Notre Dame Football has not been the juggernaut program it once was in a very long time. In fact, since the end of the Lou Holtz era, Notre Dame Football has endured multiple losing seasons, coaching changes galore, bowl game hammerings, and a national reputation that no longer gets the respect it once did. That being said, Notre Dame is still considered a premier university and a blue-chip prospect destination. So why has Notre Dame Football been so poor overall in the past 20 years or so?
- The Schedule - The publicity Notre Dame’s schedule receives for being tough is something I will be the first one to totally disagree with. They play no more than two tough opponents a year (USC and Michigan) and then a military school or two plus teams that are either traditionally average...Michigan State & Purdue come to mind...or teams that are up and down to say the least...Stanford & Washington on this years schedule. They have no conference affiliation and the luster of being an Independent is gone.
- The Rise of Other Programs - Rutgers and UConn, Texas Tech, Missouri, and Kansas, West Virginia, Cinncinatti, and South Florida; all programs that were either non-existent or average at best during the Notre Dame glory days but have since risen to the national stage. I am not saying Notre Dame competes directly with any of these schools for talent just yet, but I will say that the rise of such schools means less three star recruits are available if a four or five star recruit does not pan out (something that has happened to Notre Dame a lot in recent years).
- Inflated Recruiting Classes - Just because a young man commits to Notre Dame does not mean he is a great football player. In fact, many young men at many Division I colleges and universities across the country are not four or five star recruits.
- Coaching Longevity - I always believed this effected high school programs more so than college programs or pro programs but a head coaching carousal is never a good thing and Notre Dame has had it. In with a new coach...out a few years later. In with another new coach...out a few years later. Some times coaches in college need time to set up their recruiting base and Notre Dame is not an exception to that rule.
- Notre Dame’s Ego - Yes, Notre Dame got in the way of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish believed it could recruit athletes just because they were Notre Dame. Unfortunately for Notre Dame that does not appeal to kids the way it once used to and they lost out on great players. I personally was amazed when my family moved to Chicago to see how Notre Dame was thought of in comparison to in Ohio where I was born and raised. In Ohio, Notre Dame is no more than another college or university where as in Chicago they are thought of more as an Ivy League school that allows scholarship athletics to take place. I had no idea that was the reputation Notre Dame Football had and Ohio is a neighboring state. In my eyes, it reveals the drop in national allure Notre Dame Football is facing and how they perceive themselves is far different than how the national audience perceives them...just another place to play college athletics.
The Fix
The first way to fix any problem is to first realize you have one. Notre Dame Football, you have a problem...unfortunate for such a proud program but true non-the-less. In fact, it is my belief that you will ride the 5-6 year roller coaster of success if things do not change. (Meaning that Notre Dame Football will only have a successful season every 5-6 years in their current state.) So how can this be fixed? Three simple solutions...
- Get into a conference - The prestige of being Independent is long gone. Both the Big East and the Big Ten offer great opportunities. You could run the roost in the Big East almost right away since most programs in this conference are still developing powers. That may not be the case in the Big Ten but the geography of the conference sets up great rivals and assured fan support no matter where you play.
- Get after it! - I must admit this seems to have gotten better but the recruiting game has changed and Notre Dame Football must get the recruits it needs to be a big time program once again. This means real five star recruits, not inflated ones.
- Stay the course - I am not a huge Charlie Weis fan but a coach has got to be given time to get things the way he wants them to be. Charlie has had his ups and downs but seems to be on the right track overall. The worst thing Notre Dame Football could do at this time is to enter the head coaching job market again.