Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 MAY 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED W hen Notre Dame 2011 Fresh- man All-American defen- sive end Aaron Lynch was asked by reporters this March 27 if he was getting acclimated to Notre Dame, the candid youngster did not give the typically canned answer or politically correct response. "I'd rather be in a different en- vironment, as in like with weather and stuff," he replied. "I've got no choice. I'm here, so I've got to stay here." It sounded like a shotgun mar- riage, or at least an arranged one between the school and his mother. Eventually, Lynch em- ployed the option to leave and did so a couple of weeks later to South Florida in his beloved home state. It used to be that Notre Dame would view such defections as "addition by subtraction," and maybe that might still hold true. But this is not Notre Dame football 1941-53, 1964-80 or 1988-93. The pro- gram has been walking in the wilder- ness for nearly two decades. When the Irish were among the football elite dur- ing those halcyon eras, the natural and prevalent attitude was, "The heck with him, we'll find somebody else." Unfortunately, Notre Dame has lost a minimum of five games 11 times in the 18 seasons from 1994-2011. It is 130-89-1 (.593 win percentage) during that time — a 7-5 average record per season — with zero major/BCS bowl victories. If it loses at least five games again this year, that marks six straight such seasons, breaking the school record of five from 1959-63. The program is not good enough anymore to have an unruffled reaction of bravado. Thus, while pride of what the school represents and that "Notre Dame isn't for everyone" might still permeate internally, the departures of a Lynch fortifies the popular opinion nation- ally that, "See, that's why Notre Dame football can never be the same that it once was. It lacks the 'street cred' with difference-making athletes like Lynch." A more balanced perspective says that Notre Dame still recruits better than at least 80 percent of BCS programs and can be 9-3 or maybe even 10-2 in given years. Although Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis were ma- ligned head coaches, even they all had nine- or 10-win campaigns, sometimes more than once. If they can do it, surely Brian Kelly will too. Nevertheless, until proven other- wise, the opinion will remain that Notre Dame won't quite reach the level of the top SEC schools, USC, Oklahoma, etc., because it doesn't have enough of "those kind of athletes" (i.e., Lynch) to take them over the top. Yes, Notre Dame can still get a Manti Te'o or Michael Floyd five-star pros- pect, and always will. And yes, there will always be diamonds in the rough like three-star tight end Tyler Eifert who develop tremendously. However, an albatross of the program, other than in maybe 2005, is it has de- veloped a reputation of overall football underachievement and always seems to be in a "turning the corner" or "wait for the next recruit" mode. When you keep referring to turning corners, you end up in circles. Above all, embracing the at- titude of "we're a few plays away" must end. Virtually every program can say that about a given season, which is what constitutes the definition of "average." It's not about competing with the up- per echelon like the Alabamas; it's about not getting repeatedly clipped, at home no less, by the South Floridas, Tul- sas, Navys, UConns, Syracuses, etc. Kelly and Co. are not neces- sarily in a crossroads year in their third season, but it will be vital to go beyond the status quo. The projection this year from Las Vegas and elsewhere will be probably the typical 8-4 regular season, maybe 7-5. From the out- side looking in, games at Okla- homa and USC are marked down as automatic losses. That's 10-2. The four-game stretch from Sept. 15-Oct.6 with Michigan State, Michigan, Miami and Stan- ford has a "status quo" 2-2 flavor because the Irish haven't proven themselves enough otherwise. That's 8-4. And then there's the annual "What the heck!" setback (BYU? BC?). That would be the 7-5. To build coaching equity at Notre Dame, Kelly and his staff above all need to 1) protect the home turf (no unbeaten season at home since 1998), 2) start 2-0 against the teams they defeated 56-14 (Navy) and 38-10 (Purdue) last year in order to build a modicum of momentum and 3) heaven forbid, win when most expect a loss. "You've got to start with a win, you've got to win your home games and you've got to win your rivalry games," Kelly summarized to the Notre Dame Club in Chicago April 13. "If you can do that you're in pretty good shape." Storms will always brew, be it Lynch departing or quarterback quandaries, but Notre Dame now has no choice but to move on. Whether it will have a galva- nizing effect in the locker room can only be answered with the passage of time. One way or another, you close ranks and march forward, as you have hun- dreds of times before … and must con- tinue to evermore. ✦ BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI ✦ MAY 2012 Can Irish Finally Get Beyond Status Quo? EDITOR'S NOTE: The late, great Lou Somogyi possessed an unmatched knowledge of Notre Dame football, and it was his mission in life to share it with others. Those of us at Blue & Gold Illustrated would like to continue to provide his wis- dom and unique perspective from his more than 37 years covering the Fighting Irish for this publication. The departure of talented sophomore defensive end Aaron Lynch after just one season made it more difficult for Notre Dame to snap a skid of five straight seasons with five or more losses, but not impossible. The Irish went on to go 12-0 in the regular season and played for the national title before falling to Alabama. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA