571 from 8797 under McWilliams and Mackovic Oklahomas winning pct

They have not even seriously been in the hunt for a title since the 1993 campaign. Does this prolonged drought mean that the well is forever dry and the Irish are doomed to go the way of former powers Army, University of Chicago, and YaleNo, not at all. To be blunt, that stance is an ignorant snap judgment that ignores the very history of college football.First of all, the only way a top-level program becomes irrelevant is if the school chooses to make itself irrelevant like the Ivies did in moving to I-AA and Chicago did by disbanding their program. Many cynics suggest thats exactly what Notre Dame is doing by keeping academic standards high and not allowing exceptions. The fact is that the institution continues to give the program a wealth of resources that is on par or exceeds every other program in the country.The football recruiting budget is so generous that it allows room for the coach to fly to Hawaii and back in the same day just to say hello to a recruit.

The administration altered a long-standing policy and now allows high school seniors to enroll early for the football team. The school constructed a multi-million dollar athletic training complex that is one of the most impressive facilities in all of college athletics. And despite what people may think, there have been substantial exceptions made in allowing particular student athletes who wouldnt normally qualify to come to school at Notre Dame (ex: Robert Blanton and Robert Hughes and their 810 SATs).The gap between perception and reality when it comes to the academic standards of Notre Dame Football recruits is incredibly wide. The toughest part about recruiting borderline academic candidates to Notre Dame isnt getting them past admissions, its the fact that there are no joke majors like you find at places like Michigan (anyone who wants to major in Parks, Recreation, & Fitness can go there). That means that once a recruit decides to come to South Bend hell actually have to work to complete his degreesomething he must do, there is no option. Notre Dame fully expects each player on the team to graduate and provides them with ample resources to do so.

If a player is totally uninterested in the student part of the term student-athlete then Notre Dame is not the place for him. I have no problem with that and no one who understands the University should.Every program goes through rough patches, no matter how great the programs history, resources, or talent. The reason for these falls from grace always boils down to one person: the head coach. Look at the greatest programs of all-timeall have gone through dry spells lasting at least ten seasons since the mid-80s Southern Cals winning pct from 91-01 was .550 Texas had a winning pct of .571 from 87-97 under McWilliams and Mackovic Oklahomas winning pct.

When Texas and USC won their championships this decade they snapped 35 and 25 year droughts.Prolonged rough patches arent unheard ofin fact theyre pretty common. To think it wont emerge from it just like the other programs did when they got the right coach in place is ludicrous.Alabama provides a perfect example. Lets examine: Gene Stallings and Lou Holtz both retired after the 96 season, both a few years removed from national title runs but still coaching at a high level (Holtz went 9-3 & 8-3 his last two years, Stallings went 8-3 & 10-3). Notre Dame brought in Bob Davie to replace Lou while the Tide brought in Mike Dubose. Dubose only last four with one up (98) and a horrific down (3-8 in 00). Both schools hired coaches that experienced marginal success but lasted three years or less. For the Irish it was Ty Willingham (21-15 over three seasons), for the Tide it was Dennis Franchionne (17-8 over two seasonsviolations on his watch landed Alabama on probation). Both schools also had to endure a scandal where they hired and then fired a coach before they had the opportunity to coach a game.