What has happened to Notre Dame Football?

[portsmouth_98]

Ah man... this thread took the unexpected turn of coach-trashing. This never happens.

Anyways... I’m going to be really blunt here: Notre Dame has barely any talent this year. Their line does not do very well on either side of the ball. The tall runningback of theirs is a good player but past that their offensive talent is mediocre. I’m sure they’re great kids, and they work hard. Maybe in the matter of a year or two they can finish much higher in the SOC1. But they aren’t not at the level of athleticism and play-making ability to make their own success when the play blows up immediately in the backfield. I have a lot of personal respect for the Titans, their players and the courage & sacrifice their young men exhibit in the commitment to 11-man football. Half of the equation is the sum of a hard schedule, lack of depth and injuries. The other half is the fact they just don’t have hardly any talent. It’s not X’s and O’s, it’s Jimmy’s and Joe’s. And until someone puts two and two together, figuring out that the smallest 11-man football playing school in Ohio is susceptible to a lean year in talent, size and numbers, it’s going to be more of the same.

Extremely well put.

[art_vandelay]

Who’s trashing the coach? A post was made stating Ashley is “one of the best coaches in our area.” That has been countered with posts showing a less than .500 career record and not much playoff success. Wouldn’t consider that “trashing” anybody, more like refuting another poster.*

[transplant]

By posting records, I was not trying to trash anyone. I had time at work and thought id look it up so people had the info. To me, wins and losses don't always mean someone is a good or bad coach. Like someone said earlier, you play to win the game, I get that. Everyone that plays at any level is trying to win. I don't think too many coaches are out there trying to lose. But a football coach usually only has 10 games to try to win, that means he has over 50 practices and other team functions to teach these kids other things. Especially in high school sports, there are other things a coach can do to make him a good coach besides win ball games. And like fcfan said, the talent just isn't there this year. How many games would Woodard, or Crabtree, or whoever win at Notre Dame this year? Would Ashley win more games if he was at Burg, Ironton or Jackson this year? hard to say. But back to the original questions, I say its the talent. What kind of youth program do they have at Notre Dame? A Jr. High team?

[Dren2019]

I stated earlier that I've coached against him several times and observed how they were coached. No, it isn't always just the coach or the players. Like I said, there are other mitigating circumstances that arise through the course of any season. I'm not familiar with the inner workings of the program this year. However, we played them and the kids played hard and were well coached. Make your own assumptions. Oh wait...

“Not familar” your words.. tap out!!

With the inner workings of the program. Are you a dad of a player?

You said you weren’t familar with the inner workings. Not a dad. Not a coach. Not a former know it all coach either. You’ve turned this thread towards the players and I don’t think that’s the case.

[TheNest]

Per Joe Eitel going back to 2000, Coach Ashley is a combined 62-89, 1-3 playoffs at Minford and ND. I’m not sure what the records were prior to 2000 at ND as he was there a few years before that I believe. In 2000 he led ND to upset the eventual SOC II Champion Minford and finished the season 11-1. The next year they went 0-10.

[transplant]

that senior class that year was loaded and was a huge class size wise for Notre Dame. They had like 15-18 seniors or something crazy like that. the next year, like this year, the cupboard was bare.

[Crab's Brother]

“Not familar” your words.. tap out!!

With the inner workings of the program. Are you a dad of a player?

You said you weren’t familar with the inner workings. Not a dad. Not a coach. Not a former know it all coach either. You’ve turned this thread towards the players and I don’t think that’s the case.

So you are saying that with that group of players and that non conference schedule, they should have won some games?

[Beergogglebluez]

With the inner workings of the program. Are you a dad of a player?

You said you weren’t familar with the inner workings. Not a dad. Not a coach. Not a former know it all coach either. You’ve turned this thread towards the players and I don’t think that’s the case.

So you are saying that with that group of players and that non conference schedule, they should have won some games?

Absolutely not. ND should not of been playing a couple of those schools. If they can’t win conference games those non conference games this year were a bloodbath. I think that have that fisher catholic school again next year. I think that’s who it was.

[RiverBallFan]

the few games I saw, one was a complete blowout, the others I think they played very good and possibly should have won. Didn’t see the green game but if green is supposed to be so good why did it go into overtime?
Reading all of the posts it seems there are two opposing views.
I just want to say this. Anybody can coach when you are loaded up with talent. It takes coaching to achieve or compete when talent is down. I don’t think the talent is that poor, again from what I saw. They should not be getting blown out by some of these teams. I’m not saying it’s the coaches or the players, I’m asking what has happened.

[RiverBallFan]

the few games I saw, one was a complete blowout, the others I think they played very good and possibly should have won. Didn’t see the green game but if green is supposed to be so good why did it go into overtime?
Reading all of the posts it seems there are two opposing views.
I just want to say this. Anybody can coach when you are loaded up with talent. It takes coaching to achieve or compete when talent is down. I don’t think the talent is that poor, again from what I saw. They should not be getting blown out by some of these teams. I’m not saying it’s the coaches or the players, I’m asking what has happened.