Notre Dame Football: Tommy Rees Won't Save Fighting Irish from Mediocrity

It was clear the moment Notre Dame lost to South Florida that serious change was in order for the Fighting Irish. They wasted no time and have already gone with a quarterback change, naming Tommy Rees the starter over Dayne Crist.

Unfortunately for Notre Dame, it's not going to save them from a terrible season. Being ranked No. 16 set the bar incredibly high for the Fighting Irish. All they had to do was show up against South Florida and cracking the top 15 by Week 2 would have been in the bag.

It didn't take long for us to realize that going into the season with a quarterback controversy left the team without an identity. This bunch struggled even when the undisputed field general was Jimmy Clausen.

The back-and-forth quarterback shuffle has already begun and only one game is under wraps. Rees lost the quarterback competition before the season started. What kind of message is Brian Kelly sending by pulling the plug after one poor start?

Kelly is essentially admitting he made the wrong call before the season started. The team can't feel confident in Rees, as Kelly initially thought he wasn't good enough to be given the keys to the Bentley, or should I say, 1989 Nissan Maxima.

So, what happens if and when Rees struggles? Notre Dame has already fallen out of the top 25. Now, Rees has to take a team lamenting a painful loss into the Big House against a Michigan team that handed Notre Dame a loss last year.

Yikes.

Notre Dame doesn't have two quarterbacks who can both run the offense if called upon—they've got zero. It took one game for Kelly to realize he didn't believe in Crist. Now he's got to cross his fingers and hope that Rees offers him something.

How terrible would it be if Rees produced similar struggles in his debut? Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, USC, Stanford and, of course, Navy, all pose serious threats to Notre Dame. You could easily make the argument that they are going to be the underdogs in each of these outings.

Notre Dame is in for a miserable year, regardless of which one of their inadequate gun-slingers they put under center.