Why Notre Dame fans need to stay grounded

I like Notre Dame. In fact, it was Notre Dame that made me want to get into a big, rah-rah school. But I'm a realist before anything else. The Fighting Irish are already gaining a strong head of over-confident steam, and it's only the middle of May. I won't go so far as to say Notre Dame won't make a bowl game (I believe they will), but I get a silly feeling the Irish faithful are setting the bar way too high for 2008. 7-5? Sure. Anything more? Hold your horses.
The way Notre Dame fans are talking, you would think this team was coming off a growing pains-type season. It sounds like the offensive line just needed some tweaking. It sounds like there were only one or two turnovers that could have made the difference in the final record. It sounds like this team wasn't bad enough to cause even the most casual college football fans to wretch in pain every time Notre Dame ran out of the tunnel. Ok, that's a bit harsh, but so was Notre Dame in 2007.

Why can't Notre Dame win a lot more games in 2008?

Team maturity: I’m not saying that the Irish didn’t grow up after suffering through 2007. The defense was much improved by November, but then again, any defense would look good against Duke, Air Force and Stanford. However, Notre Dame wasn’t just the victim of bad luck. Twenty-six fumbles (16 lost), 11 interceptions and a 74 percent success rate inside the red-zone; I’d be surprised if any team reached .500 with those kinds of numbers. Getting a year under their belts will always improve the mistakes, but remember, most of the guys coming back have had plenty of playing experience prior to 2007. And even more of them were very highly rated coming out of high school. Fine-tuning is always required for younger players with lots of talent. It’s almost expected, but when you have a complete meltdown like Notre Dame did in 2007, there are much deeper issues, not easily resolved in time for the following season.

The offensive line: Fifty-eight sacks were allowed by Notre Dame’s offensive line in 2007—58! That’s an average of almost five per game. I actually find this the most curious of the three major problems most likely to carry over into 2008. One has to ask, how is it that a line with All-American center John Sullivan, and very highly regarded recruits Sam Young (13 st 2006), Dan Wegner (#3 C in 2006), Michael Turkovich (10 st 2006), Eric Olsen (8 st 2006), Paul Duncan (12 gm 2006), could be so bad? Only one of the 2007 starters came into the season with no significant playing time. I think the real answer to this question is with the next and final point.

Coaching: This is a double-edged sword for Notre Dame in 2008. First, Charlie Weis can’t seem to coach a team that doesn’t have all the tools and talent in place and ready to roll. We all saw that last season. He’s a poor motivator—other than flashing his Super Bowl rings—and has trouble dealing with adversity. However, there’s the spark named John Tenuta. I really think he can turn things around on that side of the ball, but it will take time. 2008 won’t show the results the Irish faithful are expecting.

The 2008 Irish will have some success. As I said earlier, they won’t flop nearly as bad as 2007. But people have to keep in mind that, after a complete collapse, it takes time to rebuild. It won’t take as long as Penn State did to get back on track after the Nittany Lions’ 2000 meltdown. I fully expect Notre Dame to become a BCS contender by 2009, not 2008 though. San Diego State, Stanford, North Carolina, and Syracuse are the only good chances for Irish wins. We’ll see.