Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE touchdowns for 21 percent), turnovers forced (17), first downs allowed (110), total defense (280.7 yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (9.4 points allowed per games). And just how important are points allowed to winning? Entering games last weekend, the top five Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in scor- ing defense had combined to win 35 of 36 games. Each of Diaco's coaching stops — the true option with Navy; run-first quarterbacks with Purdue and Michi- gan; grind-it-out rushing games with Stanford and Michigan State; and bal- anced offensive attacks with BYU and Oklahoma. Conference schedules breed a simi- larity and a familiarity of opponents Notre Dame doesn't enjoy. "It's been an outstanding perfor- brought similar stingy results and steady improvement to this season at Notre Dame. In just his second year as lineback- ers coach at Virginia in 2007, only four schools allowed fewer rushing touch- downs than the nine surrendered by the Cavaliers. And when Diaco left Virginia for Cincinnati after the 2008 season, the Cavalier rushing defense immediately dropped to No. 95 in the country. Working under Brian Kelly at Cin- cinnati in 2009, Diaco had to replace 10 starters on defense and still finished No. 3 in the nation with 110 tackles for loss and an opponent rushing average of only 3.6 yards per carry. Since Diaco's arrival at Notre Dame mance to date," Kelly said after the Miami win, "and we've seen it all." Diaco has taken a defense once void of talent, depth, speed and fitness, and built it into a showcase of about a dozen NFL prospects, many of which are underclassmen with plenty of mat- uration and improvement ahead. And with success comes opportu- nity. Conventional wisdom suggests that the man who led the Notre Dame defense from a punch line under Weis into one of the best units in the coun- try will be a wanted man for a head coaching position after this season and beyond. We should all be thankful the stars in 2010, his Irish rank in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense during that 34-game span, giving up less than 20 points a game. That represents an improvement of eight points per game from 2009, when coaching turbulence and an offensive emphasis under head coach Charlie Weis brought little hope. Football independence has forced Diaco to work his magic against the most diverse schedule in the country didn't line up for Diaco to return home to New Jersey after last season and take the job opening at Rutgers in Pis- cataway, N.J. The question of who is most respon- sible for the turnaround at Notre Dame this season continues to be a popular topic of debate. And while Te'o and Kelly are great answers, Diaco gets my vote. ✦ Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com