Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY LOU SOMOGYI T he question posed to Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly during the Dec. 6 Fiesta Bowl press conference was direct but non-confrontational. "You've had 25 games with [Brian] VanGorder as the defensive coordinator. Is your defense where you thought it would be two years ago?" "Well, I think we always judge it by the whole," Kelly replied. "We're a bet- ter football team than we were 25 games ago, and that's the most important thing." It was a sidestep maneuver that the greatest skill position athletes in the game today could envy. The inquiry that likely was really on the minds of many was, "Will Van- Gorder return as Notre Dame's defen- sive coordinator in 2016?" There will be a time and place for that to be answered, but preparation for the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State took precedence. Nevertheless, the fact that Kelly didn't give a ringing endorse- ment of the defense was interpreted that the progress was disappointing. A cou- ple of weeks earlier, he acknowledged that the work on that side of the ball remained incomplete. "We're still evolving defensively," Kelly said. "We're still working to build our defense. We're not there yet, clearly. … We're going to get better as we con- tinue to recruit and develop our de- fense." Notre Dame's defense under Van- Gorder has become a prime topic the past two years and is expected to con- tinue into 2016. 2014 AND 2015 The first year in 2014 under Van- Gorder was a mixed bag and vastly in- complete in evaluation. During a 5-0 start, the Irish ranked ON THE DEFENSIVE ( AGAIN ) Notre Dame's issues on defense have resurfaced and might continue into 2016