2010 NCAA Football Preview: Notre Dame
There are few football programs that non-football fans have heard of, but the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame is one of them. Many of those are likely due to the movie Rudy about a former walk on player for the Fighting Irish, but the fact that a major motion picture was made about a scout team player like Daniel Ruettiger speaks to the heritage of their football program.
Being one of the oldest and most successful programs in the nation goes a long way towards making Notre Dame Football so recognizable as well. Since playing their first game back in 1887, the Fighting Irish have won 837 games while only losing 290 (and tying 42). Eleven times they have won a piece of the national title, seven Heisman trophy winners played called Notre Dame home, and no school has had as many consensus All-Americans.
However, success and Notre Dame Football have not been said in the same sentence for some time now. The school thought it had the future of the team locked up with Charlie Weis at the helm, but the rudder fell off that ship rather quickly. In 2010 the Brian Kelly Era will begin. While he may have done wonders with the football team at a basketball school like Cincinnati, it remains to be seen if he can resurrect the Irish to the glory days of old.
Offense
Brian Kelly has proven that he knows how to create a deadly offense; the only question is whether he can do so with what Charlie Weis left him.
The Irish did have the 8th ranked offense in the nation last year thanks to their 5th ranked passing offense (the rushing game was not so good at 84th). However, two of its top players are missing in quarterback Jimmy Clausen and wide receiver Golden Tate. Kelly will be banking on Weis knowing talent when he sees it: specifically Dayne Crist. Crist only threw 20 passes last year, completing half of them with one touchdown and one interception; in his final year in high school he threw only one interception while throwing 16 touchdown passes.
Crist will have the benefit of throwing to some talented receivers. Michael Floyd has a great chance of giving the Irish another Biletnikof winner this year; last year while playing second fiddle to Golden Tate he made 44 catches with an average of more than 18 yards per reception. Freshman Tai-ler Jones looked good enough in spring practices to already be in line for serious playing time.
Defense
Many head coaches tend to take one or more assistants with them when they move schools; Kelly brought his defensive coordinator over from Cincinnati, Bob Diaco. He will also be bringing with him a new scheme, the 3-4.
The 3-4 should work out well for the Fighting Irish with the players that they have coming back. Manti Te’o looks to be the star of the defense. Te’o did not play much at first, but when he did, he did very well; over eight starts he made 57 tackles on the season. Brian Smith has been a consistent starter for the last two seasons. Darius Fleming has a nose for the big play; 12 of his 30 tackles were for a loss last season.
Where the team could be weak is in the front three. The players they have back are not bad; Ethan Johnson had four sacks; Kapron Lewis-Moore contributed 41 sacks in his first year; and Ian Williams has been a steady contributor for three years. Williams may find himself losing time to Louis Nix. With the exception of Nix, there is not a whole lot of depth for the line to fall back on.
Along with Kelly will come a few expectations. His high flying offenses in Cincinnati would be something that the Irish faithful would not mind seeing recreated in South Bend. With only one recruiting class under his belt, it may not happen this season, but it will happen soon.
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