Notre Dame is Relevant

            Nobody thought Notre Dame would finish the season undefeated and earn a spot in the national championship. Before the season I said the Irish would finish 9-3. Eric Hansen on the South Ben Tribune said 8-4. Even Brian Kelly didn’t think they would have a perfect season. Yet in one week, the undefeated #1 Fighting Irish will play the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide for the BCS National Championship.

Notre Dame’s perfect season and run to the BCS National Championship is magical because of all the intangibles that were involved on and off the field. Here is why this season has been one of the greatest in Fighting Irish history.

• 125^th season of Notre Dame football
• Season began in Ireland
• Four coaches have won national championships in their third year. This is Brian Kelly’s third year
• Kelly’s assistant coaches are easily one of the best groups in the country. Defensive coordinator Bob Diaco and offensive coordinator Chuck Martin deserve a lot more recognition of how they have prepared their units for each opponent they faced
• Roster full of talented individuals and a mix of young and old players
• There is only one superstar on the team but he would never say that himself. That player is Manti Te’o

Te’o’s humble spirit and never quit work ethic have inspired the entire team. Nobody on the team boasted or bragged during the season. Nobody ever quit until the clock read 00:00. If you want evidence then look back at the season. Every game the Irish were in was a battle. There was no room for the weak or anybody with an ounce of quit in them. It took complete team efforts to beat Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC on the road as well as Pittsburgh and Stanford in overtime.

I’ve been a Notre Dame fan for 11 years. I was starting to believe that the Irish would never play for a championship. The last time they had won one was before I was born and since that year they had struggled to ever return to that level. As each year passed without Notre Dame winning a BCS game, the number of doubters grew and grew. Would Notre Dame ever return to relevance? Could a Catholic school compete with the SEC and Big 10? Could an academic institution that has the rigorous demands that Notre Dame still draw big name recruits?

The answer to all of those is yes and that has been proven by Brian Kelly. Kelly went 8-5 in his first two years. That was not what many Irish faithful want, but you could tell he was making improvements. He continually brought in Top 10 recruiting classes and his teams were playing great on both sides of the ball. It has been a long time since the Irish had even a Top 5 defense. Kelly has created a team that knows how to win and is dedicated to winning in the future. He has established an amazing group of assistant coaches, a group that I believe is an integral part of how Notre Dame got to where they are.

It doesn’t matter if the Fighting Irish win or lose on January 7^th because Brian Kelly will win a national championship in his tenure at Notre Dame. It may not be this year but it will happen. When it does millions across America and the world will celebrate because football at Notre Dame is more than a game. It’s a celebration of what college football is all about. Students that happen to play football at the highest level.