you need four things

[burmafrd1943]

to win a NC
1) Admin committed to winning it all
2) Top Ten Coach at the least and realistically top 5
3) Top Ten Talent at the least
4) facilities

We have three and four but not one and two

 

[shooter1977]

Good post. The legendary Lou Somagyi said it was three things:

1. Strong Admin
2. Strong A.D
3. Top notch head coach

You get those things, players and results tend to take care of themselves.

 

[christophero]

I'd say we have top 20 talent.

 

[chaseball]

I'd say we have top 20 talent.

Talent rankings are a funny thing, because what it really is is like a rotating group of the modern and historic powers who are basically eating all of the top talent in the country (5 stars, high 4 stars), and ND can't find a way to get into that group of tier 1 recruiting in the post-Weis era.

Then this rotating group of tier 1 teams fills up their roster with all of their Plan As on the recruiting trail and then ND is in that 2nd or 3rd group feasting on whatever is left.

And it just can't realistically be that way if the goal is to ever compete at the highest level of the sport again. That tier 1 group of modern powers and historic powers have been gatekeeping any victories of any value whatsoever in the modern era of college football and ND just seems way too comfy to be playing 2nd and 3rd fiddle to this group in the sport.

What I'm most afraid of after so many years of subpar performance is that there aren't as many academic barriers as a lot of fans think, and that ND is simply getting beat by competing programs who are just way ahead strictly for football reasons. e.g. we are losing top talent on the recruiting trail not because they need to take an extra spanish course and be a regular attending college student, but rather because the football product is so comparatively mid.