Aaron Taylor Lays Into Notre Dame And Is Right

As some of you may know I was up at Notre Dame last week to watch what was once a great rivalry versus USC turn into yet another major disappointment for the Fighting Irish. Actually I'll just call them ND because right now they don't deserve the "Fighting Irish" nickname.

To say I was disgusted by their performance would be an understatement. To say I was shocked by the outcome would by a total misnomer. Notre Dame hasn't been Notre Dame for a long time. They've gone through 3 coaches (well 4 if you count George O'Leary) since Lou Holtz was forced out and haven't been a National Championship contender since 1993. In fact they have only finished in the top 25 5 times since that season. They have yet to win a BCS game and the 3 years they made it they got relatively blown out. And yet almost every year you can look at their schedule and their talent (which is debatable) and say they should be a top 15-20 every season. But the sad part is they get crushed by teams like Navy and Stanford who hold the same exact academic rigors to get in and stay in school but have a sliver of the overall talent that permeates the Notre Dame roster.

So why does Notre Dame continue to lose when they have more talent, better facilities, more exposure, and greater fan support than those other schools? The common denominator for most fans is the head coach. Or the defensive coordinator. Or the athletic director. But hardly anyone wants to say the players. And you know what they are the most accountable for their 4-3 record right now.

I know I'm probably wrong but the only person I sense actually gives a shit about winning on Notre Dame is the head coach Brian Kelly and the other coaches. They are the ones screaming until their faces turn Cherry Coke red and trying to get their players to focus and play with a purpose. The problem is the players treat the game like they have already lost. They don't come out wanting to punish the other guy lining up opposite in the disgusting cardinal and gold. At some point playing at Notre Dame has become a sense of entitlement. Sure you have occasional guys like Brady Quinn, Trevor Laws and others who will go above and beyond to make themselves the absolute best they can be but I don't sense it with most of this team.

There is no reason Notre Dame should have lost to South Florida and Michigan to open the season. They should have crushed both of them and if it weren't for the lack of details (turnovers and accountabiiity) and leadership they would have won by 3 TD's minimum in those games. Like Aaron Taylor pointed out the senior leadership is nonexistent. The seniors should he held accountable for the 4-3 record and not Kelly. They were the #1 class coming out of high school. Not Stanford. Not LSU. Not even the mighty Trojans. Notre Dame has the #1 senior class according to the recruiting pundits at the time and yet they got two shitty bowl wins and no top 25 finishes. It's pathetic. Kelly just didn't come to Notre Dame and forget how to coach after being a perennial head coach winner for the past 20 years.

At some point players like Michael Floyd, Harrison Smith, Trevor Robinson, Ethan Johnson, Gary Gray and etc. need to step up and say we are not going down like bitches. We are not going to fumble the ball at the 1 yard line or go for the pump fake for the millionth time. It's all on the players now. And if they don't want to step up and show a little pride and fight for everything they get then they don't need to play.

For me personally I will always love Notre Dame. I grew up with it. I love what Notre Dame stands for along with the traditions and the fact that they graduate players. But at some point Notre Dame has to stop being the nice guy who accepts he won't fuck the prom queen and instead go out and nail every single prom queen in his county. In other words Notre Dame has to stop being a bunch of pussies who hold hands and sing the other teams fight song/alma mater and takes chop blocks and start fighting for the right to party after a victory. Notre Dame has to stop being the punchline to every college football joke and instead deliver every single KO punch come fall Saturday.

Now go out there and kick the living shit out of Navy.

Sincerely,

Every single Notre Dame fan