By: Jason T. Davis @WisdomOfSports
For a Notre Dame fan, I am extremely young. I'm only 26 and have no memories of Lou Holtz and his courageous carry-offs in the '80s. It's very unfortunate I don't because that was the last time Notre Dame was even nationally relevant. Sure, there were the few years with Samardzja, Brady Quinn and Weiss at the helm, but most Notre Dame fans could see that it wasn't going anywhere. The "illegal" push by Reggie Bush to get USC QB Matt Leinart into the end-zone was a pretty nice prick too. Either way, it was obvious the Irish weren't doing anything memorable in those years anyway. Keep in mind Notre Dame let Weiss go with 6 years left on his contract and a 35-27 record in 5 seasons, with 2 BCS bowl game losses in his first 2 seasons. Sure, for a moment there Irish fans thought this was what longevity was going to look like. 2 straight BCS bowl game appearances. It kinda felt good. A part of us thought that we'd taste the sweet glory that is "being relevant in a BCS world" for some time. We were wrong. And for the older fans, you at least got the 80's and maybe more. Us children of the baby-boomers has had nothing of memory. Not with-standing memory. Not the kid of sports memories you can appreciate at least. To me, this 2012 season is the first true taste of Irish success, and it feels good. I know there's 29 Seniors and we'll have a tougher go for a year or two while the roster refills itself with youngens, but I'm positive that Coach Kelly success is not the fleeting star that Weiss' success was. Brian Kelly is not only Coach of the Year, but also a coach that will once again bring stability and relativity back to this illustrious football program of Notre Dame.For all the haters who think the program's over-hyped and over-coveted, let me put out a few statistics to explain why they're so notorious. Notre Dame has won 13 National Championships(2nd in FBS schools to Alabama). Notre Dame has a Record 7 Heisman Winners(Ohio State has 7 as well. Maybe 8 is Te'o pulls off the miracle win) Notre Dame has produced 96 consensus All-Americans and 32 unanimous All-Americans(more than any other university.) These are all great reasons to feel like your favorite team or school is prestigious. It all makes sense. There's only one issue though. Most of those players were obviously before the 1996 season(Holtz' last year). In fact, most were before the 1990's altogether. Holtz went 100-30 during his 11 seasons as ND head coach and definitely had more success in the beginning than the end. However, since Coach Holtz, you're looking at Coach Davie for 5 seasons at 30-25, Coach Willingham for 3 seasons at 21-15, and Coach Weiss rounding it out nicely. That pretty much wraps up almost 2 decades of mediocrity during the media boom of America and a huge reason for Notre Dame haters to pounce and Notre Dame defenders to feel cornered and indefensible.
In my opinion, both sides of this argument are accurate. Notre Dame hasn't been relevant for almost 2 decades and there's no excuse for that kind of disappearing act. None. Notre Dame also has an incredibly thorough and rich history of success within the football program. This can't be ignored or forgotten by the true fan or the true hater. I ran through the numbers..they're gaudy. However, There's still no excuse for the lack of success to get the program back into the national spotlight for over a decade and a half(and I dont mean on NBC, I mean in the BCS discussion). What I'm saying though, is that there are reasons. There are factors involved that have hindered Notre Dame's chances and opportunities to stay on the top, or even floating in the middle of the college football world. Factors that have directly influenced how they fell so hard, so fast, and for so long. It can't just be the AD or the coaches involved. There's more to it. True, they did not find a guy who could build the program back up and continuously get 4-Star recruits to come live in South Bend until Kelly, but it is Notre Dame like it or not. A lot of kids DO want to come play here and be a part of a loving and rich tradition. Some simply for their faith, it is a Catholic institution. So how did this fall from grace occur? No way it should've gotten this dark. In my opinion, sociology has a lot to do with it.
Besides the routine answers(coach, AD, kids didn't think it was cool anymore, Catholic school, expensive), let me point out a few reasons why I believe Notre Dame sunk so low for so long. Some of this has to be contributed to the country we live in and the current situation facing our colleges and our student-athletes. Notre Dame has dealt with some key elements putting it at a disadvantage for recruiting and maintaining national success. For starters, South Bend is no flashy Los Angeles. It's no New York or Chicago. It's not even some great warm weather college town like Gainesville or Norman. It doesn't have the lure that USC, UCLA, Raleigh, Baton Rouge or even Little Rock can provide. It's cold as hell most of the year. Also, no one talks about how a vast majority(don't ask me why) of these top recruits come out of the South and West. That's strategically horrible for Notre Dame to begin with. For most top players, it just doesn't carry the "my buddies are going, it's warm, it's close" vibe that Tallahassee, Knoxville, Austin or any of these schools have. Notre Dame's location regionally puts them at a huge disadvantage in convincing these kids to come play in Indiana at a predominantly white and upper-class school instead of Florida, Florida State, Clemson, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU or Alabama. Notre Dame's tucked away in nowheres-ville Indiana, middle of the map with horrible weather conditions comparatively and nothing to do but go to school. Perfect choice for most parents, sure. But parents of star football players? Maybe. If they even want or have a say in their child's choice. They also have the disadvantage of being extremely exclusive when it comes to admissions. Most of these top recruits couldn't even get into Notre Dame! These elements include high school grades, standardized test scores such as the ACT and SAT, extra-curricular activities and simply maintaining a high GPA while attending the University. Keep in mind there are only so many scholarships as is. These factors and more have led to multiple top recruits choosing other schools over Notre Dame. I believe there are numerous factors that have and will continue to hurt Notre Dame's chances of being as competitive as the Alabama's, Oklahoma's, USC's or Texas's of the world. It's just the truth. The math just doesn't add up for some of these kids(no pun intended). The correct decision for most kids, in most situations, is to Not choose Notre Dame. The top players are looking to make the NFL, not gain the best education they can. Sometimes that's how it's seen despite the advantages at Notre Dame both on and off the field. All this and more is what makes this run by Brian Kelly and his boys so memorable. I do believe however that by not playing in a conference, Notre Dame is at a huge advantage because they wouldn't survive a conference like the SEC almost every year. They would most likely not even have a chance at a National Championship game almost every season. Some ND Lovers would argue this: They don't have to play in a conference championship, sure, but they also can't win a conference championship and have automatic BCS birth." This is true and has hurt ND a few years in the past, but it usually didn't play into effect. Now, knowing the BCS is going away, not belonging to a conference will certainly help the Irish more than hinder them With the top 4 entering a playoff and maybe even top 8 in a few years, Irish have as good of a shot as any setting their schedule each season.
Regardless of it all, Brian Kelly has navigated through all the turmoil and issues in a short period of 3 years to put the Irish back on the national platform and playing for a National Championship. I never thought I'd see the day...possibly in my entire life. Fun Fact to think about over the next 40 days till this game. If Brian Kelly can pull off this win over Alabama, he'll have a national championship in his 3rd season. That's the same year former Notre Dame coaches Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine and Lou Holtz all won a National Championship. In my opinion, he has proved he is the right man for the job, but now he has a chance for a serious fairy-tale ending.
Jason T. Davis @WisdomOfSports
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