Developing Irish

A game overseas and one in an NFL stadium, undefeated at 5-0, a number seven ranking in the AP, fancy Shamrock Series uniforms and now ESPN Game Day coming to campus for the Stanford game  on Saturday… there is a lot of flash for recruits and potential recruits to be impressed with this year.  Traditionally, Notre Dame has relied on great tradition of 11 National Championships, icons including seven Heisman Trophy winners and historic visions like the Golden Dome and Touchdown Jesus.

Times they are a changing.  When the uniforms for the game in Chicago were unveiled, there was a collective “Rockne is rolling over in his grave” from every fan over 30 years old.  Well, they weren’t designed for has been’s  and never was’s,  whose playing days are long gone.  They were to excite 18-21 year olds who are playing for the Irish and high school players thinking of choosing a college to play at.   Last week, when listening to the Notre Dame players being interviewed, I was initially disappointed in the lack of knowledge of the Miami rivalry.  Once I realized that almost all of the current players were not even born the last time the Irish played the Hurricanes in the regular season and that they were more focused on the game at hand, I had a new appreciation of where they were coming from.

In no way do I want Oregon or Maryland uniforms, nor do I want our players flying overseas every other game fighting jet lag and time changes, but it may be time to modernize a little.  I do follow equipment manager Ryan Grooms on Twitter and appreciate the behind the scenes pictures he posts.  I also follow a handful of players and coaches for the up to the minute insight they offer.  And let’s not forget about Louis Nix and Chocolate News. 

Brian Kelly has made a concerted effort as a head coach to get closer to his players this year.  As a result, communication and overall trust are improving (I am not saying it was poor before).  If Kelly can do that, we as fans can try – at least a little - to embrace a new way of college football at South Bend.