Notre Dame Football: How Aaron Lynch's Departure Could Ruin the 2012 Season

Beginning the 2012 football season, Notre Dame football finds itself at a crossroads. The 2012 Notre Dame football season will be one of the toughest seasons in recent memory. The departure of Aaron Lynch has the potential to ruin the season before it even starts, and this transfer couldn't have happened at a worse time.

The schedule is brutal, and the team is facing animosity heading into the April 21 spring game.  Hell, the Irish still haven't named a quarterback, and with a schedule against some of the top gunslingers in the nation, that is not a good thing. ND's schedule will rank as one of the more difficult slates in all of college football. 

Notre Dame will play traditional powers such as Oklahoma, Miami, BYU, Stanford and, not to mention national title favorite, the USC Trojans. Add in games against Michigan and Michigan State, and this could potentially be a very rough year in South Bend. To make things more daunting, the Irish lost their best player on defense aside from Manti Te’o, Aaron Lynch.

Lynch was an animal on the field, and he could make plays that haven’t been seen at defensive end for ND since arguably Justin Tuck of the New York Giants. He had that elite size, speed and nasty streak that had college coaches drooling when he was coming out of Cape Coral, Florida. As a true freshman, Lynch had 5.5 sacks and was named as a freshman All-American. In a few seasons, he would have likely been a top 10 NFL draft pick. Oklahoma, Michigan and USC all posses elite quarterbacks and with Lynch now gone from the fold, the pass rush will be crucial. 

With the talented Floridian deciding to leave the program, not only will this hurt the Irish on the field, it may have an impact on the recruiting trail. Yes, the Irish have a stellar recruiting class at the moment. However, of the 10 current commits, all but two, defensive backs Devin Butler and Rashad Kinlaw, are on offense side of the ball.

The coaching staff  will take maybe one or two more receivers  and possibly a running back or two. For the coaches to complete this class, there will have to be several more defensive commits, likely on the defensive line, at linebacker and the secondary.

One thing to remember is that 75 to 85 percent of Notre Dame’s recruits ever year are from out of state, and this year will be no different. Aside from top linebacker and Indiana native, Jaylon Smith, Notre Dame will have to look into SEC country to get commits from elite defensive players.

It is no secret that Florida is a hotbed for recruiting, and what better recruiter can you have than a former 5-star defensive end out of the Sunshine State?

Not having Lynch on the roster hurts the Irish’s chances, particularly with recent news that defensive tackle Louis Nix, another Florida recruit, was contemplating a transfer. When asked if he would play this fall, his response was, "I should be." Not exactly comforting news if you are an Irish fan. Nix has since addressed those rumors, but so did Aaron Lynch's mom when she said her son was staying put, and days later he was heading out of the door.

When other Florida recruits see players who are a few years ahead of them struggle with the lifestyle at Notre Dame, then they start to think, how will I fit there? The coaching staff needs to get this situation under control.

With five decommits to end the recruiting cycle, added to the departure of early enrollee Tee Shepard (albeit for health reasons), this is becoming a black eye on the program. Will it hurt the Irish? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, though: All eyes will be on the Golden Domers in 2012. Brian Kelly's hot seat is getting hotter by the minute, and as time shows, ND fans will only stand for mediocrity for so long.