Irish 2K: Leave the Excuses at the Door
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
August 4, 2000

Notre Dame, Ind - The past three years under Bob Davie have been filled with excuses.  The defense wasn't fast enough, the talent just wasn't there, Lou Holtz left the team in dissary, and a boat load of other excuses that could fill a message board if all were listed.  Well, we are now entering year four of the Bob Davie era and its time for the excuses to end.  When practices start next week, all the excuses should be left at the door and not even brought onto the field for the first set of warm-ups.

With the exception of the fifth year seniors on the team, all other players have been recruited by Bob Davie.  All assistants are his and the team in general has virtually no ties to the former coach regime of Lou Holtz.  The 2000 Irish team will be all the working of Bob Davie.  That being said, the lack of talent/speed excuse can no longer be an issue. 

Injuries have been another of the most used excuses the past few seasons.  Going into the 2000 season the Irish are for the most part a healthy team.  There were a lot of off season surgeris and healings, but just about everyone should be ready to when practices start.  Injuries were a huge issue for the Irish last year and will have to be addressed. 

In general fans are sick of hearing excuses.  It is time to stop hearing we are a year away from being real competitive, or that the tough schedule and injuries are the reason for mediocrity.  All the players will be Bob Davie's recruits and therefor the holes that were once there should be filled by now since only a handful of Lou Holtz's players remain on the team.

The 2000 season is a put up or shut up season for Bob Davie.  By now rebuilding should be over and we should start hearing of how Notre Dame will be in the title hunt.  This is not necessarily the case however.   There are a few diehard fans that believe big things are on the rise this season, but the overwhelming majority feels that 8-3 or 7-4 is where the Irish will finish. 

The talent is definitely on this team, I have no doubts about that.  The team is full of USA Today and Parade All Americans.  Experience might be an issue, but whose fault is that?  How many times could Arnaz Battle have gotten valuable playing time last year instead of sitting on the bench.  In the final game of the season, with nothing riding on the line, Battle could have played against a quality team but instead he threw three passes.

The offensive line should be much improved as should the wide receivers.  The backfield is full of talent with two All American caliber running backs in Tony Fisher and Julius Jones.  That being said the only question mark on offense should be the quarterback.  The team will be in year two of Kevin Rogers offense so everything should be in place and the offense should be more dynamic.

On defense, three starters will be lost in the backfield, but Tony Driver, Gerome Sapp, and Clifford Jefferson to go along with Clifford Jefferson should be seen as an improvement.  No starting linebackers were lost while 1/2 the defense line is gone.  However, Darrell Campbell and Lance Legree in place of Brad Williams and Lamont Bryant is not a drop off at all.

All in all their is a lot more talent on the 2000 Irish squad and in my opinion all that stands in the way of Notre Dame and a major bowl game is coaching.  Now, if it seems I am attacking Bob Davie in this article, that is not my intention.  My intention is to point out that Notre Dame has the talent to be a bowl team in 2000 and that there is no more room for excuses.

The only possible excuse is a tough schedule, but according to a recent poll ND's schedule ranks as only #21 in the nation.  The tough early start however may be the major obstacle for Notre Dame's success this year.   The early schedule is not however much harder than say the Big 10's conference season when a team might have to play Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State all within a few weeks. 

Bottom line is that the time to win is now.  Its not next year or in two years.  Time for excuses is over and its time to see some results.  This does not mean however that Bob Davie needs to produce a national championship this season to be a success.  A 9-2 season should save his save and deservedly so.