Notre Dame Lands Another Solid Class-Will It Lead To a BCS Victory?

Last year at this time many things pointed to a great year for Notre Dame. A coach who seemed to have learned from his errors. A offence loaded with talent and a young but dedicated defense. Irish fans have to wonder what went wrong.

I do not think we will ever truly know, but I think it has to start with the head coach. Coach Weis seems to have thought that brains defeated brawn in football. In other words, he believed his superior ideas could overcome the physical limitations of his players. The offensive line could not block. That should have been obvious to anyone. The defense allowed receivers to get behind them time and again. Players were hurt and were allowed back into the game to early. The choice to allow these errors to continue was up to Coach Weis. Should have Claussen been benched after Michigan State? Could the offensive line been coached better? Did the defense rely to much on the "blitz"?

I think we will get some of the answers this year. I am not an expert, but I think that Coach Kelly has an offense which does not rely so much on the offensive line. It might be better to say I hope that is the case. 2007 was horrible and 2008 was not that much better. 2009 did show some improvement, but not nearly enough. The offensive line was still almost non-existent last year. That was the main reason for Charlie Weis's downfall. He never did develop an effective offensive line. I think(hope) that Coach Kelly has a better grasp. I think(hope) that he can install more enthusiasm to this team. What sickened me most last year was the players who said they were solidly behind Coach Weis, and then failed time and again.

The defense did not dissapoint people so much, as the expectations for them were also lower. This aspect also has to improve this year. If we had no one leaving early for the draft this year, I think we would be talking a potential National Championship for this team. However, now I think 8 or 9 wins would be a good acheivement. Now, we just need to see what potential we have for the future. I think we have the skill positions filled, but enough people in the trenches. I think that 8 or 9 wins is the best realistic chance for this team. Not enough to get into a BCS game.