Music to listen to: Notre Dame Fight Song
Last Season: Brian Kelly’s first season at Notre Dame had mixed results. The Irish started the year 1-3, including losses to Michigan and Michigan State. However, outside of a two-game losing streak in late October to Navy and Tulsa, Notre Dame still got eight wins, defeated USC for the first time in years and even gained a bowl-game victory in the process. To show how significant that is, the Irish only have two bowl victories since 1995.
Offense: Kelly is one of the top offensive minds in all of college football and has the benefit of returning quarterbacks Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees. Crist was 4-5 as a starter last season but got injured and replaced by Rees who won his last four contests last year.
Crist has been named the starter and will enjoy throwing to an outstanding set of receivers in All-America candidate Michael Floyd along with TJ Jones and Tyler Eifert.
Notre Dame will need more production from the running back position but that should be helped with four starting offensive linemen returning.
Defense: If the Irish are going to become a BCS bowl-bound team, the defense must continue to make the improvements the unit showed in the second half of last season.
The top returning player in the unit is junior linebacker Manti Te’o who has lived up to his billing as a top prep talent, led the team in tackles last year and is a potential All-America himself. The rest of the starting linebackers are back along with veteran defensive ends Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore.
The secondary must be rebuilt but will be helped by senior Harrison Smith, who had seven interceptions last season.
Coaching: While many Notre Dame fans and the media expected higher profile head coaches to take the post when the job was open in 2009 such as Urban Meyer, Bob Stoopes, Jon Gruden and others, Kelly fits the mold to be a major successs with the program.
Kelly has won at every level he’s coached at, has expertise in a specific aspect of football (offense), is familiar with the Midwestern culture and has the personality to deal with having one of the most high-profile positions in all of football, NFL included.
The success or failure of Kelly will come down to his ability to recruit and coach top talent at defense. If he’s able to achieve that, there’s no reason why Notre Dame can’t be a national title contender in four to five years.
Schedule:
9/3 vs. South Florida
9/10 at Michigan
9/17 vs. Michigan State
9/24 at Pittsburgh
10/1 at Purdue
10/8 vs. Air Force
10/22 vs. USC
10/29 vs. Navy
11/5 at Wake Forest
11/12 vs. Maryland
11/19 vs. Boston College
11.26 at Stanford
The annual critique of Notre Dame’s schedule is that its too easy and doesn’t match up to what teams in other BCS conferences, particularly the SEC, has to compete against. This is true in some ways but there are still some difficult games on the Irish’s slate.
On paper, Notre Dame can be 5-1 heading into its contest against USC but anytime you travel on the road, even at rebuilt Michigan and Pittsburgh, its not an easy game. Navy has won two consecutive games against Notre Dame. The contest at Stanford can be for a spot in the BCS.
Best Case: The defense continues its improvement and helps lead the Irish to a return to a BCS-caliber bowl for the first time since 2007.
Worst Case: The offense continues to score points but the defense disappoints, leading to losses to inferior teams, especially the road contest at Purdue and home game against Boston College.
Uniform grade:
Notre Dame has a traditional uniform that I actually enjoy. I have no suggestions to make that wouldn’t be too offensive to make to the iconic look. Grade: B+
Favorite Football Alum:
I’ve never been a fan of Notre Dame and enjoyed many of the program’s losses over the years. However, you have to respect the legacy that the school has and the legendary players the program has produced.
Personally, my favorite guy was Ricky Watters who edged out Ron Powlus for the honor.
Alumna Crush:
It’s a sad, sad list to choose from. The “talent” for the alumna base is one of the weakest I’ve ever seen for a school with the national reputation of Notre Dame. You would think a few attractive co-eds from the Northeast or Midwest would find their way to South Bend. I guess not.
Instead, I’m taking a current student in Skylar Diggins, starting point guard for the women’s basketball team. I feel dirty about this as well but its desperation time.
Final thoughts: Last season, the Irish were eight points away from an 11-win season with a new head coach. The schedule actually breaks in the Irish’s favor with getting two of their toughest three contests, Michigan State and USC, at home. If the defense can continue to improve and the offense continues its growth, the Irish may not ony be in a BCS bowl, but playing for a national championship as well.
Prediction: 9-3
The Sports Inquirer 
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