What a bowl win and a 11 and 2 season will do for the program.

[Bodizephax]

Look what an 8 and 5 season and a bowl win over an SEC team did for us this year. It created a positive buzz about Notre Dame and impressed the football world. It also helped recruiting including getting good coaches like Mike Sanford.

A 11 and 2 season with a bowl win against a top team like Iowa or Florida State would be huge.
It would be better than the 12 and 1 season since we would only have had two 2 point losses on the road to top teams that went down to the last seconds and in 2012 we got blown out by Alabama. Maybe losing last game and not making the playoffs was a blessing in disguise---playing Alabama with all the injuries we have had might have been a setback (we can come back stronger next year and beat them)

In 2012 we went 12 and 1 but then the Manti Te'o incident and the blowout by Alabama in the National Championship game occurred putting a damper on things then the Golson suspension then the Frozen five and things got off track a bit.

We have a lot of players returning and a lot of injured players coming back. We will be losing some key players but we will be getting another great recruiting class coming in.

It looks to me like we will be reloading instead of rebuilding like usual.

Also--the bad injury luck has got to change.

We will have experience at the key position (Quarterback) and both are great leaders---Kizer and Zaire.

Bottom line is we need to win the bowl game this year and look forward to a Great season next year.

*** I am not going to make any predictions this year. I fired myself as a predictor for the good of the team. A yellow cone could predict just as well.

Go Irish !!
Bonus---Two more showtime shows on a season with Notre Dame football coming up !!!

 

[Telx1]

Bodi...un-fire yourself. Your predictions were predictable... but the eternal optimism was a welcomed theme on this board. Please carry on. We were two plays and a handful of seconds from you being right, and not even you would have predicted that if the extent of injuries were known in advance.

Everything you say about next year is right on. We have a ton of talent and experience returning and we should be exceptional on offense. However, we are losing our best players on a defense that struggled all season. We have some talented guys at LB waiting for their chance, but concerned about their lack of playing time in Van Gorder's complicated system. Assuming Russell and Luke and Redfeld all return, these guys have to show they have finally mastered the system and help the younger guys vying for playing time; or the system needs to be simplified. Feel good about having Jones and Tillery and Cage on the DL, but hope we add an elite DE before this year is out. Lots of question marks about the defense, but lots of reasons to be encouraged as well, and the offense should be the best of the Kelly era.

 

[Irish Grandeur]

Bodi, hang in there buddy...I predict 12-0 every season because this is ND and I believe they can win every game they play. I refuse to concede teams are better/will beat them heading into any season/game. This year I was really close to being right about them - what will my prediction be next year: 12-0!

 

[FLballcoach1]

There's way more right with the current state of ND Football than what is wrong with ND Football. Having an optimistic look at things is not only a more healthy way to approach things, in the case of ND Football it is also logical and reasonable. And aside from a few "broken toys". Most of the quality posters on this board are pleased with the current state of ND Football.

 

[Shakin' Down the Thunder]

Hopefully it also leads to winning out some difficult battles in recruiting!

 

[Irish Grandeur]

I like ND's projection this year in bowl games. Loser of MSU/Iowa or FSU/UNC. A healthier ND team should knock the socks off those teams and go into 2016 with a lot of swagger.

 

[kellys heroes 35]

There's way more right with the current state of ND Football than what is wrong with ND Football. Having an optimistic look at things is not only a more healthy way to approach things, in the case of ND Football it is also logical and reasonable. And aside from a few "broken toys". Most of the quality posters on this board are pleased with the current state of ND Football.

A program that came soo close to running the table and having a shot at the national championship is a great thing . We all know the goal is winning the national championship but being in the conversation heading into the final week of the season is really mission accomplished in some ways . Any reasonable person knows just how close we are to achieving the ultimate goal and credit has to go to Kelly for positioning the program as a national title contender .

A lot of breaks are needed to win this thing let's hope most of those breaks go our way next season , a minimal amount of injuries would be a great place to start in that regard .

My hope is we close on three or four quality defensive recruits in the next month -- that would give us all a lift after the heart breaker we all suffered last week .