Brian Kelly- A Breath of Fresh Air For Notre Dame

I have high hopes for the next season of Notre Dame football. For the few people who bother to read my articles, I thank you for taking the time. I predicted a perfect season for 2009, but a BCS bowl loss. I based this on what I saw as the improvement of the skill positions the defensive backfield of Notre Dame. The weakness of the team was based on the offensive line and the youth of the defense. While the skill positions did improve, the offensive line and the defense to often decided not to show up for the games this year.

The reasons for this lapse are murky at best. The beginning of the season was plagued by injuries and horrible officiating. But, Notre Dame over came those issues with a 6-2 record. I am simply mistyfied on how this team fell apart in a span of one week. I do not believe that we will ever get the true answer to that question.

The main question for now is how the new coach will bring changes. I believe that we still possess one of the premiere set of skill players in college football, even with the departure of Claus sen and Tate. However, most of these players have limited playing time due to either injuries or just lack of opportunity. From what I can perceive, this should not be an issue with Coach Kelly. He has demonstrated that he can get people to play at a high level wherever he has coached. I am also happy that his system does not put a huge emphasis on the offensive line. The skill position players seem to have the burden on moving the ball quickly with his offense.

The defensive side of the ball is more of a mystery. Again, Notre Dame seems to have some talent. What remains to be seen is if this talent can be molded into results. Again, history points to a bright future with coach Kelly. I think positive attitudes and work ethic work better in college football than in the N.F.L. I thought that coach Weis had learned that lesson, he said he did, but apparently he did not learn it well enough.

We all now need to sit back and see what recruits we get signed in February. I think we will be pleased and that we should see at least 8 or 9 wins this year. I would hope for more, but I think there will be too many changes this year to get better results.