Rockne's Roundtable

Along with way, Dan Devine did a pretty good job.

I like your enthusiasm, but winning a national championship is not "did a pretty good job". As the last 20+ years has taught us, any NC is worth gold. Winning an NC is a great job, no matter the circumstances. In today's college football landscape, it is tough to win a title, period.

I hope you're right that you believe the program is on the rise.

BTW, that was a long story.

I agree 100% with the original post. We're on the right track and you can see the shift in mindset of our committed recruits.

Great post, Mr. Rice. Well reasoned and written. In fact, it's the best post I've seen on this board in a long time.

I, too, am a 63 year older, and my ND experience tracks yours almost completely. Your remarks about Parseghian, Holtz, Devine et al. were dead-on. In fact, I share your faint praise of Devine, whom I thought was a good coach, but whose NC was won with quite a few of Parseghian's players and recruits. Still, I mean no disrespect to Devine who succeeded at the college level everywhere he coached.

The faith part of your argument -- that Kelly is the kind of coach, because of his background, who can do it and that he has learned important lessons given the recent loss of recruits -- is supported by solid logic. Still, it is only Kelly who can clinch your argument. And, given your prediction of another lackluster year, I wonder if he will be able to secure the kinds of recruits -- the smart guys who can play football -- that he will need to turn your argument into a reality.

For me, when it comes to ND, faith-based arguments of any kind are a thing of the past. As I stated in a recent post, the ND brand was left in tatters by Davie, Willingham and Weis. The challenge Kelly is facing in restoring it is, to my mind, monumental, and, if he is to do it, it will take the five years you are asking for him, as opposed to the traditional three. I only hope that time and changes in American society will not prove too strong for him to overcome.

My view is that what will be will be. ND is as opaque a riddle to me as the stock market, the credit markets, the bullion markets and the Chinese economy. But I applaud your brilliant summary, your heartfelt faith in ND -- the result of those 55 years, as I know only too well, myself -- and your steadfast belief that Kelly has the right stuff. It's a noble and even sensible position you have taken. I hope like hell you are right.

My vote for POTW if I get one lol.

Great post & agree with all except 2012. I believe we will surprise lots of folks IF 4 things happen:

1. STOP turnovers, limit to single digits.
2. Run ball effectively
3. Stop the run on d.
4. GREAT special teams play

This would lead to 2 losses at most in my opinion..

Hi Lou;

Part of the worst situation I can ever recall a Notre Dame coaching inheriting involves the administration, beginning with Beauchamp couldn't figure out if it was committed to football or not. He and his crew more or less ran Holtz out of town, and hired Davie in his place, mostly be he was a "yes man." After the O'Leary debacle, White was more or less forced to make the politically correct hire of Willingham. Following more failure, I think the Irish really wanted to find a winner, but opted for another guy (Weis) with no head coaching experience.

By the time Kelly was hired, it had been 22 years or so since the Irish won a championship, and at least 17 since fielding a really good team. I think that the more time that passes between greatness, the more out of touch a new generation of kids becomes.

Devine was a good football coach. He just never had the PR skills to be loved as Parseghian and Holtz were. I stand corrected regarding the quality of the 84-85 classes, but I still think Kelly inherited a more difficult situation. It's largely opinion, but I think the world has changed a lot in the last 28 years. Notre Dame had more mystique, was not far removed from football glory in those days, the lower scholarship numbers had not yet had time to substantially change the landscape in college football, and kids were not yet made into gods in high school. Heck, I had to get a subscription to the South Bend Tribune to get just a tidbit of recruiting info once or twice a week.

Mr Rice

Thanks for your excellent posts - I've thought many times how ND maybe out of touch with the "...new generation of kids..." - ND's last NC was before these kids were born and I was a lot younger(now 65). ND has such a rich history and tradition. Yet there was a time that every hs recruit KNEW who ND was but now how many times do we read a recruit say " Don't know much about them need to check them out" - yes "...the world has changed a lot in the last 28 years. Notre Dame had more mystique..." BK came to ND with a resume of success as a headcoach but he isn't a miracle worker - I believe that Mr Swabrick will stand by BK and give him the support he needs(honor the 5yr contract). There's been improvement but the restless fanbase(including me) wants rain to fall on this 'desert of mediocrity' I have to laugh at myself - today I like watching ND on tv every sat(and I can record them) yet I really enjoyed listening to the games on radio years ago - they won a lot more LOL! I do remember exactly where I was(had my transitor radio in hand) when USC's QB Fertig hit Sherman to beat Ara's ND squad ending that great season 1964(Ara's 1st year 9W-1L) - DANG still hurts! Again thanks for your posts - very well written. GO IRISH!!