dre1919
www.andrewsloan.com
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Much like the Nike ad now trying to rehabilitate LeBron's image, I think we as Irish fans might want to look at the football program in the same light and consider the answer...
"What should I do? Should I admit I've made mistakes? Should I remind you I've done this before? Should I give you a history lesson? What should I do? Should I tell you how much fun we had? Should I really believe I ruined my legacy? Should I be who you want me to be? Should I accept my role as a villain? Maybe I should just disappear. Should I just clear the decks and start over? What should I do? Should I be who you want me to be?"
For a relatively small, religious based university in the middle of America's heartland we've accomplished a lot. National championships, Heisman trophies, All-Americans, history. But that was then...and then was a long time ago. Even the last time we raised the trophy as champions was twenty two seasons ago. Twenty two. In the old days, other schools only recruited relatively locally...no one was on TV the way the Irish were...there was no "internet". No YouTube, no Sportscenter, no highlight package on one of fifteen sports channels. Back then, we possessed and brandished recruiting tools other schools could only dream of having. Now, everyone has them. The playing field was not only leveled, the field changed colors (literally in the case of some) and became a different sport altogether (figuratively). As the NFL, and it's contract money, grew and grew the need for a "good education" went by the wayside. Schools steadily grew into football factories, ensuring recruits an unobstructed path to NFL riches in trade for money made for the school by winning college games (and bowls).
As these "rules" by which the game is played have changed, largely, Notre Dame has not. we have stuck to being an independent when others joined conferences for shared revenue. We have managed to maintain our own television network deal, bought mostly on our past and the fact that even casual fans seem to love something about the Irish. We have maintained a difficult schedule, only recently relenting a little, and most importantly...we have stressed classwork over a springboard to the NFL and instant money. But what has that gotten us? If you look at the recruits that have come through the doors, the coaches, the on field results...not much. Sure, we cobble together a decent season now and then but we are always one step away from mediocrity. We are always being questioned whether we are for real, overrated, or simply irrelevant in a modern college football "NFL farm system".
The truth we all ignore is today's blue chip recruits don't want to have to deal with extraordinarily hard classes when they can go to a school that allows "Ball Room Dancing" as a class option to keep playing. They can go to a school where a "C" average (or worse, a "D") keeps you technically eligible, and technically is enough. Blue chip, difference makers on the field choose to go play where the success is, and has been, the past decade...their formative years watching football. Sure, it was cool to play for the lore and mystique of Notre Dame in 1930, 1940, 1950, etc. 2010? Not so much. Why not play for Texas, OU, Ohio State or even Oregon? Why freeze during the winters when a warm beach awaits you at USC or Miami? Because some guy named Knute Rockne used to have some good teams at this little school once? Because this team with plain helmets is on TV every Saturday? So what? The Big Ten (and soon the Pac-10) will have their own networks, and ESPN and ABC always have the big boys playing in sparkling HD as well.
So all of this leads back to the Nike ad. Who do we want the Irish football program to be? Champions? Perennial contenders? A football factory? An academics first institution? Good citizens, off the police blotter, with morals and religion coming first? Increasingly, it seems highly unlikely and close to impossible to envision Notre Dame being all of these things. Yet, we as fans seem to want this every season. We expect the past to come alive and wake up the echoes, when in reality, those echoes are saying "Decide who you want to be, because in today's times, you cannot have it all." Tough pill to swallow, but it's the truth. And coaches know it too. It's why the coaching elite avoid Notre Dame like it's a haunted house. They know that the rules under which they must operate cannot yield the unrealistic expectations the fanbase and alumni demand. They know that without blue chip, difference making talent they cannot compete with the football factories and that is what would be asked of them. These are smart men, aware of their salary as well as their legacies and they want no part of a house haunted by the memories of past glory. Those echoes whisper to a time long ago when college football was a mere dwarf of the juggernaut it currently is. When the need for a prestigious degree and national merit was important, and there wasn't millions of dollars waiting on a simple signature to a piece of paper.
So who do we want Notre Dame to be? If the Irish decided to stick to their guns as an academic, even taking it more seriously, and joined the Ivy League I would still root for them as my favorite team. I feel a deep connection to the institution as a person of Irish heritage. But, that's me. I would accept they decided playing with the big boys was not really in the cards and that things like education and morality were more important than BCS millions. On the other hand, I LOVE football...and I really love championship, dominant football. It would be incredible to watch the Irish as a perennial contender and staple of the BCS bowls like Florida, OU, Texas and Ohio State are. That would be great! I would also understand that to have done that, it meant that we had to change our identity and make a choice. We had to choose where to win our battles...in the classroom, in the police station, or on the field. But once we were there, it meant we did choose...we didn't sit like we have for decades...in mediocrity and wondering if we were relevant anymore.
It is these reasons that it will not matter who coaches us...what mistakes they make or who they do or do not recruit. It is these reasons that keep us happy and basking in the thrill of victory one Saturday, then scratching out heads or yelling at the TV the next. We are ready to run the newest coach out of town at the first hint of trouble when the reality is, as we have the rules currently laid, no one is coming in here and doing what we really expect. Saban, Tressel, Meyer, Stoops...how could any of these considerable coaches do more than what Kelly is doing with what Kelly has to work with and under? We have financial means and past glory...that's about it. What good is that going to do us in the modern world of "right now", "do it the easy way", " a few crimes are misunderstandings and we can sweep them under the rug" or "classes shouldn't be hard for future millionaires".
Who should Notre Dame be?
"What should I do? Should I admit I've made mistakes? Should I remind you I've done this before? Should I give you a history lesson? What should I do? Should I tell you how much fun we had? Should I really believe I ruined my legacy? Should I be who you want me to be? Should I accept my role as a villain? Maybe I should just disappear. Should I just clear the decks and start over? What should I do? Should I be who you want me to be?"
For a relatively small, religious based university in the middle of America's heartland we've accomplished a lot. National championships, Heisman trophies, All-Americans, history. But that was then...and then was a long time ago. Even the last time we raised the trophy as champions was twenty two seasons ago. Twenty two. In the old days, other schools only recruited relatively locally...no one was on TV the way the Irish were...there was no "internet". No YouTube, no Sportscenter, no highlight package on one of fifteen sports channels. Back then, we possessed and brandished recruiting tools other schools could only dream of having. Now, everyone has them. The playing field was not only leveled, the field changed colors (literally in the case of some) and became a different sport altogether (figuratively). As the NFL, and it's contract money, grew and grew the need for a "good education" went by the wayside. Schools steadily grew into football factories, ensuring recruits an unobstructed path to NFL riches in trade for money made for the school by winning college games (and bowls).
As these "rules" by which the game is played have changed, largely, Notre Dame has not. we have stuck to being an independent when others joined conferences for shared revenue. We have managed to maintain our own television network deal, bought mostly on our past and the fact that even casual fans seem to love something about the Irish. We have maintained a difficult schedule, only recently relenting a little, and most importantly...we have stressed classwork over a springboard to the NFL and instant money. But what has that gotten us? If you look at the recruits that have come through the doors, the coaches, the on field results...not much. Sure, we cobble together a decent season now and then but we are always one step away from mediocrity. We are always being questioned whether we are for real, overrated, or simply irrelevant in a modern college football "NFL farm system".
The truth we all ignore is today's blue chip recruits don't want to have to deal with extraordinarily hard classes when they can go to a school that allows "Ball Room Dancing" as a class option to keep playing. They can go to a school where a "C" average (or worse, a "D") keeps you technically eligible, and technically is enough. Blue chip, difference makers on the field choose to go play where the success is, and has been, the past decade...their formative years watching football. Sure, it was cool to play for the lore and mystique of Notre Dame in 1930, 1940, 1950, etc. 2010? Not so much. Why not play for Texas, OU, Ohio State or even Oregon? Why freeze during the winters when a warm beach awaits you at USC or Miami? Because some guy named Knute Rockne used to have some good teams at this little school once? Because this team with plain helmets is on TV every Saturday? So what? The Big Ten (and soon the Pac-10) will have their own networks, and ESPN and ABC always have the big boys playing in sparkling HD as well.
So all of this leads back to the Nike ad. Who do we want the Irish football program to be? Champions? Perennial contenders? A football factory? An academics first institution? Good citizens, off the police blotter, with morals and religion coming first? Increasingly, it seems highly unlikely and close to impossible to envision Notre Dame being all of these things. Yet, we as fans seem to want this every season. We expect the past to come alive and wake up the echoes, when in reality, those echoes are saying "Decide who you want to be, because in today's times, you cannot have it all." Tough pill to swallow, but it's the truth. And coaches know it too. It's why the coaching elite avoid Notre Dame like it's a haunted house. They know that the rules under which they must operate cannot yield the unrealistic expectations the fanbase and alumni demand. They know that without blue chip, difference making talent they cannot compete with the football factories and that is what would be asked of them. These are smart men, aware of their salary as well as their legacies and they want no part of a house haunted by the memories of past glory. Those echoes whisper to a time long ago when college football was a mere dwarf of the juggernaut it currently is. When the need for a prestigious degree and national merit was important, and there wasn't millions of dollars waiting on a simple signature to a piece of paper.
So who do we want Notre Dame to be? If the Irish decided to stick to their guns as an academic, even taking it more seriously, and joined the Ivy League I would still root for them as my favorite team. I feel a deep connection to the institution as a person of Irish heritage. But, that's me. I would accept they decided playing with the big boys was not really in the cards and that things like education and morality were more important than BCS millions. On the other hand, I LOVE football...and I really love championship, dominant football. It would be incredible to watch the Irish as a perennial contender and staple of the BCS bowls like Florida, OU, Texas and Ohio State are. That would be great! I would also understand that to have done that, it meant that we had to change our identity and make a choice. We had to choose where to win our battles...in the classroom, in the police station, or on the field. But once we were there, it meant we did choose...we didn't sit like we have for decades...in mediocrity and wondering if we were relevant anymore.
It is these reasons that it will not matter who coaches us...what mistakes they make or who they do or do not recruit. It is these reasons that keep us happy and basking in the thrill of victory one Saturday, then scratching out heads or yelling at the TV the next. We are ready to run the newest coach out of town at the first hint of trouble when the reality is, as we have the rules currently laid, no one is coming in here and doing what we really expect. Saban, Tressel, Meyer, Stoops...how could any of these considerable coaches do more than what Kelly is doing with what Kelly has to work with and under? We have financial means and past glory...that's about it. What good is that going to do us in the modern world of "right now", "do it the easy way", " a few crimes are misunderstandings and we can sweep them under the rug" or "classes shouldn't be hard for future millionaires".
Who should Notre Dame be?
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