Turbulence and Triumph; Thy name is Notre Dame part II
In 2009, they were considered an afterthought, a punch-line, and in nearly all cases for football pundits, a joke.
From a program rich in history, success, championships, Notre Dame was now shrouded in mediocrity, excuses, and failed leadership.
Call it what you want, but as a lifelong Notre Dame fan, it was the most disappointing timeframe as a sports fan that I have ever experienced. It was to the point that if you said or showed that you were a Notre Dame fan, you would be laughed at and ridiculed by the patrons at the local pub. Everyone shared their hatred of Notre Dame, the storied program long gone from the dominance of yesteryear, was now vulnerable and a target for rivals to ridicule.
I cannot tell you all the years being harassed in high school because I proudly wore my Notre Dame fandom on my sleeve. It was trying times knowing that your team routinely lost to USC, Michigan, had frantic bouts with damage control against weak opponents (losing to 2-8 Syracuse on senior day 2009).
I, along with many other Fighting Irish fans, wondered when will it end? When will the Irish finally return to their past glory that we so rightfully cherished for so long?
Those questions were soon answered the minute Brian Kelly walked to the podium in South Bend, Indiana.
With a carousel of quarterbacks, Kelly has slowly built a stout defense and a three-headed rushing attack that has given freshman quarterback Everett Golson all the confidence in the world to play above his head.
With a defense in development, struggling play at quarterback, and uncertainty at the running back position, Charlie Weis left Kelly with a complete mess.
Curing the headache known as Notre Dame was not going to happen overnight. During his first season Kelly had Dayne Crist, Nate Montana, Andrew Hendrix, and Tommy Rees as his quarterbacks. Crist was named starter for the Irish, but ended up with a pedestrian record of 4-4 in his first season as starter before tearing his patella tendon in Notre Dame's loss against Tulsa. Crist also had the dubious honor of being only the third Irish quarterback in 48 years to lose against Navy (the others Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen).
But even with all the turmoil at 4-5, Kelly's Irish strung a four game win streak to end the season. The wins included beating then #15 ranked Utah, USC for the first time since 2000, and a 33-17 win over Miami (FL) in the Sun Bowl.
Year one; a success.
Year two however, put the Irish back to their grim reality of the last 15 years. Notre Dame started 2011 losing at home to Southern Florida 23-20, ironically Southern Florida's head coach was Lou Holtz' son Skip. The embarrassment and pain continued with a heartbreaking 35-31 loss to Michigan in the Big House. The Irish blew a 24-7 lead in the 4th quarter, allowing the Wolverines to score 28 points, capped off by a game-winning touchdown that made Irish fans want to break their televisions.
Notre Dame rebounded from their back-to-back defeats by winning four in a row before having their annual date with the Trojans, this time in South Bend. Notre Dame ended up losing 31-17, including a 99-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by the Trojans when the Irish coughed up the ball at the USC 1-yard-line.
But this Irish team began to put away the opponents that plagued them for numerous years in the past. They bamboozled Navy 56-14, defeated Wake Forest 24-17, stomped Maryland 45-21, and took down rival Boston College 16-14. It was another late charge by the Irish in hopes of improving from last year.
But unfortunately for Notre Dame they met Andrew Luck and #4 Stanford to conclude the year. With Rees injured and benched in the third quarter, Hendrix pumped some life into the rather listless Irish offense that night. Hendrix threw for 192-yards with one touchdown pass and one rushing score.
As I watched that game, I slowly felt like Hendrix would be the starter for the Irish' bowl game that year. But Rees got the nod against the Florida State Seminoles in the Champs Sports Bowl, losing 18-14. It was a familiar feeling to the game against Michigan. Notre Dame held a 14-3 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, only to give up 15 unanswered points to the Seminoles, re-hashing an old pain that Irish fans were accustomed to.
So then comes 2012. Brian Kelly's third year at Notre Dame. Four of among the greatest coaches to stalk the sidelines at Notre Dame won a National Championship in their third season. Among them were Frank Leahy (1943), Ara Parseghian (1966), Dan Devine (1977), and Holtz (1988).
All of them are in the College Football Hall of Fame.
So the stage was set to see if Kelly could live up to the titans of his profession.
In three years, Kelly has turned complete chaos, into a well-organized, SEC manufactured machine. What I mean by "SEC Manufactured" is that Kelly has molded the Irish into a fundamentally sound and disciplined unit that relies on defense and rushing to dominate.
The Irish have done exactly that.
From a program rich in history, success, championships, Notre Dame was now shrouded in mediocrity, excuses, and failed leadership.
Call it what you want, but as a lifelong Notre Dame fan, it was the most disappointing timeframe as a sports fan that I have ever experienced. It was to the point that if you said or showed that you were a Notre Dame fan, you would be laughed at and ridiculed by the patrons at the local pub. Everyone shared their hatred of Notre Dame, the storied program long gone from the dominance of yesteryear, was now vulnerable and a target for rivals to ridicule.
I cannot tell you all the years being harassed in high school because I proudly wore my Notre Dame fandom on my sleeve. It was trying times knowing that your team routinely lost to USC, Michigan, had frantic bouts with damage control against weak opponents (losing to 2-8 Syracuse on senior day 2009).
I, along with many other Fighting Irish fans, wondered when will it end? When will the Irish finally return to their past glory that we so rightfully cherished for so long?
Those questions were soon answered the minute Brian Kelly walked to the podium in South Bend, Indiana.
With a carousel of quarterbacks, Kelly has slowly built a stout defense and a three-headed rushing attack that has given freshman quarterback Everett Golson all the confidence in the world to play above his head.
With a defense in development, struggling play at quarterback, and uncertainty at the running back position, Charlie Weis left Kelly with a complete mess.
Curing the headache known as Notre Dame was not going to happen overnight. During his first season Kelly had Dayne Crist, Nate Montana, Andrew Hendrix, and Tommy Rees as his quarterbacks. Crist was named starter for the Irish, but ended up with a pedestrian record of 4-4 in his first season as starter before tearing his patella tendon in Notre Dame's loss against Tulsa. Crist also had the dubious honor of being only the third Irish quarterback in 48 years to lose against Navy (the others Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen).
But even with all the turmoil at 4-5, Kelly's Irish strung a four game win streak to end the season. The wins included beating then #15 ranked Utah, USC for the first time since 2000, and a 33-17 win over Miami (FL) in the Sun Bowl.
Year one; a success.
Year two however, put the Irish back to their grim reality of the last 15 years. Notre Dame started 2011 losing at home to Southern Florida 23-20, ironically Southern Florida's head coach was Lou Holtz' son Skip. The embarrassment and pain continued with a heartbreaking 35-31 loss to Michigan in the Big House. The Irish blew a 24-7 lead in the 4th quarter, allowing the Wolverines to score 28 points, capped off by a game-winning touchdown that made Irish fans want to break their televisions.
Notre Dame rebounded from their back-to-back defeats by winning four in a row before having their annual date with the Trojans, this time in South Bend. Notre Dame ended up losing 31-17, including a 99-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by the Trojans when the Irish coughed up the ball at the USC 1-yard-line.
But this Irish team began to put away the opponents that plagued them for numerous years in the past. They bamboozled Navy 56-14, defeated Wake Forest 24-17, stomped Maryland 45-21, and took down rival Boston College 16-14. It was another late charge by the Irish in hopes of improving from last year.
But unfortunately for Notre Dame they met Andrew Luck and #4 Stanford to conclude the year. With Rees injured and benched in the third quarter, Hendrix pumped some life into the rather listless Irish offense that night. Hendrix threw for 192-yards with one touchdown pass and one rushing score.
As I watched that game, I slowly felt like Hendrix would be the starter for the Irish' bowl game that year. But Rees got the nod against the Florida State Seminoles in the Champs Sports Bowl, losing 18-14. It was a familiar feeling to the game against Michigan. Notre Dame held a 14-3 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, only to give up 15 unanswered points to the Seminoles, re-hashing an old pain that Irish fans were accustomed to.
So then comes 2012. Brian Kelly's third year at Notre Dame. Four of among the greatest coaches to stalk the sidelines at Notre Dame won a National Championship in their third season. Among them were Frank Leahy (1943), Ara Parseghian (1966), Dan Devine (1977), and Holtz (1988).
All of them are in the College Football Hall of Fame.
So the stage was set to see if Kelly could live up to the titans of his profession.
In three years, Kelly has turned complete chaos, into a well-organized, SEC manufactured machine. What I mean by "SEC Manufactured" is that Kelly has molded the Irish into a fundamentally sound and disciplined unit that relies on defense and rushing to dominate.
The Irish have done exactly that.
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