Blow It Up

(Warning – this is very opinionated)

I reached my breaking point with Notre Dame football this past Saturday with another inexcusable loss to another team that doesn’t belong on the field with the Irish. I’m tired of it and I don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel without blowing up Notre Dame football as we know it. After starting the season out so optimistic, I am all out of kool-aid. I’m not calling for Kelly’s head, I understand it takes time. I understand that many championship coaches have had rough first seasons, but to me, numerous changes need to be made. Notre Dame is not in a good place and it needs to be recognized that changes need to be made (I am not a believer in the performance on the field will cure all problems Notre Dame faces).

Coaching

Like I said, I am not calling for Kelly to be fired. However, I am asking him to not be arrogant and have some humility. I am asking him to make better football decisions. Please do not tell me to “get used to it” after a loss to Tulsa. I disagree whole hearted with throwing for the end zone. Brian Kelly is not Les Miles. You have a true freshman quarterback. Kick the field goal. These decisions drive me mad. Throwing the ball against Pittsburgh where Mike Ragone drops the ball and not forcing Pitt to take their timeouts. Not kicking the field goal at the end of the 1st half against Michigan. Even going back to Charlie Weis last year. Throwing the ball against Michigan instead of forcing them use their timeouts and Shaq Evans drops the ball. Yeah, all great plays if they work out. But they didn’t. Some consider running the ball or kicking the field goal playing “not to lose” and these play calls are playing to win. No, I call it smart football. So, Brian Kelly, if you haven’t already learned, you and your Notre Dame football team is the biggest game on every opponent’s schedule. You got dominated by Navy. Navy lost to Duke! Tulsa celebrated like they just won a National Championship after beating a .500 hundred Irish team. Brian Kelly needs to pick up his learning pace and start coaching his players “up” instead of “down”. I’m all for Kelly teaching the kids and giving them an earful when they screw up. However, it’s getting old.

The Notre Dame Stadium Experience – Blow it up

Now comes the good part. Tradition, blow it up. Notre Dame Stadium, blow it up. The band, blow it up. The lame graphics on the scoreboard, blow it up. Blow everything up that is Notre Dame stadium and start new traditions. As the one who has attended the most Notre Dame games among us, especially in the past 7 years, I can honestly say that the Notre Dame experience has gotten worse and lamer every year. It’s pathetic. The Tulsa game was rock bottom for me. It was terrible. I think the interaction I had with a fellow Notre Dame fan after the game sums it up best.

(Tulsa just took a knee to win the game)

Kevin (Screaming, very loud in the angriest voice): Way to Go Irish! You guys SUCK! You’re terrible, you just lost to TULSA! It’s Tulsa!

Notre Dame fan in front of me: Well, why don’t you just put a Tulsa shirt on?

Katie (before I can respond, pushing me towards the isle): Okay, time to go.

That fan sums up what Notre Dame has become. Just happy to experience a Notre Dame game. “Gee golly we lost, but what a great experience” It’s become Disney World. It’s become Wrigley Field. Everyone is there for the sacred Notre Dame experience. What experience? The band playing the same damn cheer 100 times during the game? The band doing some lame ass dance during halftime and getting the loudest cheer from the student section? The ushers saying “Welcome to Notre Dame”? The team running out of the tunnel with no excitement and their tails between their legs? The student body starting the wave with ND up only two points and Tulsa moving down? The best seats in the house (the gold seats) constantly empty? The boring, long TV timeouts where you’re forced to hear the band play some more of the same sh!t? The slow, lethargic We…………………R…………………N………………….D chant? Does this really excite people and draw them to the games, especially for $70 a ticket?

The stadium experience needs to change, soon. I suggest blowing the whole thing up and starting from scratch. Install the biggest Jumbo-Trons you can afford. Play the loudest rap and rock music out there. Oh, but what about the poor band? Tell the band off when they get offended that the loud music and video screens take away from the attention on them when they’re trying to play a cheer for the 100th time in one game. I’m here to see a football game, not to listen to you play the 1812 overture for a damn coach that can’t beat Tulsa. Oh, about the 1812 overture, that’s gone. Instead, we’re going to copy Wisconsin and play jump around during that time. ND stadium is currently the easiest place to play for a visiting team. Even when ND is playing well (Purdue this year), it’s not an intimidating place to play. ND will not win a National Championship unless the stadium atmosphere changes. Notre Dame stadium is currently a stadium that feeds off the product on the field. The team feeds off the stadium atmosphere. It’s a lose, lose. When they sense the fans are not into it, they’re not into it (See Stanford and Tulsa). ND needs to change that. Something needs to be done to keep the blood flowing throughout the 4-5 hour game. Get a black out game, a white out game, a green out game, a blue out game, a go F* yourself USC game. Paint Notre Dame in the end zones and put a huge leprechaun at the fifty. Maybe then the players will realize they are playing on their home turf and get a sense of pride in them. Speaking of turf, install the field turf (which I don’t get why it’s taking so long, considering 3 out of the 4 fields ND practices on are field turf. If you’re not going to put it, then use all grass practice fields. I have talked to many people that have played on the new field turf and all have echoed that it makes a difference when you go back to grass) Change how the player’s enter the field. It’s incredibly boring now. The band plays and the gold helmets run out. Bring the opposing team out first. Then copy Virginia Tech and make the best, most intimidating entrance in college football. Let them see what they are in for. Get the fan base fired up right from the get go. Put the student body along the fifty. Put in luxury boxes for all the fans that want to remain silent throughout the game only to tell you to sit down when it’s a key third down. Better yet, by playing all this loud music and showing videos of past Notre Dame greats with some advertisements (who cares if there are advertisements!), these people probably won’t want to go to the games. Fine with me.

The product on the field will not change my viewpoint on this. I need to see more effort than the “rinse and repeat” we have going on with bringing in a new coach, waiting for this coach to get his players or install his system, then realizing the wait was worthless five years from now. Sure winning will make all the things I hate mentioned above more tolerable, but I’m tired of tolerating things when it comes to Notre Dame. I want enjoyment out of Notre Dame Football and that has been unheard these past years.

Something new needs to happen to draw people back into Notre Dame Football. A new coach didn’t do that. The ticket lottery wasn’t even a lottery this year except for Michigan. Next year is going to be the same way, probably much worse. Something needs to change to draw fans back.

I know most of what I said is summarily dismissed by the traditionalist. The main counterargument is: how does a jumbo tron equate to performance on the field? I don't disagree with this viewpoint. A giant video screen doesn't miss tackles, throw interceptions, or fail to stop the fullback dive (as evidenced by the fact that the meadowlands has jumbo trons). However, creating a hostile environment where a visiting team is legitimately at a disadvantage does help win games. Winning at home is the first step to winning a National Championship. I just want Notre Dame to be a hostile place to play. Keeping fans into the game is the first step towards a hostile environment. Many football programs have successfully integrated their band with a Jumbo tron and other.