" especially when you consider that a 4-8 season leaves these fans clinging ONLY to that argument as to how Notre Dame is special in today’s college football climate.
I came across a very interesting article from David M. Hale of ESPN.com the other day, in which he details how much Clemson, California, and USC (just as a few examples) are investing in career training programs to prepare their players for life after football.
Especially with Clemson and USC, you’re probably rolling your eyes. Those guys are a couple of the biggest football factories out there, right? They can’t offer the same types of things ND can offer aside from football, right?
Except if you look at the 2017 U.S. News and World Report rankings, you’ll see that Cal and USC land just 5 and 8 spots behind Notre Dame, respectively (and let’s be real, there’s not much difference between degrees from #s 15 and 20 and 23 in that list anyway). These are schools that absolutely offer world-class educations if the players want them, and clearly the football programs are beginning to funnel resources to providing their players with that sort of experience.
Clemson falls in at much worse 66th on the list, but pairing things like getting 7 players internships in Silicon Valley (referenced in the article) and beating Alabama in an unreal, dramatic national championship game will make up for that gap, without question. They’re clearly committed to the idea of preparing players for after football as well.
So, I think this ESPN article is just a really good reminder that Notre Dame football isn’t the only program that can offer these kids a sweet setup for life - and so it’s important Notre Dame remembers that and makes the right moves on the football side of things as well in order to keep up with the powerhouse programs who are suddenly setting their players up for life are
Link: https://www.onefootdown.com/2017/7/5/15919860/notre-dame-football-4-for-40-pitch-fighting-irish-special-clemson-tigers-dabo-swinney-usc-trojans