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What’s Holding Notre Dame Football Back From Becoming Elite Again?

Finding elite head coaches that will accept the challenges of coaching at Notre Dame. Coach Kelly has given a lot of games away in his eight seasons at Notre Dame. I sometimes get the feeling that he's coaching not to lose a game instead of unleashing the dogs of war. Notre Dame had too many mediocre HC's since Coach Parseghian.
 
Finding elite head coaches that will accept the challenges of coaching at Notre Dame. Coach Kelly has given a lot of games away in his eight seasons at Notre Dame. I sometimes get the feeling that he's coaching not to lose a game instead of unleashing the dogs of war. Notre Dame had too many mediocre HC's since Coach Parseghian.
John Harbaugh.
 
I answered Recruiting......but specifically ELITE DL. Also ND is "back" under BK.....but until we win our next NC will not be ALL the way back. I do like this 2018 TEAM. Hope they Do good.
 
It is much easier to cheat in the NCAA than the NFL. So, if you are a willing cheat, you can find success in college football.
 
So winning the NFL conference championship in not a big game? Winning the Orange Bowl? Are you serious? He has played in more ‘big’ games. You get to play in big games by winning games.
 
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There are still 24 hours in a day as Ara had. But ND football players have fewer hours to devote to football then the competition. That kind of disadvantage in the arms race is hard to sustain success. I guess it falls under the umbrella term of "development."
 
So winning the NFL conference championship in not a big game? Winning the Orange Bowl? Are you serious? He has played in more ‘big’ games. You get to play in big games by winning games.
Really ? The orange bowl without anything on the line ? Not a big game at all.
 
what is holding us back is none of the above. it js our constant complaing our negative outlooks like its kelly fault he sux BW is terrible QB. the admin only wants to make money they do not want to spend or win. we cant recruit. i was with you with all that. i am jumping ship and joining Bodie’s army
 
Not to make this too complicated, but ND is one of the few programs in the country not to schedule purposely to hedge their chances.

Last year ND played 7 teams that finished ranked in the final poll.
Take away post season, & it was 6, or half of their games were against teams that finished ranked. Wisconsin, who finished 12-0, played ZERO in the regular season.
SEC teams schedule FCS opponents the week before rivalry games, & many cupcakes early in the season.
Many Power 5 programs will play the entire first month of the season or longer at home or in-state.
And now teams are cancelling series with Power 5 teams & scheduling cupcakes to get more regular season wins...like Michigan just cancelling a series with VT & replacing them with Arkansas St.

The fact is most elite programs play 2-3 games a year. They get to 11 wins without much effort. ND beats more ranked teams than those teams play. But if you play 7 ranked teams you are going to wear down.
ND had three different months last year that rivaled any one month for every other team in the country.

ND also travels all over the country. Last year ND plays at Miami, then home vs an option team (which is tiring) then at Stanford. From the tip of Florida to California it’s the end of the season.

If ND played 2-3 ranked teams, scheduled a guaranteed FCS win, also 2 more cupcake games, along with in-state, less travel games, they would be winning 11 games like the other programs.

ND wont change their scheduling, so it will be tough to win 11-12 games each year. ND could beat 5-6 ranked teams but still finish 10-2. If ND beats either Miami or Stanford (on the road) last year they would have beat 5 ranked teams & still missed the CFP.
 
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Not to make this too complicated, but ND is one of the few programs in the country not to schedule purposely to hedge their chances.

Last year ND played 7 teams that finished ranked in the final poll.
Take away post season, & it was 6, or half of their games were against teams that finished ranked. Wisconsin, who finished 12-0, played ZERO in the regular season.
SEC teams schedule FCS opponents the week before rivalry games, & many cupcakes early in the season.
Many Power 5 programs will play the entire first month of the season or longer at home or in-state.
And now teams are cancelling series with Power 5 teams & scheduling cupcakes to get more regular season wins...like Michigan just cancelling a series with VT & replacing them with Arkansas St.

The fact is most elite programs play 2-3 games a year. They get to 11 wins without much effort. ND beats more ranked teams than those teams play. But if you play 7 ranked teams you are going to wear down.
ND had three different months last year that rivaled any one month for every other team in the country.

ND also travels all over the country. Last year ND plays at Miami, then home vs an option team (which is tiring) then at Stanford. From the tip of Florida to California it’s the end of the season.

If ND played 2-3 ranked teams, scheduled a guaranteed FCS win, also 2 more cupcake games, along with in-state, less travel games, they would be winning 11 games like the other programs.

ND wont change their scheduling, so it will be tough to win 11-12 games each year. ND could beat 5-6 ranked teams but still finish 10-2. If ND beats either Miami or Stanford (on the road) last year they would have beat 5 ranked teams & still missed the CFP.
I am all for playing a tough schedule, it's just when and where the games are played. When a lot of people say (at least me) that the administration doesn't value winning like it used to, it's not really a schedule thing. It's more people think that the administration should let the coaches go after the big fish, even if it means you have to give them a little leeway. Not everyone is drue Tranquill.
 
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I am all for playing a tough schedule, it's just when and where the games are played. When a lot of people say (at least me) that the administration doesn't value winning like it used to, it's not really a schedule thing. It's more people think that the administration should let the coaches go after the big fish, even if it means you have to give them a little leeway. Not everyone is drue Tranquill.

The only time the administration knowingly gave leeway was a 5 year stretch under Holtz that they came to regret. ND will always care about faith & academics over football, & they should. But they do actually give more leeway than most know. They just dont look the other way completely like a lot of schools. Like with the 5 Star DE Beal who flipped from ND to Georgia. The admissions office worked with him to get him the appropriate test scores. But he wanted ND to accept his sister too. She couldnt even get accepted at Junior college in the area. But Georgia admissions accepted her immediately...LOL
 
The only time the administration knowingly gave leeway was a 5 year stretch under Holtz that they came to regret. ND will always care about faith & academics over football, & they should. But they do actually give more leeway than most know. They just dont look the other way completely like a lot of schools. Like with the 5 Star DE Beal who flipped from ND to Georgia. The admissions office worked with him to get him the appropriate test scores. But he wanted ND to accept his sister too. She couldnt even get accepted at Junior college in the area. But Georgia admissions accepted her immediately...LOL
Those 5 years under Lou were totally worth it in my opinion. The title backs my opinion up lol
 
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Those 5 years under Lou were totally worth it in my opinion. The title backs my opinion up lol
for you and a lot of others sure. winning regardless of the circumstances is all some care about and thats fine. i have no control of the situation so however the powers that be choose to administrate the athletic programs is either fine by me or i move on if its not. i'm not going anywhere.
 
ND manages and approaches it’s football program much like it did 50-70 years ago. College football has changed quite a bit. Those that went with the changes, for better or worse, are dominating the sport.
 
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Those 5 years under Lou were totally worth it in my opinion. The title backs my opinion up lol
Nobody that counts at ND would share that opinion.

And the administration gives the football program plenty of leeway, and all the resources it could possibly want.
 
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Some of you old timers have a short selective memory or are just plain uninformed about the past. The administration de-emphazised football towards the end, and following the retirement of Leahy. ND president, John Cavanaugh, and his athletic right hand man, Father Hesburgh, immediately cut the number of football schollies. That brought some pretty lean football years and an unfair negative perception of Terry Brennan as HC. The idea was to showcase ND as an academic institution and not a football factory. Some of you act like this academic stuff is a new phenomenon. I wouldn't expect the young people to know this because little do they care about the past. But, the old timers should be well aware of ND football history. Stop the whining. It is what it is. Talk to former players and ask them what role academics should play with the football program.
 
Nobody that counts at ND would share that opinion.

And the administration gives the football program plenty of leeway, and all the resources it could possibly want.
You and I have clashed before. Yes I liked Ara, I went to the QB club in Chicago to hear Ara speak in 1965. I mentioned Lou because that is the last time ND was great. What the hell did you want me to do go from coach to coach to coach till I got to Lou. By the way, I watch the The the Alabama Notre dame Sugar bowl. game often.
 
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