As Notre Dame embarks on it’s 2010 campaign with yet another new head coach, one has to wonder why the Irish have had such bad luck with their coaches since Holtz. What did Holtz have that Davie, Willingham, and Weis didn’t? Some point to X’s and O’s as the reason for a lackluster decade and a half on the Fighting Irish gridiron. Others point to a lack of elite recruiting or an ability to coach players who haven’t truly honed their technique and football “identity.”

Those are all valid points. But, perhaps the most glaring deficiency is one that is oftentimes overlooked—one that has nothing to do with what happens on Saturday, but every other day during the season and off-season. Perhaps the problem is right under our noses and has little to do with the nuances of schematics. Perhaps the reason Lou Holtz was the last truly successful coach at Notre Dame is that he was the last coach to truly “get” what it meant to coach at Notre Dame and instilled in his players what it meant to play at Notre Dame.

This school was founded on faith and a belief. This school means faith [...] family [...] a set of standards and commitment [...]

At Notre Dame, there’s a spirit, something that’s within you.

Sure, a lot of what Holtz said during one pre-game speech to his players is a little on the “touchy-feely” side. But, it’s also a refreshing look at the gravity the Head Coach of Notre Dame has to impress upon his players on a consistent basis. Understanding what it means to coach or play football at Notre Dame is a lot more than understanding the national attention that comes with the job. In fact, when coaches talk about coaching at Notre Dame, they refer to Notre Dame as a “special” place, which means they understand that they are under intense scrutiny.

“Getting it” means more than understanding that being the coach of Notre Dame is a high-profile position. It’s an understanding of the University—its history, values, and commitment to excellence in all pursuits—and instilling that in your players and “making” them understand that as well. It’s an underemphasis on the self and my accomplishments and intellect and an increased emphasis on the team, the group, the family, and the common goal. It’s this element that is at the heart of the distinction.

As Kelly begins his first series of summer workouts with his team, he will continue to be compared to the coaches who came before him—namely Holtz, the coach who last won a National Title, and Weis, the coach who possessed a winning bravado, but failed to do the same. And while most comparisons will deal with coaching style, schematics, or other quantifiable data (some of it on this website), perhaps the best comparison shouldn’t deal with any of that.

According to Sports Illustrated, shortly after arriving at Notre Dame, Weis was quoted in addressing his players, “every game, you will have a decided schematic advantage.” It was his formula for winning games—sit in front of the press and rattle off offensive and defensive formations or talk about the nuances of a proper throwing motion. That was his bread and butter—outsmarting your opponent. The problem, however, was that he was outsmarting his own players. And even though Weis attended Notre Dame as a student, he still didn’t “get” it, oftentimes being described as the Ghost of Notre Dame—arriving early in the morning and leaving late, out of the view of the students and community.

This off-season, Brian Kelly made between 150 and 160 stops at various Alumni Clubs and other public events in order to reestablish the Notre Dame community that, over the past seven or eight months has been somewhat scattered and disconnected due to the discontent with Charlie Weis. Sure, it’s nice to grease the palms of people who make monetary contributions to Notre Dame on an annual basis. But more than that, Kelly understands that the most powerful Notre Dame community is one that is united under a common goal: not just the players and staff, but the school, its students, staff, alumni, and fans as well.

When asked at his opening press conference for the 2010 season what his message will be to his players this season, Kelly simply responded, “We’re here for Our Lady. We’re here to play for Notre Dame. There’s only one way to play this game: with great passion and spirit to play for your teammates, to play for our University [...] and we will talk about that every single day. The rest takes care of itself.”

Finally, a coach who gets it.

Similar Posts:

• Here Come the Irish 2010
• Spring Football Focus Part II: Conditioning
• 670 the Score Radio Interview Audio and Reflections

This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

Earlier in the series, I covered the depth chart and what must happen, in terms of player development, for the Irish to have not only talented starters, but solid backups who can provide quality depth. Then, I covered conditioning and how the current football players must adapt their bodies to the new offensive and defensive schemes that Brian Kelly and his staff bring to Notre Dame.

In this, the final installment in the three-part series, I will cover something that will be absolutely crucial to the success of this year’s campaign: technique and fundamentals. While some problems of the the football team in the past few years can be attributed to other aspects of the game, had the Irish played with more solid technique, both offensively and defensively, they certainly wouldn’t have struggled as much as they did and would have won a few more close games.

Teaching technique to a player fresh out of high school is a somewhat daunting task, but one that defines a great coach. Usually, when a player is highly-recruited out of high school, it means that they have the physical attributes to be a great player and the potential to hone their skills to become solid contributors at the next level.

However, some of the techniques that these players used in high school, where their size and speed are usually unmatched against their opponents, won’t necessarily work at the collegiate level where the players are on a more physically-level playing field. It is here that solid technique and fundamentals are paramount to not only the success of the individual, but the program as a whole.

Offense

Last season, Notre Dame’s offense was in the top 25 percent of all teams in the country in scoring offense, ranking 28th out of 120 teams with 30.1 points a game. And while Notre Dame did have an explosive offense, there were certainly things that kept them from being more efficient.

As I talked about in my last article, one of the faults of the offense laid at the feet of Charlie Weis was his decision, along with former Strength and Conditioning Coach Ruben Mendoza, to condition his players to play a more smash-mouth type of football and then employ a high-tempo, finesse type of offensive scheme. This was no more apparent then on the offensive line. While the inconsistencies with their conditioning and the style of play that Weis employed isn’t as much the player’s fault as it was the coaching staff’s, the tenacity and technique with which they played is.

Against “less talented” teams, the offensive line did a respectable job protecting Jimmy Clausen. However, across the entire season, the Irish managed to rank only 48th in the nation in total sacks surrendered, allowing their quarterback to be sacked on 5.3 percent of all passing plays. And considering that this number would certainly be higher if Clausen didn’t have the mental maturity to throw the ball away when no receiver was open, the offensive line certainly regressed in their pass protection this past season. Don’t believe me? In 2008, the offensive line allowed a less-poised Clausen to be sacked on 4.1 percent of all passing plays.

But pass protection isn’t the whole story in regards to the offensive line. The other big downfall of the offensive line in 2009 was how it performed against talented defensive lines. Against USC, for example, the Irish offensive line was consistently man-handled which caused them to surrender five sacks. Additionally, the Irish only managed 367 yards of offense and had only 3 explosive plays (rushing play of 15 yards or more, passing play of 20 yards of more), all arriving via the passing game. The Irish managed only 87 rushing yards against the Trojans, with a lowly 2.6 average per carry, four fumbles, and zero explosive rushing plays.

The other lackluster area in technique on the offensive side of the ball was a pronounced absence of an explosive rushing attack, which is a direct result of down-field blocking by tight ends and wide receivers. While the Irish rushed the ball 46% of the time, they only managed an average of 3.8 yards per attempt, which ranked them 75th out of 120 FBS teams and 128.2 yards per game, which ranked them 79th in the nation. Furthermore, they only averaged 2.1 explosive rushing plays a game.

The other startling statistic is that the longest run of the season came from Robert Hughes, a power running back, who rumbled for 37 yards. The next largest run came from Golden Tate who ran for 33 yards on an end around. For the 2009 season, the Irish rushing attack only totaled 13 touchdowns, 3 of which came from Clausen.

While the offense averaged 30.1 points per game, they did so despite a fairly suspect blocking technique exhibited by both the offensive line and wide receivers. This season, as the Irish employ Brian Kelly’s version of the spread offense, it will be imperative that the offensive line improves its blocking technique: especially in pass blocking situations. While they will certainly be helped by a high-tempo offense that will spread opposing defenses across the field, it will also isolate an offensive line that will receive almost no help from multiple tight ends. Slimming down and becoming more agile will undoubtedly aid them in their ability to pass protect in open space. However, solid technique by the offensive line will be paramount in their ability to block for Crist, and thus, essential to the proper execution of the offense.

Furthermore, Notre Dame’s wide receiving corps must also improve their down-field blocking technique this off-season. Like the offensive line, they will be helped by an offensive scheme that will force opposing defenses to spread the field and make solid tackles in open space. Brian Kelly’s spread offense is meant to be highly explosive, but it will sputter if the wide receivers cannot effectively block in open space for their teammates.

Defense

While the offense was able to perform satisfactorily despite their sub-par technique, the defense wasn’t so lucky. Even though they had some players, like Kyle McCarthy or Manti Te’o, who played fundamentally sound, they also had players, like Brian Smith, Harrison Smith and Sergio Brown, whose sloppy technique was often times a contirbuting factor in Notre Dame’s losses last season.

Anybody who watched five minutes of Notre Dame football last season observed the most frustrating problem plaguing the defense: poor tackling. The entire unit’s inability to tackle was a large factor in the amount of time they spent on the field last season. Many times, entire games rested on the shoulders of the defense and the their anemic tackling meant the difference between a victory and a loss. In 2009 the defense gave up an average of 7.4 explosive plays a game, totaling an average of 193.4 yards a game. Too many times, the secondary was too concerned with stripping the ball from an opponent, rather than bringing the ball carrier down. And with all that emphasis on turnovers, the Irish defense only managed to create 1.6 turnovers a game. In fact, tackling was so poor at times, that players like Brian Smith, who have shown potential at their position, have been consistently hindered by their poor tackling skills.

Another technically unsound aspect of Notre Dame’s defense last season was poor secondary coverage. Allowing opposing wide receivers too much cushion at the line of scrimmage during short-yardage or blitzing situations, the inability to effectively bump wide receivers at the beginning of their route, allowing them to get too much separation on deep routes and poor over-the-top help by the safeties were all major issues in a porous secondary that, subtracting the rush-heavy opponents Navy, Connecticut, Nevada and Stanford, gave up an average of 270 yards per game through the air.

While that number doesn’t look extreme, consider the amount of inexperienced quarterbacks that Notre Dame faced last season. Additionally, the Irish gave up an average of 13.8 yards per completion to their opponents, which ranked them 112th of 120 teams. Before last season, the secondary was thought by many to be one of the strongest in the nation due to their experience, but through poor technique and execution, their performance turned out to be fairly pedestrian and often times very frustrating.

The final defensive area needing improvement regards the inconsistent pressure applied to opposing quarterbacks and running backs. Last season, Anthony Pilcher wrote an overlooked article on Jon Tenuta’s defensive philosophy that gave an excellent explanation of the defense Tenuta runs and how it should look when employed effectively.

One of the major inconsistencies with how Tenuta’s defense should have appeared, and how it was actually executed, has to do with the amount and type of blitzing that took place last season. Many times, players who were blitzing from the corner came into the backfield unimpeded, only to take incorrect angles and over or under-pursue their targets. Moreover, players who were blitzing through the defensive line came with little regard for filling running lanes and, in turn, entirely missed their intended targets.

On average, as a result of poor pressure and blitzing, the Irish defense only caused 2.6 three-and-out situations a game. Additionally, when Tenuta’s defense was predicated on creating favorable down-and-distances later in the series, the defense failed to execute, giving up an average of 6.1 yards per 1st down.

Last season, Notre Dame’s defense struggled mightily in many aspects of technique and fundamentals that, if corrected, could have changed the outcome of many games. As I have stated before in this series, because Brian Kelly’s offense puts such little emphasis on ball control, the defense will be on the field much longer than they are used to. If the defense doesn’t play with solid technique and fundamentals, they will undoubtedly be on the field much longer than they need to be. And, given the lack of depth at several positions, especially on the defensive line, poor technique could spell disaster for this group.

Final Observations

While it’s unfair to expect every person on the team to play with perfect fundamentals and technique, it isn’t unfair to assume that they will improve over the course of the season. Poor technique in 2009, on both sides of the ball, was so obvious sometimes, one had to wonder if Charlie Weis saw the problems at all or, if he did, was he simply unable to fix them?

The lack of solid technique can take a player with immense potential and cause them to play at a pedestrian level and for Notre Dame, this was the problem in many cases. The offense was able to use their superior talent at the skill positions to compensate for their overall lack of technique. The defense, however, seemed like they were holding on for dear life in many instances because of their lack of solid fundamentals. This must improve if the Irish want to take a step forward to becoming a better program this season.

As the last preparations for spring football are made this week by Brian Kelly and his staff, we all look forward to seeing the Blue and Gold on the field in the near future. This season has the opportunity to be a prolific one for a promising head coach, much like 2005 was for Charlie Weis. The Irish must contend with many things this year in order to lay a foundation for success this season. They must not only hone the skills of their starters, but they must also develop the talent of their reserves to provide quality depth on both sides of the football. They must condition themselves to play a much different type of offense and defense in order to finish games, and the season, as well as they start it. And finally, they must develop their technique to play fundamentally sound football in order to minimize mistakes and maximize their potential.

While they will continue to progress in these areas after spring football and into summer camp, when they are joined by a new freshman class, they have the opportunity to showcase their progression in these areas thus far for many Irish fans in late April. And after the disappointing season last year, what fan wouldn’t want that?

Similar Posts:

• Spring Football Focus Part II: Conditioning
• Spring Football Focus Part I: Personnel Changes
• A 2010 Blue-Gold Game Viewing Guide

This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

In the previous article in this series, I highlighted the first focus of spring football: personnel changes. While Notre Dame may not be filling many starting positions this off-season, they will, however, be conditioning players to provide quality depth behind those starters, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Because of the nature of the pass-heavy spread offense that Brian Kelly will bring to Notre Dame, several things need to be altered this off-season. Kelly’s offense predicates itself on spreading the field with vertical passing attacks and causing the opposing defense to make fundamentally-sound tackles in open space. The offense prides itself on scoring quickly and often, and puts less of an emphasis on ball control. This, in turn, puts increased strain on a defense who will be on the field the majority of the game. And while the new regime of coaches will have to condition the current players to fit their scheme, they must also make up for the fact that the previous scheme, installed by Weis, predicated itself on a much different philosophical approach to ball control. This makes for an incredibly grueling conditioning program for the players, one that will surely dictate how Notre Dame is poised to not only play four complete quarters of football, but have the stamina to finish a season as well as it started it.

Right Idea, Wrong System

When Charlie Weis came to Notre Dame, he promised that Irish fans were going to see a “tough, nasty team.” This gave Notre Dame fans everywhere an excitement that the Irish were going to return to the days of Lou Holtz or even Frank Leahy when Irish players out-muscled and out-played each of their opponents with superior strength, speed, and technique. But as the regime of Charlie Weis wore on, it was painfully obvious that even though Weis and Strength and Conditioning coach Ruben Mendoza were conditioning their players to be tough and nasty,  primarily by bulking them up to be able to punish the opposing team, the problem was that Weis and his coaching staff weren’t using an offensive or defensive philosophy that utilized those types of players. This was the most apparent on the offensive line.

As Anthony Pilcher pointed out last season, the Irish were pouring additional mass onto their offensive lineman to be big and strong and then asking them to run in open space. They were conditioning their offensive lineman to utilize a smash-mouth type of running game, and then deploying a running game that used a lot of zone-stretch plays that required lineman to pull down the line of scrimmage in a zone-blocking scheme. They were conditioning their lineman to provide a protective pocket around their quarterback and then asking them to pass-block in open space, requiring them to be agile. But, offensive lineman are just part of the equation that saw Notre Dame consistently running out of gas. Over the past two seasons, Notre Dame was an abysmal 1-7 in the month of November. Furthermore, the Irish lost by a combined 17 points in the final four games of last season, and most of those losses came in the waning minutes of the game. Some of those losses can be attributed to mental errors or the lack of ball control by the offense or the coaching staff, but the majority of the reason for those losses came because the team wasn’t conditioned to sustain themselves in long games in which the contest was in doubt.

Recently, Ryan O’ Leary wrote an article at Blue and Gold that talked about the current players from Notre Dame involved in the NFL combine and the effect that Ruben Mendoza and his strength and conditioning program had on those players. Maybe Mendoza wasn’t as bad of a conditioning coach as we thought him to be, but there were some glaring problems with the program. For instance, Sam Young and Eric Olsen both had exemplary numbers in the bench press category, but both of them were lackluster in the agility or speed drills. Kyle McCarthy did well in strength and agility, but was found lacking in the speed drills. But what does this all add up to? Perhaps Ruben Mendoza isn’t the root of all things evil or isn’t completely to blame for all of Notre Dame’s problems over the past five years. However, some of the blame does fall on Weis and Jon Tenuta who were conditioning their players to be big and strong, yet installing schemes that required them to be quick, agile, and light on their feet.

Keeping Up With The Joneses

The firing of Weis may have opened up Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick’s eyes a bit to the significant deficiencies throughout the football program. Not only were there deficiencies with the coaching staff and their style of coaching, but also with some of the facilities and the options and tools at their disposal that the trainers had to condition the football players. Swarbrick has already taken one step to rectify some of those problems. Earlier this season, he purchased a training table for the football team, which was hotly contested topic among Irish alumni and fans.

Even though some Irish fans are fundamentally opposed to the idea of a training table, this convenience will help the team keep their weight at a healthy level and will also help the training staff monitor the players’ food intake and aid them in bulking up or slimming down. But, I think that one of the biggest concerns for Swarbrick was that Notre Dame didn’t have some fundamental tools to aid the team and the trainers that other schools already took advantage of.

In his article, Lou Somogyi quotes Chris Zorich, famed Irish player and now Manager of Student Development and Welfare at Notre Dame, who was talking about a conversation he had with Connecticut head football coach Randy Edsall: “‘He told me, “When I heard you don’t have a training table at Notre Dame, it blew my mind,”‘ said Zorich, noting that the UConn football has been in the FBS for only a decade.” And even though Notre Dame now has a training table, it doesn’t mean that the Irish will start racking up wins, but it does put them in a good position to use their resources to help the football players maintain their optimum weight. This may be a small step by Swarbrick to do some simple things to help the football program, and Irish athletics as a whole, achieve their goals.

A Game of Numbers

While Cincinnati’s offense is nothing new in the college football landscape, or even especially complicated, the type of conditioning it requires varies drastically from Weis’ offense. Because Kelly’s offense is run at such a high tempo, the offensive personnel must not only be able to spread the field with their speed on nearly every play, they must also maintain a level of endurance that greatly exceeds their opponents. Additionally, because the defense will be running a base 3-4 scheme, nearly every position must also have speed. But, on defense, stamina and agility will also be paramount to ensure that they have some control with how long they are on the field by consistently forcing opposing offenses into three-and-out situations.

Most of the reason for the increased emphasis on endurance on the defensive side of the ball, arguably more so than the offense, is that Kelly’s offense puts such little stock in time of possession (T.O.P.). Last season, Cincinnati’s offense finished next-to-last in the entire nation in T.O.P. at 25:20 a game, down nearly three and a half minutes from 2008 when they netted 28:47 a game. Because Cincinnati’s offense was on the field for such a small time last season, their defense was on the field 57.7 percent of the game, which ranked them 118th of 120 teams in the FBS. Compare this with Weis’ offense that finished 14th in the nation, netting a T.O.P. at 31:54 a game, which was nearly consistent with their 2008 time of 31:42 a game, causing their defense to be on the field just 47 percent of the game, which ranked them 19th of 120 teams. While the differences in time between the two teams doesn’t look considerable, over the course of a game this time really adds up and can take a significant toll on a defense, especially considering Notre Dame will play four teams this season that ranked in the top 25 percent of all teams in the FBS last season in T.O.P. (Navy — 1st, Stanford — 12th, Army — 14th, and Pittsburgh — 27th).

Even though Charlie Weis recruited better talent at Notre Dame than Brian Kelly had at Cincinnati, and Kelly has more high-profile talent to work with this season than he would at his former school, all this talk about ball control and stamina in defense has no bearing whatsoever if the offense can’t execute Kelly’s scheme like it is designed. If the offense can’t score on a consistent basis, which forces the defense to be on the field much more than it will already, the whole gameplan could implode. Conversely, if the defense can consistently force opposing offenses into three-and-out situations, it can quickly put the ball back in the hands of the offense, which can be a great thing if the offense is executing like it should, especially considering Kelly’s offense at Cincinnati ranked eighth in the nation in scoring offense in 2009, averaging 36 points a game.

While conditioning will be a major component to how the Irish perform this season, and is something that will be a primary focus this spring, all the stamina, speed, strength, and endurance won’t mean a thing if the Irish don’t play with solid technique in every facet of the game.

Check back soon for the final Spring Football Focus Part III: Technique and Fundamentals.

Similar Posts:

• Spring Football Focus Part III: Technique and Fundamentals
• Spring Football Focus Part I: Personnel Changes
• 670 the Score Radio Interview Audio and Reflections

This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

Soon, the football players will cease their “voluntary” workouts and dust off their jock straps in anticipation of spring football. With the annual Blue-Gold game just under two months away, Clashmore Mike will look at three separate areas of focus for the 2010 football team as spring practice commences in just under a month. These three areas of focus were major problem areas that plagued the 2009 squad nearly all season and should targeted for improvement this spring. The first is expected and unexpected personnel changes.

Offense

The hiring of Brian Kelly and his new staff, who will implement their own flavor of spread offense, will throw a big wrench in what is usually a simple matter of fitting current players into vacant positions left open through graduation and those bolting early to the NFL. With Kelly’s offense, there will be more reliance on the passing game which impacts the quarterbacks, wide receivers, and offensive linemen (because of increased emphasis on pass protection). This year’s offense will be missing last year’s record-setting and record-breaking quarterback, the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner, and three offensive linemen (both tackles and the center).

Substituting those positions out of a highly-potent offense is like taking the tequila out of a margarita and still expecting it to remind you of Jimmy Buffett. And because the offense will be plugging in players at so many crucial positions they will arguably be under more scrutiny than the defense this spring by Notre Dame staff and the passionate fanbase.

Quarterbacks

Obviously, most of the attention on offense will be directed at the one taking the most snaps. Dayne Crist is the leading candidate to be that guy, although he’s recovering from an ACL injury at a rapid enough rate that could allow him be under center the majority of the spring. Besides his bum knee, the only other problem with Crist is that he’s unproven— he’s never started a game for the Irish and he’s only totaled 38 minutes of playing time in his first two years. On top of that, he’s learning a new offensive system—-albeit an easier system to learn than Weis’ pro-style offense.

Crist may be the starter by default, but of all the quarterbacks who will be on the roster in the spring—Crist, Montana, freshman Tommy Rees, and possibly current wide receiver John Goodman—Crist is the one who fits Kelly’s offense the best. So the real question might be “Who is likely to backup Crist on the depth chart?” This may be the first year since 2005, when David Wolke and Evan Sharpley fought for the backup spot behind Brady Quinn, that there will be such a stark drop-off in talent and development from the starter to backup. Quarterbacks coach Charlie Molnar will certainly have his work cut out for him.

Running Backs

The running back position is pretty cut-and-dry this season. Unless something drastic happens, the odds are fairly good that Armando Allen will keep his starting job. I think the real question at running back is “Who stays?” and “Who goes?” The running game will certainly not be absent from Brian Kelly’s offense, but it isn’t utilized as much as it was for Weis’ offense, and certainly not in the same way. Kelly’s offense is more suited for speedier backs like Allen and Theo Riddick and not as well for bigger backs like Robert Hughes, Jonas Gray, or Cierre Wood.

There are also a couple of other backs like Steve Paskorz and Cameron Roberson who will be seeing very limited action, if at all. Obviously, it was necessary for Weis to stock up on running backs, but now that Brian Kelly is here, who will be seeing meaningful time in the backfield? Will Cierre Wood switch to the other side of the ball? Does Riddick move to wideout and contribute on Special Teams exclusively? Much like the quarterback position, the majority of the focus may not be on the starter, but on the backups and how things shake out.

Wide Receivers

The wide receivers will be a very fun group to watch this Spring. With Golden Tate gone, Mike Floyd will most definitely step up into the primary receiver roll. But again, as with the other positions, who will step up behind him? In Kelly’s offense, there is almost always two wide receivers on the field at the same time and sometimes as many as four or five. Shaquelle Evans is a player who has shown signs of promise, but only has 33 minutes of playing time under his belt. John Goodman was a surprising contributor last season, notching one touchdown (from Crist) in mop-up duty against Washington State. But, if Goodman moves to quarterback to give some depth, his ability to catch footballs is moot. Roby Toma, Deion Walker, and Barry Gallup could all see some action this season, but none of them have really shown anything noteworthy, with Toma surprisingly leading that bunch in productivity.

Finally we come to Duval Kamara. He has been somewhat of an afterthought these past two seasons after a promising freshman year. It appears Duval has regressed significantly and it’s hard to explain why. If Kamara can pull himself together and have a Mo Stovall type of senior season, he could definitely help the team with his modest experience and help himself if he’d like to play at the next level, which, at this point is a long shot at best. As Brian Kelly’s offense relies heavily on the passing game, the progression of this position could mean a highly explosive offense, or one that continues to sputter throughout the season.

Offensive Line and Tight Ends

The offensive line and tight end positions are in a very unique situation this season. Notre Dame will return both offensive guard and starting tight end positions and will look to replace both offensive tackles and the center. However, if Dan Wenger can get his act together, Notre Dame might just find itself only needing to replace both right and left tackles, which is a bit less daunting. Matt Romine could fill that right tackle spot, but he has been battling injuries through most of his career and he is certainly not a lock at that position.

It’s encouraging to see that all of Notre Dame’s tight ends are coming back and this is exactly the type of offensive system that could see Kyle Rudolph finally get the recognition he deserves as being an elite pass-catching tight end. If Mike Ragone can get to 100% following his knee injury a couple of years ago and someone like Tyler Eifert can provide quality depth at the position, the tight ends are easily in the best shape of any position on the team. The biggest positive aspect that these two positions have going for them is quality depth. It’s encouraging to see that Weis didn’t leave the cupboards bare when he left. As long as Brian Kelly can continue to recruit at these positions, the Irish should be able to avoid another 2007 disaster.

Defense

Besides the safety position, the trend on defense is not that the Irish have untested players, but rather that the Irish have highly-talented players who are not performing to their potential. No position is more guilty of this than the defensive line.

Defensive Line

As the Irish transitions yet again to a 3-4 base defense, there are likely to be changes along the line that will see Kerry Neal and Darius Fleming shedding some pounds and moving back to an outside linebacker/defensive end hybrid position. Ian Williams, Ethan Johnson, and Kapron Lewis-Moore could prove to be trouble for any opposing offensive line if they can be coached to provide consistent pocket pressure. However, come spring and summer, the name of the game for the defensive line will be technique and, perhaps more importantly, conditioning. If Brian Kelly’s offense performs as it should, expect the defense to be on the field a majority of the game. This definitely could spell disaster if the line isn’t conditioned properly. Also necessary will be a fresh rotation of players, which puts a lot of strain on the depth at this position. And while that depth is promising, it is untested.

Linebackers

Much like the defensive line position, the linebackers will be tested in their versatility. This group lost Scott Smith, who didn’t see much action last year, Toryan Smith who had marginal playing time, and Harrison Smith who, according to Brian Kelly, will be moving back to his original position of safety, which has more than one fan cringing. However, in Diaco’s 3-4 defense, they have likely gained Kerry Neal and Darius Fleming, as stated above.

To lead the group, Brian Smith and Manti Te’o are back, and will undoubtedly be the starting middle linebackers. But, again like most of the other positions, behind the four starters is a lot of untested talent. With the inexperience in the secondary, especially at the safety position, and the previous lack of production along the defensive line, it could be up to the linebackers to provide leadership and consistency throughout the season. It is crucial that players like Steve Filer, David Posluszny and Anthony McDonald ready themselves to be called upon if needed.

Secondary

Of all the other positions on the team, the secondary is unquestionably the weakest. While the cornerbacks aren’t in horrible shape this year, only losing Raeshon McNeil and special teams standout Mike Anello, their performance the past two years has been underwhelming, to say the least. After a promising showing in his sophomore year, Darrin Walls dipped a bit in production this past season, and his experience and leadership will be sorely needed in a secondary that is sure to be picked on throughout the year.

The real battle this spring could be on the other side of the field between Robert Blanton who has shown flashes of greatness and toughness throughout his career, and Gary Gray, whose play on the field hasn’t really lived up to his hype coming out of high school. The only other non-freshman cornerbacks on the roster are E.J. Banks and Jamoris Slaughter. The former hasn’t had a lick of playing time and the latter may make a switch to safety, depending on the situation.

The safeties are in a league of their own this off-season—and not in a good way. Besides Harrison Smith, who has been known to struggle in pass coverage, the only other safety on the roster who has seen more than 10 minutes of playing time is Zeke Motta, who saw a whopping 11 minutes last season. Losing Kyle McCarthy may have a greater impact on the secondary in 2010 than losing Tom Zbikowski after the 2007 campaign. Outside of Harrison Smith and Zeke Motta the only other safeties on the roster who aren’t incoming freshmen are Leonard Gordon and Dan McCarthy.

Because of the lack of depth at this position, we may end up seeing the staff jockey around with personnel and switch someone like Jamoris Slaughter from the cornerbacks or even someone from the offense switch sides of the football and lend a hand (perhaps Cierre Wood). Because of the additional time the defense will likely be on the field, and the lack of depth in the secondary as a whole, the safeties could once again find themselves being an Achilles’ Heel of the entire team.

Final Observations

Across the entire roster this spring, “Who starts?” may be less of a question than “Who is going to provide reliable depth?” At nearly every position, the number one spot on the depth chart should already be determined, it’s the backups that will really be fighting for position. On offense, Notre Dame will have the tools to field an explosive attack that should be capable of scoring points quickly.

This lack of emphasis on offensive ball control will mean the defensive starters will be on the field much longer than usual. In order to make sure that there are constantly fresh, experienced, and talented players on the field, each position must equip itself with a bevy of well-trained backups. This also means that excellent physical conditioning will prove to be a very precious commodity this fall in Notre Dame Stadium.

Check back soon for the next Spring Football Focus Part II: Conditioning.

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This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

However, when you’re the head coach at Notre Dame, the level of exposure is altogether different. This job comes with arguably more pressure than at any other NCAA school. After he was fired, former head coach Charlie Weis made it clear that coaching in South Bend presents additional complications when it comes to national scrutiny. Even though this was the first time that Weis publicly proclaimed his displeasure for the nationwide interest in the Irish, he certainly has mentioned it before, citing times when he’s had to sign autographs for Irish fans while being out with his family.

Now that Weis has been replaced by Brian Kelly, the former head coach at the University of Cincinnati, the nation’s eye turns upon him. Before Kelly was even announced as Notre Dame’s new head football coach, he was introduced to the pressure that comes with the job. After he changed the background of his Twitter account to Notre Dame Stadium, changed his website to UND.com (the official website of Notre Dame Athletics), and changed his biography to, “Thrilled to be the coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish…,” not only did Kelly receive a ton of additional followers to his updates, but his page was flooded with numerous Irish fans voicing their pleasure over the recently leaked news of his hiring and numerous Cincinnati fans letting him know that they were *ahem* disgruntled, to say the least.

Because of the relative failures of the three previous coaching staffs, Brian Kelly and his yet-to-be-appointed staff will have even more additional pressure to succeed. It almost feels as though some Notre Dame fans and foes are already expecting Kelly to fail, even though his resume is quite impressive. Questions about his defensive aptitude have already been raised and his defensive acumen will be under heavy scrutiny when spring practice rolls around next year. Additionally, the manner in which he handled his hiring process left many current Cincinnati players displeased with their former coach.

Totaling the added scrutiny, exposure, and (unhealthy) interest that Notre Dame brings to any coach and the impressive record that Kelly brings in to Notre Dame, his hiring could be a recipe for glorious achievement or, as Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, and Charlie Weis can attest to, humiliating failure. For the sake of the University, the fan base, and Jack Swarbrick, let’s hope it’s the former and not the latter.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Brian Kelly. It won’t get any easier.

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This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

In late 2004, when Notre Dame fired Ty Willingham and subsequently whiffed on landing Urban Meyer, some people thought the Notre Dame “settled” with Charlie Weis. While most Irish fans cannot come up with a consensus #1 candidate to replace Weis, some are worried that Notre Dame may be in the process of whiffing once again with Bob Stoops, Brian Kelly, or Gary Patterson. And while it may have been ideal for Notre Dame to get a wink and a nod from the successor to Weis before he was let go, it was likely next to impossible for that to happen, especially considering the fact that the football season wasn’t over. Given their recent history of relatively poor coach hirings, Notre Dame cannot afford to be trigger-happy when it comes to finding a successor to Weis. These next few weeks will define Swarbrick’s tenure as Athletic Director at Notre Dame—just as the firing of Ty Willingham and Charlie Weis’ contract extension defined Kevin White’s legacy—and Swarbrick cannot afford to rush the process and hire the wrong candidate.

Currently, the Notre Dame fan base reminds me of Veruca Salt from Roald Dahl’s beloved classic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” You remember her, right? She’s the girl who had her father wrapped around her finger. She had a whole factory of workers furiously unwrapping Wonka Bars to find her a golden ticket. All the while, her father—played by Jack Swarbrick in our scenario—is hoping the Golden Ticket turns up so his daughter will stop yelling at him.

The fact is, like it or not, the University, the current players, the fan base, and the media have no other option but to wait for Swarbrick to make his decision on who Weis’ successor will be. Part of the frustration lies in the fact that Notre Dame, as storied as the program is, can no longer lure away anyone it wants and going through a coaching search makes this painfully obvious to Irish fans and foes alike. With as many false “sources” and “leads” that this story has already gotten from mainstream media and how many blatantly incorrect “scoops” that have been circulated on the internet, it’s apparent that the Notre Dame fan base and the rest of the nation doesn’t want to wait to find out the identity of Weis’ successor.

Notre Dame fans have been waiting for 15 seasons for their team to return to national prominence. Whomever Swarbrick chooses to take the helm at Notre Dame will have unbelievable pressure thrust upon them to produce favorable results—quickly. Given the relative failure of the last three hires, perhaps quicker isn’t necessarily better.

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This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

The 2009 season is nearly over and the outcome of the match up with Stanford will have little to do with the future of Charlie Weis at Notre Dame. Whether he is retained for next season or let go, the decision of Weis’ fate has already been made by President Jenkins and Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick. And as rumors swirl about Brian Kelly, Brian Billick, and Jim Harbaugh as Weis’ possible replacement—should he be let go—one thing is certain: Notre Dame must have a head football coach that has an understanding of the particulars of being successful at Notre Dame.

The head football coach at Notre Dame must be a person who arrives on the job with a firm grasp of what it takes to be successful. And as the coach at Notre Dame, not only do you have to deal with the never-ending, intense scrutiny that comes with the most high-profile position in college football, but you also must be ready to make decisions that not only affect an offense or defense, but an entire team. That understanding only comes from having spent time at the position, and, through no fault of his own, that’s where Notre Dame went wrong with Charlie Weis.

For now, Irish fans must wait to learn of the fate of Charlie Weis and the entire program. The firing of Weis could leave a disastrous wake including the dismissal of several great assistant coaches, the loss of several high school recruits to other schools, and a mass exodus of All-American players to the NFL, headlined by Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate. However, retaining coach Weis could delay the inevitable and set the development of the entire football program back a year or more—years that could be spent retrofitting the current team to the schematic needs of a new coach.

Whether Weis is roaming the sidelines in South Bend next year remains a mystery to everyone outside of those involved with the inner-workings of the University. If Weis remains at Notre Dame for a probationary sixth season, he must fully embrace the role of a head coach. He must stop trying to outsmart his opponents while outsmarting his own team in the process. He must put his faith in his assistants and coordinators to do their jobs. And above all, he must take ownership of his position and make decisions for the team without polling his friends in the NFL and beyond. If Weis is relieved from his position, a viable candidate must be found who has a long history of possessing these qualities.

A leader who makes bad decisions is not as harmful as a leader who makes none.

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This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

Almost halfway through his junior season, Jimmy Clausen has felt the pressure of his high-profile position for the past two and a half seasons as the country has watched him develop from a freshman, with a “deer-in-the-headlights” look on his face through most games, to a quarterback with refined talent and a front-runner for the Heisman trophy. But has Jimmy Clausen lived up to, not only the history of his position, but the immense potential he had when he announced his intentions at the College Football Hall of Fame to play for Charlie Weis? As good as Jimmy Clausen may be this season and as good as he will be next year, if he decides to return to Notre Dame instead of taking an early exit to the NFL, the pressure on him is especially great for two very monumental reasons and neither of them is under his control: hype and history.

Jimmy Clausen was arguably the most successful quarterback Notre Dame had ever seen before he even stepped foot on campus. Clausen had a staggering 42-0 record as a starting quarterback in prep school. He amassed 10,677 yards passing for a California state record 146 touchdowns. His senior year, Clausen was named the USA Today “Player of the Year” and he won the 2006 “Hall Trophy”—the Heisman Trophy for high school football. He was so heralded coming out of high school that just about every recruiting analyst tabbed him as a “once-in-a-generation quarterback,” poised to eclipse the careers that his brothers Rick and Casey had at Tennessee.

Despite the inordinate amount of hoopla surrounding his verbal commitment to Notre Dame and his subsequent “championing” of the Notre Dame name, Jimmy Clausen had a rude introduction to NCAA FBS football during the 2007 season. However, Charlie Weis had no problem prognosticating that by his junior year, Jimmy Clausen would be as good as, if not better than, Brady Quinn was in his junior season. Through his freshman and sophomore seasons, which were fairly pedestrian, the hype surrounding Clausen continued to circulate, which caused most Irish fans to reconsider their collective anointing of Clausen as “The Chosen One.”

We are now in the middle of Clausen’s junior season and the apparition in Charlie Weis’ crystal ball is becoming more and more a reality. As Clausen continues to display the arm strength and pinpoint accuracy that made him so famous in high school, the buzz surrounding Clausen has progressed beyond hype and has morphed into those concerned with college football, from professionals who write about it to fans who argue about it, comparing Clausen to Notre Dame’s most recent successful quarterback—Brady Quinn.

Throughout his career, Jimmy Clausen has been, and will continue to be, compared to Brady Quinn. This is especially difficult because Quinn played a scant three years ago. To put it succinctly, Irish fans have been spoiled by Quinn—and rightly so. Nobody expected Quinn to be as good as he was at the beginning of his junior year and it was even more surprising because the Irish had not had a very successful quarterback for nearly a decade. There were few expectations for a truly good quarterback before Quinn had his breakout junior year: not because the tradition of the position had diminished, but because it had been almost a dozen seasons since the Irish fielded a more than competent passer. However, despite all of the accolades that Brady Quinn garnered while he played at Notre Dame, he will be forever discounted from being a truly great quarterback because he never possessed a signature win.

Brady Quinn’s biggest game at Notre Dame was the loss in 2005 to USC. He never won a big bowl game for Notre Dame and he never defeated USC. The same can be said for Jimmy Clausen. He has not had a signature win for Notre Dame: he hasn’t beaten USC and hasn’t won a notable bowl game. No matter how many records Clausen breaks and no matter how he elevates his play while donning an Irish uniform, he will never be labeled as a great quarterback until he delivers a significant win for Notre Dame.

Is this fair?

Jimmy Clausen (and Charlie Weis, for that matter) has failed to deliver on the national stage for Notre Dame. At the end of the season, both may depart—one leaving voluntarily for greener pastures, a bigger stage, and a hefty contract worth millions, and the other being asked to leave for not producing desirable results. It would be naive to think that the matchup against USC this weekend has little bearing with either Clausen or Weis’ future at Notre Dame or the legacy they ultimately leave behind. Lose, and it will only be another notch in a long line of disappointments in marquee games for this program. But win, and this game will be remembered as a moment in the long history and never-ending hype surrounding Notre Dame football when a good player and a good coach delivered on their potential to be truly great.

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This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

Most Irish fans entered this season calculating that an 11-1 or 10-2 season would be a realistic final record for this football team. After all, the Irish were returning a heavily experienced offensive line, a seasoned quarterback, a stable full of talented running backs and wide receivers, and one of the best secondaries in the nation. However, even though we are only four games into the season, there are several events that have transpired and several weaknesses that have been revealed about this football team that begs the question, “Are the expectations we had coming into this season the same expectations we should have a third of the way through?” This article is the second in a two-part series addressing this very issue. In case you missed it, yesterday we had some guest writers from The Subway Alumni Show give their opinion on this very subject. You can read their thoughts right here in Part 1.

When addressing this subject, I believe a definite distinction needs to be made between the expectations for this year’s football team and the expectations for Charlie Weis—because they are two different things that have often been convoluted in the minds of the Irish faithful. It is these expectations surrounding Charlie Weis that have been magnified by two things.

First, anticipation for success under Weis is high for the very same reason that hopes for success has been high for every other Notre Dame coach that came before him—tradition. Historically, Notre Dame has fielded many great teams, but like Sprout said in yesterday’s article, if you judge how successful a team or a season has been based on their winning a National Championship, then Notre Dame has had 11 successful seasons, and I just don’t believe that that’s the case. However, the coach at Notre Dame is expected to consistently field elite teams. The other reason projections for Charlie Weis have been and continue to remain high are because of the hype and experience surrounding him when he was hired. It’s the same reason that people have great hopes for Jimmy Clausen and why fans forecasted great things for Ron Powlus when he came to Notre Dame. Charlie Weis had the coaching pedigree and a reputation of being an offensive genius. It is for these reasons that fans still desire a high level of coaching excellence and I can’t say I disagree with them. However, if Charlie Weis were to win a National Championship, these expectations for him and his coaching staff will only be pushed higher still.

On the other hand, expectations for a football team are very different in nature. They are based on skill, experience, and development rather than legend and reputation. On paper, this Irish football team is anticipated to be very good. They have skill and experience—the past several seasons have taught us that. However, the one x-factor in this year’s squad is development and this is where expectations for an entire team and the coaching staff intersect.

Coming into this season, Irish fans expected a potent offense, a productive passing and rushing offense, and a stout offensive line. However, they also anticipated solid tackling and secondary play as a result of the team’s high level of experience. However, four games into the season, needless penalties, sloppy tackling, poor defensive pressure that leads to poor secondary coverage can do nothing but lower expectations among realistic fans. Close games against Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue cause bystanders to question whether or not Notre Dame can beat teams like Washington, USC, or even Pittsburgh.

While hopes have fallen at this point in the season, the majority of this does not fall on the team, but on the coaching staff. When expectations for a football team meet or exceed those for a coaching staff, then that program is achieving success. However, when expectations for a football team are lower than those of the coaching staff, then that program is not succeeding. Currently, the 2009 football team is in the latter category.

All is not lost. The season is not over. Like Eric mentioned in yesterday’s article, most of the problems seen on the field can be corrected by positive personnel development which stems from effective coaching from both Charlie Weis and his assistants. It’s far too early to be calling for the removal of Charlie Weis. However, at the end of the season, it will be necessary to not only make an emotional decision on whether or not Charlie Weis is still the man for this job, but it’s also necessary to look back and ask, “Were the expectations for this football team met?” Not only were they met from the standpoint of wins and losses, but were they met from the standpoint of development? The ultimate success of a football program is not how much talent they started with, but how much development in skill and discipline they ended with and that goes beyond wins and losses.

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This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.

Here at Clashmore Mike, we will be doing a two-part look at Irish expectations and what changes, if any, need to be made based on the first third of the season. For part 1, we’ve reached out to fellow Notre Dame analysts Sprout and Eric over at The Subway Alumni Show. Individually, they gave their opinions on the idea of Irish fans shifting their expectations:

Sprout

I subscribe to the belief that any team can beat any team if they prepare and play properly. The ranking in front of your name doesn’t always mean you’re guaranteed a victory —just ask USC or Ole Miss or Penn State about that. Notre Dame has the talent and the depth to run with anyone on their schedule. Are they going to have their backs to the wall in several of those games? Yes. If they end up 10-2 are they going to be a top-five team? Doubtful. Does that mean this season will be a let down or all for naught? Absolutely not.

What I do think needs to change for Irish fans are their expectations of what Notre Dame football means. Football, like anything else, is cyclical. To say the Irish should never lose to a certain team simply because they are Notre Dame comes across as arrogant. That doesn’t mean I agree with every loss they’ve had recently…but things happen. If perfection is what fans expect from Notre Dame, then by my count Notre Dame has only ever had 11 successful seasons. It’s a wonder anyone is a fan to begin with based on all that failure.

All sarcasm aside, the college landscape is very different for Notre Dame than it was 20 years ago and it seems people are having a hard time admitting that. It’s harder to recruit. It’s harder to schedule. (A big part of the reason Notre Dame was able to schedule so many big name teams in a single season during the Holtz era was because a majority of those teams were independent also. Once everyone jumped ship for conferences, recruiting became a lot more complicated.) And to expect to be the best team based on Notre Dame’s history alone doesn’t cut it for me. It just doesn’t seem reasonable.

Overall though, I think the issues run deeper than just Notre Dame fans, but I’ll use us as the example. The way college football is currently setup is for that of failure. We have to expect a perfect season because that’s the only measure of success anymore. In any other sport, on any level, losing a single game does not hold as much weight as it does in college football. Why is that? It’s a recipe for disaster. A playoff system has to be put in place. As outrageous as ESPN’s conference realignment piece was—that was aired earlier this year—and regardless of how tongue-in-cheek they were being, a system like that makes sense for college football. And it’s under that system, in my opinion, that Notre Dame has the best shot at winning a National Championship again.

Eric

Since my counterpart took his answer to the much larger issue of the college football landscape, I’ll stay within the shadow of the Golden Dome and explain why I believe the Irish and their fans are still able to meet expectations of an 11-1 or 10-2 records.

I think most college football predictions can be pretty outrageous—like Lou Holtz’s 13-0 (upsetting Florida in the National Championship) prediction. But when Lou presented his argument he brought up the point that from the top of the schedule to the bottom, Notre Dame would field the better team athletically each week. Now some can make the argument (enter Mark May) that Notre Dame is not athletically superior than USC this year, but I disagree. I understand USC reloads faster than any school in the country, but losing players like Sanchez, Turner, Cushing, Matthews, Maualuga, and Moala—along with others—has played a huge role in closing the gap this year on USC and in my opinion are too many losses, especially on defense to be seen as superior to Notre Dame. Having virtually our whole offense back this season along with almost all of the key pieces on defense, it becomes easy to understand Lou’s bold prediction. Notre Dame should continue to field the better team in each of it’s games this year, barring of course the dreaded injuries.

As we all know, it’s not just who has the better team on paper and who’s ranked higher—that’s why they play the games (see Appalachian State vs. Michigan). It’s more about coming into each game prepared, focused and ready to execute at the highest level on every down of every possession. A pretty big request to expect out of some college “kids,” so we prepare ourselves for the miscues and the letdowns. To me, that is why so many people brushed off Lou’s prediction. He was simply calling for perfection, something that is so rarely seen in any sport, let alone in college football. However, with a down schedule for the Irish in ’09, a prediction of say 10-2, or even mine of 11-1, doesn’t seem to be so far-fetched.

Since the early slip-up against Michigan, followed with some close call victories against Michigan State and Purdue, I understand why some fans want to adjust their expectations. To make the excuse of this team not being ready for life in the top 10 or the top 5: I disagree. A mature Brady Quinn took Charlie Weis’ offense into the top 10 before and I think we can all agree that Quinn and company had less talent than the current players. Even with Mike Floyd out for what looks to be the season, I think that this group of kids should be and will be able to perform well enough throughout the remaining games to keep on winning.

There are some negative aspects that the team is currently facing (poor tackling, poor pressure by the defensive line, poor secondary coverage, and needless penalties), and although we are nearing mid-season already, I find that those are all correctable problems. People easily forget that players progress throughout the season and I don’t believe it’s too much to ask of our defensive line to improve upon their pressure or our linebackers to tackle better. The pieces could fall into place very easily for the Irish. If the defensive line is able to create better pressure consistently, the secondary’s job becomes easier since the opposing quarterback won’t have all day to make up his mind. Both of these things will then lead to players being in the right position to make the right plays. I think Notre Dame is fortunate that the negative aspects that have come out of our first four games are so few and seem to be easily correctable.

Overall, it will continue to be on the players and coaches to stay focused on their performance and improvements each week. Just because we should be beating the Washington State’s and Boston College’s this year doesn’t guarantee a victory. Will we see an 11-1 season? I believe so, but then again I predicted Brady Quinn was going to be able to win a game or two for my Cleveland Browns.

Once again, our thanks go out to Sprout and Eric at The Subway Alumni Show for allowing us to pick their brains on this topic. Make sure to check out their Purdue recap and Washington preview episode where they answer a few more questions we asked them to cover on video. Also, Part 2 of this topic will be covered tomorrow, right here on Clashmore Mike.

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This article is © 2007-2010 by De Veritate, LLC and was originally published at Clashmore Mike. This article may not be copied, distributed, or transmitted without attribution. Additionally, you may not use this article for commercial purposes or to generate derivative works without explicit written permission. Please contact us if you wish to license this content for your own use.