Comparing the 2012 Defense to the 2018 Version

In the last fifteen years Notre Dame has had only one championship caliber defense. It’s not surprising that that was the only year they’ve played for a national championship in the last decade and a half.

2012 was year three under Brian Kelly and the same for the defense under coordinator Bob Diaco. While the defense was expected to be good, there wasn’t anyone projecting them to be elite.