Is Brian Kelly holding Notre Dame back?
By Ben Belden
Recent struggles on the football field have raised serious frustrations for Notre Dame fans. Is it possible that coach Brian Kelly is holding them back?
Notre Dame’s opening weekend loss to Texas magnified with Saturday night’s prime time matchup with Michigan State. The Irish squandered an opportunity to prove themselves. Their failure to do so has fans frustrated and searching for someone to blame for the team’s lackluster performance.
In Brian Kelly’s third season, Notre Dame battled to an undefeated regular season on their way to a shot at a National Championship. The Irish’s defeat at the hands of Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide was bad, but there was optimism for the program. Notre Dame had returned to relevance.
The good news:
To his credit, Brian Kelly is largely responsible for Notre Dame’s most recent turnaround. The Irish were a boring, mundane team when Kelly took over to start the 2010 season. His predecessors Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis had their moments, but those moments were fleeting, at best. Kelly brought the excitement the program needed.
Before Kelly’s third year ended at the hands of the Crimson Tide, the Irish notched consecutive 8-win seasons. Among Irish fans, the thought was that the Irish had arrived as permanent contenders. The Irish had progressed from a middle of the road team to college football runners-up. The next step was a National Championship.
The bad news:
What has happened to the Irish program since that run to the title game has been largely disappointing. Kelly has failed to lead his team to the College Football Playoff. Worse yet, the Irish have failed to even win a New Years Six bowl game. In the 42 games since the Irish lost the national title, they have gone only 28-14.
The past two seasons have been particularly frustrating, as the Irish have had plenty of opportunities to distinguish themselves but have failed to come up with victories most of the time. In 2014, the Irish squandered an opportunity to notch a signature win at Florida State. They were in control, and Florida State never led until the 7:39 mark of the fourth quarter. Questionable officiating aside, Kelly’s team failed to put the Seminoles away when they had the chance.
More frustrating than the heart-breaking losses is perhaps the fashion in which the Irish continually lose. The Irish have faced three-possession deficits in three of their last four regular season losses. They trailed Clemson by 18, Texas by 17 and Michigan State by 29 before rallying to lose by two, three and eight points, respectively.
Even more concerning is the fact that Kelly continually stands up for his defense and his defensive coordinator. It is likely that Kelly is simply being politically correct in his answers, but his track record fails to give Irish fans any comfort that change is coming: Kelly has never fired an assistant coach during his six years at Notre Dame.
This year’s Irish team, although young, was supposed to make an important step to the program’s ultimate goal. Not many thought the Irish were legitimate contenders, but even fewer had the team starting 1-2.
Losing is frustrating, and growing pains were expected. But losing because the team is unprepared is unacceptable.
The Irish have plenty of talent. Any team that can score 21 straight points against the nation’s 12th-ranked team has plenty of talent. However, given that talent, the Irish have no business giving up 36 straight points to a single team in college football. None.
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The Irish will have plenty returning to the roster for the 2017 season. Given the start to this season, however, one must wonder whether they will prepared to take the next step as a program. Brian Kelly has been out-coached in two out of three games this season, making it time to seriously consider whether or not Kelly has taken the Irish as far as he can take them.