Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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2 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW E ncircling Notre Dame Stadium for the next two years will be the $400 million Campus Crossroads project. Several ma- jor buildings will be attached to the renovated 85-year-old structure, and completion won't occur until 2017. Meanwhile, head coach Brian Kelly expects his own five-year construction to be unveiled in 2015, which is year six of his tenure in South Bend. The word "Crossroads" is apropos when it comes to associating this project with Notre Dame's football team the past couple of de- cades. It seems every four or five years since 1994 — when head coach Lou Holtz's six-year 64-9-1 run ended with a 6-5-1 record — its fortunes are discussed in an either/or fashion. Either Notre Dame is considered on the threshold of having a 1988-93 type run in which it is a legitimate, viable top-10 con- tender to optimists, or skeptics believe its fate in today's college football landscape is des- tined to remain the status quo eight- or nine- win team that once or twice per decade will tease you with a return-to-glory campaign, only to falter thereafter. • Head coach Bob Davie had a 9-1 start in 1998 and also went to the Bowl Championship Series in 2000 — but the Irish were 5-7 and 5-6 in the respective years that followed. • New boss Tyrone Willingham was the toast of college football with a 10-1 start in 2002 — and then he was 11-14 thereafter. • Charlie Weis brought some bluster and credibility with a 19-6 start and back-to-back BCS bids in 2005 and 2006 — but he won neither bowl game and finished 16-21 his final three seasons. Each of those three coaches finished averag- ing exactly seven wins per season during their tenures. Under Kelly, there has been an upgrade. His five-year ledger of 45-20 averages out to 9-4 per season, or a two-game improvement from his three predecessors, and he's never had fewer than eight victories in a season. Nevertheless, an unease remains among many faithful that he is a "crossroads coach" — good enough to keep because of the realization you probably won't find anyone better who wants this job, but not good enough to ultimately take you to the Promised Land. In 2015, Notre Dame's football team finds itself at another crossroads after 9-4 (2013) and 8-5 campaigns ( 2014). It's akin to 2012. After back-to-back 8-5 seasons in 2010-11 where the team ebbed and flowed, Kelly and Co., put together the Dream (Regular) Season with a 12-0 record and No. 1 ranking that made him a keeper for the long run. The 42-14 plummet to earth in the BCS National Championship Game debacle was sobering, but maybe Notre Dame finally was becoming a "program" (which reloads, a la 1988-93) and not just a "team" (which rebuilds). Although the 2012 team was breaking in a new quarterback, it was replete with future NFL talent. The same in 2015, especially with an exceptional junior class primed to blossom that potentially possesses 10 bona fide NFL prospects, led by linebacker Jaylon Smith. How many times does any football team have 19 of 22 starters on offense and defense from a bowl win over LSU return? That doesn't even include senior cornerback KeiV- arae Russell, a 26-game starter who was side- lined last year. From a preseason perspective, this is Kelly's best team, and he doesn't disagree. It is top-10 caliber, and the Associated Press has even pro- jected the Irish to meet Auburn in one semifi- nal of the four-team College Football Playoff. According to Kelly, the main differences from the 12-0 regular-season team in 2012 and the 7-5 one in 2014 was the ability to win close games (the 2012 team was 5-0 in one-score games), and in 2012 it was virtually injury- free — which was crucial because he notes the 2015 depth is an appreciable upgrade across the board compared to 2012. "We are going to be in this position every year now for a number of years, because we've built the depth within the program necessary to roll out another great group of players the next year and the year after," Kelly said of the top-10 expectations in 2015. "As long as we continue to recruit the way we've recruited, and develop our players, we'll be in this posi- tion every year. Now — you gotta win some close games and a couple things have to go your way." Last year was a tease with a 6-0 start and then what seemed like would be a 34-31 win at No. 2 Florida State … "We get a break at Florida State and we don't lose any kids, who knows what happens," Kelly said. "That's how close this is. The pro- gram now, in terms of depth within it, we'll be in this conversation for a while." This season has to be about beginning a trend where Notre Dame is no longer just an- other solid eight- or nine-win team, but a consistent double-digit win, major bowl "pro- gram." In other words, it is at a Crossroads. The one outside Notre Dame Stadium won't finish until 2017. The one inside it needs to begin in 2015. ✦ CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MUST BEAR MORE FRUIT IN 2015 THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com The $400 million Campus Crossroads Project won't be completed until 2017, but Brian Kelly's program has reached a point in its rebuild that it will start churning out "another great group of players" year after year. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND