Recently, with all of the massive changes going on within college football, there’s been plenty of talk from me and others about Notre Dame’s place and standing in whatever college football may end up looking like. How will the Irish adapt? How will they fare in the new College Football Playoff model? How will Notre Dame navigate a landscape that now feels more professional than collegiate?
These are legitimate questions and concerns. One that especially in the last 30 years would have been existential threats due to a lack of proper administrative action to protect and support football along with inadequate coaching leadership. I feel that this has changed recently on multiple fronts and I now have more faith than I have previously in Notre Dame’s ability to navigate this new landscape and still try to compete.
Let’s examine why I feel this way.
Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Notre Dame is not like other college football powerhouses for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons this is the case is because the Irish’s head coach does not have the unilateral authority others do. At many schools the football coach is King. He gets what he wants. This isn’t the case at Notre Dame where academics come before athletics.
It takes a very unique personality to navigate the complicated web of interpersonal dynamics at Notre Dame to get things done. The head coach must be able to effectively relate and communicate to the “powers that be” in a way that makes them want to help the program. Freeman has demonstrated an ability to do this at a much more effective rate than any Irish coach has in 30 years. This is no small feat and is unrewarding behind-the-scenes work.
Admin Buy In
USA TODAY SPORTS
Notre Dame’s administration has made more progress in keeping Notre Dame truly competitive in the last two years than they have…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/notre-dame-football-found-confidence-013938265.html
Author : Fighting Irish Wire
Publish date : 2024-03-23 01:39:38
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
