MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK
While some fled for better “resources”, Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman is proving that laziness is what held this Fighting Irish program back
For years Notre Dame football fans were programmed to accept limitations. It’s just not possible to recruit with the big boys in college football. No talented players want to come play in the cold, or go to class. It was just good enough for the Fighting Irish to be competitive. Winning is hard.
Former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly brainwashed us all. We instead looked for moral victories. “Hey, at least we lost to Clemson by less than Alabama did!” We even went into a game against Georgia “knowing we couldn’t run the football.” That defeatist attitude spread rampant to the fanbase.
We were taught that beating the teams you should beat was good enough. Wanting anything more than that seemed a little bit greedy. That’s the biggest reason why Kelly leaving for the LSU job was met with a lot of excitement from the Irish fanbase. LSU supporters took it as jealousy, but in reality, it was nothing more than elation and an early warning.
As head coach Marcus Freeman defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 27-24 on Thursday night, we were all reminded about Coach Kelly’s remarks when accepting the LSU job. NBC Sports lead college football insider Nicole Auerbach reminded everyone.
“I want to be in an environment where I have the resources to win a national championship,” Brian Kelly said in April 2022 after leaving Notre Dame for LSU.
Now three years into their respective tenures, and Coach Freeman continues to raise the bar. He already has his Notre Dame team sitting at 14-1, which is the most victories in program history in a single season. Despite some early bumps in the road, the program is now 33-9 under his lead. If they are able to win one more game, they would claim their first national championship since 1988.
In comparison, Brian Kelly got off to a faster start in Baron Rouge. His momentum, however, has halted quite a bit in year three. His team is 29-11 overall, and has yet to qualify for a playoff game, or win any sort of championship with the Tigers. All that despite the resources being so much better.
But don’t worry LSU fans, Coach Kelly is at least dipping hard into the transfer portal this offseason out of desperation. All those tremendous resources in high school recruiting aren’t developing so well it seems. Don’t worry, I’m sure we will all see sizable growth in him as a leader in year 22 on the job. He’s definitely not who he is at this point.
Despite the inclusion of the transfer portal and NIL over the last couple of years, Notre Dame has found a way to flourish and build a championship contending roster. They have beaten three top 10 teams on their way during this playoff run. Coach Freeman has done all that despite not having great resources, at least according to Kelly.
The further we get away from the Brian Kelly era, the more things come into better focus. Notre Dame wasn’t the problem. The laziness and self imposed ceiling that Coach Kelly created was.
