To all those who think ND can sneak up on another national title game, forget it.
You want to be the Notre Dame of Holtz, Devine, Parseghian, Leahy and Rockne? Well you don't do it by hoping you avoid failure, you don't try to sneak in the back door. You kick in the front door and you do it by design, because you can.
Entities that achieve greatness do it because they publicly commit to it and they stand up against the odds. They don't look at obstacles as barriers rather they are merely milestones on the way to an ultimate goal. They don't formulate excuses for when they fail, they write speeches for when they succeed.
There are a lot of guys here who have it all backwards. You wanna be the best, you have to believe it long before it happens.
Someone brought up, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." Yes, Teddy Roosevelt said it but he earned the position to say that by leading a Rough Rider charge up San Juan Hill, riding a white horse into machine gun fire with two 45's on his side and a Winchester rifle in hand... like a boss.
Great move ND. Everything screams boss about this season and they are running to it, not away from it.