Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly Is Right, the Irish Will Be Better This Year

Notre Dame's heart-wrenching loss to Michigan was barely in the books when the annual obituary was being written for Irish Football.  The same old pundits were spouting the same story: Academic standards are too high; the weather is too cold; the schedule is too tough.  Add to that the perception perpetuated in the media that athletes only want to play in the SEC and warm weather. 

Those arguments are growing old.  Like Notre Dame, Stanford and Duke have high academic standards, yet they are recruiting well and having continued success in football and basketball respectively.  And if weather is an absolute bar to landing good players, consider that Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and even Boise State are in cold-weather locations and still manage to get great players.

Granted, the Irish have not done themselves any favors on the field this year.  They've lost their first two games this season in embarrassing fashion.  The home loss to South Florida was bad enough.  To have it followed by the collapse in Ann Arbor (in what was easily the most exciting college game so far this season) has to be intolerable for Irish fans.

But while the Irish may be down, they are certainly not out.  And don't expect them to stay down for long.  The Irish football program is far from being on life support.  They will be back.  They will be better this year.

There is a lot to like about the Irish offense.  They are averaging 510 yards in the first two games.  Michael Floyd already has 25 catches for 313 yards.  Cierre Wood has two 100-yard games and is averaging 5.2 yards per carry.  Kelly has a proven record of doing much more with far less talent on this side of the ball.

After the Michigan game, you can bet that Kelly and his staff have tweaked their game plan and worked their players in the hope of limiting turnovers.  And despite the claim that players don't want to go there, Notre Dame has a lot of talent on the roster, and that talent will help down the road.

Yes, there are many weaknesses to work on.  The ten turnovers in two games have caused considerable heartburn in South Bend.  The defense is giving up 466 yards per game.  The schedule is tough, with Michigan State, USC and Stanford on the horizon.

But look closely: MSU, USC and Stanford are the only ranked teams on the Irish's schedule.  The rest of the field has some difficult, but winnable matchups, with teams like Pitt, Air Force, Boston College and Maryland. 

There are many Irish fans who worry that the season is already lost—such is the burden of the high expectations at Notre Dame.  Fear not, it's a long season and even if they lose to Michigan State (and I don't think they will), the Irish will end the season much improved over their 8-5 record last season. 

Looking ahead, as Kelly has more time to recruit his kind of players and make the program his own, the Irish fortunes will improve and ultimately quiet the chatter that Notre Dame can no longer compete in major college football.