Notre Dame Football: Pressure Continues to Build for Brian Kelly and the Irish

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team just won the regular-season Big East title, which intensifies the pressure placed on the football team to win big immediately. 

Brian Kelly knew, when he took the job at Notre Dame, he had to start winning. He's done a decent job so far, but since one could make the case the Fighting Irish are better at basketball right now, it's time Kelly and his squad remind everyone that Notre Dame is first and foremost a football school. 

In order to do that, Kelly has to find great success in 2012. That, of course, will not be easy considering the Fighting Irish lost some top talent, must endure a brutal schedule and currently don't know who the starting quarterback will be. 

Perhaps if the football team joined a conference (they'd annihilate everyone in the super easy Big East) they would be able to reach greatness again. That doesn't appear it will happen anytime soon, if ever, so the Fighting Irish must work with what's thrown their way and hope they're good enough to succeed.  

During his first two seasons, Kelly went 8-5 both years, winning a bowl game his first year but losing one this past season. That's not terrible, but fans long for bigger and better things at Notre Dame.  

Kelly has big decisions to make this offseason, and the result of his choices could have a major impact on his job status. 

Choosing between four solid QB candidates will be extremely difficult for Kelly. Should he pick the wrong one or never truly settle on a guy, things won't end well for Notre Dame. 

Traveling to Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC will be rough, as well as hosting Michigan, Stanford and Pittsburgh. Wake Forest, BYU, Navy and Miami aren't cupcake games either. 

Still, the need for Kelly and the Fighting Irish to win big is very high. Notre Dame hasn't been to a BCS bowl since being demolished by the LSU Tigers in the 2007 Sugar Bowl. 

For such a program rich with tradition and great history, it has struggled to get back to glory in the college football world. Kelly appears to be the right guy to lead the Fighting Irish back to the top, but it needs to start now. 

Notre Dame had potential for greatness last season, but the Fighting Irish constantly shot themselves in the foot with costly turnovers. That cannot happen in 2012, or Kelly could be looking at a drop-off in his third year as head coach. 

That's the last thing this program needs right now, which is another reason the pressure to win is so high.

Add in the fact that the basketball program is reaching new heights and accomplishing great things, there's never been another time when the football team needed to win so bad. 

The Fighting Irish have the talent to succeed, but with so much pressure placed upon them, winning big will not be easy.