In 1993, the last year the Irish made a serious attempt at the National Championship, changes were all ready in motion. Notre Dame wanted a new image. In 1993 regular students averaged 1220 on their SAT's, and the football team averaged 899.
On the way to becoming one of the finest academic institutions in the country, there was a buzz going around that it was too hard to recruit good athletes, and it was the reason the football program was entering into a state of mediocrity.
In 2004 Paul Hornung told a Detroit sports talk host he wanted to see Notre Dame lower standards to attract better athletes. Horning, one of the most famous players to ever don a golden helmet, got a lot of people to realize that the Irish might be under a disadvantage in recruiting.
But Notre Dame didn't want any part of Hornungs message. Today, the average student scores just under 1400 on the SAT, and the average football player scores 1025.
To give you an example why it might be more difficult for Notre Dame to recruit, just look at the University of Florida. The Gators, who won the National championship in 2008, were reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution to have average SAT scores of 890, in a study released the same year.
Florida's a great school, but they decided they wanted to have a larger sample of football prospects.
Notre Dame has decided to keep their high standards and I applaud them. They may not win as many football games as they did in the Holtz era, but they are setting an example.
Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and especially Stanford are keeping their standards high. Their putting these standards ahead of winning. I applaud them again!
