduced to being placed on a low simmer, far from hot but by no means completely snuffed out either.
Even with the modest success that Rees has experienced the past seven weeks against mostly suspect competition, that won't put to bed a nagging notion that continues to crop up in the minds of some within the program and plenty of observers on the outside looking in.
Because of Kelly's uneven and questionable handling of the ND QB situation, it's become a topic that won't quite die. It's a potentially dirty little secret that still bubbles right below the surface.
And perhaps the reason Kelly has tried to bury it is because at its very core, it brings with it some disturbing elements. Like the sins of injustice, unfairness and perhaps even worse, just a plain old example of prejudice.
Even today, with Notre Dame having won eight of its last nine contests, you can still make a strong case that Kelly is being stupidly stubborn by continuing to start the wrong option in Rees.
Hell, there are scores of people, this writer included, that are convinced that had not Kelly dumped all over Dayne Crist and prematurely removed him as a starter, the Irish wouldn't be sitting here with a disappointing three losses.
Though what Kelly did to Crist has been discussed and written about, it nonetheless has been basically glossed over. In many ways, Kelly's gotten a free pass over the matter. He's been allowed to pretty much skate unscathed, with not nearly enough fallout resulting from the travesty he perpetrated. And that just isn't right.
Flat out, Kelly did a huge disservice to Crist and by extension, he injured his football team by depriving it of a better and more gifted athlete to run the controls. His rationale for dispatching Crist to purgatory seems flimsy at best and speaks of a man who was simply looking for the slightest provocation to go with his "guy" Rees.
Let's backtrack and provide some history here. In a spirited fall camp battle, Crist outperformed Rees though the competition was reputed to be relatively close. Though their grasp of Kelly's offense was probably a push, the decision to go with Crist was more than justified. The 6-4, 235-pound senior from California had Rees beaten on a number of fronts.
Simply put, Crist was and is a much more dynamic when it comes to the areas of arm strength, scrambling ability, improvisation and leadership. In other words, he provides dimensions that the rather immobile Rees just can't.
But thanks to Kelly's impatience and panic reflex, Crist was done as the starter after just one-half of the opener against South Florida. Admittedly, Crist wasn't particularly sharp and he did toss an egregious pick in the USF end zone that blunted a promising drive and had Kelly going absolutely ballistic.
Yet, despite his mediocre performance, Crist did escort the Irish on a pair of solid marches that had the Domers beautifully positioned to score. But a Jonas Gray fumble and Michael's Floyd's holding penalty undermined two potential touchdowns. Those gaffes weren't on Crist but the way Kelly reacted, it sure looked like the coach was singling out Crist to be a scapegoat.
Come the second half, it was Rees taking the snaps and though no one knew it at the time, Crist was over and out as a first stringer. Talk about your quick hooks! So long Dayne and thanks for the memories.
What made Kelly's demotion of Crist even more suspect and hypocritical is what transpired in the ensuing weeks. To be kind, Rees became more of a turnover maker than your neighborhood baker. Rees became an expert at playing fast and loose with the football. With alarming regularity, the not-so-super soph was putting the pigskin on the ground and tossing passes to the enemy. How do nine turnovers in three and one-half games grab you? Boy, Rees was sure a master at securing the rock, right coach Kelly?
It was obvious for everyone to see that Kelly was using a totally different standard and measuring stick for Crist than he was for his "boy" Rees. Crist makes basically one bad throw and he's put in mothballs while Rees authors mistakes left and right and yet, Kelly never flinched.
It was utterly astonishing to watch Tommy implode time and again with seemingly no accountability or responsibility attached to his bevy of blunders. Kelly's handling of Crist as opposed to his treatment of Rees was heavy-handed at best, if not downright shameful.
So the question that begs to be answered is why the double-standard? Why come down on Crist like ton of bricks but show Rees the patience of Job? Kelly's own words would eventually provide a revealing though hardly flattering insight into his motivations.
In the aftermath of ND's stumbling loss to USC, Kelly articulated that those gridders he recruited were progressing fine but the holdovers, those from the Charlie Weis regime of which Crist was one, were slower to grasp his concepts and needed to be retrained. The blowback from that idiotic statement irked several on the team and threatened to create a rift among the players.
Though Kelly was quick to apologize for his insensitive and boneheaded remarks, he was fortunate the young men he offended reacted maturely, forgave their coach and immediately moved on. The potential for Kelly's comments to have caused genuine friction among the players was quite real.
But alas, Kelly couldn't dodge the inference of what those hurtful words conveyed. Namely, that on some level, whether close to the surface or deep within the recesses of his subconscious, he was playing favorites. Or worse, he was harboring a bias or prejudice against those he inherited from Weis as opposed to those that he had personally brought aboard.
How else can Kelly's callous handling of Crist be explained? On more than a couple of occasions this season, the efforts of Rees were so dismal a benching was certainly warranted. Rees's struggles were crying out for him to be removed. And we're talking about performances so inept that they made what Crist did look absolutely heroic. And yet, Rees was allowed to fight through his multitude of miscues while Crist was scuttled by basically a single error.
Where's the fairness in that? Or the impartiality?
The sad and damning answer is that there is none. Though Kelly will never admit to such a thing, his bias towards Rees has been exposed. It's hard not to come to the conclusion that he simply considered Rees to be one of his "guys" while Crist probably never was one. Crist's shocking and speedy banishment to the bench was an indication that Kelly was looking for any excuse or reason to rush Rees into the fray. When Crist misstepped, Kelly seemed mighty anxious to send him to the sidelines.
Admittedly, Tommy Rees has progressed to the point where he is becoming a more efficient though hardly spectacular quarterback. He seems to be growing incrementally into the position and thankfully, his turnover tendency is much more under control. Rees is becoming a serviceable manager of the Irish offense. He might eventually become good but because of his limitations, specifically an inability to heave the deep ball and his lack of mobility, he most likely will never be special.
Dayne Crist could have been. Not only did he possess the physical skills to excel but he also demonstrated a mental toughness to persevere and battle. How else could he have impressively rehabbed from two significant knee injuries and endured the pounding he absorbed last year while Kelly was busy trying to get the Irish accustomed to his newfangled offense?
Yes, Kelly can sweep it under the carpet and pretend it doesn't exist. He can downplay it all he wants. And as long as Rees doesn't totally mess up, it won't become a hot-button issue.
But the fact remains that, in all probability, the Domers aren't playing their best hand. Nothing that Brian Kelly says or nothing that Tommy Rees may do will ever convince this reporter that the Irish wouldn't have been better off with Dayne Crist as their triggerman. Crist should have been allowed more of an opportunity to demonstrate his skills. He worked too hard and for too long not to have been given more of a legitimate shot. Plain and simple, Kelly jobbed him and in some respects, jerked him around.
Maybe Kelly's not even aware of it but because of his actions as they relate to Crist and Rees, he opened himself up to plenty of second guessing.
And to those of us who still firmly believe in Crist, there will always be a quarterback controversy.