Young roster shouldn't get a pass for struggles
Following a second loss in three games to begin 2016, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly nearly made it through the weekend without falling back on a tired excuse.
He didn't mention it once in an albeit-abbreviated post-game press conference late Saturday night.
But Sunday, there it was.
"Any guy that we put on the field (on defense) now is a true freshman. We're playing true freshman."
And again.
"We put 10 guys in the NFL last year. We've asked a lot of young players to step up into new roles."
And again.
"When you have first-time starters...the consistency of performance is where you're going to be exposed."
Now, to be fair, Kelly has been peppered with questions from the media throughout the fall on the youth of the Irish roster, particularly on defense. Disciplinary actions and injuries have thrust true freshmen into bigger roles than expected.
But that isn't an exoneration.
On the eve of Ohio State's beatdown of Oklahoma in Norman last Saturday, Coach Urban Meyer listed 31 freshmen and sophomores on his two-deep. Only six players listed as starters or co-starters against the Sooners were listed as such against Notre Dame in last year's Fiesta Bowl.
Alabama's pre-season two-deep roster this season listed 11 true freshmen, many of whom have already played big roles in the Crimson Tide's 3-0 start.
Now, this isn't to say that Notre Dame is on par with Ohio State and Alabama as a program, because it isn't. The Irish aren't even in the same stratosphere at this point. The Crimson Tide and Buckeyes finished first and third, respectively, in last year's recruiting rankings, per Rivals.com. Meyer and Nick Saban are inserting four- and five-star talents into starting positions, but these kids are as inexperienced in the college game as the players Notre Dame is having to put onto the field.
While the Irish's freshmen and sophomores may not be as elite, the message is constantly driven home that Notre Dame recruits a special kind of athlete, ones that are smart, driven and highly teachable.
Shouldn't they be performing at a higher level then?
In the hours and days following the Michigan State defeat, Kelly has pointed more to the failure of the coaching staff to properly prepare the team. He has stopped short of directly blaming defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder for another sub-par defensive performance, instead opting to point fingers at the entire staff - including himself - for the team's struggles.
"It's our job as coaches to see how we can develop our players more efficiently," Kelly said. "These are the players we recruited to Notre Dame. These are the players that are going to play for us. It's our job as coaches to coach them better and get them in position to make the plays necessary for us to be successful."
As the season grinds on - and with that the potential for additional losses - more questions regarding roster inexperience will surely be thrown at Kelly.
Here's the right answer: "Youth is not an excuse."
http://www.news-sentinel.com/sports/ndu/COLUMN--Notre-Dame-excuses-already-growing-tiresome
Following a second loss in three games to begin 2016, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly nearly made it through the weekend without falling back on a tired excuse.
He didn't mention it once in an albeit-abbreviated post-game press conference late Saturday night.
But Sunday, there it was.
"Any guy that we put on the field (on defense) now is a true freshman. We're playing true freshman."
And again.
"We put 10 guys in the NFL last year. We've asked a lot of young players to step up into new roles."
And again.
"When you have first-time starters...the consistency of performance is where you're going to be exposed."
Now, to be fair, Kelly has been peppered with questions from the media throughout the fall on the youth of the Irish roster, particularly on defense. Disciplinary actions and injuries have thrust true freshmen into bigger roles than expected.
But that isn't an exoneration.
On the eve of Ohio State's beatdown of Oklahoma in Norman last Saturday, Coach Urban Meyer listed 31 freshmen and sophomores on his two-deep. Only six players listed as starters or co-starters against the Sooners were listed as such against Notre Dame in last year's Fiesta Bowl.
Alabama's pre-season two-deep roster this season listed 11 true freshmen, many of whom have already played big roles in the Crimson Tide's 3-0 start.
Now, this isn't to say that Notre Dame is on par with Ohio State and Alabama as a program, because it isn't. The Irish aren't even in the same stratosphere at this point. The Crimson Tide and Buckeyes finished first and third, respectively, in last year's recruiting rankings, per Rivals.com. Meyer and Nick Saban are inserting four- and five-star talents into starting positions, but these kids are as inexperienced in the college game as the players Notre Dame is having to put onto the field.
While the Irish's freshmen and sophomores may not be as elite, the message is constantly driven home that Notre Dame recruits a special kind of athlete, ones that are smart, driven and highly teachable.
Shouldn't they be performing at a higher level then?
In the hours and days following the Michigan State defeat, Kelly has pointed more to the failure of the coaching staff to properly prepare the team. He has stopped short of directly blaming defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder for another sub-par defensive performance, instead opting to point fingers at the entire staff - including himself - for the team's struggles.
"It's our job as coaches to see how we can develop our players more efficiently," Kelly said. "These are the players we recruited to Notre Dame. These are the players that are going to play for us. It's our job as coaches to coach them better and get them in position to make the plays necessary for us to be successful."
As the season grinds on - and with that the potential for additional losses - more questions regarding roster inexperience will surely be thrown at Kelly.
Here's the right answer: "Youth is not an excuse."
http://www.news-sentinel.com/sports/ndu/COLUMN--Notre-Dame-excuses-already-growing-tiresome
