Tag: Notre Dame National Championship

Is Notre Dame on the Verge of breaking their Championship Drought?

The Irish haven’t won a championship since 1988 and one 247Sports expert thinks they are close to ending that drought.

Yesterday, Brandon Marcello predicting the Irish would return to national prominence and today another 247Sports analyst thinks Notre Dame could be on the verge of breaking their championship drought. Chris Hummer looked at the 10 teams most likely to do that and his list included Notre Dame.

The caveat with Hummer’s article is looking back with at least a 15-year drought and unfortunately the Irish qualify inside that time frame. The legendary Lou Holtz guided the Irish to their last title in 1988, have had two chances since 2012 for titles; losing both the 2013 BCS National Championship to Alabama and a 2018 College Football Playoff semifinal to eventual champion Clemson.

There is one similarity that Holtz and Brian Kelly have, as “Kelly has won 10-plus games for three straight seasons. He’s the first Notre Dame coach to do so since Lou Holtz in 1991-93,” Hummer noted. It’s that type of consistency that the major programs have, the best team’s year in and year out always get to double-digit wins.

Hummer also pointed out which areas the Irish need to improve to break the drought, “what needs to change is the caliber of recruit. It’s been two seasons since Notre Dame landed a top 10 class, and the Irish have only once done better than ninth during Kelly’s tenure (fifth in 2013).” He mentions that “we’ve seen a talent gap shine brightly twice before – Alabama in 2012 and Clemson in 2018 – and it still needs to close before Notre Dame can return to the top of college football once again.” Yes, the Irish were outmatched by the eventual champs, but Georgia, who recruits on the same level as Alabama and Clemson, barely won at home last year to the Irish.

Accumulating high level talent is never a bad thing, but it is not the end all for having a successful program. Kelly knows the recruiting needs to improve; the current 2021 class ranks 14th overall in the 247Sports composite team rankings. With 10 commitments in the bank, the Irish could add up to at least 10 more prospects and should see a rise in the rankings.

It’s been over three decades since the Irish have been able to call themselves champions of the college football world. The program is close to breaking the drought and if a breakthrough happens, the Irish could be seeing themselves rejoin the elite of college football.

Kelly believes Notre Dame on the Cusp of Winning a National Championship

The Irish have had their chances but haven’t been able to break through, Brian Kelly thinks they are close to being crowned champions again.

The Irish have been close to breaking their championship drought, having had opportunities in 2013 and 2018, to end the misery of waiting since 1988 to be crowned college footballs top team. Although those chances slipped by Notre Dame, Brian Kelly sees the Irish as getting close to breaking though.

Yesterday, Kelly joined 247Sports Social Distance podcast and was asked about the difficulty of getting to the top of the mountain. When he was asked about being in the top tier of teams, Kelly responded by saying “the final step is to continue, you have to do this on a consistent basis. Three double digit win seasons, four out of five, is beginning to show signs of that consistency, but I think that that has to come first. Consistently double digits wins puts you then in a position where you can recruit at the highest level. Then I think the final stage of that is you have to break through and win one of those games. We’ve been in a number of those and I’ve led our team to a number of those games and we’ve quite frankly not broken though. We will…. We’ll break though at Notre Dame. We’ve got a great foundation, great coaches, great support. Our university has given us the support necessary. We got to continue to recruit at the highest level and win some of those battles that are out there.”

He finished off by saying the Irish are knocking at the door, but they have to win some of the big ones. Kelly is spot on with his assessment of the program, consistency being the key to improved recruiting and then getting the breakthrough win. They are just behind the elite of elite teams, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and to get into the upper echelon with those teams you do have to knock the door down.

Just getting there doesn’t do much, look at Florida State, Michigan State, Washington, their appearances in the College Football Playoff’s were one offs, much like the Irish’s. The door has to be broken down to get to that elite level. Notre Dame is right on the cusp of belonging with those teams, they just need to have that one breakthrough we’ve all been waiting for.