Notre Dame Football: A Personal Letter to Fighting Irish Fans

Have you ever been on an airplane with the person who immediately assumes the plane will crash at the first feeling of turbulence?

If you have, you'll understand how the analogy relates to the Notre Dame football program.

Like the person described above, a multitude of Notre Dame fans begin to panic as soon as they feel that a BCS or national championship invitation is out of the question.

The aspirations they have, as well as the standard they hold the program to, are admirable, but unrealistic at the current moment.

Was the current season disheartening? You bet. Frustrating? Of course. A slew of adjectives would be appropriate to describe the season gone by.

However, a second consecutive 8-5 regular season does not signal imminent doom for the Notre Dame football program.

While objectively comparing the 2011 to season to 2010, it's understandable as to why someone would say that Brian Kelly is not the man for the gig. Those people are wrong. Taking a look back at film from 2011, there's a distinct difference in the overall physical toughness of the team.

Take the Michigan State game, for example. In seasons gone by, the Spartans were simply more physical than Notre Dame and won the battle in the trenches. In this season's matchup, a 31-13 Notre Dame victory, the Irish turned the tables by being more physical at the point of attack and controlling the line of scrimmage.

That victory over the Spartans signaled a significant change in the culture and attitude circulating within the program.

Prior to the season, Brian Kelly had stated that controlling the line of scrimmage was something this football team would do well, and it did.

Aside from that goal, Kelly desired a physical, aggressive defensive line. He got just that, with Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix, Ethan Johnson and Kapron-Lewis Moore combining to form a fearsome defensive line, something that hasn't been seen on campus in years.

The good news is that the defensive line is only going to improve as Lynch, Tuitt and Nix gain experience during the next three seasons.

Finally, we have the one issue that no one enjoys discussing; the turnovers. The Irish finished the season ranked 118th nationally in turnover margin, at -1.15.

However, when looking at the numbers, 19 of those 29 turnovers were committed by quarterback Tommy Rees, meaning that the issue wasn't a team-wide one.

The most damning revelation to be gleaned from that analysis is that the Irish likely would have been BCS bound with a good, not even a great, quarterback.

That information, along with the progress this team has made, leads me to believe that Brian Kelly has this program steered in the right direction.

Yes, a bit more turbulence will be experienced, but the plane that is Notre Dame football will arrive at its proper destination.

Don't panic.