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Following consecutive 8-5 campaigns, Notre Dame entered this spring with a re-shuffled staff, a wide-open quarterback competition and arguably one of the nation's best defensive lines.

So, uh, about those three new assistants ...

"I love the energy out there, I love what I'm hearing in terms of teaching," head coach Brian Kelly said April 4, roughly halfway through the spring. "Guys are teaching and I can hear it. So for me it's exactly what I need to hear from our coaches. There's a lot of teaching going on, there's a lot of energy. So for me I feel really good about going out to practice, and what I hear I really like."

Nine days after that comment, defensive end Aaron Lynch announced his decision to transfer, eventually ending up with Notre Dame alum Skip Holtz at South Florida. A series of cryptic Twitter posts by nose guard Louis Nix in the days after Lynch's departure unsettled an already-uneasy fan base, and Nix's admittedly honest public comments afterward about having missed his Florida home did little to quell Irish fans' worst fears.

Then came the spring game, Everett Golson's coming-out party. The rising sophomore quarterback completed 11 of 15 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns, adding 25 yards on six rushes. Most importantly, he was the only of the four quarterbacks to not turn the ball over.

If that wasn't enough for Golson to improve his chances of starting in 2012 -- Kelly said afterward that he had trouble getting plays in on time -- the events of May 3 certainly did.

Tommy Rees, the only of the four signal-callers with starting experience, was charged with four misdemeanors as a result of his arrest at an off-campus house party. Police said that they had to use pepper spray to subdue Rees, who faces two counts of resisting law enforcement, in addition to minor consumption and battery.

So begins an offseason whose storyline, like last year's with Michael Floyd, will be dominated by an off-field run-in by a big-name player. Rees is due in court May 17, but his status with the Irish remains up in the air. Discipline of any kind -- even an offseason suspension -- would strongly diminish his hopes of taking the first snap Sept. 1 in Dublin, Ireland.

Kelly said after the spring game that the guy to emerge as the starter will be the one who commits to all the details in the summer. Golson and Andrew Hendrix — in addition to early enrollee Gunner Kiel — would be in much better positions to do that should Rees be dealt a ban. Regardless, leadership issue becomes an obvious question in light of the arrest.

Whoever does start should have plenty to work with in proven playmakers like Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick and Tyler Eifert. He will also be protected by an experienced offensive line, which returns four players with starting experience.

Linebacker Manti Te'o, who passed up NFL millions this offseason, returns to lead a defense that should still be strong enough up front, though a depleted cornerback corp could have benefited from playing behind an elite pass-rusher like Lynch.

A season that begins overseas is still four months away, but the drama attached to the hip of the nation's most polarizing program has only increased with spring ball in the rearview mirror.

1. It’s impossible to know whether Gunner Kiel will turn into the Next Great Notre Dame Quarterback or just another guy. But the last-minute decision by Kiel, from Columbus, Ind., to spurn LSU and drive to the South Bend campus only three hours from home is a warming balm for Irish fans frustrated with the pace of head coach Brian Kelly’s progress. A pair of 8-5s is noticeably lacking in face cards. Notre Dame endorsed Kelly a few days ago by adding two years to his contract. Kiel endorsed him by showing up.

2. USF announced the other day that it has scheduled a home-and-home with Nevada, beginning with a trip to Reno on Sept. 8. The Wolf Pack will play in Tampa in 2015. That’s a nice get by the Bulls, but they buried the lead. More important is that in 2012, as it did three years ago, USF will play Florida State and Miami. They also played Florida and Miami in 2010. As the Big East and ACC struggle to create schedules in the wake of their realignment, here’s hoping USF continues to play the state’s bigger names.

3. Speaking of which: here are the five most interesting intersectional games for next season, excluding the traditional non-conference rivalries: Boise State at Michigan State on Fri., Aug. 31; Alabama vs. Michigan in Cowboys Stadium on Sept. 1; West Virginia at Florida State on Sept. 8; Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati at FedEx Field on Sept. 29; Notre Dame at Oklahoma on Oct. 27.

Colleague Adam Rittenberg had a post Tuesday in the Big Ten blog that might have struck a chord with Notre Dame fans.

As many of you know by now, Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery drew some negative attention last week for his slamming of a chair during a timeout at Michigan State.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told USA Today that the conference doesn't expect such conduct moving forward. Rittenberg wonders if those on the sidelines of the gridiron have gotten the message.

Football coaches had better take notice, because we're in an age when every gesture is caught on camera and will make its way to the Big Ten office. One too many blowups could lead to repercussions from a league that wants its coaches to be good public representatives.

The Big Ten has some coaches known to get a bit riled up on the sideline. Nebraska's Bo Pelini had some well-documented issues in a 2010 game at Texas A&M. Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald is very animated during games. Although a gum-throwing Bill Lynch isn't around any more at Indiana, there aren't too many Tom Landrys in this league.

Will the McCaffery incident change how football coaches conduct themselves during games? Probably not. Should they pay attention to what happened? Absolutely.

Fans seem to be split on this issue. Most want their coach to be passionate and energetic. As a Chicago Bears fan, I struggle with Lovie Smith's perpetually stoic sideline demeanor.

But I've also heard from some Nebraska fans irked by Pelini's blowups (imagine if Mike Stoops had ended up in Lincoln, too?).

How do you want your coach to behave on the sideline during games?

Not mentioned because he is not in the Big Ten is Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, who caught plenty of heat for his sideline tantrums during the Irish's season-opening loss to South Florida. But he certainly fits the bill here.

I said at the time that Kelly likely would have been lauded for his passion had Notre Dame gotten off to a better start this season. And it's hard to believe Irish fans weren't just as angry while watching a five-turnover loss to an overmatched Big East opponent.

That being said, perception means a lot in the coaching business, particularly at the college level. And, to steal a line of thinking from Adam, as a New York Giants fan, I saw Tom Coughlin undergo a late-career makeover and become a much more likable figure with his players, something that proved crucial in a Super Bowl season four years ago.

It's been a topic brought up by you here and there during the season, but I'm anxious to hear more of your reaction to what you expect from your coaches on the sideline.

The warning signs were there from the beginning.

Persistent thunder and lightning rocked South Bend, Ind., throughout halftime of Notre Dame's season opener against South Florida, culminating in a game that ended five hours, 59 minutes after it started. The final tally was Bulls 23, Irish 20, with a quarterback switch and nighttime falling somewhere in between.

The lights came on one week later in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the Irish faced Michigan in the Big House's first-ever night game. But a 17-point lead entering the fourth quarter was not enough for Notre Dame, which surrendered 28 points to Denard Robinson & Co. in the game's final 15 minutes, with a pair of fumbles taking wrong turns, to add to the pain.

An 0-2 start rendered any preseason BCS-bowl expectations meaningless, and the manner in which those defeats took place were as sure a sign as any that this would be one strange season.

Consider:

• Notre Dame then routed Michigan State 31-13 in Week 3, one of only two regular-season losses for a Spartans team that ended up falling a few plays shy of the Rose Bowl.
• The Irish faced a third-and-goal from the 1, down seven, in the third quarter in Week 8 against USC before a fumbled snap resulted in an 80-yard touchdown the other way, effectively killing any chance of a win. It was the second fumble returned for a touchdown against the Irish when facing third-and-goal from the 1 during the season. (USF did it on Notre Dame's first drive of the season.)
• Five days later, Brian Kelly made controversial comments about the difference between the players he recruited and those he inherited, leading to player backlash on Twitter and an apology to the team the next day.

The Irish won eight of their final 10 games to finish 8-4 and clinch a berth in the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl against Florida State, another 8-4 team that saw lofty preseason expectations take a hit early. Tommy Rees will start for Notre Dame, the sophomore's 12th consecutive start after replacing Dayne Crist to start the second half against the Bulls in Week 1. Fellow sophomore Andrew Hendrix, who replaced Rees to start the second half at Stanford in the regular-season finale, is slated to see plenty of action against the Seminoles as well.

The status of Crist, meanwhile, is up in the air after the senior was granted his release to explore options outside of Notre Dame for next season, his final year of eligibility after graduating later this month.

Also leaving the Irish is senior receiver Michael Floyd, who re-wrote the school record books and hauled in 95 catches for 1,106 yards this season. Floyd, a projected first-round draft pick, could be joined by junior linebacker Manti Te'o, who is also projected as a first-round pick after leading the Irish defensively for the second consecutive season.

Personnel questions will be answered later. For now, let's take a look back at this campaign and hand out some hardware:

Offensive MVP: Wide receiver Michael Floyd

Floyd took full advantage of one last chance after a third alcohol-related offense last March put this season in jeopardy. The senior's 95 catches this season are an Irish record, as are the 266 for his career. His 3,645 career receiving yards are the most in school history. So, too, are his 36 career receiving touchdowns. Floyd was lined up virtually everywhere this season and dealt with three different quarterbacks. His downfield blocking improved greatly. And, big statistical performance or not, he remained a threat in every game and always required the full attention of opposing defenses. The Irish will certainly miss him next season.

Defensive MVP: Linebacker Manti Te'o

Following his 133-tackle output from a year ago, the junior has racked up 115 more tackles through 12 games this season, by far the most on the team. He has become more familiar in the backfield, too, notching 13 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, both good for team highs. Add in the fact he dealt with an ankle injury midseason, and Te'o had himself quite a junior campaign. A big decision awaits him this offseason, as Te'o is projected as a first-round NFL pick should he choose to forego his final year of eligibility.

Newcomer of the Year: Defensive end Aaron Lynch

The freshman burst onto the scene with a giant Week 3 performance against Michigan State, recording one sack, forcing a fumble and notching six quarterback hurries. To put that into proper context, no Notre Dame player recorded that many throughout all of the 2010 season. Lynch enters the Champs Sports Bowl against Florida State — a school he once committed to — with 5.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 13 hurries on the season. He was forced into extended playing time because of injury along the line, and he did not disappoint.

Coach of the Year: Running backs coach Tim Hinton

Hinton helped the rushing game exceed everyone's expectations but its own. Cierre Wood rushed for 1,042 yards and nine touchdowns, and Jonas Gray may have joined him in the 1,000-yard mark if not for an ACL tear Nov. 19. Gray, a senior, scored 12 touchdowns this season, including at least one in eight consecutive games, finishing his final campaign with 791 yards and a 6.9-yards-per-carry average. Hinton could draw interest from Urban Meyer at Ohio State, but for now the Irish are thankful for the work he put in this season.

Biggest surprise: Running back Jonas Gray

Speaking of Gray … Kelly said before the Irish's game against Boston College that he had never in his career seen a senior renaissance like Gray's. Gray overcame a potentially devastating Week 1 fumble against USF — one that resulted in a game-changing touchdown the other way — and ended up getting game captain honors against Air Force and starting four games. He spent much of the season in pursuit of George Gipp's single-season yards per carry record of 8.11, finishing with a 6.9 average. He had never scored a touchdown before notching 12 this season. Sadly, the campaign ended prematurely on Senior Day. Here's hoping Gray makes a speedy recovery and left enough of an impression on NFL scouts, as he was playing his way onto their radars before going down Nov. 19.

Biggest disappointment: Punt-return game

The Irish finished the season with a punt-return average of 0.30 yards per return, the worst among FBS teams. The Theo Riddick experiment backfired, as the junior fumbled one away in Week 1, and even the normally sure-handed John Goodman let one get away deep in his own territory Week 3 against Michigan State. Floyd voluntarily went back there to try to make something happen, but he never got a chance to return one this season. The Irish have plenty of work to do in this area in the offseason.

Game of the Year: Michigan 35, Notre Dame 31

The Sept. 10 contest had everything a college football fan could ask for: The first night game in the history of the Big House. Two of the three winningest programs in college football history. College GameDay on campus. The biggest crowd in college football history.

Then the game actually started, and it somehow surpassed the hype.

Michigan came back from a 24-7 deficit after three quarters, scoring four touchdowns in the fourth quarter and two in the final 1 minute, 12 seconds to shock the Irish. Vincent Smith's 21-yard touchdown catch made it 28-24 Michigan, Tommy Rees responded 42 seconds later with a 29-yard scoring strike to Riddick and Robinson closed things out with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with 2 seconds to play, capping off Michigan's third consecutive thrilling win over Notre Dame and a night for the ages. The Big House might as well quit while it's ahead; no night game there will ever surpass the first one.

Everyone hates Mondays -- except for Halloween. Here, we spice things up with a spooky look at Notre Dame's season and what remains of it as the calendar turns toward November.

Haunted House: We've been calling it the Big House of Horrors here for quite some time, so it has to be Michigan, right? Notre Dame has lost its past three games in Ann Arbor, including a 38-0 defeat in 2007. That may actually be better than losing on last-second touchdowns, the way the Irish have in their previous two trips to Michigan Stadium.

Scary movie: The Irish's opener was straight out of a horror flick. The lights came on, the sun went down and nearly three hours of thunderstorms rained on Notre Dame fans' parade, culminating in a five-hour, 59-minute contest that everyone in South Bend would like to forget. Five turnovers and a quarterback change plagued the Irish in a 23-20 Week 1 loss to South Florida.

Boo: Notre Dame has been relatively lucky injury-wise, except on the defensive line. There, senior end Ethan Johnson (sprained right ankle) hasn't played since the first snap Oct. 1 at Purdue and fellow senior Kapron Lewis-Moore (knee) is gone for the year. The third season-opening starter, nose guard Sean Cwynar, missed two games and has been limited much of the season because of a broken right hand, though he is now at full-strength and no longer has to play with a club on it.

Witchcraft: These were Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo's words following his team's 56-14 loss Saturday: "We tried to mis-direction him, tried to get him lost, tried to do some different things with eyes and that kid was dialed in. Like I said, we tried a lot of different blocking schemes and we couldn't get him blocked." He was talking about Manti Te'o, who has continued to puzzle offenses all season long. His 82 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks all lead the Irish.

Monster Mash: The Irish's Nov. 26 game at Stanford will be, if nothing else, a great chance to see where this team stacks up with the nation's elite. Stanford could be playing for a spot in the BCS title game then. And who knows, given all of the upsets that have happened the past two weeks -- maybe there's a shot, albeit a very slim one, that an 8-3 Notre Dame team is playing for a potential BCS bowl bid as well.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — They tailgated all day and they waved blue towels and they bounced up and down to seemingly every possible sports pump-up song imaginable. They enjoyed the bright lights and marveled at the shiny new helmets and saw Saturday's matchup build into more than just another game on their schedule.

And though it wasn't exactly clear what Notre Dame fans could have expected when looking back at a USC squad that ran through the home team and slowed its ground game to a halt, it was certainly more than this:

A 31-17 loss to the arch-rival, its ninth defeat in the past 10 meetings. A turnover-plagued performance that brought to mind the adventures of the season's first two weeks. And, most of all, the harsh reality that the BCS-bowl dreams that began before the season are all but officially over just seven games into 2011.

"I think from a player's standpoint, maybe we didn't stay true to who we were," fifth-year safety and captain Harrison Smith said. "Maybe we did buy into the hype, and we can't do that again. We didn't play with poise and there were penalties that you just can't have if you wanna win."

The five penalties will sting but not as much as the three turnovers, particularly after consecutive games without any. An early and surprising 17-0 deficit gave the Irish no margin for error in attemping their comeback, one made easier by — who would have thunk it? — special teams.

George Atkinson's 96-yard kick return for a touchdown brought the Irish to life in the second quarter, and they managed to tack on a field goal before the break to somehow make a seven-point game out of a half that saw them outgained by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.

Tommy Rees went down with a hyperextended right knee midway through the third quarter and Dayne Crist stepped in — and this looked like redemption for the California kid against USC, first hitting Cierre Wood for 4 yards, then hitting Tyler Eifert two plays later on a crucial fourth down, the ball moving and Notre Dame closing in on the Trojans after being outplayed for a majority of the game before that point.

Three plays later, third-and-goal at the 1, Crist fumbled the snap. Eighty yards later and Jawanza Starling was in the end zone with the ball and a 14-point Trojans lead, one that looked so big yet so familiar given Crist's last third-and-goal-from-the-1 play this season, even if he wasn't to blame for the opening-drive gaffe against South Florida in Week 1.

"Losing stinks. For me, it's hard for me to put a stink-meter on losing. They all stink," coach Brian Kelly said. "You know what I'm disappointed in? This is the first time that I've leaned on my guys pretty hard in the locker room. I was not happy. Because we're better than that. We're better than that. And, to turn the ball over in the ridiculous fashion that we have, I just, just makes me crazy. In terms of, I just don't understand how something so easy can come out the way it does.

"So I told our guys, 'Listen, every time we try to take a step forward, we seem to wanna take one step back.' I'm not gonna tolerate it. It's not gonna be pretty this week in practice. If we gotta go back and tackle every day, we'll tackle every day, because they know how I feel about the way we played."

The hypothetical playoffs that Notre Dame talked about so much have come to an unceremonious end, and now comes the more challenging part, re-focusing on the next-best-thing with plenty of season remaining, five games to prove to all that this is not a lost cause after its record fell to 4-3 with a return of similar frustration.

Perhaps the normal 3:30 p.m. start next week against Navy will spark what had become a familiarity with this team in its previous four games, moving the ball efficiently while eliminating the bad mistakes.

For now, rebounding from this letdown and controlling emotions is the next step, one Notre Dame received a hard lesson in Saturday night from its rival out West.

"You're trying to get at something that I think is real, and we talked about this," Kelly said when asked if his players could have been too excited going into Saturday. "We had some guys that didn't play with poise that need to play with poise. Championship football teams play with competitive greatness, which means when the stakes are high and the stage is great, they raise their game.

"Today, in that same situation, some of our players didn't raise their level of play. That to me is poise, and we're still building that. That's a hard thing to dig at. But we're still building that."

1. Pittsburgh’s 44-17 rout of South Florida on Thursday night may be a boon for Todd Graham’s Panthers but it is one more indignity for the reeling Big East. The No. 16 Bulls are the conference’s highest-ranked team and held some promise as the league’s rejoinder to its critics, particularly in the wake of the decision by Pittsburgh and founding member Syracuse to abandon the league. Maybe Pittsburgh will carry the flag for the Big East. But these are the same Panthers who struggled against Iowa and Notre Dame.

2. Florida quarterback John Brantley looks more comfortable in the offense of new coordinator Charlie Weis than he ever did playing in Urban Meyer’s spread attack last season. But as Todd McShay pointed out in today’s ESPNU College Football podcast, Brantley’s success has come in short, quick passes, not downfield throws. Against a fast, experienced Alabama defense, Brantley must do more than dump the ball off if the No. 12 Gators are to upset the No. 3 Crimson Tide.

3. A reader and Longhorns fan challenged my comment that TCU has supplanted Texas as the state’s most successful program. Since the beginning of 2006, TCU is 58-11; Texas is 55-15. In that time, the Horned Frogs and the Longhorns each have been to two BCS bowls; each has won one. Texas fans argue that strength of schedule should be considered. But given TCU’s momentum -- 16-1 in 2010-11 vs. Texas’ 8-7 -- it’s hard to see why the Horned Frogs shouldn’t be considered the best.

1. Arkansas rushed for only 102 yards on 33 carries (3.1-yard avg.) Saturday in its 51-7 defeat of Missouri State. You’d think that Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino would take advantage of a lesser opponent to work out the kinks. Nope. “I’m not patient enough to just sit there and keep calling runs,” Petrino said. “When you see what you’re seeing out there on the field, I just say to myself, ‘Just throw it. What am I doing? Just throw the ball.’” You think practice today and Wednesday will be tough?

2. Southern Miss had three huge special teams mistakes, which isn’t unusual in Week 1. But the Golden Eagles beat Louisiana Tech, 19-17, because of their kicker. Preseason All-American Danny Hrapmann? Not exactly. Backup kicker Corey Acosta made field goals of 25 and 42 yards in the fourth quarter after Hrapmann cramped up. Hrapmann returned to make the 49-yard game-winner with 2:32 to play.

3. Lee Roy Selmon, who died Sunday at age 56, is being mourned as a legend by two universities. In the '70s, Selmon and his two brothers served as the foundation around which Barry Switzer built the first two of his three national champions at Oklahoma. And South Florida remembers Selmon as the athletic director who shepherded the Bulls into the FBS. That shows that Selmon is mourned for the person he was, not merely because he made a lot of tackles.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame will likely know who its starting quarterback is Monday, head coach Brian Kelly said in a conference call today.

"We're evaluating them right now," Kelly said. "We just finished grading off film, we'll meet here at about 4 o'clock, start to discuss some things relative to personnel and then whatever decision we make, we'll talk to the quarterbacks involved and then get rolling again on Monday with the decision as to how it goes, so we're still in that process."

Sophomore Tommy Rees replaced senior starter Dayne Crist after the first half of the Fighting Irish's 23-20 loss to South Florida. Rees completed 24 of 34 passes for 296 yards to go with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Crist went 7-for-15 for 95 yards and an interception and Notre Dame entered halftime with a 16-0 deficit.

Kelly said a number of factors would go into a decision, but how the signal callers practice this week would not be one of them.

"A couple things. First, sometimes you want to evaluate, was it as bad as you thought or was it better than you thought?" Kelly said. "Because even now you get a sense and feel as the game goes, but sometimes when you go back and you take a step back and you look at film you get a better understanding of, maybe it wasn't the quarterback's fault on this play. Maybe it was some other factor. So film allows you to do that.

"So we'll do that today and then we'll find out and make a decision, here's where we want to go for the rest of the season, and that will be another critical decision. So it won't be as much what they do on the practice field, it'll be a decision based upon what we saw on film and what we think is the best quarterback right now moving forward."

Crist was named the season-opening starter for the second consecutive season on Aug. 23. He is 4-6 as a starter and has seen both his 2009 and 2010 seasons end prematurely because of serious injuries in each knee that required surgery.

Rees is 4-0 as a starter, though Notre Dame has lost the two games he has had to come in and replace Crist.

Kelly said the Irish won't try to hide who will lead the offense Saturday at Michigan Stadium, as both quarterbacks play a similar style.

"We're going to try to obviously sit down as a staff today and try to sort out what's in our best interest moving forward," Kelly said. "We've got two quarterbacks that we know are prepared to run our system, and we've got to figure out which one it's going to be.

"So we want to do it. This isn't going to be trying to gain a tactical advantage, because Dayne and Tommy run a very similar system."

Kelly's next meeting with the media is his weekly news conference at noon Tuesday.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- In 11 days as Notre Dame's starting quarterback, Dayne Crist has gone about his business the same way he did when battling Tommy Rees throughout the offseason for the No. 1 spot.

Emerging from that contest victorious was the easy part after suffering a pair of season-ending knee injuries that tested his mettle and cast doubts upon his durability as the Fighting Irish's top signal caller.

"There wasn't a day where I said, 'Man, I wish I didn't have this day, I wish I could have this day back,' " Crist said. "More than anything, each day in camp, I understood how important each day was, and I knew I couldn't leave anything on the field. That's got to be my mindset as long as I'm here."

Now, such a mindset will go a long way in determining the fate of a Notre Dame team with its sights set on a BCS bowl and taking the next step in Year 2 under Brian Kelly.

It is the perseverance Kelly saw from Crist in consecutive offseasons that gives the head coach comfort in handing over the offense to the senior one more time.

"This is only the start for him; you know what I mean?" Kelly said. "He's only gotten a chance to start against South Florida. He's got to produce to be the starting quarterback each and every week, so I think he carries that with him in the way he practices."

Crist carries a 4-5 record as a starter and 2,163 career passing yards to go with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions. But he brings those numbers with him after wiping away the burden of injuries in each knee.

An anterior cruciate ligament tear in Crist's right knee in 2009 only served as an opening act for the arduous path to the top of the depth chart. A ruptured patella tendon in his left knee in the ninth game of last season -- followed by an infection and the emergence of Rees, who went 4-0 as a starter -- presented a character test that he was ultimately able to pass.

"It may sound cliche, but the love of the game," Crist said of what kept him going. "I can't tell you how much football means to me and what a big part of my life football has been since I can remember, since I was 6-years old and playing football in Pop Warner. It means so much to me, this team means so much to me and this university means so much to me, that if it wasn't just this sheer love of the game, it was all these other people that I wanted to go out and play with and compete with and be successful with.

"Sure, I mean, rehab is tough. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. It's some dark times. If you don't love it, it's pretty easy to quit and give in. Those thoughts never really crossed my mind because of how much I love football and how much I love the university."

Kelly said Crist showed him the "want to" to re-win the job that he needed to see, culminating in a decision that had more to do with a road less traveled over two years than the 19 preseason practices the Irish ran before naming a starter.

That's what has Crist -- who actually has two years of eligibility left after not playing in 2008 -- treating 2011 as an all-or-nothing exercise.

"Last year everything was new to me -- just the game day experience, just the pageantry of college football as the starting quarterback, that was all new to me," Crist said. "I think that I had some jitters last year on opening day and I was overly excited, understandably so. This year I will obviously be incredibly excited to start the season and finally get to go out and compete against some other guys, but it will be a lot more calm of an experience for me.

"A more mature time, I think."

1. South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia has been painted as a tall, strapping mess of trouble almost from the day he arrived in Columbia four years ago. Head coach Steve Spurrier reinstated Garcia on Monday after the university suspended him for the fifth time in the spring. Garcia, despite his reputation, already has earned an undergraduate degree in sociology. He’s also started 28 consecutive games. Imagine what he might achieve this season if he truly matures.

2. South Florida guard Jeremiah Warren is not only the anchor of the Bulls’ offensive line, he’s also plays tuba in the USF Concert Band. He said there are similarities between reading music and reading a playbook. “If it’s Bach or Beethoven, it’s a lot harder than Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” he said. “If the play is an Iso, that’s no problem. But you get into a counter or a reverse, man…..” By the way, Warren ate seven lobsters at the Big East clambake on Monday night. Last I saw him, he was on the prowl for No. 8.

3. It turns out Stanford will not have a bushy-bearded Heisman candidate this fall after all. Quarterback Andrew Luck, who appeared at Pac-12 Media Day last week looking vaguely Amish, shaved his summer-long growth on Monday. Took a little off the top, too. “Shave and a haircut -- almost didn’t recognize him,” head coach David Shaw said. Luck cleaned up in preparation for the start of practice next Monday, a full seven weeks before classes begin. Stanford is one of the few FBS schools still on the quarter system.

New UCLA defensive coordinator Joe Tresey was fired at Cincinnati before the 2009 season, lasted only one year at South Florida and then couldn't get any other job other than with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League last fall.

Ergo: Desperate hire by Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel, right?

Not really. The devil is in the details. As for the numbers from coordinating defenses, Tresey's are solid.

2007 at Cincinnati: The Bearcats led the nation in turnover gained (42) and interceptions (26). They ranked eight in sacks per game (3.23). What about points? They were 13th in the nation: 18.77.

2008 at Cincinnati: The Bearcats ranked 31st nationally in total defense (321.9 yards), 19th in rushing defense (115.0) and 25th in scoring defense (20.1 points). They were ninth in the nation with 2.86 sacks per game. Didn't force as many turnovers, though: Just 22. Of course, that's four more than UCLA forced last year and would have been tied for fourth in the Pac-10 in 2010.

2009 at South Florida: The Bulls ranked 24th nationally in total defense (321.8 yards) and 19th (tied) in scoring defense (19.8 points). They forced 23 turnovers that season.

So what about those details? Well, recall that cryptic "timing issue" that Neuheisel alluded to Tuesday as to why then-Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, now at Notre Dame, fired Tresey? Well, that's mostly what it was.

Following the 2008 season, Tresey thought he had been hired as Miami's defensive coordinator, so much so that he told Kelly that he was leaving. But then Tresey and Shannon couldn't finalize a deal -- it apparently was over what position Tresey would coach -- and Shannon left Tresey at the altar. That interview, combined with Kelly's desire to switch to a 3-4 from Tresey's 4-3, drove a wedge into the relationship, and Kelly then made plans to move on with Bob Diaco, who's now with Kelly at Notre Dame. So Tresey was out of a job.

It's meaningful then that Tresey quickly landed on his feet as the defensive coordinator of a Cincinnati foe in the Big East: South Florida. It's not easy to get a job after national signing day, but Bulls coach Jim Leavitt wanted Tresey.

So why did Tresey last just one year at South Florida? Wasn't his fault. Leavitt was fired in January of 2009 after a school investigation concluded he grabbed one of his players by the throat, slapped him in the face and then lied about it.

Incoming coach Skip Holtz brought in his own guy to coach the Bulls' defense: Mark Snyder. So, in mid-January, Tresey was out of work, though he was a good soldier for the Bulls until he got pink-slipped, which Holtz even acknowledged.

That is how he ended up coaching in the UFL.

Is Tresey a spectacular hire? No. Bruins fans would have been more juiced to get Vic Fangio or Rocky Long, Neuheisel's first two choices.

But considering how the nearly two-month search played out in the media -- it didn't seem pretty, did it? -- Neuheisel landed a solid, experienced candidate who figures to bring an attacking, aggressive scheme, which the Bruins didn't have last fall.

And, by the way, it's not like Neuheisel isn't invested in this decision. He's fully aware that 2011 is a win-or-else season for him in Westwood.

Some more stories on the Tresey hire here and here and here.

A lot of names have been attached to the UCLA vacancy at defensive coordinator, but the guy Rick Neuheisel tapped on Tuesday was not one of those names.

Joe Tresey, 52, a former defensive coordinator at Cincinnati and South Florida, has been named UCLA's defensive coordinator, ending a lengthy and winding search since Chuck Bullough was fired on Dec. 18.

“He has an aggressive style that forces turnovers and negative-yardage plays and I feel our players, especially our youngsters, will benefit greatly from his style of play," Neuheisel said in a statement. "He is a fine teacher and I can’t wait for him to get started.”

Tresey coached at South Florida in 2009 and Cincinnati -- under current Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly -- from 2007-08. Last year, he was the defensive backs coach for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League. (Recall that Bulls coach Jim Leavitt was fired in January 2010 after a school investigation concluded he grabbed one of his players by the throat, slapped him in the face and then lied about it.)

In 2009, South Florida ranked 24th nationally in total defense (321.8 yards) and 19th in scoring defense (19.8 points) while compiling an 8-5 record. The Bulls forced 23 turnovers that season. In 2008, Cincinnati ranked 31st nationally in total defense (321.9 yards), 19th in rushing defense (115.0) and 25th in scoring defense (20.1 points).

Tresey is a secondary specialist "with a reputation for forcing turnovers and piling up sacks."

But also consider this paragraph from a Tampa Tribune story on Tresey's hire at South Florida: "Tresey was fired last month by Bearcats coach Brian Kelly, who said he had philosophical differences and was shifting to a 3-4 defense, but the move could have also been prompted by Tresey's talks with Miami."

Recall that one of the reasons Neuheisel dispatched Bullough was a desire to switch to a 3-4 scheme. Tresey is a 4-3 guy.

Here's a Q&A with Tresey, also from the Tampa Tribune.

A 1982 graduate of Ohio State, he also has coached at Central Michigan (2006), Georgia Southern (2004-05), Akron (2002-03) and VMI (1999-2001).

Before Neuheisel tapped Tresey, a multitude of coaches were touted as potential candidates, including Vic Fangio, Randy Shannon, Rocky Long, Chuck Heater, Teryl Austin, Rocky Seto, Jeff FitzGerald and Steve Brown.

13-9. Jeremy Ito. 48 straight points.

Some losses are so painful that the mere mention of a name, phrase or score instantly brings back horrible memories. Today, as part of ESPN.com's House of Pain series, I'm going to list my nominees for the most painful loss in school history for each Big East team.

CINCINNATI: For years, Cincinnati wasn't good enough to have many painful losses. But one sticks out: Ty King returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown with 19 seconds left as rival Miami (Ohio) beat the Bearcats 23-16 in 1995.

CONNECTICUT: The 2009 season was full of heartache for the Huskies. No game hurt more than the loss to Rutgers. UConn had seemingly won the game in the final minute, but the Scarlet Knights scored on an 81-yard pass from Tom Savage to Tim Brown to ruin the Huskies' first home game since Jasper Howard' death.

LOUISVILLE: Cardinals fans still rue the 2006 loss to Rutgers that kept their team from a possible BCS title game appearance. Louisville led 25-7 in the first half but would not score again. Ito drilled the 28-yard game winner with 17 seconds left after William Gay jumped offside on the kicker's first, missed attempt.

PITTSBURGH: Pitt has never had a more talented team than the 1981 edition. The Panthers were undefeated and ranked No. 1 when they took a 14-0 lead over Penn State in the season finale. But the Nittany Lions then scored the final 48 points in a loss that still perplexes Pittsburgh fans.

RUTGERS: The Scarlet Knights just had to beat a Pat White-less West Virginia in the 2006 season finale to claim the Big East's BCS bid. Instead, backup Jarrett Brown led the Mountaineers to a 41-39, triple-overtime win that sent Rutgers to the Texas Bowl.

SOUTH FLORIDA: Bulls fans were beside themselves when the young program climbed to No. 2 in the polls in October 2007. It all came crashing down on a Thursday night in Piscataway, N.J., when Rutgers dashed South Florida's dream season with a 30-27 win, aided by a fake field goal for a touchdown.

SYRACUSE: The eighth-ranked Orange had a chance to knock off No. 1 Miami in 1992 for a Sugar Bowl berth. They trailed 16-10 and were threatening to score, but tight end Chris Gedney was tackled 2 yards short of the end zone as time expired.

WEST VIRGINIA: Do we even need to explain? West Virginia fans were booking their tickets to the BCS title game before the 2007 season finale. One problem: Pitt -- which entered the game with a 4-7 record -- pulled off a shocking 13-9 upset in Morgantown that changed the course of both programs.

Which losses are the most painful for you? Remember to send me your comments and memories to this link. I'll highlight the best entries in a post on Friday.

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Pittsburgh was the overwhelming choice to win the Big East title in the league's preseason media poll that was released Tuesday.

The Panthers received 22 out of a possible 24 first-place votes in the voting by media representatives from all eight Big East cities. Pitt was picked second on the two ballots in which it was not tabbed No. 1.

That makes Dave Wannstedt's team the heaviest favorite in the league's preseason poll since Louisville in 2005. Now it's up to the Panthers to win their first conference title under Wannstedt.

Cincinnati and West Virginia tied for second in the preseason poll. The Bearcats, who have won the league two straight years, did not receive any first-place votes, while West Virginia had one. The other first-place vote went to Connecticut, which finished fourth in the poll. That's the highest-ever preseason projection for the Huskies.

Here is the complete poll with the number of points each team received through the voting:

1. Pittsburgh (22 first-place votes) 190
2. Cincinnati 142
West Virginia (1) 142
4. Connecticut (1) 131
5. Rutgers 99
6. USF 79
7. Syracuse 41
8. Louisville 40