. . . if leaders like Winston Churchill, Alexander the Great, Abraham
Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Patton, Andrew
Carnegie, W. Edwards Deming, or John F. Kennedy spoke lamely like "be in
the conversation", "have sustained success", "get close enough."
He didn’t say the goal is to win one “every season” but acknowledged the need to win one. Although his quote also mentions the need to win one while simultaneously tempering expectations/making excuses.
But it’s inaccurate to say he doesn’t. He hosts an “ask Jack” forum most football Saturdays and each of the 2 that I’ve been to (one each the last 2 seasons) he has clearly stated that the goal is a national championship (in football as well as other sports)
And for full transparency, each time I have been the guy in the room waiting to pounce at some half-assed “in the conversation” comment.
We can debate his sincerity or his ability to make decisions and direct resources to affect the desired (and stated) outcome, but he has said it, at least twice.
(Edited subject for spelling & punctuation)
In the BCS/Playoff era (20 years) there has been only 1 national champion north of Oklahoma (Ohio State - twice) and if you remove Oklahoma from 2000, they're all basically south of Atlanta.
Translation, it's awfully darn hard to win a national championship in a cold-weather city. Look at the success of Chip Kelly at Oregon...how many titles did he win? Now they can barely score on Michigan State.
If we're in the playoff conversation every year, that means we're recruiting at a high level and competing at a high level. That means we're closer to being an elite QB away from winning a National Championship and even then, it's still an uphill battle from the recruits that consistently stay in the south.
It's why fans feel so strongly about conferences (and why they continually complain about ND's lack of one)...conference or division titles are attainable year in and year out but National Champions are going to be reserved for the South in the forseeable future.
Being in the conversation at Notre Dame will not only be demanded, it will be expected. I don`t ever expect to not be in the conversation as long as I`m at Notre Dame, and I sure don`t expect to not be in the conversation this year. I expect to be in the conversation, because that`s going to be the criteria we use to evaluate.
Not being be in the conversation is absolutely disastrous. You cannot give me one reason in the world why we should ever not be in the conversation at Notre Dame-not a one. There is no reason. You can tell me about the schedule, but I don`t want to hear it.
There is no reason we should ever not be in the conversation at Notre Dame, and we aren`t going to. Less than being in the conversation is a personal embarrassment to me, to you, and to this university . . .
We`re going to write another chapter in Notre Dame football history. The Notre Dame football team is going to set a trend for this university as well as for the entire athletic department about being in the conversation.
The football team is not only going to be the best team in the conversation at Notre Dame, it`s going to be the best team in the conversation in the entire country. We cannot achieve being in the conversation if we do not have disciplined workouts, and this can only happen if people are totally committed to being in the conversation.
We are not asking to be in the conversation -we are going to demand it. Please don`t expect us to lower our standards to satisfy people who are not looking to be in the conversation, because this won`t happen. Not being in the conversation is a thing of the past. We are going to expect to be in the conversation, and we are going to get it.
I don`t care who questions our ability to be in the conversation as long as they aren`t members of this team.
A team will never win a national championship if it's goals and expectations are anything less. I am reminded of the time in the early eighties when Digger Phelps said, "Our goal this year, as it is every year, is to win twenty games and get to the NCAA tournament."
As much as I have always liked Digger, that statement pissed me off. I thought to myself, "There you go, you dumb ass. That is why you will never win a national championship! You are satisfied with simply making it to the tournament rather than making it your goal to win it!"
Vince Lombardi put it another way, "When you strive for perfection, you achieve excellence."
Setting low goals means easily met expectations. Low expectations is the bar that has been set by Soreprick and the administration.
The original poster didn't mention things. I'm having trouble understanding the ultimate point you're making.
Oregon has never had an elite program and has never been able to attract elite talent (because of the first point largely, along with lack of fertile close and natural recruiting ground). The success of Chip Kelly demonstrates that the most important factor is having great coaching.
And the 10 years prior to the BCS era featured 7 national champions north of Oklahoma among 12 total shares (including split titles). And 4 in the prior 10 years. Almost all of that is the random distribution of when great coaches led programs. Now, the distribution of talent in the south makes it easier for southern schools to attract great coaches. But great players are going to play for great coaches in cold climates over good coaches in warmer climates. And tier 1 schools committed to hiring great coaches have access to plenty of talent to win a championship.
Then there'd be a tangible standard that he'd have to hold himself and his department to. The way it is now allows him to proclaim "mission accomplished" with 4 loss seasons.