That’s the facilities - which we all know is nice but only complements a great program. The rest of his points have been true for a couple of seasons and I’ve seen nothing to suggest ND is closing the gap with the best teams.

- This offseason we beat out Texas A&M and others and paid the highest OC salary in CFB to (ostensibly) upgrade our offense

- Freeman’s first real recruiting class as head coach isn’t even upper class yet

- Our new AD who promises to take greater strides towards a national championship just started the job a couple weeks ago

- Pay-for-play NIL just became legal a month ago, something other schools were doing illegally for a couple years while we obeyed the rules

- Freeman’s team culture and increasing talent level take more than a year or two to bear fruit

Again, these are largely changes that don’t show overnight. The point isn’t that ND *will* win a title in the next few years, it is that the road is being paved to get the program to a point where the opportunity to win a title will be more achievable than it has been in decades.

If Freeman doesn’t succeed at ND, it will be his fault and the excuses will be slim.

to say can't really be backed up by facts or empirical data. But one change I have seen (usually) is that the Freeman teams don't seem to have that "deer-in-headlights" look for big games that we often saw with Kelly (although I'll admit Freeman has had that look a few times). I despise moral victories, and thought Freeman and crew did a shitty job during the end of the Ohio State game, but that was a huge game, at night, on national television, and with a few exceptions those were the types of games for which Kelly would come out and not have the team prepared. We'd go down a score or two, and Kelly would panic and scrap whatever shit gameplan he put together, and the results would be an even worse loss. That didn't happen with OSU or USC, we came out and had a solid gameplan that we stuck to until we blew the ending with boneheaded coaching moves. But I never felt that the team looked unprepared or didn't belong in the game, which was a feeling I had often with Kelly. Maybe previews of that cultural shift, but still more to prove.

Again, pelt me with empties because this is one of the more fluffy posts I usually try to avoid making, but at least a feeling I got last year.

Mediocrity. ND hasn t been committed to winning. They’ve chosen half solutions. Everyone knows when you choose half solutions. You can’t win with conflicted commitment.

I doubt we’ll get #1 classes, but we’ll be able to compete for players we couldn’t touch before.

Being able to plug in transfers is a huge win. ND will always have more holes to fill.

Top coordinators is really important with a green HC.

The facilities matter from a time management and nutrition perspective. Many players now eat fast food. You can’t win that way.

Most importantly as changes evolve, ND can be a leader vs the reluctant follower always two steps behind.

Whether it should be playing in the Wild West is different question.

I can see arguments both ways. Half assing it, as ND has done since Holtz, is the worst choice.

Most alumni understand that it is not a good idea to segregate the football ayers from the student body - living quarters, classes, or mealtime. We saw what happened when we segregated the football team for "study hall" witha dedicated "football tutor". Nice idea, Kelly. Nice accountability, Saucy and Jenkins.

We can provide the football players with the appropriate food in the north and south dining halls.

We have no hard information that Denbrock is the highest paid OC. We do know he is a crony. I don't think that ND said no to Ludwog, the he previous mediocrity from that golden tablet state. Swabrick just stepped on his crank. I think out staff is middling. We shall see. Regardless, it is the one that will make or break Freeman. He will have do dance with it. Freeman. I am not as sanguine as some. I wish Freeman had made different moves and hires. This will be Kellyball without JD Daniels. Whatever the defense throws UT us, the adjustment will be to pass more, out of the shotgun only. The running game will have the same 2 or 3 plays, mostly inside zone.

I think out talent is just fine. Not sure who our first team All Alericsns are at Rb, WR or QB.


There are reasons ND has disfavored football transfers for decades. Those reasons still exist.

ND has traditionally made a half-assed commitment to football excellence.