With Brian Kelly Rebuilding Project Complete, Notre Dame a Playoff Contender

Notre Dame is one of the premier programs in all of college football, but it has also been one of the most underperforming ones in the last decade.  When Brian Kelly left Cincinnati after the 2009 season to come to South Bend, he inherited a team that had done more losing than winning under Charlie Weis.

Kelly had built an impressive reputation as an offensive mastermind after his teams at Grand Valley State and Central Michigan—then Cincinnati—lit up the scoreboard thanks to his innovative no-huddle schemes.  He vowed to bring a bring a new identity to Notre Dame, a program that struggled mightily from 2006-2009 despite repeatedly raking in top recruiting classes. 

The Weis era in South Bend hit rock bottom in 2009, when the Irish lost to Navy for the second time in three years after beating Navy 43 times in a row since 1963.  It was the longest series winning streak between two annual opponents in FBS history.  The streak ending resulted in the end for Weis and the beginning for Brian Kelly.

It took a few years for Kelly to turn Notre Dame around.  Even when the Irish went undefeated in 2012 and made it to the BCS National Championship, the team did not look like a perennial power. 

While redshirt freshman quarterback Everett Golson had plenty of bright spots, he had his moments where he looked inexperienced.  Notre Dame needed every bit of the luck of the Irish on its side in 2012, winning six games by one touchdown, including a three-overtime thriller against Pittsburgh. 

It took a desperate fourth-quarter comeback by Notre Dame just to take the game to overtime, and then the Irish would have lost in the second overtime if Pitt could have converted a 33-yard field goal.

The Irish took a step back in 2013 after Golson was suspended for what he said was "poor academic judgment."  But after spending months with quarterback guru George Whitfield Jr., he looks better than ever this year.

Golson took his first snaps in over a year-and-a-half against Rice in Notre Dame’s first game of the year, and he was nearly flawless.  He scored five touchdowns against the Owls, completing 14 of 22 passes for 295 yards in a convincing 48-17 defeat over last year’s Conference USA champs.

While Weis focused on flashy signings that made analysts drool over his superior recruiting skills, Kelly has directed his efforts to solidifying the trenches.  His first three recruiting classes were stocked with offensive and defensive linemen who have already paid dividends for the Irish.  They have been able to control the line of scrimmage recently, something that was a foreign concept under Weis.

Even though Kelly placed a high value on linemen, his recruiting classes definitely have not been short on skill players.  The 2013 class was especially potent, loaded with stars who are already contributing for the Irish.

Running backs Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston were both 4-star recruits and are currently part of the three-man rotation fighting for carries.  Jaylon Smith has developed into a monster and one of the best linebackers in the country, while Max Redfield, recruited as an athlete, has been invaluable at safety for the Irish, especially with the suspension of KeiVarae Russell due to an academic investigation.

Overall, this year’s team might be the best one that Kelly has had in South Bend.  It has been anything but an easy road, but it seems that Notre Dame might be back to the prominent program that it should be.

Everett Golson has improved astronomically since his freshman year.  He has turned into a playmaker instead of a game manager, and because of that, the Irish offense is firing on all cylinders.

They have scored at least 30 points in all three of their games while averaging 418 yards per game.  Maybe even more impressive than the volume of production has been the superb balance.  The Irish offense is not just airing it out like Kelly’s Cincinnati teams used to; they are running the ball effectively.

Cam McDaniel’s 97 yards are three away from giving the Irish three 100-yard rushers, and Golson gives Notre Dame another legitimate running threat.  It is that type of terrific balance that will continue to keep opposing defenses off balance. 

The defense has been stifling as well.  With new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, the Irish have been the second-best defensive unit in the nation so far in 2014.  VanGorder has incorporated various NFL-type philosophies into the defense, and it has reaped rewards to this point. 

The offensive balance, coupled with the physical, aggressive defense, makes the Irish a playoff contender.  Oregon and Texas A&M look as dominant as ever, but Florida State hasn’t been nearly as good as they were last year—and there are questions about Jameis Winston after his recent suspension. 

Alabama struggled against West Virginia in the season opener, and even though it has looked fantastic since, it has an inexperienced quarterback who could crater at any time.  Auburn struggled with Kansas State on Thursday, barely surviving a hard-fought 20-14 game.

In other words, nearly every single one of the perceived top teams is likely to falter at some point this year.  However, Notre Dame is no different.

The Irish have a very tough remaining schedule, but they have the necessary pieces to overcome it.  They had only an overpowering defense in 2012 when they went undefeated, but now they have an offense as well.

In their last foray to the championship game, they got blasted by Alabama.  But now they have what it takes to not only make the inaugural College Football Playoff, but also win the thing. 

It has been an arduous process, and one that has taken a bit longer than most Irish fans hoped, but Notre Dame Football is on the cusp of regaining its greatness of the late '80s and early '90s Lou Holtz squads. 

They are a very young team, and they are still producing at a very high level.  Just imagine how good they are going to be when these freshmen and sophomores develop into upperclassmen.

For now, though, they are not looking that far into the future.  They are focused on winning every game they play.  USC and Florida State will be tough, as will Stanford and Arizona State.  But this team is more talented than the one that went undefeated through its regular-season slate two years ago, so don’t put it past them to do it again.

And this time around, they can win it all.