Your closing line presents that tired line that you don’t want to see the “values” of ND compromised to achieve National Championships. ND leaders have perpetuated this nonsense for years – that somehow it is impossible to have both an incredibly successful football team and athletes that meet the University’s expectations regarding academic performance and graduation. ND people wear this on their sleeve as if it is some badge of honor – we do things the “right way”. This is insulting to many other institutions who graduate their players – many of course that don’t have the facilities, TV contract, national appeal, and history of ND – and it is insulting to those of us in the “Big Fan” category that you deride that expect both.
I also think the “trade off” line is based on a myth – that ND is significantly superior to other football programs with respect to academic results. The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports based at the University of Central Florida produces an annual assessment of the academic records of Bowl-bound NCAA football programs. ND’s Academic Progress Rate was 970 (APR is an NCAA composite – each student-athlete receiving athletically related financial aid earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible. A team’s total points are divided by total points possible and multiplied by 1000 to come up with APR). The other teams in the semifinal were as follows – Alabama 990, Clemson 993, OSU 985. The average for bowl teams was 968, so ND is certainly above average but not enough, in my view, to go congratulating ourselves.
For straight graduation rates, for 2019-20, the NCAA reports ND at 91%. Alabama comes in at 88%, Clemson 83%, and Ohio State at 69%. Wisconsin is at 91%, Stanford at 90%. Looks like ND ranks 35th among 255 teams reported. Of course, these statistics don’t assess the relative challenge of particular majors or schools, but to suggest that somehow ND is superior to many other schools because ND graduates its football players is at best a dated concept.
Otter hits the nail on the head. Kelly is a jerk. Seems to actually revel in being a jerk. But it is not just being a jerk – shit I’m a 49er fan and I used to say that Jim Harbaugh was a jerk but it is easy to root for him because he’s “our jerk.” Kelly’s persona goes far beyond that of a jerk – he’s one who likes to throw others under the bus. How many examples do we need – “get used to it”, the “atrocious” snapping of the football in the NC State monsoon, and his “Zero. None. Absolutely none” response to the question of his responsibility for NCAA violations. The “Big Fans” don’t appreciate his seemingly endless pattern of blaming others for ND’s failures. Frankly, I’ll never get over Kelly and Swarbrick’s comments after Declan Sullivan’s death. “It was a beautiful day,” the investigator quoted Kelly as saying. “It was 68 degrees and I remember looking up 11:54 a.m. and the wind was 22 miles per hour.” (LA Times, April 6, 2019) Keep telling yourself that Kelly.
Set aside graduation rates and personality, in the end Holtz put ND in a position to win – both because of his football strategy and ability to motivate. Holtz was 32-20-2 vs. teams ranked in the top 25. I believe Kelly is .500. If we whittled that down to record vs. top 10, I would bet the divide is even more significant. Has Kelly “raised the bar” from where ND was under Davie, Willingham, and Weis? Sure. No one is going to debate that. But don’t tell me that I can’t expect more. Don’t tell me that I can’t expect Holtz level success, excitement, and respect.