by Leprechaun Express & Steve Welsh
“Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said he spent too much time fundraising last season and not enough time overseeing his football team. ‘It f—ed up last year’s team,’ Kelly told Bleacher Report in a story published Thursday. Notre Dame was considered one of the biggest underachievers in football last season. The Irish were ranked No. 10 in the preseason but
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“After an unexpected 4-8 season – the second worst in program history in over five decades – Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick faces a crossroads project with far more long-term implications than the $400 million renovation project of Notre Dame Stadium with the same name. Whatever direction Notre Dame takes over the next several weeks there is one thing
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“… Notre Dame’s first sack didn’t come until junior linebacker Nyles Morgan got one in game four versus Duke Sept. 24. …”
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“Today, Notre Dame is 4-6 — and yet there were inquiries during head coach Brian Kelly’s weekly press conference about whether the team would be receptive to going to a bowl game, even with a possible 5-7 record. … ‘I haven’t given it much thought, to be honest with you,’ replied Kelly when asked if the school would play in
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#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel’s Tom Davis comments: “Notre Dame is a bad football team. That is the problem. Poor coaching, poor coaching decisions, and poor execution by its players (which is certainly related to the poor coaching) are merely the symptoms. ‘I love the way we compete and play hard,’ Kelly said. ‘We’ve lost six close games that
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#NOTREDAME #FOOTBALL: “There isn’t a more entertaining whirl of dysfunction than Notre Dame this season. Actually, the Fighting Irish might be the most engaging team in the nation at 3-6. Between the quarterback switches and Brian Kelly post-game press conferences, there’s so much to take in week to week with Notre Dame. But nothing supersedes the way the Fighting Irish
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Even if Notre Dame (2-4) does not end up crossing the 6-6 threshold, if the Irish can muster three more wins, they might be able to invoke their high graduation rate to go to a bowl game with a 5-7 record. (From NCAA.com, June 29, 2016:) … all bowl-eligible teams with 6-6 records must be selected for a bowl game
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“Insufficient Number of Deserving Teams … if an insufficient number of institutions meet the definition of a “deserving team” to participate in postseason bowl games in a particular year, an institution that meets a condition set forth below shall be eligible to be selected to participate in such a bowl game. …. 5. An institution that finished its season with
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With their 39-10 victory over Nevada, Notre Dame rose to 1-1 on the year and stayed at #18 in the latest AP College Football Poll, released Sunday, Sept. 11. The AP top-25 is below, with Notre Dame opponents highlighted. The team that upset Notre Dame in double-overtime the previous week, Texas, also won, and is just outside the top-10. Next
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Only one of Notre Dame’s first three opponents is ranked, while Notre Dame enjoys an arguably inflated top-10 ranking. Even so, the Irish face a curious gauntlet their first three weeks, with a huge asterisk next to each game. They could set the tone for a curious season. With vastly inflated expectations, and Notre Dame having a big pendulum swing
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