"Return To... Uh Oh!"

Ok if there is one thing in college football today that irritates the crap out of me it is Notre Dame fan who thinks that the Irish are Gods gift to college football year in and year out. This year more than others helps me make my point. I didn’t originally plan on using Notre Dame football as my topic today but I was reading the Indianapolis Star yesterday and after reading this article http://www.indystar.com/article/20091002/SPORTS0604/910020350/1004/SPORTS/Commentary++Notre+Dame+football+is+on+its+way+back I had enough of it. They barely beat 2 big ten teams the past couple of weeks who have lost to Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.
Every year now it seems like Notre Dame is extremely overrated and it usually comes from the fans of the Irish. Before the season started Notre Dame fans were dead serious with their predictions of playing for a national title this year, and that Jimmy Claussen should win the Heisman trophy. Lou Holtz a former coach and analyst for ESPN was even in on this. ( that’s not saying much though, Holtz also predicted 10 wins the year they went 3-9) Now that we are 4 weeks into the season those predictions are pretty much shot. How could they possibly hand a Heisman trophy to a Jimmy Claussen who has never won a big game, and in my opinion has underachieved in South Bend. Notre Dame will probably lose tomorrow against Washington and will get beat down by USC later this month. If they do however manage to make it to a BCS bowl game, it will not be pretty. The last time that happened LSU and Jamarcus Russell dog walked Brady Quinn and the Irish. Hell Jamarcus Russell is not exactly what we call a good quarterback.
Notre Dame boosters are bitching and moaning about returning to glory and winning national titles. News flash golden domers, that isn’t going to happen in my lifetime, and I will tell you why. The academic standards are too tough these days. The “Lou Holtz” rule is no longer in existence. If your wondering what the “Lou Holtz” rule is, it existed when Holtz was coaching and he was allowed 2 recruits each year that he wanted, regardless of the recruits grades. They interviewed Urban Meyer for the coaching position when they hired Charlie “Spare Tire” Weiss. Meyer was an assistant under Holtz and wanted to bring back that rule if he was to become coach there. Notre Dame told him no and the rest is history. Put yourself in the shoes of a top recruit in this country with an average GPA. Notre Dame is out of the question and the top recruits will continue to go to Texas, USC, LSU, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, and Penn State. Notre Dame isn’t even in the top 15 this year in recruiting according to ESPN. Clemson and Stanford are projected to have better recruiting classes this year. How can a football team “ Return to Glory” if they can not recruit the same kids that the top schools go after each season? Notre Dame nobody is asking you to let every John Smith into your school. Just let a few kids with the 2.3 GPA in if you want to be a real contender. If you continue to raise the academic standards your going to continue to go down the road you are of mediocrity.
Coaching is another reason for the time being on why the Irish are struggling. If your getting excited over beating Purdue and Michigan State in the last seconds, something is wrong. Those teams you just beat are not good football teams. They are middle of the pack teams in the Big Ten conference. Weiss has to go after this season. He has had 5 years to build a program and in most peoples eyes has failed. Rich Rodriguez is in year 2 of his stint at Michigan and is doing well with players he did not recruit. Weiss has had some good recruiting classes come to Note Dame but by looking at wins and losses one would find that hard to believe. If that right there does not throw up red flags I don't know what will. It is time for Notre Dame to "Return To The Drawing board."