Notre Dame: Will the Golden Dome EVER Shine Again in South Bend?

Brian Kelly was a good hire for Notre Dame.  He clearly has the track record to back up his hire.  He even won at Grand Valley State. What and where is Grand Valley State you ask? Exactly the point. He has won everywhere he has coached. 

This is more than the previous three head coaches at Notre Dame. Bob Davie was a coordinator, Ty Willingham was never that great of a coach at Stanford (44-36-1), and Charlie Weis was a coordinator in the NFL, which is miles away from being a head coach for a college team.

Brian Kelly can get Notre Dame back to being a consistently elite program, but it’s going to take some time. Maybe even a lot of time.

The talent level on the defensive side of the ball right now for the Irish is incredibly low.  You can probably blame Charlie Weis for being an offensive coach and not working as hard on the defensive recruiting trail. 

Give Weis a little bit of credit though, because he did land blue chip recruit Manti Te’o during his last year on the job, so at least it appears he was trying.

Don’t give him too much credit though. Defensive players under Weis failed to develop and seemed to stay at the same skill level all four years.

Brian Kelly has a great track record of developing talent and maximizing the potential out of his players.  With Notre Dame's resources, he should be able to bring in talented players and develop them.

It has been a long time since an Irish player has dominated the defensive side of the ball.  The offense is more than OK.  There are playmakers all over the field and when healthy the offense has been extremely productive thus far this season. 

Dayne Crist may not be the next Joe Montana but anyone who watched the Michigan game knows he is certainly better than Joe Montana’s son.

Will Notre Dame fans and boosters be patient with Kelly though?  Winning is expected in South Bend, even if it has been a while since that was a regular occurrence. As much as the Catholic school would like a miracle to happen overnight, the truth is that it will not happen without time.