Notre Dame Football Still In Search of Identity 3 Games, 8 Years In

The 2017 Notre Dame Fighting Irish are very much a microcosm of the Brian Kelly era.  Three games into the season – Brian Kelly’s 8th at Notre Dame – the Irish are still in search of an identity.  Questions still loom large on offense and defense as they work through the growing pains of implementing new offensive and defensive schemes.  Where the Irish go from here will ultimately decide the fate of this season.

We’re only a quarter of the way through the season, but at this point there are some things that are obvious about this team amid the many question marks surrounding it.

What We Know

We know that Notre Dame can beat the teams they should beat and run the ball down their throats when they want to.  This should be a given, but that has not always been the case.  Just look at last year when Notre Dame lost to Duke, NC State, and Navy.  It wasn’t always the case before Brian Kelly arrived at Notre Dame either.  Still, beating the Temple’s and Boston College’s of the world shouldn’t be celebrated at Notre Dame.  It should be expected.

We know that Notre Dame can run the ball really well against bad teams.  The Irish went over 400 yards on the ground against Temple and then racked up 515 yards this past weekend.  That latter figure was the most any Notre Dame team has compiled in nearly 50 years.  Meanwhile Josh Adams and Brandon Wimbush became the first duo in Notre Dame history to both top 200 yards individually in the same game.  When facing a much more talented defense in Georgia, however, the Irish ground game was shut down and they didn’t top the century mark on the ground.

Defensively, we know Notre Dame can play solid defense against teams without great offenses.  Neither Temple or Boston College have the kind of offense that will strike fear into any opponent and while Georgia has two stud running backs, they have a suspect offensive line and a true freshman quarterback right now.  Still, Notre Dame has shown that it is a more fundamentally sound defense through three games and that this defense will create turnovers.

Notre Dame has already forced six turnovers through three games.  Last year the Irish defense managed just 14 all season long.  At current pace the defense will end the season with 24.  That would be a vast improvement, but we also saw a bump in turnovers in the early goings of the Brian Vangorder experiment.

What We Don’t Know

We don’t know if Notre Dame can pass the football with any sort of consistency yet.  To say that Brandon Wimbush has struggled throwing the football through his first three games is putting it mildly.  Against Temple Wimbush just missed a couple of big throws that would have made for a pretty stat line.  Against Georgia and Boston College, Wimbush wasn’t just missing throws, he was wildly off target most of the time.

We also don’t know what Notre Dame has at wide receiver just yet.  Equanimeous St. Brown was expected to take the leap from good to great this year but the problems in the passing game have caused a regression.  Three games into the season St. Brown has less than 100 yards in aggregate on the year.  That lack of production isn’t just on the quarterback though.  St. Brown hasn’t come down with passes he clearly should have and he still has not shown an ability to win the battle for contested balls.

St. Brown isn’t the only Irish wide receiver struggling though.  Notre Dame hasn’t had a #2 receiver step up.  Chase Claypool was given a bigger role against Boston College but it resulted in just a single catch.  Freddy Canteen was a starter in weeks one and two but he is out for the season with a shoulder injury and wasn’t lighting it up before the injury.  We found out Sunday that Javon McKinley will likely redshirt this season for some reason as well.  Notre Dame has had a steady stream of good wide receivers during the Brian Kelly era but this year the group is looking highly questionable three weeks in.

We also don’t know if the Notre Dame defense is going to be able to keep elite offenses off the scoreboard.  While the early returns are positive, Notre Dame hasn’t really been tested just yet defensively.  After some early promising returns in the pass rush, Notre Dame took a step backwards against Boston College as well by registering just a single sack.  Notre Dame has six sacks through three games which is a vast improvement when you realize that Notre Dame had none at this point last season.  It’s still not at an ideal level though.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, Clemson had 11 sacks.  In their week two contest alone.

Will Notre Dame be able to hang with a high flying passing attack?  We won’t know for a few weeks yet until the Irish face Sam Darnold and USC though the latest wunderkind from Southern Cal also has already through six interceptions through three games playing Western Michigan, Stanford, and Texas.

Lack of Identity Nothing New for Notre Dame

The fact that we don’t know what kind of team this is yet shouldn’t be a surprise.  Eight years into the Brian Kelly era we still don’t know what kind of program this is.  Notre Dame has had teams that tried to be high flying, pass first offenses; they’ve had years where they actually tried to run the ball more; they’ve had years with great defenses and years with down right dreadful defenses.  If you asked someone what kind of program has Notre Dame tried to build over the last eight years you’d get a lot of different answers.

Not every season is going to work out as planned, but let’s take a program like Stanford.  It is very clear what kind of program they want to have year in and year out.  They want to be a team with a stout defense that runs the ball first and is more physical than everyone they face.  It’s not really working for them this year with a 1-2 start, but it’s still a program with an identity.

The reset that Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame football program underwent this year has had many positive developments thus far, but we still don’t know what kind of team and program this is right now.  We know Notre Dame has to throw the ball better but is this a run first, power team by design or by default right now?  Notre Dame came out and threw the ball three straight times to start the Boston College game on Saturday but was that to try and jump start Brandon Wimbush or because Notre Dame wants to be a passing team with a good running game.

Defensively Notre Dame switched from Bob Diaco’s successful 3-4 defense to BrianVangorder’s train wreck of a 4-3 scheme and now to Mike Elko’s 4-2-5 all in the span in five years.  That isn’t just three defensive coordinators, it’s three completely different defensive schemes so the Irish defense is still trying to figure out who it is.  Mike Elko has been known to bring a lot of pressure, but we haven’t seen that much of that to date given the hand (and talent) he was dealt.  So far it appears that Elko is going with the Diaco approach of bending but not breaking early on.

This weekend’s game against Michigan State will be quite telling actually.  The Spartans are coming off a disastrous season as well and have the benefit of an early season bye week to spend two weeks preparing for Notre Dame.  The Spartans will undoubtably try to take away the run game but if Notre Dame is trying to establish itself as a run first team, that shouldn’t matter.   A team that wants to have the identity of a run first team will run the ball anyway.

Everyone knows that Stanford wants to run the ball and the Cardinal come out and do it with success most of the time anyway.  This year they look like they are headed for a down year, but that hasn’t changed who they are as a program.  If Michigan State stacks the box on Notre Dame and the Irish fall back on a passing game that hasn’t clicked to date, we’ll know that being a power running team is not this team’s identity even though it should be given the success Notre Dame has had running the ball.

Defensively we are still weeks away from really know what the identity of this defense is and this weekend likely won’t show us that much since the Irish face another team that wants to run the ball.  When USC comes to town though will we see a defense that brings pressure or one that tries to keep everything in front of them?

It’s normal to adapt a team to its strengths each year in college football, but if the off-season reset for Notre Dame is to truly be effective it’s about time that the reset leads to a real identity for Notre Dame, not just another gimmick.

You may also like

32 Comments

  1. Thttp://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/acc/university-of-louisville/arthttp://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/acc/university-of-louisville/article175488771.html

    Today’s college basketball scandal exposes the risk when helmets, uniforms, shoes and marketing put the integrity of the program at risk. I have been bitching for years about the team just
    being entertainers so swarbrick can sell his contracts. God protect us.

  2. You are right Wimbush HAS to be able to hit receives – the announcers spent the whole day making comments about
    receivers other than St. Brown had to show up. They did Wimbush just missed almost everyone – His accuracy was
    terrible – No real hope if he doesn’t step up.

  3. The problem isn’t the Coach, its the brutal schedule year in and year out. Even with so called patsies, they all point to ND as their game of the year. They unload all they have vs. Fightin’ Irish. If they win especially on our home field it makes their life. We could schedule Mercer at home, they would bring the team on a bus, one for the band and one for fans. It just doesn’t make economic sense. I remember a famous high school coach just before kickoff peeking at the crowd to see if every seat was filled.

    1. Exactly! Now Wisconsin at Lambeau? Pointless! In the future – Ohio State, Michigan, and Georgia again – loss, loss, loss. Arkansas too, and probably others I cant recall right now.

  4. I don’t believe that the ND powers that be want to eat another conract as large as BKs, they just got done paying Weis’ bloated contract.
    Additionally, who else is out there currently that ND is going to get if ND puts together another 8-4 season? Bob Stoops? Jon Gruden? Mark Rhule and Tom Herman are showing the growing pains of making a huge jump in levels. The SEC does not have an elite coach outside of Saban. None of the Big10 elite coaches are leaving for South Bend. Brent Venebals(sp) is a possibility, but I think he is more likely to get a job he would take in the ACC or SEC. David Shaw isn’t leaving Stanford for anywhere except possibly reuniting with Andrew Luck in Indianapolis.
    I’m not saying BK is the best option, and if they collapse again to a .500 season or below then throw the baby out with the bathwater and start over. He is likely the best of what is available and likely.

  5. Kelly’s a fraud. Beating the doormats, losing the two or three games that matter every year, and a completely shocking sleepwalk through a game to some random nobody team. Every year.

    Ooooohh… Which one will this Saturday be?!

  6. Serious Question for Frank and the rest of the board…Should Brian Kelly be let go? As a Notre Dame alum I would like to see everyones perspective on this. My opinion or vote is for Yes he should be let go at the end of the season for exactly the reasons that this well-written article illustrates. Brian Kelly is a good coach but not an elite one and at Notre Dame we need or deserve a great one.

    1. If BK has a good year, and by that I specifically mean 9-3 or better PLUS a New Year’s weekend bowl win (which includes the old Gator, or the old Citrus, or the Cotton as well as any one of the “biggies”), we should certainly keep him on for a second year with Elko, Polian, Long, and the new strength coach. They are obviously getting the job done…though the jury on Long is still out for the passing game, and maybe on some play calling. With a good season, I’d want them (the assistant coaching team) to get a second chance. Less than 9-3 though, or another horrifying bowl loss, why would we keep him?

      Bruce G. Curme ’77 ’82

      1. Ryan and Bruce,
        Here’s my take on what it’s going to take to see BK on the ND sidelines next year.
        Ten wins or more (especially a New Year’s Bowl win) would certainly give Swarbick a rationale to keep him, buying BK at least another year with all the changes in the staff this year after the misery of 4-8. Plus 6 wins this season from last year would do it.
        My question is, how many losses before BK (and Swarbick) accept it’s time for them to move on and resign? That’d be a less messy way to begin anew for ND.
        I’ve never been a BK apologist, nor a huge fan of him.
        Having said that, I prefer the new “kinder gentler” BK who has yet to throw any one of his players under the bus, as he used to do regularly, and not even after a tough loss to Georgia. I’d think a competent AD would have sent feelers out after a 4-8 season, and gauged how much interest among outstanding established coaches there was/is. But beware! An up and coming young coach might be overwhelmed by all that goes into being the HC at ND, and struggle early. The next coach is going to ask for a lengthy contract, so the hire would be critical to keep some of the early elite recruits interested enough to stay, and others to believe the new coach is legit.
        Stay tuned!

    2. He was brought back this season after 4-8 so you have to give him a full chance to turn things around. We’ve seen signs of it, but jury is still very much out of the reboot will work or if he’ll go back to his old ways. If Notre Dame is 9-3 or better there’s no question whatsoever that he’s back. Even at 8-4 there would be a tough argument to be made. IMO it would take 7-5 for it to be a realistic possibility. Doesn’t mean I think that should be the case, just that it will end up being the case.

      1. Frank I agree with your sentiment, unfortunately. I feel the same way but to me and I’m going to steal a quote from Charlie Weis 7-5 or 8-4 “isn’t good enough”. There are two coaching replacements that I think would be Home Run gets for Notre Dame and if we could get either Bob Stoops or PJ Fleck, I personally feel it would be a huge upgrade and set the program back in the right direction. I know the jury is still out on Fleck for many people but the energy and culture he brings to a program is infectious and would be a welcome change in South Bend. What are everyones thoughts about who’d they would like to see as the next coach at Notre Dame?

    3. I agree with Frank, that 8-4 or better and BK’s back, absolutely no doubt about it no matter how many tantrums ND fans throw. The true powers at ND would likely see that as “significant” progress and that’s all that matters. For me personally the bottom line is a NY Day Bowl win. That would show me ND is on the right track. I think in year 8 that’s the least we can expect of a BK coached team. But I have no delusions, I know 8-4 or better and he’s back. 7-5, well that’s an interesting question. I think it’s 50-50 honestly. I don’t like it but I can’t honestly say what Swarbick will do. I do believe he won’t take the fall for BK if it comes to that.

      I do share Michael’s concerns, should ND be looking for a new HC. Who out there that can turn ND around will come to ND? Unlike some, I don’t believe coaches like Saban and Meyer are just itching for a chance to coach at ND–that will never happen. That leaves ND to try to strike gold with an up and coming coach–which I should add they’ve done in the past. Most of their legendary coaches came from humble surroundings and became legends at ND. But CFB has changed significantly in the last 20 years, and ND’s elite standing in CFB is slowly becoming a fading memory, sadly.

    4. Ryan,

      Bob Stoops really?? No way!

      Pedersen from Washington or Fleck from Minnesota are the top two in my book!!! I’m still confident in this team though and all the positive changes Kelly made in the offseason. I honestly don’t believe he has done much wrong this season other than not playing Dexter Williams more. We’ll see how the season progresses though.

      1. 0% Chris Petersen comes to ND. He’s a west coast guy. Bob Stoops seems unlikely. How much does he have left in the tank?

        Give PJ Fleck another year or two at Minnesota. He may be the guy down the line. What about former ND GA Dan Mullen?

        Maybe a current coordinators like Jeremy Pruitt, Dave Aranda, Joe Moorhead?

        At that point, might as well take a shot with a guy like Mike Elko.

    5. Ryan,

      Any time you talk about replacing a coach, you have to ask, with whom? Les Miles? I don’t think so. ND was one year off on getting Urban Meyer, but he’s not leaving Ohio State. Trying to find an elite coach who can be lured away is tough, especially with ND’s tougher admission standards. Lou Holtz was quite blunt about this when he left ND for South Carolina. So, for a school like ND, perhaps you try to find a rising coach who is destined for the elite. That was the thinking with Brian Kelly. We shall see.

      1. Bob:

        Lets be clear Lou Holtz never left Notre Dame for South Carolina lol …He was forced out by the administration

  7. A persistent problem with the BK era has been the lack of a consistent identity. Looking at the defense is very telling. They finally had some success under Diaco’s 3-4 schemes. Then BK hires BVG who completely upends the defense, changes schemes and while there was some initial success (probably due to some holdover effects from Diaco’s coaching) the wheels came undone. BK should have stuck with what was working and tried to find a DC in the Diaco mode. It’s changed yet again, though this time it was for good reason because the defense was a train wreck. It needed to be upended. I think the defense is on the right track, but it is a work in progress. They’re actually doing better then what I expected at this point. But they won’t be elite this year. I like where they are headed so far though.

    Offense, that’s a different story. As Frank noted it completely lacks a solid identity. On defense you can at least see what the goal is. It will take some work to get there but you have an idea of where they want to be. On offense not so. You might think at first glance it’s run first. But they keep trying to force the passing game at the expense of rushing. Now I understand you can’t get one dimensional. They must work on the passing game and get better at that. I don’t have a problem with them working on that. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a rushing team first. In fact, there are huge benefits of that if you have the players because it wears defenses down and makes them more susceptible to passing. Wimbush’s mechanics seem to be off. I was listening to the radio broadcast of the game for ND and they said a number of times Wimbush can throw 75 yards, but at times he seemed to be making short passes as if they were that far away. One positive of that is that is a mechanics issue and can be corrected with the right coaching (God, how many times have we said that anyway?).

    I read a comment on another article about how they should play Book more and I guess give up on Wimbush. Book has more accuracy they said or something to that effect. But I’m thinking, how many QB’s have we been told, now, NOW this is the QB that fits BK’s system. We heard it with EG, then with Zaire, then Kizer, now Wimbush. Each of those QB’s was the one, that golden child of a QB that was going to bring home the gold. EG and Zaire in particular were huge disappointments. It seems like such a terrible waste because they did show flashes. Now how much of that was the player themselves, and how much was poor coaching. A sad waste if it was bad coaching.

    1. Damian,

      You’re right that Golson and Zaire were disappointing, but let’s give Wimbush some time. His difficulty passing has as much to do with his receivers’ inability to gain separation and catch 50-50 balls as his own mechanics.

      1. I hope you’re right about Wimbush. It’s just a disturbing pattern I see under BK. Highly rated QB’s that end up achieving far below their potential. But there are new coaches on the offense including a new QB coach in Rees, so hopefully that makes a difference. Not panicking on Wimbush yet.

      2. From what BK said during his presser, is that Wimbush hasn’t been comfortable nor been seeing his receivers come open or
        when he does, it’s late and he is going through his motion fast to get the ball there. So, that combined with receiving corp issues and playcalling
        makes a heck of a passing game. Hopefully, the coaches can come up with something to settle Wimbush down so we see throws
        like he made on that corner route to the TE more consistently.

  8. Great comments Mr. Vitovich. In my mind therefore fundamentally 2 kinds of coach. 1) you can be a system coach, I.e., you believe in coaching a certain way and then you go out and find the players who will execute the system effectively. 2) you have a coach who evaluates the players on the roster and figures out the best way to use them

    Of course some coaches somewhere in between. I agree with Frank’s comments completely.what kind of coach is Brian Kelly? I don’t know. One thing that is quite apparent to me – this team does not execute effectively . If you are a running team – you run tbe ball. You execute your plays effectively. If they aren’t working effectively it is up to the coaches to make adjustments so that the execution does work.

    Okay time for me to shut up. Go Irish!!! Relentless execution against MUS – please?

    Brad Sinclair

  9. Glad I was wrong on the B.C. game. I
    was correct that ESB would be shut down
    and Wimbush would not do to well in the
    passing game. The Irish won that’s all that
    matters. Hopefully there will be a solution
    to the non-existent pass game. Go Irish be
    Sparty. Irish win a close one with defense
    being the difference. ND 19-MSU 17.

  10. Exactly, Frank. Exactly. All ND fans should read this article…and Swarbrick and Heisler should read it as well.

    Bruce G. Curme ’77 ’82

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button