A little more about myself, despite my Boston inhabitance I am, in fact, a huge fan of the “golden domers” and a proud member of the “Subway Alumni” who has watched Notre Dame football religiously (pun definitely intended) since I was six years old watching games with my dad on the old 16 inch TV in my parents room. It was the same TV I was watching when I saw Rudy the night before my first football practice and the same TV that (up until a week ago) has been in my room all throughout college for the sole purpose of being able to tune into South Bend on Saturday afternoons.
I’ve suffered through the years of Carlisle Holiday, Ty Willingham, and Charlie Weiss which were all a far cry from the “echoes” of Knute Rockne, Dan Devine, and Joe Montana that so desperately need awakening, but to the day I remain loyal and that includes withstanding the outcry in the last week over the sideline activity of second-year head coach, Brian Kelly. There are a few levels to this conversation which have become skewed in generalization over the past week. For one, there is the “Notre Dame” issue which is a larger heading that I give to more micro-issues that come with coaching at the oldest and most prominent religious university in the country. This has also been lumped together with the argument that it is college and treating the athletes of the university in such a manner might be detrimental as they are not professionals and still, in the seeming opinions of some, fragile teenagers and young adults. To these points, I want to address each issue individually.
The Catholic Issue: Notre Dame might be a Catholic college, but that does not mean that it is not a college. I can only imagine from accounts that I have heard from those who HAVE attended the university that there is not much difference between the “college life” at ND and that which I’ve experienced in my own collegiate time in Boston, with the one exception being that I doubt they offer free condoms at every campus event. That said, while I respect and appreciate Notre Dame for its integrity, particularly as a Catholic, that does not mean that the coaching staff should be held to the rigors of a moral code comparable to that of the priests on campus. Without getting too much into a religious conversation, the cornerstone of Catholicism is Free Will and to that end, to each his own. As a competitive athletic program that has yet to yield to the recruiting scandals of Miami and the extracurricular activity of…well, Miami, all that can be truly expected of the Irish is to maintain their reputation as one of the most historic and storied scholastic athletic programs in the country behind the service academies.
The Football Issue: Is swearing ok in football? Of course. It is a hard game with hard language and emotion that can only be conveyed through coarse phrase. Notre Dame is a team that must rely on its tradition to recruit players rather than breaking recruiting guidelines a la Ohio State. That and an emphasis on academics is not going to attract the best high school athletes who (to paraphrase my father) need only spell SAT to attend some of these schools. If it takes swearing to motivate those players, so be it. More to that point, I find it hard to believe that Boston College, TCU, and other Division I religious institutions have never had a coach that swore at his players. These are also players that have brought the same argument that they deserve to be paid for competing in such a high profile arena, of course you can yell. That may not be the M.O. of every coach, but there is certainly the occasion for it. I am most curious why this was not brought up last year as Kelly has been red-faced on the sidelines for two seasons now and while I realize that this has only been thrust into the analytical arena because of the forum in which Notre Dame competes (i.e. NBC), but criticism such as this only seems to exist when it is demonstrated in mass. Take for instance (and I can’t believe I’m using this example) Rex Ryan during Hard Knocks last year. You watch Bill Belichick on the sidelines when someone SEVERELY screws up (I’m looking at you Lawrence Maroney), he definitely drops an ‘F’ bomb or two, but in Hard Knocks Ryan was shown on more than one occasion cursing his players. Belichick has never been questioned on this tactic, yet Tony Dungy, a prominent voice in the NFL coaching community, criticized Ryan for his actions. It is uncalled for to question a coach swearing about a play. The distinction must be made; if a coach swears about a play that is certainly allowable, its emotional and uncontrollable and I don’t expect the swearing to be significantly reduced this week for Notre Dame at Michigan. What is intolerable is to swear at a player, to call a player this that and the other. This is not the case in any of these scenarios and players and (in particular) the spectators, regardless of affiliation or religion, must accept swearing as a evocation of emotion rather than intent and recognize that emotion as an element inherent in the game.
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