Notre Dame, Brian Kelly And Going Beyond The Youth Angle

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Sometimes some data must be challenged. The most recent example occurred this Thursday evening when head coach Brian Kelly noted how Notre Dame’s current roster is the youngest it’s been since 1972 (the year freshman eligibility began). That’s because it is highlighted that the seven “returning starters” this season among a possible 22 on offense and defense are the fewest in 44 years.

I imagine the seven starters included quarterback DeShone Kizer and linemen Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson on offense. On defense they would be linemen Isaac Rochell and Daniel Cage, linebacker James Onwualu and cornerback Cole Luke.

Yet I would be inclined to say running back Josh Adams had a “starting” type of role in 2015 considering he rushed for a school freshman record 835 yards. That’s not even including fellow running back Tarean Folston, who had 13 career starts entering his junior season before getting injured.

Maybe it’s semantics, but if the graduated Amir Carlisle could be considered a “starter” last year at slot, so could current senior Torii Hunter, who split snaps with him last season while totaling 363 yards receiving compared to Carlisle’s 355.

I suppose academically ineligible tight end Alize Jones would be considered the “starter” last year because he caught the most passes at his position. However, current junior Nic Weishar did take 286 snaps there last year compared to Jones’ 239 — plus once senior Durham Smythe returned from surgery, he was technically the “starter.”

Over on defense, sophomore lineman Jerry Tillery did have only three “starts” in 2015 — but do you realize his 351 snaps were more than seven-game “starter” Cage’s 262? What a bonus to have both back!

Oh, did we mention that fifth-year senior Jarron Jones actually had started 12 games prior to an injury that sidelined him for all but the bowl game in 2015?

In reality, that’s at least about seven more “starting” figures, but that’s not what is important. It doesn't justify the 2-4 start, while ignoring 2-3 Texas’ own youth, 2-3 Michigan State’s plethora of departures and even 3-3 Duke losing its two best players (Thomas Sirk and Devon Edwards) to injury.

If you really want to talk youth, think about Notre Dame's 1988 national champs that had to replace their entire starting offensive and defensive lines, tight end, top two receivers (including Heisman winner Tim Brown), the quarterback who started the bowl game, top linebacker Cedric Figaro and two more starters in the secondary.

In Phil Steele’s more realistic preseason look at starters returning in 2016, he had Ohio State with the fewest (6) and Navy with the second least (8). Both still excel — including the Midshipmen last weekend vanquishing No. 6 Houston — because they are “programs,” whereas the Irish remain a year to year “team” (we’ve covered this many times). That doesn’t make Navy better than Notre Dame personnel wise by any means, just more proficient with its “plug and play” operation, which Kelly translates to “next man in.”

Notre Dame was a poorly coached/led football team the first half of 2016, and that is the major reason why it began 2-4 when it had no business to do so. It could conceivably finish under .500 — which would be as difficult for Kelly to bounce back from perception wise, as it was for recently deposed defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder after last year’s final drive debacle at Stanford.

That doesn’t mean I am on the Fire-Kelly bandwagon. When I go through my realistic short list of potential replacements (Urban Meyer not included), no one impresses me as an upgrade for all this job mandates.

My minimum on-field “standard” for a Notre Dame football coach is one bona fide national title contention per five years, which I define as entering the last game of the regular season you are still in the conversation (even Lou Holtz had only one such contention in his last six seasons from 1991-96, while Ara Pareghian had only one in the five years from 1967-71). If you can achieve it twice over that period (which Parseghian and Holtz did do a number of times), that’s extra credit. Kelly achieved that in 2012 and 2015. Kelly and Meyer are the only two active coaches who have had two 12-0 regular seasons at two different schools. That has to account for something, too.

Has Kelly reached his plateau here? That’s the scary thought, which prompts the angst. Yet just three years ago there was similar discontent with Mike Brey, who had just one Sweet 16 appearance in 14 years, and in Year 14 was 15-17. Today, the perspective is different on him.

Maybe it changes with Kelly likewise, but the college game yearly having an influx of underclassmen or relying some on youth is an age-old occurrence.

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