The following is an exclusive excerpt from our 160-page Notre Dame Football Preview magazine, the must-have preseason read for every Notre Dame fan!
For a limited time, you can still take advantage of our best offer. Rivals subscribers can buy a copy for $7.95 with free shipping — a savings of $9 — or non-members can order for the full cover price with free shipping. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR ISSUE NOW!
Brian Kelly’s 12th season as Notre Dame’s head coach will be easier to navigate than his 11th — for reasons entirely unrelated to football.
There is not an unrestrained pandemic enveloping the entire season in uncertainty. Kelly no longer has to stress about potential outbreaks or adherence to COVID-19 protocols. After a year of tiptoeing on nails, with pandemic problems one misstep away, he and other coaches have emerged from the quagmire with friendlier ground underfoot.
“My reflections would be that it was difficult, but probably the most satisfying,” Kelly said.
By no means, though, is this year a cakewalk. Certainly not for Kelly, whose 12th season could be one of his most interesting in charge of the Fighting Irish.
There are questions at several key positions. Ian Book, the program’s all-time winningest quarterback, is no longer around. Same with Butkus Award-winning linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. Three Associated Press All-Americans are gone from a Joe Moore Award finalist offensive line.
Returning to the College Football Playoff for the third time in four seasons is a tall order when viewed through that lens. But Notre Dame has withstood some personnel losses and transition in going 43-8 the last four seasons. It has succeeded in seasons with new quarterbacks and after losing defensive linchpins.
The Irish will be expected to do so again and keep the same momentum. Standards are no different at a place that measures itself on national titles just because a few key players departed.
“This year you’d think is easy, but they’re all so different,” Kelly said. “We’re not as experienced in so many ways. This is a new challenge. Not one I haven’t had before. Another year, another challenge, another year you have to win all your games at Notre Dame.”