What has happened to Notre Dame Football?

[RiverBallFan]

Ive caught a few ND games this year and I see talent but just don't understand the results?
Is it:
Lack of depth?
Desire?
Talent?
Size?
Coaching?
Ive asked a few people and they dont seem to want to talk about it. If anybody would have any answers please share them. ive heard a few things but its just hearsay. Maybe its not just football (all boys sports there struggle) maybe athletes go to other schools. I will say this the girls program keeps rolling.

[formerfcfan]

So I’m speaking strictly from an outsider point of view, but I’ve paid decently close attention to the program from afar and will weigh in. There seems to be three primary issues that triangulate into each other and have caused this season to go so poorly.

1. Lack of depth - low roster numbers to start, a numbers situation further compounded by...

2. Injuries - they had a bunch of injuries to start the season, and their health doesn’t seem to have improved playing their ungodly hard...

3. Non-conference schedule - speaks for itself.

[sportsfan212]

NUMBERS!!! If you do not have numbers in any sports its very tough to compete. I do agree with the non-conference schedule, why schedule some of these football teams. You need some wins to gain confidence. When you do not have depth injuries can plague a team. Even with Nichols being healthy, I still see ND struggling this year. I have one question though, how many schools would keep their coach if they only win 3- 4 games a year? Bob Ashley has a great football mind but maybe it's time for a new face to take over the program or is ND afraid nobody will apply for the job?

[Beergogglebluez]

Need to schedule some of the lower wv schools and get some wins and confidence. They were beat up badly with there non conference schedule. Just not a lot of kids at Notre dame as well. You try to do the best with what you have.

[TheFlyingDutchman]

They miss Lou Holtz

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

The best Notre Dame team i remember watching was around 1988. They had a running back named Maxi or Maxy....could've been Tim Maxi possibly? They were one of the best teams i watched that year and possibly went 10-0 heading into playoffs. Can anyone give me some info on this team? Did they make playoffs? Who'd they play? Who beat them in playoffs? Did anyone off that team play college ball? What was their biggest win that season? Was this the best team in Notre Dame school history? If not....what is the best team in school history?

[Dren2019]

sometimes you just need a fresh face to turn around a program. May just be time for a change for both the coach and the players, which may draw more numbers. How long has it been since they won the soc? He’s applied for other jobs so maybe his heart isn’t in it with notre dame.

[BigBlueNation]

The best Notre Dame team i remember watching was around 1988. They had a running back named Maxi or Maxy....could've been Tim Maxi possibly? They were one of the best teams i watched that year and possibly went 10-0 heading into playoffs. Can anyone give me some info on this team? Did they make playoffs? Who'd they play? Who beat them in playoffs? Did anyone off that team play college ball? What was their biggest win that season? Was this the best team in Notre Dame school history? If not....what is the best team in school history?

That was the year they went undefeated and didn't get scored on. I believe they got beat 3-0 in the playoffs. That's about all I can remember.

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

The best Notre Dame team i remember watching was around 1988. They had a running back named Maxi or Maxy....could've been Tim Maxi possibly? They were one of the best teams i watched that year and possibly went 10-0 heading into playoffs. Can anyone give me some info on this team? Did they make playoffs? Who'd they play? Who beat them in playoffs? Did anyone off that team play college ball? What was their biggest win that season? Was this the best team in Notre Dame school history? If not....what is the best team in school history?

That was the year they went undefeated and didn't get scored on. I believe they got beat 3-0 in the playoffs. That's about all I can remember.

Thanks for the info...you can't remember who they lost to?

[greygoose]

Lack of depth, overall numbers, and time for coaching change. Over the last several years there's been years where ND had the same numbers they do now but finishes with high number of wins. Just not as many going to the school so it's going to be less to choose from. Even the low number years with high win numbers coaches were getting everything out of those kids. I just don't see that now, I think the overall wear and tear could've just gotten to be to much for players and coaches.

[dirt_cinders]

sometimes you just need a fresh face to turn around a program. May just be time for a change for both the coach and the players, which may draw more numbers. How long has it been since they won the soc? He’s applied for other jobs so maybe his heart isn’t in it with notre dame.

Sounds like Russian Collusion. You need to give some facts/names otherwise it is just your statement.

[Jason Vorhees]

The best Notre Dame team i remember watching was around 1988. They had a running back named Maxi or Maxy....could've been Tim Maxi possibly? They were one of the best teams i watched that year and possibly went 10-0 heading into playoffs. Can anyone give me some info on this team? Did they make playoffs? Who'd they play? Who beat them in playoffs? Did anyone off that team play college ball? What was their biggest win that season? Was this the best team in Notre Dame school history? If not....what is the best team in school history?

That was the year they went undefeated and didn't get scored on. I believe they got beat 3-0 in the playoffs. That's about all I can remember.

Thanks for the info...you can't remember who they lost to?

They lost to Newark Catholic, and it was 1987. Notre Dame’s two best teams was probably in 1967 or 1970, when they had Chuck Ealey.

[BigBlueNation]

That was the year they went undefeated and didn't get scored on. I believe they got beat 3-0 in the playoffs. That's about all I can remember.

Thanks for the info...you can't remember who they lost to?

They lost to Newark Catholic, and it was 1987. Notre Dame’s two best teams was probably in 1967 or 1970, when they had Chuck Ealey.

Thanks. I thought that's who beat them but wasn't sure.

[Dren2019]

sometimes you just need a fresh face to turn around a program. May just be time for a change for both the coach and the players, which may draw more numbers. How long has it been since they won the soc? He’s applied for other jobs so maybe his heart isn’t in it with notre dame.

Sounds like Russian Collusion. You need to give some facts/names otherwise it is just your statement.

Ok...
Sometimes you need a fresh face....fact
How long has it been since they won the soc.... it been a while...fact
He applied for the northwest job....fact

It is My statement....fact

[portsmouth_98]

I think the Catholic schools, much like the small city schools in the Southeastern district started to decline when the population shrank but open enrollment was the death nail for most of them. Portsmouth has went from small D2/big D3 to a mid sized d5 in the last 20-25 years. Chillicothe has dropped from d1 down to d3, Gallia is d4, Jackson , Marietta, Athens and Logan are the only ones holding up for now but there are somewhat limited transfer options and I'm fairly sure at least Jackson and Logan draw from the rural areas near the schools. I think a big appeal of private schools was for helicopter parents to keep their kids away from the horrors of city schools and now that they can just drive them to little village school 10 miles away they don't want to pony up tuition to send them to parochial schools. I would imagine Notre Dame is always in the bottom 5 or 10 football schools enrollment wise.

[dirt_cinders]

sometimes you just need a fresh face to turn around a program. May just be time for a change for both the coach and the players, which may draw more numbers. How long has it been since they won the soc? He’s applied for other jobs so maybe his heart isn’t in it with notre dame.

Sounds like Russian Collusion. You need to give some facts/names otherwise it is just your statement.

Ok...
Sometimes you need a fresh face....fact
How long has it been since they won the soc.... it been a while...fact
He applied for the northwest job....fact

It is My statement....fact

I was talking in regards to applying for another job. When did he apply for the Northwest job?

[dirt_cinders]

I think the Catholic schools, much like the small city schools in the Southeastern district started to decline when the population shrank but open enrollment was the death nail for most of them. Portsmouth has went from small D2/big D3 to a mid sized d5 in the last 20-25 years. Chillicothe has dropped from d1 down to d3, Gallia is d4, Jackson , Marietta, Athens and Logan are the only ones holding up for now but there are somewhat limited transfer options and I'm fairly sure at least Jackson and Logan draw from the rural areas near the schools. I think a big appeal of private schools was for helicopter parents to keep their kids away from the horrors of city schools and now that they can just drive them to little village school 10 miles away they don't want to pony up tuition to send them to parochial schools. I would imagine Notre Dame is always in the bottom 5 or 10 football schools enrollment wise.

That wad true but now with school vouchers the catholic schools are now available to a large number of families. I think you will see numbers grow. The elementary added 40 kids this year and the highschool 20.

[RiverBallFan]

i Didn’t start this thread to slam players or coaches. I just know notre dame has always been a football school and wanted to figure out why the decline.
The Russian collusion statement seemed way out of line. I don’t think the statement Refer to was off base. If I’m not wrong they have the
Highest number of players this year than they have had in a long time. That doesn’t mean the talent is there or they could all be young too.
There is something going on to make a program not competitive. Could be nobody’s fault, could be they are just too small to have a football program.

[Dren2019]

Sounds like Russian Collusion. You need to give some facts/names otherwise it is just your statement.

Ok...
Sometimes you need a fresh face....fact
How long has it been since they won the soc.... it been a while...fact
He applied for the northwest job....fact

It is My statement....fact

I was talking in regards to applying for another job. When did he apply for the Northwest job?

This year. Crabtree got the job. Nobody has an issue with him applying for another job. The question was just if he’s applying for other jobs, is he truly happy or dedicated to ND?

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

Thanks for the info...you can't remember who they lost to?

They lost to Newark Catholic, and it was 1987. Notre Dame’s two best teams was probably in 1967 or 1970, when they had Chuck Ealey.

Thanks. I thought that's who beat them but wasn't sure.

Newark Catholic won the state championship that year and finished 14-0. ( l looked on ohsaa website ) That must have been a really good Notre Dame team to only lose 3-0. It took an undefeated perennial power that won the state championship to beat them. So sounds like ND could very well have been the 2nd best team in the state that year in their division! I'm surprised more people aren't chiming in on this topic with more info about this team.