IRISH REBUILDING? NEVER!!!

This year, I don't believe the Irish will be movin' on up like George and Weezie.

I readily admit an obsession with Notre Dame. They are the New York Yankees of College Football--people love them or people hate them, but people love to talk (or read) about them. Try eliciting that response with, say, Buffalo or Utah State. So the obsession is simply good business sense.

OK, so everyone is waiting for Notre Dame to implode this year. Gone are the star QB, the school's # 1 & #2 WR and starting HB. Throw in 3 new o-line. All those talentless pieces that no-good Ty Willingham brought to South Bend--two off to the NFL and one to pro baseball. However, no one worries that Charlie Weiss can't fix an offense, but the concerns start there none-the-less. Heck, the Irish didn't even get the traditional 'vote Notre Dame because of their past' in the preseason USA Today Top 25. They didn't even get in the Top 25 (but ended up tied with South Carolina for what would have been #29).

I want to focus more on the reasons that the focus is there---the Notre Dame Defense. Last year, the Irish ranked #65 in total defense and #67 in scoring defense (that's below SEC doormats Ole Miss and Vandy). In Notre Dame's 3 losses--Michigan, USC, LSU-- they gave up over 40 points in each game. There wasn't a shutout--and hasn't been one since the 2002 opener--nearly 5 years.

The new hope on defense? Blue-collar playmaker S Tom Zbikowski returns, anchoring what could be a decent secondary. However, any DB will tell you that they can't shine if there isn't pressure on the QB.

And this starts the questions: Weiss went to the NFL well again, bringing Corwin Brown in as a new defensive coordinator. Brown, well respected, coached the NewYork J!-E!-T!-S! JETS! JETS! JETS! secondary last year and now is a first-time coordinator. To add to the transition, the Irish will shift to a 3-4, using personnel suited to the 4-3. The one returning d-lineman moves to end. The expected starting defensive tackle moved to undersized noseguard. One backup end moves to outside linebacker.

Ironically, it's the exact opposite of Jimmy Johnson's Miami Hurricane defensive theory---move undersized players with speed down the chain (Safeties to linebackers, linebackers to ends, ends to tackles), instead of over-sized (and likely, less mobile) players up. Remember what happened when that played out in the 1980s? Johnson posted a 3-1 record against the Irish (the one loss was by 1 point in South Bend to Lou Holtz's 1988 National Championship team).

Still, ever-positive Weiss said "God should strike me dead if I utter the word 'rebuilding'" on Monday. I don't care how much pull Notre Dame has in heaven, Mrs. Weiss may want to make sure that life insurance policy is paid up.