Three-Point Stance: Brian Kelly's blame game, A&M's rise, five-stars

Today’s edition looks at Brian Kelly's blame game, Texas A&M's rise and the programs that have landed the most five-star prospects over the last three recruiting cycles.

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I could probably write 2,000 words on Notre Dame’s 10-3 loss to NC State over the weekend. From whether the game should have been canceled due to the weather (yes) to the Irish's play-calling (ridiculous), there are so many juicy topics from which to choose. But, by now, those topics have been hashed out a million times, so there is no need to beat a dead horse.

Here’s what worries, or at least aggravates, Notre Dame fans the most: Brian Kelly’s apparent stubbornness and unwillingness to change while he blames his players. Yes, Kelly fired Brian VanGorder following the team's embarrassing loss to Duke, but he wasn't left with much choice after a 1-3 start. What I’m talking about is Kelly’s insistence on doing things his way and then, if that doesn't work, throwing his players under the bus.

Is it Sam Mustipher’s fault that Kelly had him snapping shotgun in a monsoon on 4th and 8? Is it DeShone Kizer’s fault he was asked to throw the ball 26 times in impossible conditions or asked to run the ball so many times with zero footing? Is it the wide receivers' fault that there were so many drops in the game? Nope, nope and nope. But Kelly never seems to accept any of the blame, at least as far as I can tell.

I read a recap after the game titled “Brian Kelly takes blame for Notre Dame’s loss at NC State” and then went on to read quotes from the head coach about not second-guessing the number of throws and how he was surprised that the passing game wasn’t as effective as he thought it would be. What? Excuse me?

Kelly called the snapping in the game from his team "atrocious." It was bad enough to see him verbally undress Mustipher on the sideline following the fourth-down bad snap, but to search and search for that accountability from the coach and find little of it was possibly worse.

Notre Dame fans know this isn’t the first time he’s “assumed” responsibility while deflecting it at the same time. Kelly’s teams have come out flat in many games this season and 2-4 has been the result so far. The Irish could be on their way to their worst season since the year Charlie Weis got fired.

As a leader of young men, I feel it would be best for Kelly to fall on his sword and be the shield his players need, even if they didn’t execute in a situation. Now, even if Kelly begins to do that, it will be considered too late or perhaps contrived by a fan base he is coming close to losing and perhaps by a team he has already lost. And, as a recruiting guy, you can trust me that prospects know when a coach gets a reputation for blaming his players. That’s because it’s pointed out to them by every program recruiting against Notre Dame.

How about those Texas A&M Aggies? Kevin Sumlin was, in my opinion, clearly on the hot seat coming into this season following last season's fifth-place SEC West finish, the loss of his top two quarterbacks to transfer and a Twitter debacle involving one of his assistants that led to a decommitment in May. Heck, there’s been more but I don’t have the space to write about it all. I summed up the situation in College Station as a “mess” at one point.

Now? The Aggies look great. Quarterback Trevor Knight is dangerous, Trayveon Williams is awesome as a freshman, the wide receiver corps is deep and dangerous and that defense is ultra-talented.

Of course we’ve seen hot starts from these Aggies before under Sumlin, but something about this year feels different and that something is the depth of talent. This team can beat you in so many ways and they seem to have a really good chemistry about them. Knight is a leader, everyone seems to be pulling in the same direction and Texas A&M had every chance to crumble on Saturday to the miracle Vols and didn’t.

Is this the team that can topple Alabama in the SEC West? It could be, and I’m not sure I believed that before this weekend’s win over Tennessee. The Aggies have been ranked in the national top 10 in each of Sumlin’s five seasons, but they have never finished there except for his first season in 2012. They could make a return in 2016.

While doing some research last week for our Five-Star Week, I found it interesting that some teams have had great success this season with numerous recent five-stars and some have failed. Here’s a quick breakdown of the top teams landing five-stars from 2014-16 and how they are doing…

1.) Alabama (6-0) – 15 five-stars – No surprise here. They are doing pretty well with the talent, right?

2.) Florida State (4-2) – Nine five-stars – The Seminoles have not been so hot this season as the defense, while it looked better against Miami, has been awful.

3.) USC (3-3) – Eight five-stars – Things aren’t going so well for Clay Helton despite the Trojans' win over Colorado.

4.) Tennessee (5-1), Auburn (4-2), Clemson (6-0) – Seven five-stars – The Vols just suffered a tough overtime loss on the road but they have proven to be one of the top teams in the SEC. Auburn? It appears the Tigers are underachieving with so much talent despite the recent wins. And Clemson? Dabo Swinney's team is the best in the country and they are certainly taking advantage of the talent influx.

5.) LSU (3-2), Georgia (4-2) – Six five-stars – LSU is clearly underachieving. Georgia should be 5-1 were it not for a Hail Mary, so you could say the Dawgs are doing just fine.