Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/350567
FAN FORUM IT'S ALL ACADEMIC I enjoyed Todd Burlage's column "Time For Change In NCAA Has Arrived" in the June/July 2014 edition. Yes, changes are overdue in college athletics. Yes, protection via adequate insurance programs is a must for athletes who have suffered injuries that may affect them, especially in the long term. And, yes, such athletes should be well fed, comfortably housed and respected as all students are. They should also have means to travel back and forth to home on a reasonable basis. Of course football programs make a lot of money. There's a reason for that. The public eats it up, enjoys it and wants it. What is needed, however, is a commitment to "purify" college athletics, and the NCAA has been woefully lax in doing this. It's almost as if doesn't care. The NCAA should create an army of auditors working closely with academicians, if that's what it takes, to ensure that (1) athletes on scholarship are taking a full load of meaningful courses, (2) are attending classes (minimal absences allowed), (3) are passing the courses and (4) are on course to graduate (a player doesn't get to suit up for the second year if he/she has not completed all academic requirements for the first). Stiff penalties must be established and applied without mercy, the coaching staff, alums and supporters be damned! This will not hurt at the cash register. FROM THE WEBSITE One of the questions posed to BlueandGold.com readers this July was where have been the greatest improvements made in Brian Kelly's first four seasons? Here were a few of the replies: 65too: Assistant coaches, and it is not an accident. Lennyd: The work in the trenches is night and day from 2007-2009. ND was not a football team physi- cally and mentally during that period … Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt peaked in '12, were hurt and didn't perform in '13 and then left for the NFL in a year where they could have both served as anchors for another magical run in '14. That is their right and I wish them nothing but the best, but the team on the field will suffer this year for it. ND89: The strongest improvement is depth — across the board. Vod Kanockers: 1. Player development. 2. Talent level. 3. Position coaches, specifically Harry Hiestand (offensive line) and Brian VanGorder (defensive coordinator). Hodges: Better conditioning and team stamina. Since Kelly has arrived, the team has gotten stronger in the second half. Psdo51: Adding a nutritionist and the training table had to help, and the work of Paul Longo molding the kids into college athletes has been excellent. And yes, the [clean] locker room. … Respect the room, the program and everybody involved. Respect your teammates especially. Dan Murphy: The training table and focus on nutrition wasn't solely Kelly's idea. Charlie Weis pushed hard for the same things before he got the boot, but Notre Dame wasn't ready to add them until Kelly arrived.