Should Notre Dame Lower Standards?
Frank Vitovitch
December 10, 1999

Notre Dame, Indiana -  There has been much talk about Notre Dame not being able to get the so called "blue chippers" because of their high academic requirements.  True, Notre Dame has very high academic requirements compared to some other universities, but does that mean they should lower their standards just to return to national prominence?  It's a very interesting question.

There are two sides to this spectrum. On one side you can say yes they should lower the standards so that the football team can get into the national championship hunt every year, but on the other side you can say that Notre Dame is an institute of high education, not a football grooming school.

Let's take a look at the first argument.  Yes, lowering the standards would allow for a wider range of prospects to come to Notre Dame.   Players like Chris Zorich, Todd Lyght, Tony Rice, Jerome Bettis, and Raghib Ismail would all most likely not be admitted should they still be in high school and looking at Notre Dame.  Schools like Florida State, Nebraska, Florida, and Tennessee all have lower academic standards than Notre Dame and all are ranked in the top 10 almost every year.

When looking at next year's roster, especially the junior and sophomore classes for next year since they are Bob Davie's first two full recruiting classes (next year's senior class was originally started by Lou Holtz).  The classes include players like David Givens, Javin Hunter, Cedric Hilliard, Darrell Campbell, Jeff Faine, Julius Jones, Arnaz Battle, Tony Fisher, Jamaar Taylor, and Gerome Sapp.  All of these players were highly regarded coming out of high school and all met the academic standards at Notre Dame.  In fact, Notre Dame's class was ranked in the top 5 by most recruiting sources and many people say that if Notre Dame had signed CJ Leak at quarterback they could have been #1 or #2.  That being said, does Notre Dame have to lower their standards?

If they can sign a top 5 class with their standards is lowering the standards going to help that much?  True every year Notre Dame loses out on some top prospects because of grades.  This year Tab Perry, Joey Harris, and JJ Grant might all have not been able to get into Notre Dame academically this year, but the Irish are still on on many of the top prospects this year including players like Mike Goolsby, Tre Orr, Greg Pauly, Brandon Sumner, Carlyle Holiday, Ronnie Rodamer, Vontez Duff, Derron Parquet, and Albert Hollis just to name a few.

While people like to blame Notre Dame's lack of success in recent years on a lack of talent due to higher admission standards, the talent on this team is top 10 material.  The higher standards just means the coaching staff has to do a better job recruiting.  While Lou Holtz was at Notre Dame, a lot more big name guys came in, but most wouldn't be admitted.  Bob Davie and staff on the other hand sift through all the prospects and only go after the ones that have a good chance of getting admitted and that is one job Davie has done very well.

Its easy to say Notre Dame should lower their standards, but if you were trying to get into Notre Dame and had a 3.7 GPA with a 1300 SAT score, how would you feel if you got turned down while someone with an 800 SAT and 2.3 GPA got in just because they can play football?  At this point I am still somewhat neutral on this topic as to whether Notre Dame should or shouldn't lower their standards.  I do commend the administration for standing strong in their stance on this issue.  I want to see Notre Dame win the national championship every year, but we have to remember that Notre Dame is an institute of higher education not a football grooming school.

So should they lower their standards?  The answer isn't that easy to come by.  Vote in UHND's Poll as to whether Notre Dame should or shouldn't by CLICKING HERE.