Notre Dame Football: What Condition Is the Conditioning In?

Charlie Weis failed miserably as head football coach of Notre Dame.  One of his worst mistakes might have been hanging on to strength and conditioning coach Ruben Mendoza for his entire five-year tenure.  As a team, Notre Dame was hardly ever in good shape.

After 2008, it was clear the Irish couldn't finish games and had to become a four-quarter football team in order to improve on a 7-6 record.

In 2008, the Irish were outscored 90-54 in the fourth quarter, and in the last six games, of which they lost four, they were outscored 52-14.

In three of these games (USC, Navy, & Syracuse) they failed to score at all in the fourth quarter.

It was pretty much the same in 2007.  Opponents outscored the Irish 60-48 in the fourth quarter and 145-98 in the second half.

What was the problem?  What had to be fixed in 2009?  The talent was supposed to be good.

Maybe it was the depth or game plan.  Maybe more players had to get playing time to relieve the starters.  

It wasn't that Notre Dame allowed points in the second half because they had big leads and played their back ups.  That wasn't the case!

Maybe it was just the conditioning!

As 2009 approached, Weis and his staff had to know conditioning was still a problem.

They should have realized winning teams play four quarters, while losing teams play three and look for answers.

But it happened again in 2009.  Notre Dame finished 6-6 and lost their six games by a total of 28 points.  They were close in a lot of games but failed down the stretch.

Once again the Irish gave up too many points in the fourth quarter.  They allowed 53 first quarter points, 68 second quarter points, 75 third quarter points, and 93 fourth quarter points.

The Irish watched as a 6-2 start, which had them ranked in the top 25, faded into a disappointing 6-6 final record.

It was a simple pattern: They got more worn than their opponents as the games, and the season, went on.

In close losses against Michigan (33-30), Navy (23-21), and UConn (33-30), the conditioning wasn't there and that's when the missed tackles started to pile up.

The University of Notre Dame prides itself on its Guglielmino Center, one of the nation's newest and best athletic centers, but that's not what's needed to establish a good conditioning program for its players.

Good conditioning starts with a good strength and conditioning coach who is going to make his players work hard every day.  A good coach can do more with small and outdated facilities if he can get his players to work hard.

Notre Dame's new head coach Brian Kelly brings with him Paul Longo.  Longo served with Kelly for three years at Cincinnati as his strength and conditioning coach.

In those three years Cincinnati won a lot of games (34-6) and they never quit.

In last year's Big East deciding game against Pittsburgh, when Pitt took a 31-17 lead and looked like they were running away with the game, the Bearcats hung in and pulled out a dramatic 45-44 win.

It's hard to predict what Notre Dame's record will be in 2010, but it's easy to predict they will be a much better conditioned football team.

If any player doesn't get himself in good shape, he won't see playing time!