Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME IS NOTRE DAME'S FOOTBALL MARKETING MACHINE GOING TOO FAR? Point ✦ Counterpoint: how successful they are. Those that do spread their own gospel aren't usually well liked, and they aren't usually as special as they make them- selves out to be. Careful, Notre Dame, you're getting danger- ously close to becoming your own biggest fan. The recent string of NBC Let Results Speak for Themselves By Dan Murphy Most successful people don't need to tell others Sports' filtered looks inside the Irish football program provide a handful of interesting peeks behind the curtain and into the lives of a college football player. Mostly, though, they were over-polished hour-long commercials for the school. The type of borderline pro- paganda that makes anyone who is not already a fan of the team and the university view it as a "holier than thou" insti- tution. Notre Dame has long been one of the best promot- ers in college sports. The message is often a good one, but it's getting to be a little bit too much. Two weeks ago, head coach Brian Kelly walked for Notre Dame has been positive. The seniors in particular have waited a long time for this level of national praise and attention, and when NFL Films asks for behind-the-scenes access, you better open the door. For one, you know that it's going to be a quality prod- uct, evidenced by everything else NFL Films has churned out over the decades. Secondly, head coach Brian Kelly had a chance to show off his ability to develop players. There are all sorts of games that are Soak Up The Attention By Wes Morgan It has been a while since almost every headline Head coach Brian Kelly and the Irish walk a fine line between feeding the hype and embracing the positive attention the program is receiving. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA down a flight of stairs into his weekly press confer- ence with a fully equipped camera crew nipping at his heels and then spoke for 10 minutes about teaching his players ways to "avoid the noise" of outside hype. Notre Dame, you've got a very good football team with some very compelling and good people on the roster. Stick to winning football games and let the stories that will follow tell themselves. cover of Sports Illustrated (twice) and on ESPN "College GameDay" (possibly for a second time at Oklahoma), plus having NFL Films devoting weeks of time to chronicling the rise of the Fighting Irish, keep the program out front nationally, all serving as a reminder of how long ND has fought to get back to this point. If the Irish take care of business over the next six weeks, folks in positions of power will have had no opportunity to forget how big of a turnaround it was in Kelly's third season. Everywhere they turn, the Irish will be staring them in the face. played outside the game of college foot- ball when it comes to positioning one's team in the public eye. We'll see down the stretch some coaches candidly cry- ing out that their team is undervalued in the minds of voters, or that they de- served to be considered over another program when it comes time for bowl selections. Other coaches are subtle in their approach, but politick nonetheless. Having Notre Dame featured on the