As I was on Twitter after the game, I heard two things that
really irritated me as a Notre Dame fan.
1. Brian Kelly needs
to be fired. Really? Do I need to remind Notre Dame fans where this program
was before Brian Kelly took over? Except for a few season, Notre Dame football
had become the laughing stock of college football after Lou Holtz left. Notre
Dame’s woes were highlighted by a 3-9 finish in 2007, followed by two 6-6
seasons in 2008 and 2009 and a 4-5 start in 2010. Since then, Brian Kelly has
led the Irish to a 30-7 record during the regular season and a trip to the BCS
National Championship. Granted, the Irish got stomped by Alabama in the title
game, but it shows that Notre Dame has come a long way from being a middling
program. I will admit that Brian Kelly’s coaching performance on Saturday was
not his best, probably his worst at Notre Dame, but one game should not decide
his fate. It is easy to bash the guy after a tough loss, but there are still
plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the direction the program is heading.
Kelly has continued to recruit players to fit his style of play and plenty of
underclassmen are making a tremendous impact on the season. After a 12-0 season
last year, expectations were obviously high, but they were likely unrealistic.
Notre Dame lost a lot of veteran talent and leadership in Manti Te’o, Tyler Eifert,
Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick, Kapron-Lewis Moore, and Zeke Motta. Not to mention,
Everett Golson’s departure from the university was crippling to the offense’s
development. All of those players are tough to replace, and a litany of
injuries this season certainly have not helped matters. Let’s at least wait a
year or two before we run Brian Kelly out of town. If Notre Dame is still going
8-4 in 2014 and beyond, then there may be some reason for concern. For now,
pump the brakes Irish fans.
2. Tommy Rees being verbally
attacked. I will admit that I probably like Tommy Rees more than the
average Notre Dame fan, but the amount of blame and abuse that he has received for
this team and past Irish team’s woes is absurd. When Rees entered the Tulsa
game in 2010, and subsequently won the final three games and a bowl game, I believed
Notre Dame had their quarterback for the next three years. Despite Rees’
success, Dayne Crist was given his starting role back in 2011, a decision that
I still feel was wrong. After sitting on the bench for the season opener Rees
led the Irish to an 8-3 record during the final 11 games. Then came 2012, Rees
was suspended for the opener versus Navy because of an incident he had involving
the police. The suspension opened the door for Everett Golson to start versus
Navy, and the freshman remained the starter for the majority of the season. Despite
losing his job, Rees remained professional the whole time and succeed in his
role when called upon. Rees technically started two games in 2012 (Miami and
BYU), but his impact was felt the most in games versus Purdue, Michigan, and
Stanford where the veteran was called upon to close out three games. Simply
put, Notre Dame does not go 12-0 in 2012 without Rees on the team. Now in 2013,
the tables turned and Golson was the one who lost their starting job, leaving
Rees the starter once again and becoming an easy scapegoat for a disappointing
season. All Rees has ever done is go about his business and perform his job to
the best of his ability. I say that because in all honesty, Rees is limited in
his ability and his lack of sheer talent sometimes gets the best of him. As a
son of a coach, Rees is a very knowledgeable player and knows this offense like
the back of his hand. In my lifetime, I can’t think of a college quarterback
that has had more control over an offense and changes the play at the line of
scrimmage more than Rees does. Some players have had similar control, but not
many have had more control. After Rees left the USC game due to injury, I thought
Notre Dame fans would get off his back after seeing what life without Rees
looks like. I guess that wasn’t the case, and once again Irish fans are
unrightfully bashing Rees.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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