"It's not the X's and the O's but the Jimmys and the Joes." - Darrell Royal
Guys, Notre Dame has the best coaching staff in South Bend since the early '90's... and Alabama / Ohio State / Clemson have great coaches, too... Notre Dame has great Strength and Conditioning staff, as does Alabama / Ohio State / Clemson... But, at the end of the day, raw talent is an important difference... for example...
2016 Alabama #1 Recruiting Class (7 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #13 Recruiting Class (3 Top 100 Recruits)
2017 Alabama #1 Recruiting Class (11 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #13 Recruiting Class (2 Top 100 Recruits)
2018 Alabama #7 Recruiting Class (5 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #11 Recruiting Class (4 Top 100 Recruits)
2019 Alabama #2 Recruiting Class (9 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #14 Recruiting Class (2 Top 100 Recruits)
2020 Alabama #3 Recruiting Class (10 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #22 Recruiting Class (3 Top 100 Recruits)
Similar tabulations would reveal the same gap between Notre Dame and Clemson / Ohio State... And we didn't close the gap this year... Alabama took 12 Top 100 Recruits, so far, and Notre Dame took 3. But, our depth is better from 1 to 85 than in 25 years, which is why we've won 10 or more games four straight years, and the staff is making good use of grad transfers to fill in gaps... this team is still recovering from some terrible years of DB recruiting, which we lived through last night and will again on New Year's Day...
I just want to remind folks after a tough day that Notre Dame's program is healthier now than at any time since the early '90's, and I'm thankful for that... at the same time, let's not get frustrated by the fact that we haven't reached the top of the summit again... there are three teams whose talent is consistently better than everyone else's, and about 8 teams working day-in and day-out to reach that level... let's keep our fingers crossed that Kelly, having learned through clear mistakes and tough experiences, can figure out how to give Notre Dame recruiting another bump that will further close the gap with Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. I lived the days of Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, and Charlie Weis, and I have no desire to go back there... GO IRISH!!
Guys, Notre Dame has the best coaching staff in South Bend since the early '90's... and Alabama / Ohio State / Clemson have great coaches, too... Notre Dame has great Strength and Conditioning staff, as does Alabama / Ohio State / Clemson... But, at the end of the day, raw talent is an important difference... for example...
2016 Alabama #1 Recruiting Class (7 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #13 Recruiting Class (3 Top 100 Recruits)
2017 Alabama #1 Recruiting Class (11 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #13 Recruiting Class (2 Top 100 Recruits)
2018 Alabama #7 Recruiting Class (5 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #11 Recruiting Class (4 Top 100 Recruits)
2019 Alabama #2 Recruiting Class (9 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #14 Recruiting Class (2 Top 100 Recruits)
2020 Alabama #3 Recruiting Class (10 Top 100 Recruits); Notre Dame #22 Recruiting Class (3 Top 100 Recruits)
Similar tabulations would reveal the same gap between Notre Dame and Clemson / Ohio State... And we didn't close the gap this year... Alabama took 12 Top 100 Recruits, so far, and Notre Dame took 3. But, our depth is better from 1 to 85 than in 25 years, which is why we've won 10 or more games four straight years, and the staff is making good use of grad transfers to fill in gaps... this team is still recovering from some terrible years of DB recruiting, which we lived through last night and will again on New Year's Day...
I just want to remind folks after a tough day that Notre Dame's program is healthier now than at any time since the early '90's, and I'm thankful for that... at the same time, let's not get frustrated by the fact that we haven't reached the top of the summit again... there are three teams whose talent is consistently better than everyone else's, and about 8 teams working day-in and day-out to reach that level... let's keep our fingers crossed that Kelly, having learned through clear mistakes and tough experiences, can figure out how to give Notre Dame recruiting another bump that will further close the gap with Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. I lived the days of Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, and Charlie Weis, and I have no desire to go back there... GO IRISH!!
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