"A win is a win." That's what several players said after Saturday's 27-21 win over Navy. It's the same thing they said after an unimpressive season-opening win over San Diego State.
Isn't it about time for players and coaches to hold themselves to a higher standard?
Instead of patting themselves on the back for hanging on to beat a team without one player they would've recruited, maybe players and coaches should hold themselves accountable and admit they didn't play their best and that they will need to do better to become the team they want to be.
Even athletics director Jack Swarbrick got in on the act. "If I don't want the fans to go with the ebb and flow each week, in terms of their reactions, then I can't either. And I don't," he told AP after the game. "You try and evaluate things on the totality of what you're seeing and what we saw here today was as a good a 20 minutes as we've seen this year."
So, there you have it. How best to assess Notre Dame's current situation? They are congratulating each other for playing good football for 20 minutes against ... Navy.
Good grief.
I spent a lot of time covering the 49ers dynasty in the past. Steve Young was never --- ever --- satisfied. He's sit in front of his locker after a 31-10 win over the Rams talking about what was wrong with the offense, what they needed to do to get better. Players set the standard on that team. Maybe that's why they were so successful for so long.
If Irish want to be great again, they need to forget about outside expectations, start jacking up their own, internal expectations and admit that barely holding off Navy isn't good enough.
Leave a comment