The Grotto burns!October 23 - October 30 in 2010 will go down as the darkest hour for Notre Dame football, perhaps ever. Personally, I would also rank it as the 2nd worst week in ND history after the fire in 1879 wiped out the main building. While that fire put the very existence of Notre Dame in doubt, that awful week in 2010 has put the future of our football team in doubt.
A season already in turmoil, the Irish lose on the road to Navy. Not just a loss, but a complete dismantling. We were outplayed, outcoached, and the game was a disgrace. The next week during practice, a student dies in a tragic accident. Calls for everyone involved to be fired from Brian Kelly, to Jack Swarbrick to Fr. Jenkins arise nationally. We then go on to lose to Tulsa at home. In a game in which we were playing with heavy hearts in honor of Declan Sullivan, we lost to one of the weakest opponents we have faced in years.
After that week, I really questioned if this was it. Has Notre Dame football become obsolete, an historical relic of a bygone era? Many have questioned this for years, and until now I had always dismissed those thoughts. Maybe they were right?
Well, two weeks have passed. A fortunate BYE week in the schedule has allowed the team time to regroup. It has also given me a little perspective. I think we have a number of factors that are unfortunately all converging on us at one time.
New Coach
More so than our last 3 head coaches, Brian Kelly is a "system" coach. He has a way of doing things from top to bottom. Sounds like he has been trying to completely overhaul the football program from day 1 on the job. That can't happen overnight. Our last real coach, Lou Holtz, was 5-6 his first season after taking over a similarly downtrodden team. I'll eagerly anticipate our development next year.
Key Injuries
Not counting the myriad injuries that have caused players to miss a game or two, ND has sustained catastrophic injuries across the board this year:
- Dayne Crist: starting QB (and only QB with ANY experience) out for season
- Armando Allen: starting RB out for season
- Kyle Rudolph: All-American starting TE out for season
- Ian Williams: starting NT (on a very thin DL) out for season
- Michael Floyd: All-America starting WR hobbled by a hamstring the entire season
- Gary Gray: starting CB hobbled with a bad foot all season
Poor Recruits
Back to Kelly, it is clear that he hasn't been able to adapt well to the players currently on the team. However, I wonder about how good these guys are. Kelly doesn't run a complex scheme, but he is constantly yelling at his players on gameday for what look to me like the most boneheaded mistakes. These guys just don't learn! Our past recruiting classes on this team ranked #8, #2, #21, #14. Perhaps we overrated some of those recruits in 2007 and 2008. I think a little time will be needed to turn things around.
Rise of New Powers
Our futility is magnified when other schools are having big success. The non-BCS schools like Boise State, TCU and Utah seem to signify a change in college football. Is Notre Dame being passed by? However, traditional football powers like Alabama and Ohio State are also doing well. Why isn't ND? We all know that programs ebb and flow over the years, but it seems we have been down for far too long!
Conference Bias
College football is completely dominated by the BCS conferences given the current landscape. TV contracts, bowl alliances, BCS formulas, pollsters, opinion-making TV coverage - all of these are controlled by the conferences and their supporters. Fortunately, the TCUs of the world are doing their best to bust this up. However, what we really need is for the BCS system to be blown up. A college football playoff is coming, and when it does, it will level the playing field for all teams - Notre Dame included. Conferences will be less important, scheduling will open up, and the best team will truly be crowned champion every year.
Bad F$%ing Luck
How many coaches in the midwest practiced outside on October 27? How many told their film guys to take the day off? While the death of Declan Sullivan was tragic, and it could (and should) have absolutely been preventable, it was an ACCIDENT! There are probably dozens of coaches breathing a heavy sigh of relief that they got lucky on that very day. Meanwhile, they are all quietly revising procedures for filming in inclement weather. Does anyone really think Brian Kelly told anyone to get the kid up on the tower to film practice? Declan did what he did every day for practice. I can assure you that other than the Sullivan family, nobody feels worse about this accident than Brian Kelly.
The thing is, all of these factors will be resolved in the next year or so. I think we can reasonably expect to see huge improvement in 2011. I am writing off 2012 due to the IMPOSSIBLE SCHEDULE. Then, in 2013, we should expect to see a polished product on the gridiron. In Kelly's 4th year we should be back on top. With a break or two, we may have a chance to truly achieve our Return to Glory.
3 comments:
Here's why I am concerned. Dayne Crist is not good. He didn't show any improvement over the course of the year, albeit an injury shortened one. Next year, is basically the same as this year. A relatively inexperienced QB coming off a relatively major knee injury. Then in 2012 we will be back to square one, with an inexperienced QB. College football is all about quality QB play. Have it and you win, don't have it and you're ND in 2010.
I am not concerned because Crist is done. I think even if he fully recovers (big if), he is still beaten out for the job. Maybe not even by Rees! He isn't good and Kelly knows it. Its obvious he came back too soon from his prior injury. His new injury will likely make us a better team next year.
Don't forget injuries to Theo Riddick and the entire secondary. I agree that Crist is done - likely to be beaten out by Hendrix (who has been praised repeatedly by Kelly). Why not roll the dice with a (healthy) freshman for four years of continuity? Rees will end up transferring - a la Matt Lovecchio - after getting beaten out by Hendrix and Massa.
And even with all the bad luck we're still a couple plays from being 8-2 right now. Crist moves the ball easily against Michigan then misses a half, staking them a 21-7 lead. A ballsy fake field goal in overtime by Michigan State. A bad interception while in range for the winning field goal against Tulsa.
The bad losses to Navy and Stanford are troubling (even during a 5-6 first year Holtz was never blown out), but college football is all about good quarterbacks. And those two schools are riding once in a generation QBs in Dobbs and Luck.
Everything will balance out - no school that has ever had a reputation for winning (as Notre Dame does) will ever be obsolete. In the meantime, I highly recommend my self-imposed ND media ban. It made the game watch so much more enjoyable!
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