NDFB Reflection: What Now?

I don’t know what to say, really.

The ACC championship and Rose Bowl weren’t competitive. No, I did not expect anything different. Illusion never changed into something real.

There are three elite college football programs at the moment, and only a handful of teams (perhaps just LSU and Georgia) that can occasionally catch fire and put up a good fight against the triumvirate. That college football is so thoroughly dominated by this cartel probably is not healthy, but that goes beyond the scope of what COS is capable of solving. All we have to decide is what to do with the time given to us.

Will ND metamorphosize from Ryan Lewis to Macklemore under Brian Kelly? No. We’ve talked a lot about how it is not easy to get top tier talent to South Bend. It is, however, possible; it just requires a head coach who is a cultural fit for the university and also happens to be maniacal about recruiting. The white smoke will never announce Urban Meyer’s return to Indiana, but he’s obviously the archetypical guy who could do it. There’s a story from his time at OSU that sticks out in my mind about how he would facetime or text or snapchat or whatever with not just a top recruit but that recruit’s friends and girlfriend daily. While constantly messaging high schoolers is a little Spacey (American Beauty or real life, take your pick), it worked and it’s what it takes and you’ll never see Brian Kelly do it. He’s not that guy, doesn’t have that hustle, and that won’t change at this point in his career. It’s not happening, so quit asking.

So do we part ways with a coach whose ceiling is so clearly limited? No. It ain’t 1988 no more, and I know what’s behind that door. In my estimation, there are only two programs – USC and Texas – that are so devoid of any unattractive qualities that they should never accept 95th percentile outcomes. For everyone else, it’s a little trickier. Even Ohio State contends with its own geographic challenges (both midwestern weather patterns and dislocation from deposits of top talent), and Clemson lacks cache (it’s building it rapidly, though). Lest we forget, Alabama is in Alabama, and struggled mightily before Saban’s arrival. The point is – it’s really tough to win games in college football, because realistically there are 25 programs that have a bunch of really good things to offer, and then there are another 100 programs that can randomly get hot and make a run in any given year. That Notre Dame is probably the fifth best program in the country right now is a massive accomplishment. There aren’t many Dabos or Sabans out there, and they’re really tough to identify before they make it.  Maybe the next guy will be Holtz or Meyer; more likely he will be Weis, and we will look back on these years, the playoff appearances, the ten win seasons, as the good old days, because things are really good. And good is good enough when you’re a small catholic school in northwestern Indiana that makes its players go to class.

Even if a Brian Kelly team will never consistently compete with the sport’s elite, will never give you confidence heading into a big game, there are steps that can be taken while he is at the helm to move the program closer to the Ohio-Georgia line.

1. Spend some money.
   • There are a bunch of legitimate reasons a top coaching target might spurn Notre Dame; compensation cannot be one of them. Losing then-DC Mike Elko to Texas A&M in 2018 was unacceptable and I will never forgive Jack Swarbrick for it. However, it’s 2021 and Swarbs came to fuck it up. Landing Marcus Freeman when a formidable LSU program had its sight set on him and was ready to aim is one of the finest moments of Swarbrick’s tenure. Maybe Freeman’s star will continue to shine, maybe it won’t, idk consistent success in CFB is hard, but when you need a defensive coordinator and the top DC on the market is from the Midwest and has six kids with his catholic wife you’d better make sure he finds a louis duffle at the end of the rainbow. Freeman secured the bag and for that, Swarbrick, I am grateful. Let’s keep investing in the staff (especially, as several beat writers have noted, private air travel for recruiting trips); I am a blogger not a financial professional so take this with a GOS but I suspect the ROI will be there.
   • Notre Dame does not need to put a water park inside its football center but lavish facilities are table stakes these days and the Irish simply do not have them. I’m so sick and tired of hearing stories of players studying on the floor of hallways in the Gug between meetings because there isn’t enough space in the building. It’s not right. No one will ever mistake Notre Dame for a football factory but there’s no excuse for not giving these kids the best given what they give us.
2. Light every candle in the grotto in hopes that Tyler Buchner is more TB12 than IB12. Not much to say here other than that a generational quarterback can take a borderline elite program a long way.
3. Adopt my secret plan to defeat Notre Dame’s recruiting shortcomings. Article still forthcoming.

For now, just remember – it’s not having what you want; it’s wanting what you’ve got.