Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 5 UNDER THE DOME NEW SHIRT. NEW SEASON. SAME TRADITION. The Shirt ND @theshirtnd @theshirtnd theshirtnd www.theshirt.nd.edu availaBle now at: HAMMES NOTRE DAME BOOKSTORE ALL ND RETAIL LOCATIONS online at ndcatalog.com sizes: toddler | 2 - 6 women's | s - xl adult | S - 4XL youth | s - xl the shirt 2017 The Shirt Project began in 1990 as a student-led initiative to support the Notre Dame student body and to unify the stadium. For the past 28 years, The Shirt project has continued, selling 2.5 million shirts and raising $10 million for student clubs and organizations, The Shirt Charity Fund, and The Student Enrichment and Opportunity Funds. thank you for supporting the shirt project behavior issues. The Trojans sputtered at the end of that campaign, finishing with six losses, resulting in Helton immediately dismissing four assistants, including well-regarded defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox (now the head coach at Cal). They were painful decisions, but … "You get one opportunity to be a head coach at USC and I just felt like I needed to go in a direction that I believe in and I had to make some hard choices," Helton told ESPN. Texas still collapsed despite much change, while USC ended up thriving. Where will Notre Dame fall under Kelly in 2017? Chemistry Course It is interesting to note that Kelly's two best campaigns at Notre Dame occurred in 2012 (12-1) and 2015 (10-3), when he had the most coaching revisions. In 2012, after back-to-back 8-5 seasons, he hired four new assistants in Harry Hies- tand (offensive line), Bob Elliott (safeties), Kerry Cooks (cornerbacks) and Scott Booker (special teams/tight ends), and shifted several others: Chuck Martin (offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks, from defensive backs), Tony Alford (running backs, from receivers) and Mike Denbrock (receivers, from tight ends). In 2015, he hired four new assistants again in Mike Sanford (offensive coordina- tor/quarterbacks), Autry Denson (running backs), Keith Gilmore (defensive line) and Todd Lyght (defensive backs). Whether it's with Strong, Helton or Kelly, on-field results still remain reflective of the man in charge who sets the tone everywhere. You can drill blocking, tackling and other fundamentals, but there really is no specific "drill" for team chemistry. The same applies to a coaching staff. For example, at the end of the 1987 season that saw Notre Dame finish 8-4 and make its first major bowl (Cotton) in seven years, sec- ond-year head coach Holtz still made numer- ous changes on his staff after the year ended with three straight losses. Most notable was releasing defensive coordinator Foge Fazio and defensive line coach Joe Yonto, two of the most esteemed men in the business. Fazio had been the defensive coordinator at Pitt during its glory days in the late 1970s to early 1980s before being promoted to head coach from 1982-85. Yonto was maybe the most revered assistant in Notre Dame an- nals from 1964-80 while helping the Fight- ing Irish to three national titles when it was known as "Defensive Line U." Replacing those two venerated veterans were Barry Alvarez — who had never been a coordinator — and 36-year-old John Pal- ermo, whose four previous stops were Austin Peay, Memphis State, Appalachian State and Minnesota. On paper, those changes to the staff looked like a downgrade. Yet the Notre Dame defense, despite laden with youth up front, was stellar that next season en route to the national title. Alvarez and Palermo were the right fits at the right time on the staff and for Holtz, as was new defensive backs coach Chuck Heater and George Stewart moving over from offense to coach defense for the first time. In 2014, Brian VanGorder was for a stretch trumpeted as the Messiah defensive coordina- tor, especially after the Irish allowed only 12.0 points per game during a 5-0 start, most nota- bly a 31-0 shutout of Michigan. Upon closer review, those offenses Notre Dame faced were among the worst nationally, and for the long term it didn't work out with VanGorder and his NFL-like approach to the college game. Kelly did not stand pat after the 2016 meltdown, which is a positive. Yet with so many changes internally, can it all come together at Notre Dame within such a short time? It comes down to how strong the overall infrastructure is. If the heating and electri- cal work in the house need repair, a fancy exterior paint job is not what's going to fix it. Only time will tell if the reparations this win- ter will pay off in the short and long term. ✦