Frank Commentary
It feels like I’ve written this opinion piece probably four or five times in the past 27 years. Each time I’ve written it, Notre Dame truly seemed to be knocking on the door of greatness. Obviously that didn’t happen or I wouldn’t be here writing it again.
There was a time for Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, Charlie Weis, and a few previous opportunities for Brian Kelly, where they all had things going in the right direction and were ready to take that next step. Unfortunately, none were able to take the Irish to the finish line. Will this second or third act for Brian Kelly finally be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for?
Thinking back to 2016, and the road Brian Kelly had to travel to get to this point, it’s quite remarkable he’s even made it this far. I can’t emphasize that enough. The probability of him turning it around at that point, in my opinion, was probably less than 5 percent, and the fact that he’s brought the Irish program, “what though the odds,” this far truly needs to be recognized. Others have brought Notre Dame to this point in the past, but I don’t think any of them were in as good of a position to walk through the door as Kelly is right now.
Why?
It goes back to what I’ve been preaching since the wheels came off the Lou Holtz program. What changed was the culture of winning that Holtz had nurtured in the early years of his coaching at Notre Dame. Doubt and acceptance are the two evils of any winning program. You have to rid your program of doubt, and you have to destroy the acceptance of anything other than winning to truly reach the mountain top. All the great programs have this, and that’s why they consistently win, not just most games, but also the big games. Clemson certainly had no doubt on Saturday, and neither did Notre Dame, but Notre Dame won because of their culture.
It will be interesting is to see if Dabo Swinney can exterminate all doubt and acceptance in his program now that some cracks have appeared in the foundation. After a depantsing from LSU last year in the Championship Game, a few lackluster performances earlier this year, and now loss to Notre Dame, could doubt be creeping around the walls of the proud Clemson program? Stay tuned…
But none of that matters for our purposes. It’s all about what this win means to the Notre Dame program.
In 2016, I spoke of the four pillars of your program: offense, defense, special teams and strength and conditioning. Those were the four things Kelly needed to address to build his program again, and he needed to create a great culture in each for them to have the kind of success they’re seeing right now.
It’s hard for even the most pessimistic Irish fan to deny that he’s done a good job with this, but he hasn’t reached home just yet. One game is one game. To truly build a culture, you also need to know how to handle success. Handling success is why it’s so hard to maintain greatness. Complacency sets in. People get jealous of those who get credit for the success. People who helped bring you that success either graduate or move on to other coaching positions seeking greater personal success. Finding true leaders amongst your players is never easy, and one great leader or talent can take you a long way.
Right now, starting this week, we will find out how well Notre Dame is prepared to handle success, and we will find out if this culture is as strong as it appears to be.
Great leadership is what is needed right now to handle and maintain that success. Not from just the coaching staff, but more importantly, the leaders on the team. As a coach, you want to get to the point where you don’t have to constantly motivate your team. You want your leadership on the team to motivate your team. They set the example on expectations. They push and pull everyone along…not just for the big games, but for every game.
We’ve learned over the years, not every team will play well every week. It’s important when a team clearly doesn’t have their “A game” on any particular Saturday, for team leadership to step up.
Right now Brian Kelly has taught his team how to win. They’ve bought into his plan. They’ve been rewarded for believing and executing his plan.
He’s also taught them how to win consistently. 40-6 is a whole lot of consistency. You can’t deny that.
He’s also taught them what is needed to win the big game, and they’ve gone out and done that.
What happens next?
It’s all about maintaining that culture and those expectations week after week. Not just during the season, but the off season, and in recruiting, and in coaching.
I’ve long said for Notre Dame to be a consistent top five team, they need to win the line of scrimmage. Offensive line, defensive line, mental toughness and execution are the paths for Notre Dame to consistent success. The Irish are at this point, they proved that on Saturday, but can they maintain it?
I’ve also said if you win, they will come. It's such a shame that Notre Dame didn't have 80 of their top 2021, 2022 and 2023 prospects in the stands watching that game. Unfortunately, Covid-19 has put a damper on cashing in on this great season, but don’t kid yourself, the win on Saturday opened a lot of eyes, but that’s all it’s done so far. It’s opened the door. It’s opened up the opportunity for conversation. It’s piqued interest that was likely not there until now for quite a few elite players.
What happens next? Can the Irish coaching staff take advantage of this opportunity in recruiting? The lines are open…time to pick up the phone!
Beating Clemson means very little at this point if you don’t beat Boston College, North Carolina, Syracuse and Wake Forest. And even if you win all four of those games, it likely won’t matter much if you go lay an egg in the ACC Championship Game.
These next four games are an opportunity for Notre Dame and Brian Kelly to show what kind of culture they’ve built. Do you win all four of these games? Do you barely win, or do you show you are a legit Top 5 team? And then what do you do when you potentially play Clemson again the ACC Championship Game?
The opportunity for greatness has arrived. Do the Notre Dame players stand and pat each other on the back after one great win, or are they interested in showing this one win wasn’t just a fluke, and that they truly are one of the best teams in the country?
The opportunity for greatness has also arrived for the Notre Dame coaching staff. If they want to be elite, the time is now to pick up the phone and get rewarded for all your hard work and success! Recruiting is the lifeblood of the program. Time to cash in as there will never be an easier time to sell your program.