The Year Of The Transition

[Granger Irish]

Domer Sports Report: The Year Of The Transition

 

[Echo Insanity]

that dude is living in fantasy land. these delusional nine and ten win benchmarks have to be put to rest now. just take a look at the defensive front seven and the talent distribution between the upper and lower classmen. what you have is a young team that will still have freshmen playing signifcant roles on both sides of the ball. nine and ten win seasons are to be expected when you have four solid and balanced classes in the program, and while we are well on our way to that, we are simply not there yet. what we need to see is improvement over last year and the team as a whole getting better and better as the season goes on. i hope for a ten win season as much as anyone but a hope is much different than an expectation or a "demand".

 

[Epitome]

I must be living it as well. This has been evident to me for a while. 1988 all over again. A young team with no expectations that believes hmmm

 

[Clausen2Kamara]

I just don't see 10 wins and I am an optimist.....

 

[Echo Insanity]

i personally think eight wins is a realistic goal, nine would be awesome. my main point is that these "nine wins or else" ultimatums against Charlie and staff are a little out there.

 

[bluespark8884]

Truth

Truth

that dude is living in fantasy land. these delusional nine and ten win benchmarks have to be put to rest now. just take a look at the defensive front seven and the talent distribution between the upper and lower classmen. what you have is a young team that will still have freshmen playing signifcant roles on both sides of the ball. nine and ten win seasons are to be expected when you have four solid and balanced classes in the program, and while we are well on our way to that, we are simply not there yet. what we need to see is improvement over last year and the team as a whole getting better and better as the season goes on. i hope for a ten win season as much as anyone but a hope is much different than an expectation or a "demand".

I am with you on this. Look at most dominate teams. Full of talent in each class freshman to senior. The seniors play because of experience and only the best freshmen see the field. We have a serious depth issues.

 

[irishmarine]

true true. im happy with eight wins. shows growth and they are learning how to play together. the talent is rising but it isnt stacked across the board yet

 

[bluespark8884]

true true. im happy with eight wins. shows growth and they are learning how to play together. the talent is rising but it isnt stacked across the board yet

I would love eight wins and another top 5 recruiting class. We need to win and "reload". No more rebuilding. Keep the talent stock piled

 

[The Polish Irishman]

It is a sad day for ND football when 8 wins is considered a good season

 

[Granger Irish]

Amen, Polish. And, last year set the standards lower. Remember when people were talking about this year being the year we competed for a National Championship? That was prior to last season. Now, the bar has been set lower. That should save Charlie's job - whether it is fair or not. He can go 7-5 and we will see it as "progress". If we would have gone 8-4 or 9-3 last season, would 7-5 have been seen as progress?.

 

[IrishinTN]

I expect 10 next year, and would have to say that less than 8 is completely unacceptable. Team is young but very talented. And considering last year, I don't think us enjoying 8 is lowering the bar if you consider that this is just the first step, and next year less than 10 wins would be completely unacceptable.

 

[ACamp1900]

I personally would be happy with 6 wins and..... get this.....



A FREAKING BOWL WIN

 

[irishmarine]

i dont think anybody said 8 wins is a good season. its called progress. 8 wins is a bad season but being it is coming off of a 3 win season with freshman and sophmores filling the boards its building. you build a program that has been sub par. this isnt the nfl you cant just bring in experienced free agents and expect a turn around. this is his fourth year and i expect to see alot of improvment from all sides of the ball. our defense was our week point when he had brady and the shark but now that is being build through great recruiting and all of our skill positions have experience now. next year im calling for a championship game. but this year the kids are still gonna make mistakes and screw up. charlie isnt calling the plays hes coaching. so i expect to see a huge turn around. 8 wins is what i expect and if they pass it then thats just sprinkles on the top

 

[Sureal]

i dont think anybody said 8 wins is a good season. its called progress. 8 wins is a bad season but being it is coming off of a 3 win season with freshman and sophmores filling the boards its building. you build a program that has been sub par. this isnt the nfl you cant just bring in experienced free agents and expect a turn around. this is his fourth year and i expect to see alot of improvment from all sides of the ball. our defense was our week point when he had brady and the shark but now that is being build through great recruiting and all of our skill positions have experience now. next year im calling for a championship game. but this year the kids are still gonna make mistakes and screw up. charlie isnt calling the plays hes coaching. so i expect to see a huge turn around. 8 wins is what i expect and if they pass it then thats just sprinkles on the top

I agree totally with the post from the gun guy...

 

[grantphilly]

It is a sad day for ND football when 8 wins is considered a good season

i would take 6 w's compared to last season

 

[GoldenDomer21]

I like to keep the bar high. ND has classically kept it high, and the fans should keep it up there. Yeah, an 8 win season is an improvment, but is it what the fans, alumni, and players want? No, For me a 9 win season is a bust. I want a nation championship every year! And I expect them every year. Inexperienced freshmen or not. I believe whole heartedly that ND is the best team ever to walk the earth and everyone should be shooting for 10 win seasons no matter how unlikely and out of reach they seem. Because its when we start looking for an 8 win season just to satisfy us, that ND will have lost its mistique. None of us want that!

 

[irishmarine]

but will you be firing coaches whenever they reach the mark you set?

 

[nd1988]

I like to keep the bar high. ND has classically kept it high, and the fans should keep it up there. Yeah, an 8 win season is an improvment, but is it what the fans, alumni, and players want? No, For me a 9 win season is a bust. I want a nation championship every year! And I expect them every year. Inexperienced freshmen or not. I believe whole heartedly that ND is the best team ever to walk the earth and everyone should be shooting for 10 win seasons no matter how unlikely and out of reach they seem. Because its when we start looking for an 8 win season just to satisfy us, that ND will have lost its mistique. None of us want that!

What!!!!!? You need to be realistic here. Coaches and players set all types of goals for the season. Short term, mid term, and long term. If the main objective each year is to win the National Championship and if the players don't do it every year.... Those kids woulds feel like they haven't accomplished anything while at Notre Dame. Right now, anything better than a 3-9 season, last in offense, most sacks, and the blowouts would be such a confidence booster to the players and future recruits. The team should set some "realistic" goals. Like..... Winning the home opener.......

 

[GoldenDomer21]

What!!!!!? You need to be realistic here. Coaches and players set all types of goals for the season. Short term, mid term, and long term. If the main objective each year is to win the National Championship and if the players don't do it every year.... Those kids woulds feel like they haven't accomplished anything while at Notre Dame. Right now, anything better than a 3-9 season, last in offense, most sacks, and the blowouts would be such a confidence booster to the players and future recruits. The team should set some "realistic" goals. Like..... Winning the home opener.......

Realistic?! Notre Dame cannot realistically do any worse than last year. Think about it, like you said, last in almost every category. They are going to improve, they can ONLY go up from here! Asking them to consistently play great teams is not an unrealistic goal. When you have a program that plays high caliber teams year in and year out you create a program that is second to none! Yes, each team has many goals. But the end goal is always the same, and should be! National titles. Winning national titles brings in the caliber recruits that keep a program going. Playing big games help to reach national title games. Look at the big picture. You need to play the good teams, and beat them, in the areas we recruit in to bring in the talent that sets ND football aside from other teams. With the talent we have now, we have the chance to jump start a fairly stagnate program. Play the best, beat the best, be the best! Its simple.

 

[nd1988]

Realistic?! Notre Dame cannot realistically do any worse than last year. Think about it, like you said, last in almost every category. They are going to improve, they can ONLY go up from here! Asking them to consistently play great teams is not an unrealistic goal. When you have a program that plays high caliber teams year in and year out you create a program that is second to none! Yes, each team has many goals. But the end goal is always the same, and should be! National titles. Winning national titles brings in the caliber recruits that keep a program going. Playing big games help to reach national title games. Look at the big picture. You need to play the good teams, and beat them, in the areas we recruit in to bring in the talent that sets ND football aside from other teams. With the talent we have now, we have the chance to jump start a fairly stagnate program. Play the best, beat the best, be the best! Its simple.

Totally agree with playing the best. I would be outraged if the Irish join the Big East. I want the Irish to play high caliber teams every Saturday year in year out. I also agree "and so does everyone else" they go only go up. The only thing I disagree with is..... Winning National Championships will bring in high caliber recruits "of course" but we all know that a 3-9 record would do the same. Beleieve me... I would love the Irish winning all the games every week but it's not gonna happen. You win some and loss some.

 

[coachjohnson]

3-9 season or not, ND has no conference to win so what do you think their goal is every year. They realistically want to win a title every year, and yes they do have goals for the season as it progesses but every player that puts on a uniform has a National title on their mind. It's like a book you go through the chapters starting with 1 and finish the book which ends up being your national title. GoldenDomer21, well put! I'm not gonna sit here and say, Oh I hope they can win 6. I think they can win every game they play this year. If our own Irish fans are not expecting alot out our boys then their opponents for the upcoming season aren't too worried about them. No body thought we'd win a title in 88' and we did. As a matter of fact we beat 3 of the top 4 teams and nobody thought we could do that either. I say let's go get another title. WE ARE ND!!

 

[nd1988]

ok