Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Upon Further Review todd D. burlage contract extension at Notre Dame? To Brey's credit, he's proven to be one of the best regular-season coaches in all of college basketball. Brey was a three-time winner of the Big East Coach of the Year, the National Coach of the Year in 2011, and the fourth-winningest coach in Big East history with 144 wins, ranking behind only Hall of Famers Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, Jim Calhoun of Connecticut and John Thompson of Georgetown. For 13 seasons in the Big East, Brey consistently beat Boeheim, Calhoun, Rick Pitino at Louisville, Jamie Dixon at Pittsburgh, Jay Wright at Villanova and other fine coaches. Give Brey a level of familiarity with an opponent and its coach, and he's hard to beat, in part because the same strategy notes from previous seasons can be dusted off, revised and tweaked every year. Of course, prepping for an NCAA Tournament game provides none of the coaching comforts for Brey and his staff, when styles, tendencies and players are all unfamiliar, and potential opponents diverse. Turnaround time is also short, and preparation is at a premium, all of which makes recent tournament results so disappointing and next season so intriguing for Brey. Notre Dame's move to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013-14 will wash away all familiarity and create an entirely fresh learning curve, making it a crossroad season for the program and a great measure of Brey's value as a coach. After the lopsided loss to Iowa State, even Brey's biggest supporters are starting to wonder if this as is good as it gets. Logging 20-plus wins, 10 wins in conference and making the NCAA Tournament most every season are all laudable accomplishments, especially given where the program was when Brey took it over in 2000. But ultimately, the folks that support Brey's program deserve more of a payoff than a quality regular season and a token appearance in the NCAA Tournament. And with only one Sweet 16 appearance in 13 years here, postseason results have to improve. Let's face it, the bar has dropped so low, a Sweet 16 appearance would be reason for a parade around South Bend. Brey was right when he admitted after the season-ending blowout to Iowa State that there are no easy answers to postseason success. But given the surprise teams that reach the Final Four seemingly every season, one would think Brey could accidentally find his way into the Sweet 16 once in a while. Perhaps new surroundings in the ACC will shake some familiarity away, help Notre Dame find a fresh identity and open a path to better postseason success. Then again, with this pattern of tournament blowouts and early dismissals, the only thing guaranteed is strained loyalty. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com