Notre Dame is heading into an important off-season coming off a Rose Bowl loss and yet another season without a major trophy to add to the Gug. As Brian Kelly begins preparations for his 12th year with the program, the Irish stand at a bit of a crossroads. Four years after the Kelly 2.0 rebuild following the disastrous 2016 season the team has made the playoffs twice but been dispatched by superior opponents in each appearance. Although the foundation appears solid the major bowl drought continues while the upcoming 2021 season presents many challenges to moving the Irish out of the second tier Notre Dame has occupied in recent years.

Are we preparing to see a Kelly 3.0 rebuild?

This two-part series will examine where Notre Dame is headed as a program, how they judge themselves internally, and how they can improve in the future. Today’s article will cover more broad off-the-field issues while part 2 will look more specifically at personnel challenges for next fall and beyond.

Bang on Your Ceiling

Notre Dame needs to take stock of the program and figure out their ceiling in the immediate future. They say that National Championships are the goal and I want to believe them. Although, I wonder if the school as a whole is a little too comfortable with their place within the national pecking order right now?

When the vast majority of your fans and the vast majority of the country agree that you’re too far away from competing with Alabama, Ohio State, and Clemson is there really a fire in your belly to catch them? Did Notre Dame roll back to South Bend from Texas this past weekend and feel pretty satisfied with a great season? The competent national media generally regards Notre Dame as the little engine that could with borderline patronizing comments following a performance such as the Rose Bowl–do the players and coaches get sick of that?

One may argue whether it makes a difference if Brian Kelly, Jack Swarbrick, or anyone else publicly proclaims title number 12 is the goal or if they actually believe it. Maybe we can quibble about what they can really do right now to close the gap with Alabama & Co. who seem invincible compared to Notre Dame. Many seem to think there’s not much to do except wait for Nick Saban to retire.

Even if we concede there’s little Notre Dame can do (I don’t concede that) I personally worry about the culture and attitude if you normalize this type of losing or if there’s not a lot of upset people on campus. It’s been well over a decade and I find it frustrating to still hear, “Well, Kelly’s done such a better job than Charlie Weis” because that attitude almost guarantees you’re not going to reach your ceiling. I shudder to think this is in any way a point of comparison from anyone affiliated with the program today.

The way 2021 shapes up it’s almost assured Kelly has reached his ceiling at Notre Dame unless there’s something magical coming in the next couple years and the Elite Monsters winning all the titles suddenly implode. Both need to happen simultaneously which only furthers my worry that there may be no major push from Notre Dame to review what can be done to make the jump to elite status.

I’m not saying it’s time to put him on the hot seat and cut ties but is Notre Dame in any way applying pressure to Kelly and monitoring the landscape seeking a path for the future to get better? In other words, do they see Kelly’s ceiling as Notre Dame’s modern ceiling too?

Or, think about this: If the offense underperforms in a big way next year would Notre Dame even consider the notion of firing Tommy Rees? Maybe that seems drastic thinking about today but don’t you have to examine that as a possibility if you aspire to be an elite program?

In times like these, I see a strong tendency to rally around Brian Kelly. I get it, but it also makes me cringe. There’s room to get better and giving Kelly a pat on the back for finishing 4th or 5th doesn’t help Notre Dame’s culture. Some criticism may be over the top and wrongheaded–and we’re a million miles from saying things are bad of course–but proper criticism is healthy and needed.

Rebuild or Reload?

Nearly all talk about the 2021 season that I’ve read so far centers around the schedule being quite friendly. Put another way, Notre Dame isn’t catching the top teams (again) but might have a really good record all the same. That’s what I get out of it when the focus isn’t necessarily on how good Notre Dame can be but their schedule being softer.

We’re at a point now where it should be obvious that going 11-1 without beating any great teams isn’t much of an accomplishment anymore. I hate being the Standards Police but this is a different Notre Dame now than 2016.

Obviously, it’s a tricky and delicate balance trying to do what’s best for 2021 versus planning for the future. In fact, usually they are one and the same. Nevertheless, it’s worth considering trying to rebuild the program in a different way that raises the ceiling moving forward. After all, if you’re doing all you can to maximize and squeeze out wins next fall without truly progressing the program what have you really achieved? Modest excitement that the schedule will be weak once more so you can repeat things again?

Notre Dame seems stuck which makes the advantages of a reload not as important. If you finish 2021 with a 11-2 record but still with big questions about the offense, still far behind Alabama & Co, and you’re signing the 11th rated recruiting class that’s pretty much the same fate as finishing 9-4 is it not?

Recruiting

This could be a blown out feature on its own and highlights the crux of Notre Dame’s problems right now.

Recruiting misses in combination with these positive 2017-20 on-field results are going to be part of Kelly’s story at Notre Dame and it may be too late to overcome this unless things change quickly. The question is how much better can Notre Dame recruiting get and can it get there quickly, while the answers to those questions are most definitely tied to where the Irish self-diagnose their ceiling.

I’m seeing a lot of criticism of Kelly and the program for seemingly dropping the ball in this department and a lot excuse-making as well. I’m very much with the former group while recognizing Notre Dame’s unique challenges.

Notre Dame just has to do better in recruiting and do a thorough examination of their entire process. I can’t think of anything more important moving forward for the program and it’s here the leaders above Kelly really need to focus their efforts.

Here’s a list of recruiting excuses I’ve read in recent days:

  • Elite recruits don’t want the academic challenge
  • Notre Dame’s admissions standards are too strict
  • They have to wait too long to offer scholarships due to transcripts
  • The assistants don’t make enough money
  • The recruiting office is too small and underfunded
  • Other schools have better facilities

This list of complaints really isn’t any different than it was in 2009 or 1987 or 1968–in a lot of cases they are an automatic response to insolate criticism of the staff whether there’s a lot of truth to them or not. Some areas do make things difficult (academics are an issue for many recruits) and that’s nothing new but Notre Dame has made tremendous strides during Brian Kelly’s tenure of modernizing the program to help recruiting.

In this light, I don’t see a lot of room to criticize Brian Kelly. Since day one, he’s continually pushed for more especially when it comes to money and facilities, while he’s won a lot of those battles. That is an important legacy! Plus, they are better than ever at identifying kids earlier, establishing relationships, the coaching staff makes competitive money, and the facilities are world-class for a D-1 football team.

However, a few things have likely occurred in recent years which has hamstrung their efforts. One, the staff as a whole are not super strong recruiters, so much so that a 43-8 record over the past 4 seasons hasn’t moved the recruiting needle. This is a major red flag. Two, Brian Kelly as a recruiter isn’t enough to overcome a subpar staff and he’s never been known to be a killer recruiter. This is not an ideal combination. Three, the recruiting office likely gets far too comfortable self-selecting cultural fits.

Notre Dame has worked hard at addressing program deficiencies but one thing that has remained constant for several years from those close to things is that Kelly is not a tireless recruiter. In most ways, the academic hurdles will always be present at Notre Dame but having a head coach who is not a maniacal recruiter is a significant handicap. It’s just so hard to think the Irish can’t get better when the coach is built this way.

With what we know about Irish recruiting these days is anyone surprised that the top 2 commits for 2022 are offensive linemen and the other 2 include a 3-star tight end and 3-star linebacker with legacy connections? One phone call likely sealed the deal for each of those recruits–that’s the easy part to recruiting.

So, maybe Notre Dame can’t gain on the elite teams in talent acquisition right now but you’re also allowing a lot of other Top 20 programs to catch up and pass you and I’m not sure that’s due to academic hurdles. Wouldn’t it be nice if Notre Dame handily out-recruited a Michigan program that has gone 29-16 over the last 4 years? Catching Alabama is one thing but moving past crisis-packed Michigan another thing altogether.

My biggest question is does Notre Dame truly feel like they need to beef up recruiting or are they satisfied? Brian Kelly’s comment after the 2018 playoffs and again this past weekend suggests he understands the need to improve, so can we expect any staff under him to start recruiting better or should there be growing frustration from what flows from the top of the program?

There are many stones worth overturning. People love to talk about Alabama’s army of a recruiting office tracking down players all over the country. Should Notre Dame beef up their operation too? Does there need to be more scrutiny on director of scouting Bill Rees who–setting aside cronyism–is now in his mid-60’s and could the Irish upgrade to a better department as a whole? Is there need for better communication and goals for this department in conjunction with the coaching staff?

Too often, Irish fans believe the restrictions are too tough or that millions dollars more are needed to improve recruiting. While there’s truth to each of those areas the biggest difference between Brian Kelly and Nick Saban is that the latter is positively obsessed with recruiting and puts an enormous amount of detailed work on his plate and demands his assistants be great, too. Has there ever been that kind of accountability in South Bend?

Defensive Coordinator

Let’s say Notre Dame elects to stay in-house and promote Mike Elston from defensive line coach and associate head coach to the vacant defensive coordinator position. From a coaching perspective I’m sure it will be fine. We can point to player development occurring under Elston’s watch, that he’s super familiar with Notre Dame’s culture, and that he’s qualified enough to run a competent defense with the tools at his disposal.

Is just fine good enough, though?

Elston has been a plus-recruiter during his time at Notre Dame but I’m not sure things are changing all that much for the program if he gets this job. You’d then have to seek out a tremendous recruiter for the vacated linebacker coaching position and even then it’s unlikely one position coach transforms much anyway.

Of course, taking care of the product on the field is paramount so the coaching aspect can’t just be tossed aside in favor of recruiting. I also won’t preemptively judge any new hire as doing so has been shown to be hilariously inaccurate in the past from all corners of the country. Elston might grow into the best DC of the Kelly era, for all we know.

What is worth thinking about is a Notre Dame program with Tommy Rees and Mike Elston as coordinators together with Brian Kelly as head coach. If you are fanatical about getting better, raising your ceiling, and trying something different this wouldn’t seem to be the best route to success. Of course, it could work but if you told me in 2011 that this would be Notre Dame’s coaching set up I’d be a little concerned.

***

Recently, Brian Kelly was heavily criticized for being upset after the Alabama loss and it was one of those difficult moments for the Notre Dame coach where frustration and exasperation collide in a big way.

On losing by this margin again:

The margin is not the issue. Losing is losing…This wasn’t a matter of getting knocked off the ball or not having enough players to compete against Alabama. This was about making plays…I guess everybody needs to continue to carry this narrative that Notre Dame is not good enough. Look at the scores of the games that Alabama has played all year, and I think we need to start to change the narrative a little bit.

On what to do to take the next step:

They had the college football player of the year who made some dynamic plays. We battled. We were right there. So we’re going to keep getting back here…and I’m sorry if you don’t like it or if the national media doesn’t like it, but we’re going to go back to work. We’re going to keep recruiting and we’re going to put ourselves back in this position again.

On being congratulated for a successful season:

That would be nice if our local people felt that way. But they don’t use any of those kinds of those terms. This is always about where our program needs to go. So I appreciate that.

On being asked again about taking the next step:

I don’t have a unique problem at Notre Dame. I think you need to look at the scores that everybody played against Alabama and Clemson. Everybody’s got the same issue…so we’re going to keep recruiting. We’re going to keep getting back here and everybody can keep saying, you know, Notre Dame is not good enough. You know what? You’re going to have a problem because we’re going to keep winning games and keep getting back here and we’re going to break through.

On whether the Irish can still get elite talent:

No, we think we can get there…we have to continue to find more playmakers. And we’ll keep working at it. We’re committed to doing it and we’re not going away…So great year. It’s not where we wanted it. We wanted to win a National Championship. But Notre Dame Nation, you guys can get some sleep, recharge your battery. And we’re going to get ourselves back in this position again. So you don’t need to jump off a bridge, a building. We’re going to keep working. We’re going to rededicate ourselves in the offseason, back in the weight room. And we hope to get right back here in Dallas next year.

Everyone should know Kelly gets very defensive in moments like these and it colors his comments in a big way. Most of the time I like that about him, but you can also see how that attitude veers into not seeing things clearly (for example, framing it like we had a bunch of red zone opportunities and the sole difference was Devonta Smith) and that’s where he can get into trouble.

I thought it was pretty clear that Kelly was proud of how well Notre Dame performed physically and with that I agree. I don’t think it’s a massive accomplishment but I can see how he thought the media would be more impressed.

For me, I think Kelly knows what needs to be done even when he does get defensive. He wants plaudits for the season and doesn’t like some of the criticism and to me I chalk most of that up to being fiery. He’s prone to making excuses in the heat of a press conference but I don’t think that clouds his judgement on bettering Notre Dame football.

The larger concern is what Swarbrick and others in power at Notre Dame think, how they view this loss in context of the current environment, and if they feel that Kelly is someone who can ultimately get the Irish to the next level. I’m sure Kelly believes he can do it but his bosses have to agree and foster surroundings in South Bend that actually reinforce the desire to make the jump.

Upcoming in the final Part II we will look at 6 questions surrounding Notre Dame’s roster for 2021.