........Powerful people in the Administration are openly embarrassed of the football program. They say they think that it's bad optics to spend money on the football. Join the Ivy league then. Literally no one else has that kind antagonistic relationship with football program. Other schools are excited for their team. They have team spirit. ND is embarrassed. That's a problem. And these problems are systemic and need to be addressed......
'Systemic issues' are so overblown these days, however not in this^ case.
The same core issues that Holtz fought about in the 90's, still exist today at ND; maybe even worse than ever. As Sea Turtle points out (that we all know is true) there are ppl in ND administration that are against the football program. Speaking with non-ND friends about BK leaving, almost of them seem to say something to the effect of, "BK took ND as far as he could" and I while I don't totally agree, there is definitely some truth in that statement.
ND can still win, but there is
almost no room for error (cannot miss on recruits, cannot miss on coaching hires, cannot survive with players unable to play because academics/probation/dog house). Knowing this, and me having been thru the Davie/Willingham/Weis years you can clearly see how critical getting the right coach on the first hire is.
Whether its Freeman, Fickell, or Funkenwagnal, Savvy Jack has to hit the bullseye on a moving target at a 1000 yards (and he has no room for error).