Brian Kelly Puts Together Top-Notch Coaching Staff for the Fighting Irish: Grand Valley State Connection at Notre Dame: Defensive Backs Coach Chuck Martin also Recruiting Coordinator

In all the hubbub about Brian Kelly taking over as the head coach at Notre Dame, we missed a piece of essential information that we found today in looking at the NCAA Division II college football game scores.

As written at the Grand Valley State Official Athletic Site, were were surprised to see the headline Matt Mitchell Named Head Football Coach at Grand Valley State - GRAND VALLEY STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE in connection with Mitchell's nip-and-tuck opening season win 34-31 over West Texas A&M.

As written there:

"Allendale, Mich. - Tim Selgo, the Director of Athletics at Grand Valley State University, announced ... that Matt Mitchell has been named the seventh head coach in the tradition-rich history of the GVSU football program. Mitchell replaces Chuck Martin who left to become the defensive backs coach at the University of Notre Dame. Martin guided Grand Valley State to a 74-7 record during his six years at the helm, including two NCAA DII Football National Championships (2005-2006), five Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) crowns, and six playoff appearances."

That Brian Kelly could get Martin to join him at Notre Dame in a supporting role is a fantastic boon to the Fighting Irish, whose defense was terrible in past years and often the difference between winning and losing. Some years ago we even suggested Martin as the new Husker head coach at Nebraska. He is such a talented head coach in his own right that we expect him to last one or two seasons at Notre Dame before some large Division I-A FBS school hires him away as their head coach with an offer he can't refuse.

Kelly has in fact hired a numer of highly experienced coaches to his Notre Dame staff: see Mike Denbrock, Mike Elston And Chuck Martin Named To Notre Dame Football Coaching Staff.

Will Notre Dame be a team to watch this season? You better believe it.

YPPSYS College Football Prediction Results (II - continued) - Week 1, 2010 Season

YPPSYS College Football Prediction Results (II) - Week 1, 2010 Season
(this is a continuation of the initial posting at LawPundit, based on predictions made at LawPundit here, and to be continued in future postings in coming days as more scores come in)

Villanova at Temple.
YPPSYS called it: 24-23 for Temple.
RESULT: 31-24 for Temple.
We are 18-1 in calling the winner and 3-4 against the spread.
This is a great win for constantly improving Temple over the incumbent FCS national champions. Despite the misleading score, which resulted from a fumble recovery at the end of the game as Villanova tried one last desperation TD to overcome a 1-point deficit,  the game was almost dead even statistically and marked by an exciting 4th quarter in which the game was decided by a 43-yard field goal by Temple's Brandon McManus to make the score 25-24 with one second to play.

Arizona (favored by 15.5 points) at Toledo.
YPPSYS called it: 31-17 for Arizona.

RESULT: 41-2 for Arizona.
We are 19-1 in calling the winner and 3-5 against the spread.
The Arizona Wildcats, apparently still smarting from their 33-0 beating at the hands of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Holiday Bowl to close out the past season, put up 518 yards total offense, 413 of that passing on 37-44 completions, to win more easily than expected, 41-2, over a Toledo Rockets team that lost 38-0 to Ohio State last year. Arizona thus appears to have a very strong team. To show how good the Husker defense might be this year, Arizona with the same QB completed a mere 10 of 31 for 46 yards in the Holiday Bowl.