Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 NOV. 13, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED O ver the past two decades, one of the popular questions in college football has been "whatever happened to Notre Dame football?" Reasons or justifications remained constant about why the most famous college football brand has had only two top-10 finishes the past 23 years, while not even winning a major bowl (which it did 10 times in the 24 years prior from 1970-93, the most in col- lege football during that period). In 2017, the "what happened?" in- quiry is different — as in "what has gotten into this Notre Dame team?" By November, the Irish were No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rank- ings and heralded as possibly the most physical force in the land, or at least this side of Alabama. This after a 4-8 collapse just a year earlier. In recent weeks, the question often has been asked on BlueandGold.com about what single aspect has led to such a dramatic turnaround not only in performance but with team culture. There is never just one answer to such a query, but here's a cursory overview — while keeping in mind that there is still much to achieve be- fore this can be lauded as one of the two or three greatest renaissance sea- sons in school history. 1. The Silver Lining Maybe this is difficult to admit, but it was better for Notre Dame to col- lapse dramatically at 4-8 than finish something like 7-5 and 8-4 that likely would have led to the inane and in- furiating "we're only two or three plays away" rhetoric so often heard. The complete implosion forced the entire operation — from the adminis- tration to the football office — to take an extremely probing look at the in- frastructure, and make the necessary and sweeping changes. 2. Pride This group of young men and Brian Kelly have been high achievers and winners throughout their lives. To get humiliated the way they did last year created an internal fire of never wanting to be embarrassed like that again, and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to avoid it. Remember the Charles Atlas ads in old comic books? It's the one with the young guy who had sand kicked in his face on the beach in front of his pretty girlfriend, and couldn't do anything about it. He then dedicates himself to be- coming stronger. For this team, the smoldering rage was building throughout the win- ter, spring and summer with a col- lective "we'll show him" attitude. They couldn't wait to get back on the beach — or the gridiron — to ex- act vengeance with their new bodies, commitment and anger. 3. Leadership This was established from the out- set in December with a record number of captains to stress accountability. Part of leadership also is humility in knowing there is more to do and not gloating when some taste of success is achieved. That too has been evident as everyone only talks about "the pro- cess," not necessarily the result. The week of the Wake Forest game, Kelly was asked about how he feels now about a group of Notre Dame alumni who last winter had paid for ads highlighting his failure — along with director of athletics Jack Swarbrick's — that was worthy of dismissal. The response was perfect. "It comes with the expectations of Notre Dame, and if you don't live up to those expectations, you should ex- pect those things to occur," Kelly said. "The best way for me to go about and work during those times is to find solutions and change the story line. "… To go home and get mad and be inactive about changing the story line is poor leadership." 4. Impactful Change Six new on-field assistants and a revamped strength and conditioning staff headed by Matt Balis, galva- nized everyone. New coordinators Chip Long and Mike Elko had no previous ties to Kelly, yet collectively they estab- lished an identity of this is who we are and this is what we do — physi- cality and fundamentals — and rein- forcing it daily. Once you taste some success with it, then everybody buys in, further enhancing the chemistry to comple- ment the team bonding over months. New voices never hurt. You saw that with Ty Willingham starting 8-0 and 10-1 in 2002 after past misery. You saw that with Charlie Weis in 2005 after two previous years of fail- ure. It doesn't hurt to have a clean slate with new voices. Part II of it is sustaining success to become a program, not just a team. 5. Talent Let us not forget that during the five-year period from 2013-17, Notre Dame ranked No. 8 in overall recruit- ing prowess, behind Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, LSU, Georgia, USC and Auburn. People don't buy it when you finish 4-8, but there was top-10 capable tal- ent on this team. It just has to be used properly and forged with the right identity. It is now, complemented by leadership of the coaching and sup- port staffs, much like when Ara Par- seghian arrived in 1964 to steer a spe- cial renaissance out of the wilderness. Combine such talent with deep mo- tivation, and you have the chance at something special, one that is hope- fully sustained in years to come. ✦ What Happened? Let Us Count The Ways THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com Offensive coordinator Chip Long has been one of the many new voices and leaders to spark Notre Dame's 2017 turnaround. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN