Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2017 27 Everything needs to be on the table for Kelly. Below are the areas Notre Dame must address this offseason if it wants to finally become the consistent pro- gram it is more than capable of being: 1. CHANGE IN MENTALITY When you coach at Notre Dame, being physical and tough is an abso- lute must. This isn't about what has worked in the past, it is about build- ing the program around the type of players Notre Dame attracts into its program and the regions it recruits the best. The 2012 team had some of that, but the program has never jumped head first into that mentality under Kelly. He must adopt this first and foremost as the foundation of his program. Kelly has always given lip service to this phi- losophy, but how his teams prepare and play does not back that up. Everything Notre Dame does needs to be about being more physical than the man across from them; being stronger, tougher and more passion- ate about winning every single rep. Competition and ferocity must be- come the bedrock principles of how the Irish coaches and players go about their business every single day. Speaking of business, the calm, business-like approach Kelly has created must be changed. There are benefits to it, and the "one game at a time" mantra is admirable, but when you play the schedule Notre Dame does each year, a different ap- proach is required. Passion is a must, wanting to go out and physically and mentally dominate opponents is what must be worked towards. Consider Stanford. Since Kelly arrived at Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish have gone 59-31 with just two seasons of 10 or more wins, while the Cardinal has gone 75-18 with five seasons of 10 or more wins. Kelly has gone just 2-5 against the Cardinal. In that time, Stanford has won a pair of Rose Bowls and has an Or- ange Bowl victory on its docket, while Notre Dame's most notable postseason victory is a Music City Bowl win over an 8-5 LSU squad. The built-in excuses about admis- sions and high academic standards are useless when comparing these two programs, because Stanford is the one program with an identical profile when it comes to academics. Why the difference in success? Is it really that much harder to win at Notre Dame than it is at Stanford? Has the Cardinal had more talent? Since Kelly arrived, Notre Dame has produced 27 NFL Draft picks, while Stanford has churned out 28. Notre Dame has produced six first-round picks to Stanford's four, while the Irish have had 16 players selected in the first three rounds to Stanford's 14. Talent isn't the issue. The biggest difference is Stanford has a clear identity, and it is one built around winning at the line of scrim- mage each and every week. Anyone who has been on the sideline when these two teams face each other can easily tell the Stanford players are bigger and stronger than the Irish players, an unacceptable reality. Stanford is what Notre Dame used to be — an academic juggernaut that uses discipline, sound fundamentals, toughness and a physical style of play that neutralizes any talent advantages its opponents might have. For Stan- ford — and Ohio State, a team with a similar philosophy — it's not about their schemes on either side of the ball. It's about a mentality that per- meates every part of their program. That's the kind of philosophy Kelly needs to develop at Notre Dame. Part of it is being more committed to the run game, but it goes much deeper than that. Running for the sake of run- ning changes nothing — running the ball with the right attitude and phi- losophy is what the program needs. It's no surprise that in Notre Dame's two best rushing seasons un- der Kelly, it happened to put together a 22-4 record. 2. FUNDAMENTALS FIRST Notre Dame was an extremely poor fundamental football team in 2016. It seemed that almost every posi- tion struggled to do the little things that top teams do. Units that were effective in 2015 took steps back in 2016, especially the offensive line. Defensively, the Irish were a mess. Even when the defenders knew what to do, they often did so with such poor technique that they still could not make the play. Notre Dame's tackling was prob- lematic, and the Irish offensive line committed 24 false start penalties, including nine from team captain Mike McGlinchey. Both are signs of a team that lacks proper fundamentals and focus. Notre Dame needs to become a more detail-oriented program. Kel- ly's Notre Dame offenses have al- ways been heavy on scheme and get- ting into the right plays. The hire of Brian VanGorder brought the defense into that world, and the results were disastrous. Moving forward, Notre Dame has to be more about how the players play the game and not as reli- ant on complex, exotic schemes. These issues are not new for Kelly's program, so he and the staff have to seriously rethink how they prepare each and every day. Making corrections in these areas means more than just simplifying the plans of attack. It requires a change in how they practice, what the emphasis is in practice each day and how they go about every single thing they do. 3. ESTABLISH LEADERSHIP Notre Dame had an obvious lack of leadership in 2016, something that has been an often-discussed issue in three of the last four seasons. Only Notre Dame's 2015 team seemed to have the needed on- and off-the-field leaders. Leadership is something that must be inherent in a person, but coaches must create an atmosphere where it can rise and flourish, which has not happened much at Notre Dame in recent seasons. Leadership and accountability have been missing from the program. Without being at practice and in meetings every day, it is impossible to get too specific about why it has happened and what needs to change. What can be addressed is the need for Kelly and his staff to create an environment that enhances the lead- ership skills of the players that al- ready show those traits, and create a greater sense of accountability. 4. STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING OVERHAUL At the heart of many of Notre Dame's issues are failures in the strength and conditioning program. Watching Notre Dame week after week makes it obvious that the team is not as strong, as powerful or as conditioned as its top opponents. All are signs of a strength program that is lacking. Another is the fact many of Notre Dame's older players have actually stalemated or regressed from a functional power standpoint during their careers. The two most glaring examples are