By J.P. Girouard
Pete Fiutak suggests that when the inevitable axe falls on Charlie Weis at Notre Dame, that the Irish can essentially buy their way back to greatness by hiring an A-list head coach like Florida’s Urban Meyer. Unfortunately, the problem at Notre Dame isn’t coaching.
It’s talent.
Yes, Virginia, I know that the Irish routinely have highly-rated recruiting classes. Other than a couple of lean seasons under Ty Willingham, they’ve had highly-rated classes for years. And it hasn’t mattered one iota; when you watch Notre Dame play elite teams, it’s obvious they don’t have the speed and athleticism to match up. They just don’t. That’s evidenced by the lack of highly-regarded NFL prospects the last few years.
Now I’m not one of those people that tends to go to the “recruiting rankings are b.s.” card, but after nearly a decade of watching these highly-touted recruits underperform, one of two things are obvious. Either the Irish have had a horrible run of bad coaches, or maybe the talent that comes into South Bend is overrated by evaluators who think of Notre Dame as what it used to be, not what it is today.
And what Notre Dame is, today, is not the biggest brand name in college football anymore. Sure, the media gives the Irish a ton of attention, and there’s still the huge alumni fanbase. But in this era of college football where there are a million games on TV, the mere fact that Notre Dame has its own television contract isn’t that big of a deal. Getting embarrassed on national TV week in and week out is only making things worse, and reinforcing the notion in prospects’ minds that the Irish are a former power. Bringing in Urban Meyer wouldn’t change that.
Bringing in Meyer wouldn’t change the fact that recruits know that the road to the pros doesn’t go through South Bend anymore. It goes through USC, or Texas, or Florida. Ask a seventeen-year-old kid – all things being equal – if he’d rather spend his college days in Indiana or L.A., and the answer is pretty obvious. And it’s only going to get worse over time - ESPN's deal with the SEC gives that conference even more exposure and makes those environments even more appealing to top recruits.
Also, Urban Meyer can’t change the fact that Notre Dame’s once-vaunted schedule isn’t particularly interesting anymore. Because seriously, beyond USC and Michigan (when they’re good), who do the Irish regularly play that anyone cares about? The Navy game has a ton of tradition, but is it really a big deal on the national radar? Games against the likes of Georgia Tech are nice tests, but they don’t exactly have that “wow” factor. The fact that the Irish haven’t made the leap to the Big Ten – their natural home, and a place where they could play Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State every year – is absolutely killing them in this regard.
The point is that the problem with Notre Dame isn’t entirely coaching. It’s probably not even mostly coaching. The problem is that there are unrealistically high expectations for the program based on what it once was, but will likely never be again. Expecting to be a national championship contender, or even a BCS contender, only serves to shorten the leash on head coaches. And that scrutiny and pressure, along with a relative cheapness, makes it hard for the Irish to attract the big name coach they think they deserve.
Seriously, do you really think that Urban Meyer is going to leave Florida for Notre Dame, knowing that he can’t get two-thirds of the talent he can get in Gainesville yet have (if that’s even possible) even higher expectations in South Bend? He’s not doing it. Nor is any established, A-list head coach. They’d be insane to do it, and that - even more than the money - is what's keeping the real top names away.
No, what Notre Dame needs is just what Pete Fiutak says they don’t need, which is the guy who can make something out of nothing – or at the very least make Notre Dame interesting and entertaining again. They really need Mike Leach, but I can’t imagine Leach in South Bend. So the Irish really need to look long and hard at Brian Kelly, the Cincinnati head coach who was won everywhere he’s been and has won even without the right talent for his spread attack. (you hear that, Rich-Rod?)
But even with Kelly, this vicious circle will continue to exist until the Notre Dame fanbase dials it down a notch. No, it’s not ok for the Irish to lose to Syracuse. That should be non-negotiable at any time. But expecting nothing less than a BCS bid every year – when you haven’t been anywhere near that consistently good in a decade – is foolish. The college football landscape has changed, and not in your favor.
It’s ok not to accept mediocrity, but you’re going to drive any worthy head coach out of town if you accept nothing less than absolute greatness. Face it, kids, it's not 1988 anymore.
J.P. Girouard blogs about the Big East for CollegeFootballNews.com. You can email him here.
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Other Articles By J.P. Girouard:
Greg Robinson Fired As Syracuse Head Coach
Down The Stretch In The Big East
Nine Pivotal Days For The Big East
The Big East Expectations Game
Is This Going To Be Ben Mauk's Legacy?
WVU Runs Away In Big East Media Poll
Rutgers' Strange Stadium Bargain
The Coach Who Stayed
The Big East Manifesto