Just cannot abide studied mediocrity. Notre Dame is a place, and a brand, unlike any other. It is a place that deserves a great coach, and by no means is Brey great. Brey has been there 17/18 years (can't remember exactly), and I agree he has gotten better -- remember the old country song "Been down so long it looks like up to me"? -- but anyone with that many years of OJT is bound to get better. Why not a coach of the pedigree that matches the University's?
I resent his years of self promotion for truly mediocre performance. 2 Elite 8's are swell, but zero Final 4's, zero national finals, and of course no NCAA Titles.
One (count 'em, ONE) league championship in 2 decades???? And let's be candid: that second Elite 8 was more a result of everyone of the good teams in the bracket getting upset, than it was for ND being that good.
Tom Noie is a shameless Mike Brey fan (sort of the opposite of me, a shameless critic). This latest piece is yet another in a series of articles where Noie pre-excuses potential losses, and over-glorifies potential wins.
DELAWARE??? They lost 20 games last year.
DEPAUL??? They lost 22 last year.
C'mon. Noie spent 9 paragraphs in his article posing them as non-conference toughies, when they are, in fact, just another couple of jokes as opponents.
I think it important for ND to excel to prove to the rest of America that a university can excel academically, morally and athletically. Maybe that will make a small dent in the sewer that college sports has become. That's all.
Your post was fair and thoughtful, however. I appreciate the questions.