Apr. 21, 2012; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Gunner Kiel (5) in the fourth quarter of the spring game at Notre Dame Stadium. Kiel wore the number five jersey in honor of his uncle and former quarterback Blair Kiel who died on April 8, 2012. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Gunner Kiel will be the most famous Notre Dame Quarterback never to take a regular season snap in Blue-Gold. His story has been repeated over and over again. Kiel committed to Indiana and then LSU before enrolling at Notre Dame at the last minute. This spring, he decided to transfer to Cincinnati. Keil has not spoken since making the change.

In an interview with Tom Groeschen of Cincinnati.com, Kiel opened about the who, what, where and why. Kiel told Groeschen, in reference to changing his mind several times, “People give me a hard time about it, but I just tell people I’m doing with what’s best for me. I committed to so many places but I did it all in the right way.”

Of course, if Gunner Kiel was still at Notre Dame, this statement would sound better. However, it is hard to see how Kiel did it in the “right way.” Kiel comes off as aloof, arrogant and selfish in his comments. It is hard to see how Kiel will ever be a team-player if he is always thinking about himself.

A more interesting comment came when Kiel discussed the Irish coaching staff. Kiel said, “It was good. I respect coach Kelly a lot and what he does. He’s a fiery coach and he did me well. My quarterbacks coach (Chuck Martin) and I really didn’t have the relationship I wanted, and that was one reason I didn’t like it. I tried to put in the work.”

This is an interesting and reveling quote. Kiel should be taken at his word. Is Martin not the best at cultivating relationships? Maybe. Is Kiel looking for a scapegoat? Maybe. Martin could have spent more time with the actual Quarterback and backup Quarterback. Kiel was the scout team Quarterback. It is understandable why he may have not developed the relationship with him.

Finally, Kiel told the reporter, “I just didn’t want to run the scout team anymore.” Everyone knows that he would have had the opportunity to be the 2nd team Quarterback this year. But, he did not believe in himself enough to do it. Maybe Les Miles is right. He just does not have the chest to play Quarterback at the college level. He will next year when it is handed to him at Cincinnati.

Considering many in the Rivals 100 failed to make the NFL Draft, it is safe to safe that Te’o lived up to expectations. Te’o was originally ranked as the 12th best prospect in the 2009 class. He selected the Irish over the Bruins and Trojans shocking everyone on National Signing Day.

Manti Te’o played in every Notre Dame game that he was on campus for. His debut came late against Nevada when the Irish were up 35-0. He roused the crowd with two bone crushing hits. Te’o moved into the starting line up and never let it. He had 20+ tackles against Stanford in 2010.

Everyone also believed that Te’o would bolt for the NFL in 2011 but he surprised everyone when he announced that he would return for his Senior season. It was definitely the best choice.

Te’o had an unbelievably successful season leading Notre Dame to an undefeated season. Although the ending was probably not storybook, at the end of the day, he was still tremendously successful. He ultimately will be remembered for what he did do at Notre Dame and not what he failed to do.

Nov. 24, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly reacts as time expires after Notre Dame beat the USC Trojans 22-13 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame enters the 2013 season coming off the best season that it has had in 25 years. Notre Dame loses key players in Manti Te’o, Tyler Eifert, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick. Notre Dame will need to replace these talents if it wants to make it Pasadena, California for the National Title.

It is impossible to replace a player like Manti Te’o who had one of the best statistical seasons at Linebacker in college football history. However, Jarrett Grace should be able to be a very good player for the Fighting Irish. Grace may not be as instinctual as Te’o but he has better size and speed for the position.

The loss of Tyler Eifert may be key. Notre Dame went to Eifert in key situations. There is no go-to player currently on the roster. DaVaris Daniels and TJ Jones are the closest things that Notre Dame has to go to players.

George Atkinson looks to fill in Wood and Riddick. The Junior Running Back has packed on the pounds in the Off-Season to better prepare him for the season. Coaches insist that he is improving but the Spring Game demonstrated some of the issues that he has had in the past are still there.

Sheldon Day will step in for Lewis-Moore. Day is a very good player already at this point of his career but he is not “Old Man Strong” like Lewis-Moore. Will he be able to hold the point of attack as well as Lewis-Moore did last year? Probably not.

Notre Dame’s team overall should be near the quality or slightly less than it was last year. Technically, the Offense should be improved. But, the Spring Game did not demonstrate that to be the case. Everett Golson should take a step forward but will continue to make mistakes. The Defense will still be solid and will benefit from a more experienced secondary. They will not give up 12.8 points per game. But anything between 13 and 20 points seems realistic.

If Notre Dame’s team is just as good this year that means they will end up in Pasadena, right? Wrong. To go undefeated, teams need a lot of luck. Notre Dame were very lucky to beat Stanford and Pittsburgh. Those easily could have been loses for last year’s team. This team being just as good also does not contemplate the possibility that another will improve.

Currently, 9-3 seems to be Notre Dame’s number. Notre Dame will fall victim to the law of averages and drop two close games like Stanford and Pittsburgh. They also will lose to a team that has made significant gains this season. The most likely candidates for losses seem to be Michigan, Oklahoma and Stanford but the Irish could win one of these games and drop one that is not expected like Arizona State.

For the record, I predicted that Notre Dame will go 7-5 last season.