Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/110553
Under the Dome "First thing, big-time ballplayers — don't ever believe your coach. OK? Not on important things, anyway. Like life. Or tomorrow. He says the sky is blue, you'd better check it because it might be gray, brown or pitch black. He tells you he loves you, he'll never leave you — uh-oh, he may be packing his bags." — Chicago Sun-Times writer Rick Telander on Brian Kelly's interview with the Philadelphia Eagles "This was January of 2013, a most un-Notre Dame-like stretch that could've distracted, or even destroyed, the program. Only February arrived. … It was some kind of perfect storm of recruiting magic, a 15-state roundup of talent that, just months ago, nearly every pundit in the game said Notre Dame was no longer capable of landing. Remember when this program was supposed to be irrelevant, just an old, outdated sepia-toned shell of its former self?" — Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports "If last year's recruiting day haul was like unwrapping a Christmas present and finding underwear — functional, but lacking pizazz — this year's booty was that shiny red fire truck that had been on the wish list for a while. This crop had the five-star bells and whistles to go with the guys who fill some desperate needs — like five offensive linemen." — Al Lesar, South Bend Tribune "Absolutely, I love agreeing with experts." — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on whether he thought his recruiting class was as good as its collective ranking Early Bird 2013 Projections It's safe to say Notre Dame won't begin outside the Associated Press top 25 a second straight season in 2013 after a 12-0 regular season and No. 1 ranking in 2012, prior to the 42-14 debacle against Alabama in the BCS National Championship. Here are early 2013 preseason rankings of Notre Dame courtesy of some major media outlets: • Sporting News has the Irish the highest, No. 4 behind Alabama, Clemson and Georgia. • SportsIllustrated. com's Andy Staples places head coach Brian Kelly's team at No. 6, with Alabama, Outgoing senior Zeke Motta Texas A&M (which helped to launch Notre Dame hosts Alabama Sept. from unranked to the top of the 14 in an early-season polls in 2012 before getting showdown), Stan- trounced by Alabama. The Irish ford, Oregon and will start much higher in the Ohio State rounding ranks in 2013. photo by bill panzica out the first five. • Athlon has Notre Dame No. 7. • USA Today and CBSSports.com both have the Fighting Irish No. 8. • ESPN.com has Notre Dame the lowest at No. 12. Notre Dame's No. 3 finish this past season in the BCS poll, and No. 4 in the AP, was the highest by the program since No. 2 in 1993. It also marked only the second time since 1993 that Notre Dame placed in the final AP top 10, the other coming in 2005 (No. 9). Head coach Nick Saban's Crimson Tide — thought to be rebuilding last year — is the overwhelming pick for an unprecedented fourth national title in five years. Who says there's more parity today?