I almost died today. In a fiery wreckage of a car crash. Here’s what happened: I was on the road for work and listening to ESPN personality Colin Cowherd. It was slightly after 11:00am and I heard the shock jock say, “A lot of you will hate me, but Notre Dame is gonna win 10 games this year. Without question.” Remember, this from a guy who shouts with joy that cold weather football programs are dead, Notre Dame is too academically rigid, too small, too religion driven, etc. My head started spinning and my vision became blurry. My muscles lost control. By the time I realized I was about to rear end a Honda Accord, it was almost too late. I channeled my inner Carrie Underwood (God, Jesus Take The Wheel is one of my most-hated songs), jerked the wheel to the left, and swerved into the next lane, missing the Accord by like 2 microns. Pileup avoided. The hot blond who I almost hit gives me the finger, and I am fully back in reality. Did Cowherd just say what I think he said?

Look, The Herd is the best radio show on ESPN (and I love Mike & Mike). It is the best because Cowherd is a manipulative S.O.B., and understands that sports fans run on emotion. He attacks this weakness. Makes claims like “Nobody can compete with USC, nobody else can get the athletes. They just pass the eyeball test. Bigger and stronger than everyone else, they made Notre Dame’s players look like little kids.” This, of course, sends Irish fans into a frenzy, foaming at the mouth and ready to fly to Connecticut and meet Colin in the parking lot with a baseball bat.

The problem is, a lot of what he says has some roots of truth. The Irish have lacked athletes (especially defensively). The football powers in the south are stronger than the others (although it is not as simple as “warm weather, pretty girls”).

And when he made his claim about Notre Dame football today, his reasons were right as rain (sounds like a shampoo ad).

-The offensive line experience. The number of starts together by an offensive line has a direct correlation to success. The Blue-Gray Sky has delved into this before. Pre-season magazines get predictions wrong when they look at returning skill players, and ignore the line returnees. The Irish have close to 100 cumulative starts, and should be among the most seasoned in the nation. If you can’t get it done with a senior-laden line that has played together, you will never get it done.

-Weak schedule. USC scares the hell out of me. After that? Umm… Michigan? Michigan State? Boston College? It is a schedule of teams that couldn’t compete in the SEC or Big 12. That ND has to worry about anybody else (Michigan has some rebuilding to do) is just a testament to how bad ND has been lately.

So, Notre Dame should win a lot in 2009. Like double digit wins. When even media guys like Cowherd who like to bang on Notre Dame agree, it clearly indicates that Weis has to win significantly this year. That, or bust.

Poor slow Notre Dame. The tortoise of the college game. Strong kids. Tough kids. Smart kids. But not fast kids. Not athletic kids. Been that way since ‘91 or ‘92 maybe. (Even the ‘93 team faced this stigma-they were supposed to get run off the field by Florida State and their fast break). At least that’s what the media said.

For years I didn’t believe it. Here were my denials:

The Irish were still the preeminent football program in America, and still got the best athletes. I mean, Beano Cook said so, right? There had to be other reasons for the decline starting in ‘94. Notre Dame had some athletes, but Holtz was conservative. The best teams were throwing the ball, and Holtz would have rather eaten 10 Oreo cookies without milk (can’t be done) that run a wide open offense. His ‘95 and ‘96 teams were good-but he never let Powlus live up to his potential. After him, Bob Davie’s offense and clock management skills set ND back 20 years. Nobody could have won with that bum. By the time Ty had his first showdown with USC, I believed in talent problems. Then, damn Charlie Weis came around. And he took Ty’s players, and turned them into a completely different team. A diverse, exciting offense that I had never seen at ND before. So, just like Davie before him, Ty must have been a bum too.

Then came January 1, 2006. Ted Ginn, Santonio Holmes and The Ohio State Buckeyes. God, did that team run away from the Irish. Ginn scored on plays of 56 and 68 yards. Holmes on an 85 yard catch-and-run. Antonio Pittman closed it out with a 60 yard td run. The Buckeyes put up over 600 yards of offense that day. I sat with a cold, blank stare. And I sat. And I sat. 3 realizations came about after that mayhem.

1.) Draft beer was not always the answer.
2.) I may need therapy. I had never considered drowning one of my best friends (Buckeye fan) by dunking his head in a pitcher of Bud Light before that day. (He watched the game with me.)
3.) I became a believer in what the media had been saying all along. Every Irish team since ‘93 (Any “lack of athlete’ statements prior to that team are false. Period.) lacked the speed and athleticism to be counted among the best.

The third realization was the worst.

That is why this spring is filling me with hope. I keep hearing comments about the speed of the Irish. How Charlie (when he came in) wanted to upgrade defensive speed, pick up some guys that can really run at the skill positions, and it is happening. Weis cannot stop making statements about the way the D can run. Independent talent evaluators have echoed this. In a year where Weis has to win, he is upping the ante by saying he has the material to do it. He is putting more pressure on himself.

You can never fall in love with what a coach says, but you have to believe there is a reason Charlie can’t get off the topic. And it’s a good reason (if you’re familiar with childhood tails). He thinks there is a real chance that Notre Dame can (finally) be a hare.

Can you imagine a cheerleader shouting out a cry like this? Specifically, can you imagine a cheerleader that looks like Hayden Panettiere (don’t worry, she’s 18) shouting out a cry like this? Well, you should. On both counts. Because fantasizing about pretty girls is part of being a man, and because to survive in today’s college football you need to do what the SEC does best (as has been documented again, and again, and again…). You need to be able to RUN FAST. And for the first time in years, there is a glimmer of hope that Notre Dame will be able to do just that.

But first, let’s rewind.

This isn’t your grandfather’s college football. Notre Dame can’t field the teams of yesteryear. Tough, gritty, hard-nosed players that rose to stardom like Johnny Lattner, Bob Crable, Bob Golic, Allen Pinkett, and Micheal Stonebreaker aren’t quite enough anymore. Those guys are Honda Accords (reliable and good). Today’s players like Jevon Kearse are Ferraris. Yes sir, “speed and athleticism” is the name of the game, and it has been since Miami rose in the 80’s with that philosophy. They didn’t run through people. They ran laps around them. And they did it by putting more (better) athletes on the field. Quick defensive ends became even quicker tackles. Tackling-machine linebackers became quarterback-sacking defensive ends. Ball-hawking safeties became do- it-all linebackers that could stop the run or play the pass. Lightning-fast cornerbacks became a new breed of safeties. Then, they managed to find even more athletic cornerbacks. And they dominated the 80’s and early 90’s because of it.

The game is even more dependent on guys that can fly these days. Football is the most popular sport in our country. The best of the best (athletically) all play the sport. Whole offensive philosophies are based on spreading the field and letting big play guys hurt you in space (the spread and spread option). The best teams in the SEC, USC, Texas, Ohio State, etc. have all staked their claims as great teams due to having better athletes and winning one on one matchups. The talent isn’t just at the “skill positions” (guys that are going for the ball) either, it trickles down to the lineman. Former Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace was so gifted, he could outrun running backs in high school. There are SEC defensive lineman would give Dwight Howard a run for his money in the NBA dunk contest.

And sadly, Notre Dame has fallen behind (for the most part). I haven’t seen them field a team that could compete athletically since 1995. They’ve had some good, solid players, but never enough to compete with the big boys. No Reggie Bushes, Ted Ginns, Desean Jacksons on offense. Defense has been even worse. No Chris Longs, Derrick Johnsons, Glenn Dorseys, Antonio Cromarties. Actually, no speed, whatsoever. It was obvious in big games against Ohio State and LSU. It was obvious when Charlie tried the ill-fated move of Travis Thomas to linebacker.

Back to now.

But, Charlie has picked up his defensive recruiting effort, and now ND has young talent in the fold. Some guys that can possibly run with the best. You have probably heard the names. Harrison Smith. Steve Filer. Ethan Johnson. Darius Fleming. Kapron Lewis-Moore. Robert Blanton. And Weis knows the potential is there. His confidence showed when he shared this nugget about a conversation with mentor Bill Parcells:

“I was talking to Coach Parcells the other day and he asked about the defense. Of course, he could care less about the offense,” said Weis. “I said, ‘Well, we’re experienced in the secondary, we’re young upfront and we’ve got a bunch of guys that can run.’

“He said, ‘Man, does that go against the prototype at Notre Dame.”
(Bill, it hurts ‘cuz it’s true.)

It’s heartening to know that your coach really believes he has some guys that can play (he wouldn’t have recounted the story otherwise). It’s disheartening to know that Notre Dame has (rightfully) earned the stereotype of fielding slow teams (sorry, all stereotypes have some truth in them).

Last of all, it is downright eye-popping that after so long, Notre Dame is finally hearing the cheerleader’s song. 1, 2, 3,…