I'm optimistic. ND probably has unprecedented offensive talent and quality depth since Holtz left. I don't believe that Zaire is that much of an enigma. He's not proven, but he's been in the system over two years and has a good record of performance in the two games where he has had significant PT or started....and those were not against creampuff opponents.
The bigger question-marks for me are on the defensive side, but I think ND has a lot of things going for it, especially when compared to last year. One cannot underestimate the effect in 2015 of both introducing a much different (from Diaco) new defense system and the inordinate number of injuries. The silver lining is that many freshman and players without much experience got a lot of it...game time experience. From a mental standpoint, that has to have had a benefit in terms of their post season preparation. They clearly know what playing against top competition is like and what they needed to work on during the off-season. So, ND goes into the 2016 season with much more experience and level of comfort with the BVG system (there has been several player comments about how the difference is like day and night), injured players are back as is Russell, and all of a sudden ND has some real depth at many D positions, and many observers have stated that the difference was palpable during fall camp. One of the major unknowns is the impact of the new coaches ( and I include Elliott and Quinn in their new roles) on both game preparation and game day performance. I'll guess that that will be a positive.
Of course a lot of negatives could color this scenario, but I believe it is a very good bet that ND will win at least 10 games, possibly 12, and that the team will surprise.
The bigger question-marks for me are on the defensive side, but I think ND has a lot of things going for it, especially when compared to last year. One cannot underestimate the effect in 2015 of both introducing a much different (from Diaco) new defense system and the inordinate number of injuries. The silver lining is that many freshman and players without much experience got a lot of it...game time experience. From a mental standpoint, that has to have had a benefit in terms of their post season preparation. They clearly know what playing against top competition is like and what they needed to work on during the off-season. So, ND goes into the 2016 season with much more experience and level of comfort with the BVG system (there has been several player comments about how the difference is like day and night), injured players are back as is Russell, and all of a sudden ND has some real depth at many D positions, and many observers have stated that the difference was palpable during fall camp. One of the major unknowns is the impact of the new coaches ( and I include Elliott and Quinn in their new roles) on both game preparation and game day performance. I'll guess that that will be a positive.
Of course a lot of negatives could color this scenario, but I believe it is a very good bet that ND will win at least 10 games, possibly 12, and that the team will surprise.
