The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are coming off a miserable 4-8 football season. Can the Irish get back to respectability in 2017 under head coach Brian Kelly?
2016 was a year to forget for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. After reaching the Fiesta Bowl as a part of the New Year’s Six bowl games in 2015, the Irish went from 10-3 to 4-8. Things looked to be trending in the right direction despite losing on the road in overtime Week 1 to the Texas Longhorns. It turns out that Texas was terrible too, as Charlie Strong was fired at the end of the season in Austin.
Notre Dame can point to several key players from the 2015 team going pro including left tackle Ronnie Stanley, linebacker Jaylon Smith and wide receiver Will Fuller. However, every major college football program of note loses great players to the NFL Draft annually. There are no excuses, it was a horrible season for the Fighting Irish, but it’s time to move on.
As usual, Notre Dame will face a brutal schedule as the nation’s premier independent football program. Should the Fighting Irish navigate it, there is no way that the Irish don’t make the fourth annual College Football Playoff. It is that challenging.
We should expect Brian Kelly’s team to be back in a bowl this upcoming holiday season. If the returning players take last year’s disappointment in stride, this Notre Dame team could surprise us all with another top-10 finish in 2017. Here is a look ahead at what the Fighting Irish will be about this fall.
Offensive Preview
Overall, this looks to be a very good, senior laden offense for the Fighting Irish. This year’s team’s strengths are absolutely along the offensive line. Kelly will have seniors starting at four of five spots, including redshirt senior at left tackle Mike McGlinchey. He projects as a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. You might have head of his cousin: Atlanta Falcons NFL MVP quarterback Matt Ryan.
Junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush will get to lead the offense with his dual-threat playmaking ability. Josh Adams and Dexter Williams are upperclassmen Wimbush can have faith handing the ball off to in new offensive coordinator Chip Long’s offense.
Weapon-wise, the best target Wimbush has at his disposable has to be junior Equanimeous St. Brown. St. Brown had his moments as a true sophomore for the Irish last year. He is on the Biletnikoff Award watch list and could be in for a great 2017 in the Notre Dame receiving game.
Two other targets to pay close attention to are sophomore wide receiver Chase Claypool and true freshman tight end Brock Wright. Look for Claypool to take some of the pressure of the Wimbush to St. Brown connection in the passing game. Wright looks to be cut from the same Notre Dame tight end cloth that has given us Kyle Rudolph and Tyler Eifert.
As long as this offensive line holds up, Notre Dame should be able to compete with any team the Fighting Irish go up against offensively. We’ll have to see how Long fits into all of this, but this could be one of the more offenses in Division I college football, especially if Wimbush is the real deal at quarterback.