Loyalty: Faithfulness to Commitments

“You want to be happy for a lifetime; win a championship for the University of Notre Dame.”

- Lou Holtz

Recent news regarding Notre Dame Football has forced me to reevaluate the principles of loyalty and the true meaning of commitment. By definition, loyalty is an adherence or faithfulness to a commitment or obligation. And a commitment is a pledge or promise. In football terms, a “commitment” is a verbal, and eventually a written, agreement or pledge made by a prospect to a school of his choice with the intention of playing collegiate football for that program. At Notre Dame, a football commitment is not only a pledge to don the blue and gold. It is a commitment to the University of Notre Dame, to coach Weis and his coaching staff, to teammates, and to all Irish fans. But most importantly, it’s a lifelong commitment.

It takes a true commitment from all the players to buy into the team philosophy. And it’s that philosophy that breeds championships. And it’s championships that fulfill a lifetime. For Notre Dame to be successful in any year, but specifically this year, Weis must get his players to buy into Notre Dame. That entails commitment to the university, to the coaches, to the game plan, and to each other. Far too often, (does a loss to Syracuse ring a bell) Weis’ team mentality has failed to resurrect on the football field. Rather, over the last few seasons, I have seen Weis recruits buy into their own hype, on and off the field, ballooning their own personal egos while capturing unfulfilling results on the gridiron. I think that is part of the reason Weis is such a successful recruiter; because he can convince a kid he is going to develop as a player. At the same time, this proves why Weis may be a terrible coach. His players have yet to buy into the team concept. To this point, it has always been individual development over team success.

Look no farther than the latest news with the transfer of Nate Montana to a community college in California. This is a one-star prospect (every high school football player is guaranteed one star) who coming out of high school had zero offers. Zero! His Scout.com recruiting profile is nothing more than a blank sheet of paper. Suddenly he's transferring for more playing time?!?!? Are you serious? To make things worse, Montana reassures Irish fans that he will return to Notre Dame in the spring and continue with Notre Dame Football in the future. Who does he think he is? Obviously, this kid does not understand the definition of commitment or loyalty. How ungrateful for an opportunity can you be? If I were Notre Dame, Charlie Weis, or his teammates, I would not want him to return or allow him to do so.

On the whole, the meaning of commitment has been forever changing in the landscape of college football recruiting. Often times, high school prospects will change their minds. It happens every year with dozens of kids. I understand that it happens. Coaches change, teams change, player’s ideals and motives change. However, the Montana’s stunt has only ignited my disgust with football players who having already committed to a university, a coach, and a team, transfer for more playing time. It shows a true lack of character, lack of respect and lack of gratitude.

I dug through the archives for transfer information on Weis era recruits. Here are the results:

Class of 2009 (Recruiting Class of 2005) Transfers:

Derrell Hand (3 star DE) - Injury - Notre Dame

Joey Hiben (4 star TE) - Personal Reasons - Notre Dame

D.J. Hord (4 star WR) - Playing Time - Northern Iowa

Class Size: 15 down to 12

Class of 2010 (Recruiting Class of 2006) Transfers:

Matt Carufel (4 star OG) - Program Fit - Minnesota

Zach Frazer (4 star QB) - Playing Time - Connecticut

Richard Jackson (4 star WR) - Playing Time - Central Florida

Demetrius Jones (4 star QB) - Playing Time - Cincinnati

Munir Prince (3 star RB) - Playing Time - Missouri

Konrad Reuland (4 star TE) - Program Fit - Stanford

Luke Schmidt (3 star FB) - Injury - Notre Dame

Bartley Webb (3 star OT) - Injury - Notre Dame

Will Yeatman (3 star TE) - University Suspension - Maryland

Notes: Darrin Walls (5 star CB) did not play during 2008 football season - Personal Reasons

Chris Stewart left the program temporarily to consider transferring during 2007 season

Size: 28 down to 19

Class of 2011 (Recruiting Class of 2007) Transfers:

Aaron Nagel (3 star LB) - Playing Time - Northwestern

Notes: Gary Gray did not play in 2009 Hawaii Bowl- Personal Reasons

Size: 18 down to 17

Class of 2012 (Recruiting Class of 2008) Transfers:

Joe Fauria (4 star TE) - University Suspension - UCLA

Size: 23 down to 22

Class of 2013 (Recruiting Class of 2009) Transfers:

Size: 18

There are a lot of conclusions that can be drawn from over analyzing this information. But a few things jump out at me. First, naturally, playing time is harder to come by in larger recruiting classes. That record haul of 28 prospects in 2006 was a product of a successful team on the field, and gaping holes in the depth chart courtesy of Tyrone Willingham. Most were lured by the chance of early playing time, and thus I expected a few to transfer. Secondly, most of the class of 2006 came to the realization of limited action as most of that playing time was or would be gobbled up by the wealth of talent in the Class of 2007. Almost 70% of that class are starters or rotate in regularly based on formation. This means that the success of the Irish this season will depend heavily on the junior class, the same it did four years ago with Brady Quinn and Co. Lastly, the perfect number seems to be between 18-20 recruits per year. The verdict is still out on the class of 2008, as a majority of them redshirted last year, and most are just now starting to get into the mix. In addition, the Class of 2009 is only now preparing to step foot on campus.

What does all this mean? Well, the point is that kids transfer and regardless of the reason, that kid shows an extreme lack of commitment. There is a reason for the recruiting process, visits, verbals, and ultimately signing day. Nowadays, kids utilize that time period to hype themselves, for better or worse, increase their ranking, and almost certainly their ego. This process forces a kid to make a decision, which is ultimately for his best interest and no one else’s. Gone are the days of loyalty to a university or school, a coach, and a team. As an example of true loyalty and commitment, look no farther than the Notre Dame Alumni v. Japan football game, in which Irish legends of the past dominated, in a 19-3 victory. It is prime example of what it means to be a Notre Dame Football player. A bunch of out of shape has-beens strapping on the pads once more out of love for the game, love for their coach (LOU!!!!), and most importantly out of love for the University of Notre Dame. That is definition of loyalty.

- DH